Lunar Light

Part 1 - Belief

Chapter 1

Re-Awakening

What Princess Luna had been expecting, was to wake up in Equestria. Yet, by Celestia, that was most certainly not what happened. In fact, she came to the very opposite conclusion, the moment her eyes opened to scan her surroundings tiredly.

Her mind was scattered at the time; possibly the after-effect of yet another argument with her sister. Those never ended well. Not for the younger pony anyway.

'Where am I?' she thought to herself, as she slowly lifted her head. There was the scarcely successful attempt to get on her hooves, that ended with a fall on her front as she realised that she couldn't feel her front pair of appendages beneath her. Or at least, not in the way she was supposed to. They didn't make as much sound either and seemed much less capable of carrying her body than they should have been-

"Wha-?!"

Luna gasp, unable to comprehend the situation as her gaze fell on a pair of a different sort of appendages.

Hands.

Though of course, being a pony all her life, with no humans around, she had no idea what those were. Nor the long protrusions coming from her palms. She couldn't recognise herself. Much less her surroundings. After all, it had been summer last she checked. So... why was the ground so cold, fluffy and...

"Snow?" She blinked again. 'In summer?'

She shook her head. This couldn't have been right. That was impossible. Unless of course Discord had something to do with this. That fiend. It was quite likely he had done such a thing - turned her into this strange creature and messed around with the seasons. Or perhaps she had entered a coma, lasting in it for several months. No, that seemed improbable.

Disoriented, she could only pity her state and attempt to get up at all, dreading the cold ground beneath her. To be fair though, she was surprised that she hadn't realised this earlier.

Trying to stand up again, she tried to use her forelimbs to push her off the ground, before stabilising herself on her back legs. It had worked, right up until the point where she had thought of taking a step forward only to fall.

"Woah!" she cried out, bracing herself for the impact as she landed yet again, onto the ground. Letting out a muffled moan against the snow, she cursed her bad luck. And Discord too, believing him to be the culprit.

"Careful, the ground's pretty slippery at this time of year," a masculine voice called out from behind her.

She froze.

The male chuckled, before walking up to her. She noticed that he wore no shoes despite having skin, not hooves nor fur. 'Shouldn't he be cold, then?' she asked herself, watching him in both confusion and wariness. He was an odd creature, for sure. Standing on two, with an impish expression on a youthful face adorned with pale skin, freckles and bright blue eyes. He had two other appendages, one holding a wooden staff. Strange, indeed.

"Wh-who are you?" she inquired suspiciously, watching the other's every move.

He laughed, his eyes brightening with amusement. Was this a past time for him, watching others struggle? "You know, usually, I would be the one asking in a case like this. I mean, if you can see me, you should really know who I am," he retorted, saying it in a way that made it seem so logical.

Though to Luna, none of this made sense.

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you?" she corrected her question, narrowing her eyes at him.

He seemed unfazed, by it. "Jack Frost, Spirit of Fun," he introduced himself with a mock bow, "at your service."

'Spirit?' Luna's lips parted in awe and shock. It would explain a lot, of course, considering he looked like no other species in Equestria. Though, it most certainly wouldn't explain why he neither had any respect, nor knowledge of who she was. Or why his main didn't seem to cover more than his scalp and was so ruffled. Oughtn't a male take care of himself better? His attire too, so strange it was. With a hood as though he might be hiding secrets half the time and covered in flakes and patterns of snow that never seemed to melt. Though, they really should.

"So... any particular reason why you're practically hugging the ground?" Jack questioned a short while afterwards. He seemed to levitate off the ground, just a little bit, hovering just a few inches above the snow.

Oh, dear Equestria, she didn't think she could keep her sanity intact for much longer. "Hugging the ground...?"

"Yeah! I mean, you could just be making snow angels, but I'm pretty sure lying on your back would suffice for that," Jack rambled on.

She sighed, completely lost at this point. "Jack, can I ask you for a favour?" The Princess, despite her ranks, was almost begging now, hoping to get out of this. Though before she could go and have her revenge on Discord (if it had been the maniac's fault after all), she would have to find out where the hell she was. Who she was. What she was. How the heck did one stand on those two hind limbs... and that was just the beginning.


Pitch glowered at the Nightmares that stood before him.

Those traitors. The whole pathetic lot of them. How dare they betray him, fight against him after what he had tried to achieve for not only himself but for them? Those rabid animals, one just as vicious as the other had stripped him of his dignity, foiled his attempt at escape and made his life a hell on - or rather beneath - Earth. There was a great list of things he could say to them, punishments he could endow them with.

The equines seemed to back away slowly this time, realising that they were at a loss. There would be no benefits that could possibly come from scaring their master. For unlike the past several years, he would not respond. Their ears seemed tilted back, their heads bowed down in submission. Yes, they were servants. No more, not anymore. He was the one in command. As he should have been for all those years. Yet.

The guardians had foiled his plans. Ruined everything, like they had done before, time and time again. He was sick and tired of their constant victories. Though so long as lady luck stood on their side; so long as they had belief, he would remain in the shadows, unseen and unheard.

"Get back to work, you ungrateful beasts," he hissed at them. Immediately, they dispersed, unwilling to argue. The corners of the spirit's lips twitched upwards at this, turning his mouth into a heinous smirk. The glamorously threatening array or serrated teeth poked from out of his jaws, accompanying that fearsome expression. It was one of his signature features, one which marked him as Nightmare King. He was the more intimidating of the dark spirits, as far as anyone was concerned. He wa the one who sent chills down the spines of grown men. And as such, no one dared disobey him.

So long as he had power.

He would of course; he would become powerful once more. All he needed to do was to vanquish the Guardians from the planet he deemed his playground, his Kingdom, a long time ago. This time, it would be once and for all.

The look on his face faded out, replaced by a neutral expression. That wasn't how he was feeling, not really. Frustration was still very much dominating his mind and heart. After all, how could he defeat five Guardians? It was unfair when there were four against one, never mind Jack Frost joining the party. It seemed like a cruel joke. That a bunch of inexperienced fools - with the help of a bunch of even less experienced, naive children - could have stolen his victory. Banished him into the shadows. With a single touch. With just a hint of belief.

Just like that.

Everything he had worked for...

Centuries of planning...

All for naught!

All because of a group of obnoxious spirits, naive children and one pest to manipulate them all.

That irked Pitch most of all. Despite all his powers, despite all the belief he had once beheld... he had fallen so low, so easily. He was beneath them now, just like he'd always seemed to be. Fight after fight, he'd always lost.

With his nightmares gone, he finally moved, exhaling. He was free yet again, to do as he wished. He'd full fill that wish too, soon enough. However...

He would need allies for that. This time of course, not of the nightmare variety.

Walking up one of the ramps, he slowly made his way to the large globe, one similar to North's. Golden-silver orbs fell upon the continent of North America, noting down the lights on Burgess with a faint interest. After all, one of those lights wasn't completely normal. The lights on his globe had consisted of gold up until now. Yet this one, the new one, wasn't golden at all. Brighter than ever, it shone with a silver-white colour.

'How very, very interesting,' the shadow mused in silencing focusing on this new believer.

He would have to find out more about the Guardians' newest light. Though for now, he needed to wait for his nightmares to return. Hopefully willing to cooperate more.