Chapter 1: Goodbye
A cold frost clung to the sweet scented bottle green grass, rolling hills of it stretched for miles and miles in three directions. On the fourth the grass thinned and trees thickened luxuriously in the powder white snow. The chilled winter air gave a bitter melancholy feel to all beings. The moon shone at it's zenith in the big bluish black sky, though not a star twinkled it's friendly light on the wood.
A beautiful honey brown unicorn mare with dark eyes stood warily next to a newborn colt, he was a pure and deep black with a beautiful horn shaped stripe on his forehead. It was oddly shaped with its point facing his left ear and the base of it at his right eye. The honey brown mare had tears in her dark eyes as she looked down at her precious colt. A sandy buckskin stallion with a bald face and a set of deep green eyes stood next to the honey brown mare, his eyes flickering from the mare to her colt.
"He will be shunned if he stays here, you know that, don't you?" Asked the buckskin stallion. The mare nodded and looked fondly at her colt. "Bur, do you know how hard it would be for another mare to take him, and harder still in the middle of winter…" the stallion continued softer, " What will you name him?" Bur smiled and responded softly,
"I will call him Nadir, but to the rest of the world he will be Adi." The buckskin stallion frowned and said slowly,
"Nadir- black as the sun? A curious name…why did you choose this name? The sun isn't black." Bur smiled and replied,
"Not all things in life have a perfectly understandable explanation, but I do have a reason for christening him so. He is the color believed to be evil but from within burns the brightness and warmth of the sun. My colt is only as evil as the sun, he is only as black as the Sun." The buckskin stallion smiled fondly at Bur, she always had a reason for a name.
In the close distance a twig snapped in the nighttime air, bringing the stallion back to his senses. He shook himself and said to Bur quickly and quietly,
" Bur, get out of here with Adi, I think you might be able to give him to Zay, I don't know, but you have to get going right now. I have a feeling that's more than likely Rell's army, I'll gain you some time, I cant promise more then ten minutes moonlight for you and your colt, so make a plan. Bur, whatever you do, don't keep Adi, promise you'll keep him and yourself safe…promise me!" bur nodded and whispered silently into the night air,
" I promise…" But the buckskin stallion had already disappeared into the cold winter night.
The buckskin stallion trotted out into the bottle green grass and saw about twenty unicorns of all colors accept pure black scanning around themselves, no doubt looking for some thing- or someone. He sighed heavily and yelled loudly,
" Harked, would you lot be looking for me?" All twenty heads instantly swiveled around to face the buckskin and a dapple-gray stallion yelled,
" Kal, son of Wen and Fert, you have aided the enemy and have put the herd in danger, you are under arrest by the Army of Rell." The buckskin stallion smiled and laughed loudly,
"No offence or anything, Laq, but I'm afraid that you're going to have to catch me first!" Laq's face grew harsh and angry as he said through clenched teeth,
"Get him!" Kal lowered his head and ran off at full blast through the rolling bottle green hills, his green eyes scanning the ground in front of him. He chanced a glance up at the sky; the Moon was a bit farther toward the north, which meant that the ten minutes he'd promised Bur would soon be up. The stallion felt a jet of magic graze his side, as he turned farther north so he could follow the moon's progress easier. Kal galloped ahead, his mane and tail streaming out behind him like wild black banners, just as he was about to loose the army a jet of magic hit him in the neck from behind. He immediately fell forward into a tumble that had enough momentum to keep him somersaulting for at least ten rotations. When his tumbling discontinued he lay still on the grass, his sides rising and falling in shallow gasps. In only a few seconds the army would be upon him, with a tremendous effort he mind contacted Bur and said two words,
" Times up." The brave buckskin stallion would never rise again.
Bur wept silently as she approached enemy territory with her small foal, he was her foal why did she have to give him up?"
A large black mare with a white snip on her nose was waiting on the other side of a clearing, she had large swart eyes and a long obsidian mane, tail, and horn. Adi looked curiously at the mare, his beautiful green eyes searching for an answer. The black mare inclined her head slightly to Bur and said kindly,
"Do not despair, rest assured that your foal will be taken good care of, Bur. Whenever you are prepared to take him back just drop by and ask for Teea. Do you want your foal to keep the name Adi?" Bur nodded and replied,
" Yes, but when he's old enough, tell him his true name, Nadir- black as the sun." Teea nodded and silently walked over to Adi and said sweetly,
" Come, Adi, come with Teea…" The colt looked uncertainly at Teea, and then looked longingly at Bur, she nodded and her small foal went begrudgingly with Teea, who quickly led him out of sight. Bur lowered her head and whispered into the cold night air,
"I'll see you again, Nadir, Adi, you are always to be my light in the dark, you are only as black as the sun…"
The pretty honey brown mare trotted off toward her homeland, to the place of the bottle green grass and rolling hills.
