The royal chariot touched down on the landing platform of Canterlot Castle. A host of armored stallions, a combination of all three tribes, stood at attention at the edge of the platform. As the guard escorts settled to a stop beside the first chariot, a bulky white unicorn stallion approached the procession. He was clad in ceremonial golden armor that glistened in the evening sun like a torch. His blue eyes, however, were sharp as steel.
Princess Celestia emerged from the chariot and strode toward the stallion with a graceful gait. Luna followed at her heels with a brisk trot to make up for her shorter legs. The smaller alicorn craned her head up and about to take in the sights before Celestia stopped in front of the stallion.
"Your Majesty." He dipped his head.
"Captain Armor." Celestia greeted him with a serene smile.
"How was the Summer Sun Celebration?" he quirked an eyebrow.
"It went well." Celestia replied, her mask unfaltering. "Your sister sends her well-wishes."
Captain Armor glanced toward the chariot before centering his cold gaze on Luna, who reflexively flinched. "I see she didn't return with you. I trust she is well?"
"At ease, Shining Armor." Celestia draped her snowy wing over her sister. "Twilight is safe and well. She has elected to remain in Ponyville with her new friends. You know she has a very one-track mind."
His eyes softened for a moment before narrowing in confusion. Twilight was never the one to put much stock in social stimulation. She, in fact, was often driven to neurotic frenzies over the stress of such relationships. Sure, she had made acquaintances in classmates and study partners, but never friends. He was her friend. Spike was her friend. Books were her friends…
"Must be wonderful friends indeed if they made her drop her entire life to move into a strange and unknown town. Without so much as a five minute notice, I might add."
Celestia chuckled softly and began her trek into the castle proper. "Yes… Indeed."
Shining Armor snorted as he followed. "… Indeed."
Luna bit her tongue and ensured Celestia stayed between herself and the much larger unicorn.
"Does something trouble you, my most loyal captain?" Celestia asked, barely glancing at Shining Armor from her peripherals.
"I do not appreciate the Royal Guard, myself especially, being kept in the dark regarding your schemes, Your Highness," Captain Armor replied curtly. "You disappeared for several hours. The sun did not rise. We were tearing at the seams trying to keep the city from breaking out into stampedes. It is our duty to ensure your safety, my Queen, and if we are unable to do so then it is our duty to ensure the safety of the populace. Your secrecy obstructed on both counts."
"That is correct, Captain Armor." Celestia nodded. "And I do apologize. I did not want to mislead you or your subordinates, but I needed everything to be 'business as usual' in order for the Elements to awaken naturally. The bond that is required in order to use the Elements of Harmony cannot be forced. The most I could do was simply make sure everypony was where they needed to be – when they needed to be there. Everything else relied on Twilight and the training we gave her."
"I understand the theory and reasoning, Your Highness," Shining frowned, "but that does not mean I like it or agree with it. That goes double for putting Twilight in danger like that… Even though it did return the Princess to us."
"I did not enjoy it either, Shining," Celestia sighed, dropping her mask for a moment, "but we had little alternative, and I believed Twilight to be ready for the task. Fortunately, I was right."
"What's done is done. Now if you will excuse me, Your Highness, I must return to my duties and inform the nobles of your safe return."
"Very well, Captain. You are dismissed."
Captain Shining Armor gave Queen Celestia a stiff salute before splitting off down a side corridor.
A few moments passed as Celestia and Luna walked down the halls. Two royal guards marched at a respectful distance behind them.
"Sister." Luna finally spoke. "We sensed great power within thy Captain. 'Tis true, then? Is he kin to thy pupil, Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes, Luna." Celestia smiled. "Shining Armor is Twilight's older brother. He is one of the greatest battle magi I have had the pleasure of knowing in nearly a thousand years. I believe only Aegis Blade would have had any hope of piercing his barriers."
"Truly?" Luna's eyes widened in shock. "Mighty indeed, then. But enlighten me, sister. Dost thou maketh it a habit to allow your subordinates to speakest to thee in such a disrespectful manner?"
"I approved of Captain Armor's promotion for multiple reasons, Luna," Celestia explained. "Even though his magical power is substantial, it is his character – particularly his honesty and honor – that set him apart from the other candidates. He did not rise to his station through politicking, despite what many may think, but through diligence and merit. Shining Armor will speak his mind when it is required, and in this circumstance his frustration is warranted. I did put his younger sister in danger, despite my full faith in her abilities."
"Very well. We will trust thy wisdom. Verily, thou hast a full millennia on us. Hmm hmm…" Luna smirked.
"Lulu…" Celestia groaned. "Are you calling me old?"
"Nay, dearest sister," Luna chortled. "Merely aged, likest unto fine wi-wa-wu-ughhh…"
"Luna? … Luna!" Celestia stopped cold as Luna collapsed with a thud. She could only watch in horror as her sister convulsed on the stone tile. Celestia's eyes narrowed in resolve before kneeling beside Luna and rolling her onto her side.
"Guard!" Celestia snapped one of the escorts out of their shock. "Find the palace physician and tell him to come to my quarters! And hurry!"
"Yes, Princess!" the guard saluted and galloped down the hallway.
Celestia returned her attention to Luna. The younger alicorn still seized on the cold hard ground. Her jaw was clenched shut while her eyes rolled back into her skull. A golden aura of magic surrounded her as Celestia attempted to hold her limbs still.
"No, please, Lulu," Celestia begged through a veil of tears that threatened to spill down her immaculate face. "I just got you back. Please, don't leave me… Don't leave me… Don't leave me…"
Luna's world faded to black.
Deathweaver strode with a purposeful gait in front of Castle Circadia's gates. His cold blue eyes took stock of the scene before him with a clinical detachment. Dozens of corpses were lined up in an orderly fashion like cut selections in a meat market. Nightgaunt hovered beside him like a billowing cloud of smoke, and his wispy red eyes never left his master. The Pale Alicorn lowered his head toward one of the diamond dogs and examined it more closely. He hummed in thought before turning to his minion.
"You have done adequate work, Nightgaunt." He nodded in approval. "They will make a fine foundation for our forces."
"Yes, my lord," Nightgaunt rasped. "They will serve well beneath your banner. However, some of them are small or frail… Those won't make very good laborers for your new citadel. Perhaps, your will permitting, we can make some new younger siblings for me to play with?"
Deathweaver met the gaze of his underling. There was a glimmer of child-like hopefulness buried beneath the savage bloodlust of the shadow's eyes. The Alicorn's cracked lips pulled up into a small smile.
"You are correct, Nightgaunt." Deathweaver looked back over the corpses. "Some of their shells would be useless to me, but their spirits will fulfill another dire need of ours… Now, let us awaken our guests."
Deathweaver stopped in front of the line of corpses like a commander surveying his troops. His eyes flared with ghostly necrotic power while a cloud of frosty air was expelled from his nostrils. He stamped his hoof, snapped his wings open, and cast a shadow over the remains of the diamond dog pack.
"Hear me, lost souls." His voice thrummed with power as it echoed through the Realm of Death. "Hear the call of your Master. Come out of the Abyss. Return from Death's soothing embrace, for your work is not yet finished. Rejoin me, and be free of your hunger – your sickness, sorrow, and suffering.
"Return to me!" Deathweaver cried as a chilling wind buffeted the canopy above him, "Rise, tormented souls, and exact vengeance upon your oppressors! Lend me your pain and woe, and I shall ignite your hatred into a fiery rage that shall bring this land to its knees! Rise, my children, and stand beside the Master of the Ancient Dead!"
"RISE!" he thundered.
A deafening howl answered him as the diamond dog corpses lurched. Their stiffening muscles clenched. Tongues of angry blue flames burst from their eyes as their blood-curdling screams drifted through the trees. They were like twisted reflections of the wails of new-born infants. Several of the corpses, particularly of the pups and brutally maimed, became drenched in slithering darkness. The living shadows stretched and coalesced into the shapes of large black wolves that snarled with murderous hunger. The shadow wolves join the unholy chorus of death after severing from the now-empty shells.
Deathweaver silenced their cries with a thought, and he smiled. He turned to his newly created ghouls and imprinted several commands onto their minds. They saw images of fortifications, instructions on building techniques far beyond their own latent abilities, and they shambled back to the castle. Next, he turned to the pack of shadows. Dark ectoplasm dripped from their phantasmal maws while they looked upon their master with savage glee burning in their eyes.
"Go forth, my children." Deathweaver commanded. "Scatter to the four winds and bring me word of the land and its inhabitants. There is also a settlement to the north that I want monitored at all times. Prowl their fields and stalk their windows, but do no harm. We will show our hand in time."
The shadow wolves unleashed a chilling howl into the night. They silenced, one by one, as each vanished into the trees. Their footfalls were as silent as the darkness they were forged from, and their piercing crimson eyes left nothing free from their gaze.