Chapter two; moon dance
A deep black yearling colt cantered around a large clearing, he had lean, powerful muscles and a long flowing stride that carried him much faster than his mother, Teea. He had a short and puffy mane and tail still, but his green eyes had gotten slightly darker. A small bump was now rising from his forehead, the early promise of a horn.
When he reached the edge he'd started on he broke into a fast gallop. The wind swirled around his body, causing his short mane and tail to float in the breeze. A second later he slowed back to a canter than a brisk trot, his eyes were glimmering with excitement as he saw his friend at the edge of the clearing. He whinnied over to her,
"Tel, over here!" Tel pricked her ears forward. She was also a yearling, but a filly, she was solid black all but a white star shaped snip on her nose. She also had lean powerful muscles, but had a shorter, quicker stride than the colt. Tel also had sparkling blue eyes. She smiled and called back to him,
" You're getting faster every day, Adi! Or should I say; your highness?" Adi snorted and replied jestingly,
" If you do that, Tel, I'll have to send you to my father for punishment!" Tel laughed good naturedly and replied half laughing,
" Sorry young princeling, your not king yet! She said, nipping his neck playfully. Adi laughed and nipped her on the shoulder gently. Suddenly a sharp commanding voice rang out across the clearing,
" Adi! What are you doing with Tel, you should be at the moondance with your brother!" The voice came form a huge solid black stallion with brown eyes. When she saw him Tel lowered herself into a half bow, dipping her graceful head to her chest and extending a long foreleg. Adi looked into the sky, the moon was at its zenith in the sky, the time that was traditional for the moondance. Adi sighed and said to the stallion,
"Father, can I dance with Tel at the moondance instead of Kaas?" The stallion glared down at Adi and replied harshly,
" Kaas is your betrothed, it was planned sense you were born. And I do not blame you, Tel, daughter of my shoulder friend, Ack. You have no blame in this, off with you to your den and send your sire my greetings…Make haste with you, Tel." The black-coated filly nodded and set off at a lope toward her den. Adi looked longingly after her, hoping against hope that she would be there at the moondance instead of Kaas. Adi's father gave him a withering look and set off at a trot toward the moondance with his head held high in the air. Adi begrudgingly went after his father at a slow trot, shuffling his hooves and scuffing them in the dirt agitatedly as he went. The wood thickened when they left the clearing and continued to thicken the farther they went in this direction. A few times Adi glanced back at the clearing; debating if he could outrun his sire. Just as he was about to test his speed, they arrived at the hilly outcrop where the king made his announcements. There was no running away now. The herd of unicorns was gathered below them, rows and rows of black lined up shoulder to shoulder. The king cleared his throat and said clearly and regally,
" Now that Princeling Adi has joined us… let the Moon dance begin!" Immediately the unicorns paired up and started to prance around each other. To his terror, Adi saw Kaas trotting toward him. In truth Kaas was just about the prettiest filly in the herd. She had a shimmering black coat and a thin knife like horn sprouting from her brow. She had deep violet eyes, a trademark of her sire, and a thick onyx colored mane and tail. She had a pale silver colored star on her brow in the likeness of a crescent moon and a silver sock on her right foreleg. She looked perfect on a daily basis, one of the few reasons all of the fillies hated her. That night she looked more than perfect, she looked like an angel out of a fairy tale. She was shimmering with an unexpected glow and seemed like the moon's black twin. Even Adi couldn't resist gaping at her. Her violet eyes smiled at him when she bowed low to him. Adi looked at his dust-covered coat and mud covered hooves, wishing he'd remembered to stay clean. Feeling out of place, he said kindly to Kaas,
" You look fabulous!" She smiled gratefully, welcoming the compliment. Then she dipped her head and said in a voice as soft as the wind,
" So do you, Princeling Adi." Adi smiled for the first time since he left the clearing and replied bashfully,
"Do you…will you dance with me?" The filly nodded gracefully and allowed Adi to lead the way. Felling absolutely stupid, he began prancing in place and bounding every which way. To his surprise, Kaas was a very good dancer; she knew the steps and everything. After a few torturing minutes of Adi leading, Kaas took pity on him and pulled him aside,
" You haven't done this before, have you?" Adi shook his head slowly, expecting some kind of torture or ridicule. But to his monumental surprise the filly just led him through the steps kindly until he got them right. Just when they were about to go onto the dance floor again, Het showed up. Het was Adi's older brother. Adi had seen and heard fillies swooning at him more than once, saying over and over again how handsome he was. And unfortunately had his heart set on mating with Kaas. As far as Adi knew, Kaas knew nothing about Het's intensions, but he had a bad feeling about Het wandering off with his betrothed. Het was a heavily muscled colt as far as build goes. He had a black coat every bit as shiny as Kaas's and glinting pale blue eyes. He had a long, narrow stripe on his brow and polished black hooves. A jet-black horn rested neatly on his brow, only a quarter of the way to maturity. Het sidestepped over to Kaas and said casually,
" Hey, Kaas! You look like the moon itself this eve. Of course you always do, so you probably already know and it's pointless discuss for me to tell you." Kaas smiled forcibly and dipped her head mechanically to Het. "So, you aren't dancing with anyone, ant I'm not dancing with anyone, so why don't we dance together?" Kaas just smiled sarcastically and replied in a softly dangerous voice,
" You know, that would lovely, but you might want to check your logic; I'm dancing with Adi at the moment and you're supposed to be here with Seo, unless I'm quite mistaken. So why don't you kindly go back to your date so I can peacefully enjoy mine? Thank you!" With that she turned her back to him rudely and ignored his bewildered stuttering. " Where were we, Adi?" Adi realized he was staring and adverted his eyes to the moon and said embarrassingly,
"We were about to dance? You could have gone with Het if you wanted to… you didn't have to stay with me." Kaas only smiled genuinely and replied,
" Adi, I came here to dance and have a fun time with you not your brother. No offence or anything, but he's nothing but a slime covered urchin! Let's just dance." Adi felt very surprised, but obliged willingly to Kaas's wish. The world seemed to melt away when Adi was dancing with Kaas; it was the most peaceful and easy thing in his entire world to do now. Or it was until Tel showed up with her sire, Ack.
"Hi, Adi! Hello, Kaas, you look great!" said Tel's bright voice. When Adi turned to see her, he expected to see someone of even greater beauty than Kaas. He was dreadfully mistaken; her black coat was no match for Kass's shimmering reflection of the moon and her eves were not like those violet pools of beauty. Unfortunately Tel looked like a terrible ugly monster. Adi actually gasped when he first saw her, she was so…ugly.
"Hi Tel!" said Kaas brightly, " You look absolutely… how should I put it? Ugly, repulsive, revolting, hideous, nasty, dreadful and any other word that would describe you." Finished Kaas in the same bright tone. A dangerous flicker of anger went through Tel's body as she looked over at Adi and asked silently,
"Do you think that, Adi?" He would have lied to her, but even his angel, Kaas, thought that Tel was ugly. How mad could she possibly be?
"Yes, Tel, I do." Adi replied with a sincere smile. Tel opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again and replied with a dangerous smile,
" Ok then, Kaas, Princeling." Then she called them something so bad that the surrounding groups stopped in their tracks and Kaas's jaw dropped several inches. When she stalked off, nobody dared to get in her way, they all cleared a path for her. By the time that she'd reached the edge of the clearing the entire valley of unicorns were staring. Even Adi never thought that she would ever use that bad of language, especially directed at him. Just the way she called him princeling instead of Adi, informed him that she was both angry and sorrowful. He didn't know it then, but he would regret not standing up for Tel.
"I honestly don't know why you associate with that hideous creature, Adi, she's not pretty, she's not smart in the slightest, and she's clearly insecure in her surroundings. Definitely not fit to be a princeling's mate, don't you agree, Adi?" Adi looked after Tel thoughtfully, not unlike he'd seen Tel look at him. The young princeling looked down and, to his surprise, saw a single silver rose on the ground. He lowered his head to pick it up and saw a tree bark tag around it with his name written beautiful curvy script. Adi immediately recognized it as Tel's, below his name in the same curvy witting, it said, To Adi, who was my friend through sunshine and rain, you are my light in the dark, thank you for being my friend. Hopefully I'm yours too, Tel. Adi looked up again and looked sorrowfully after Tel. "Adi?" Kaas asked again. Adi turned towards her and replied,
"Your wrong, Kaas. Tel's beautiful in her own way; she doesn't need a shiny coat, or polished hooves to impress me. Her beauty is in her heart, not only outward appearance. You're also completely wrong on her wits too; she's the smartest filly I've ever met! And if you could find a more secure unicorn in the heard, I'd like to meet them. And as for not being fit for a prince's mate…I beg to differ, she's eighteen times more fit. The other fillies don't hate you because your pretty, they hate you because you're a jerk! You've already got the royal snooty part down, so all you have to become the second biggest royal jerk is marry Het!" Adi yelled crossly. Fuming, he took off after Tel at a full gallop. He instinctively went strait to the clearing where he and Tel usually met when he was about half way there, he heard a loud scream coming from the clearing, he froze for a second, then said, "Tel." And raced even faster to the clearing a second later the screaming stopped and there was silence, too much silence. When Adi got to the clearing it was empty, but in the middle where a sliver of moonlight ran in, he saw a pool of blood, then, to his terror, a piece of Tel's fledgling horn, but no Tel. This must have been why she stopped screaming, and also why she started screaming. Who would have done such a thing? He'd heard tales of unicorns of white and red and brown that owned the world, they were monstrous unicorns that killed black unicorns for sport. Adi felt fear racing through his bones at the thought of those demons, and if they didn't kill her, than she was blackmail, and Adi had a feeling who they were trying to blackmail, his father, Oin. He wasn't sure why they used Tel, but if they hurt her, Adi would be their problem. He would not let her die.