Twilight emerged from the Golden Oaks with a yawn and carrying a pair of saddlebags. She squinted at the sudden assault of daylight in her eyes. The twitter of birds and gentle murmur of the market tickled her ears, and her tired frown rose into a content smile.
Normally Twilight would awaken to the muffled silence that permeated the palace grounds or the bustle of Canterlot city life. She had never been to any of the more rural parts of Equestria, unless one counted the summers at her family's vacation home on the coast of Horseshoe Bay, but this was different. Ponyville felt welcoming – peaceful – and free from the burdens of living in the venomous quagmire of Canterlotan high society.
Maybe Spike's right. She thought to herself while stretching the kinks out of her back. Maybe this move will be a good thing for both of us. Definitely need to get a new mattress, though…
"Spike!" she called out through the door. "I'm going to look around town. Can you meet me at the train station in about an hour? The first shipment from Canterlot should be here by then."
"Sure thing!" Spike replied from somewhere inside. "See ya then!"
Twilight hummed a cheerful tune as she trotted towards town. However, a chill along her spine stopped her short. The fur along her neck felt like cactus needles as several defensive spells instinctively ran through her head. She slowly turned her head to face the disturbance and inhaled sharply.
Dozens – no, scores – of large black birds filled the canopy of Golden Oaks. They leered down at her with hellish red eyes that burned through her own. Their ebony plumage was black as night, yet glossy like the surface of a lake under the moon. The birds were beautiful, but terrible, as they glowered down at Twilight as if she was a mere mouse in their presence.
One of the birds, an enormous raven, unfurled its wings. Its massive wingspan cast a shadow over Twilight as it uttered a guttural cry. The raven took flight, releasing a single feather, and soared into the sky. It was swiftly joined by the rest of the flock along with a cacophonous chorus of beating wings and caws. They sailed above the tree's canopy like a dark cloud of feathers, talons, and beaks, and they vanished over the hill.
Twilight sat trembling on the earth for a long moment before she exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She slowly rose from her haunches and stepped toward the long black feather that lay at her doorstep. Twilight picked it up with her telekinesis and inspected it. Like the bird it originated from, it was black and glossy like ebony. She deposited the feather in her saddlebags before turning her attention back to the tree.
Maybe this is a popular migration point for that species. Twilight rationalized away the chills in her coat. Seems like an odd time of year, though. Maybe Fluttershy would know? At least this feather will make a beautiful quill!
And so Twilight continued on her stroll into town, ignorant of the eyes that stalked her from the shadows.
Beatrix was confused.
Beatrix was relieved, but she was also confused.
It was mid-morning as she rolled into the outskirts of Fillydelphia on her wagon. Now, that was not an unusual thing; Beatrix had done shows in this city before. Even some of the residents of Dragon Town came to see her perform. However, it was only a few hours ago that Beatrix had deduced Nightmare Moon's return and set out on a quest to rescue the Princess of the Night.
Either she had been hitting the cider again, had imagined the Mare in the Moon disappearing, and had lost track of time, or some cosmic being was playing an elaborate prank on her. While the latter was somewhat flattering, she would much prefer the former – since it would mean Equestria was not in apocalyptic turmoil.
Beatrix gave a mental command to her wagon to start heading to the city proper. Farmlands and suburbs eventually gave way to paved streets and skyscrapers that gave Beatrix a kink in her neck. The incredible sights of the big city never ceased to amaze her. Each of the glass and steel titans that towered above her like mountains were testaments to earth pony engineering and pegasi architecture coming together in perfect harmony.
"Extra! Extra!" a voice called Beatrix out of her musings. "Nightmare Moon stopped! Element of Harmony recovered! Sun and Moon reunited! Read all about it!"
Her wagon jolted as Beatrix's concentration ground to a halt. Several horns barked behind her while the other carriage drivers protested her lackluster driving skills. Once the profanities directed at her were exchanged for quick apologies on her part, Beatrix parked her wagon beside the sidewalk and leapt onto the concrete.
"Hey!" she galloped to the edge of the growing crowd that surrounded the newspaper colt. "Excuse me. Pardon me. Hey, that was my tail!"
Beatrix slowly wormed her way through the crowd until she was almost nose-to-nose with the colt. He was a wiry fellow with a yellow-brown coat accented with orange splotches on his forelegs. The colt carried a pair of large saddleback filled with newspapers and fliers.
"How much?!" Beatrix demanded eagerly.
"Two bits, ma'am!" the colt replied.
Beatrix furrowed her brow and illuminated her horn. A dusty brown bag popped into existence beside her and levitated in an azure aura of magic. Two gold coins floated from the bag and landed in the colt's hoof.
"Much obliged, ma'am." He grinned before twisting around and pulling out a thin newspaper from his saddlebags with his teeth. Beatrix quickly grabbed the paper in her telekinesis and poured over the document.
The picture below the headline was the first thing to catch her attention. It was an eyesore of pastel colors that focused into a group photo of several mares. Princess Celestia, in all her radiant glory, took up the largest portion of the photo. Two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns occupied the center, but Beatrix stared slack-jawed at the small dark-blue form that huddled – almost cowered – at Celestia's side. Pale blue locks of hair fell loosely on her shoulders while two beautiful wings, so dark that they were almost purple, clung tightly to her sides. A long azure horn stood majestically on her forehead.
Beatrix blinked tears out of her blurring vision as a quivering smile graced her lips.
"Is… Is it true?" she croaked. "Has she truly returned? Has the Nightmare finally ended?"
She exhaled a shuddering breath and wiped away the bittersweet tears with her fetlock. Beatrix rolled up the paper in her magic and made her way back to her wagon. Several carriage drivers glowered and glared as they circumvented her illegally parked vehicle, but Beatrix couldn't have cared less. The Lady of the Moon has returned, and Beatrix would see to it that she was not alone.
She would never be alone.
Never again.
Lord Deathweaver sat as still as a corpse in the center of Circadia's courtroom. He stared at the empty twin thrones before him with his cold blue eyes. One was carved from onyx or obsidian – he could not tell which – and inlaid with dozens of sapphires organized into an assortment of constellations. A crescent moon, carved out of the largest opal he had ever seen, adorned the crest like a crown. The lunar throne had fared well in its thousand years of disuse. However, the same could not have been said about its twin.
The solar throne lay half-crumbled and half-smashed beside its somber companion. What was once polished and bleached marble accented by gold trimmings was little more than a pile of greyish rubble and dust with a few glittering trinkets thrown about. A cracked solar disk, more likened to a bent and rusted bronze plate, lay tossed to the side.
Deathweaver snorted dismissively and a pitter-patter of paws answered his unsaid command. Several diamond dog ghouls shuffled across the throne room and diligently cleared away the rubble. Dust was swept aside, stones were hauled away, and precious metals were collected. The Pale Alicorn nodded approvingly before expanding his senses. Several teams of his servants performed similar tasks throughout the castle. They cleared the compound, room by room, and sorted usable material from worthless refuse. He ensured they stayed clear of the library and resolved to look through it himself, however. Knowledge was more valuable than gold, and he dared not risk the rotten paws of his children to damage such priceless and ancient tomes.
Still… They were an adequate foundation for his forces. Deathweaver stood – old bones creaking like the ancient wooden bows of a long-dead tree – and slowly walked towards the thrones. There was so much to do. So little time. The spirits of this placed called to him. They wept – forever lost in the spiraling despair of their final moments. How long had they wandered these halls, wailing at the unfeeling stone? How long did they hiss in the darkness, gnashing their phantom teeth at the injustice of their ends.
It matters not, Deathweaver mused as his decrepit horn burned with cerulean fire. He was here now. The forgotten dead would whisper their secrets, and he would hear their pain. Deathweaver narrowed his gaze on the black throne and snarled. Their misplaced loyalty would not be met with indifferent silence. They would not fade into the darkness with a whimpering echo.
The black throne exploded in a shower of shrapnel, dust, and debris as ancient preservation enchantments were ripped asunder from the overpowering kinetic force of the Alicorn's magic. Deathweaver stamped his hoof and the ground rumbled. Stone tile and old masonry crumbled to dust as a spire of rock rose from the earth between the thrones' remains.
No. They will not vanish nameless into the mists of time, he resolved as he strode toward the stone pillar. It opened up like the vague image of an equine skull screaming in silent torment. We will emerge from the darkness, screaming for blood – for justice.
Deathweaver stepped onto the dais as it bulged from the floor and sat upon the throne forged from the bones of the earth. He faced the rest of the courtroom and scanned the procession. Row upon row of ghostly aberrations stood before him. Their incorporeal ranks shifted like a slow tide. Pegasi, unicorns, thestrals, earth ponies – all clad in varying uniforms of the sun and moon – watched him in silence. He could feel the anguish and betrayal that saturated their restless forms. It was a quiet pain, like the calm before an earthquake. All it needed was a spark to ignite the blaze.
All they needed was a voice.
And his war cry would shatter the foundations of the world.