Chapter 10: The Cult of Endless Night

Celestia sat by her window once again, staring penitently out at Canterlot. Two prone bodies decorated the floor. The bodies of the pair of assassins who tried to kill her. They had been relieved of both armour and weapons.

Oh, and they were still breathing.

There came a polite knocking at her door and she smiled to herself.

"Come in Captain. I've got something for you."

The door opened on its own, revealing a snow white unicorn stallion in the gilded armaments of the guard captaincy. Emblazoned on his flank was a blue shield inlaid with a large, pink, six pointed star with three smaller five pointed stars adorning the top of it, one each inbetween the three prongs and one above the middle prong. He saluted smartly, or went to, just before he caught sight of the two bodies.

"I see. If I may ask ma'am, what did these two do?"

Not even bothering to turn around, Celestia answered him calmly.

"It seems Luna is not the only one in danger of attempted assassination from insurgents captain. If I may be so bold as to suggest you check the armour of your troops Shining?"

The captain was looking at the pair closely, trying to identify them.

"Yes, of course Celestia. Why may I ask?"

A pair of chestplates crashed to the ground in front of the pair.

"Because they've got weapons hidden in them. If you can find anypony with hidden weapons in their armour, I'd say it's a good bet that they're insurgents."

"Yes ma'am. I'll do so as soon as I can."

"Thank you Shining. It's good to know you're still loyal."

"Till death milady."

The captain hesitated for a moment before looking to Celestia.

"Celestia, if you don't mind my asking, have you heard from my sister?"

A soft smile graced the solar monarch's lips at his question.

"Twilight is doing quite well Shining. Perhaps someday you might meet her partner? I know you have been too busy to visit them. How is my niece Shining?"

There was a lull in the conversation as two more guards took away the prone ones before he smiled.

"Cadance is radiant as always… Auntie."

He smirked cheekily before trotting out of the room. Celestia couldn't help but giggle lightly at his comment.

That's true, that would make me Twilight's aunt wouldn't it?

She smiled as she began the spell to raise the sun.

Never thought of that before.

---

It was cold. Very cold. And damp, very, very damp. Whatever she was on was hard as well. Her mind was fuzzy, making it hard to think, and her eyelids… so heavy…

Luna forced herself to open her eyes. All she saw was darkness. Sheer and utter darkness. But then, Luna had never been afraid of the dark. The darkness was her domain, her night brought the darkness to Equestria and she could see in it as clearly as she could see in the day. All she had to do was….

Wait… what the..?

In her dazed state, her mind could barely register that she couldn't access her magic. She couldn't feel her magic reserves as she normally could. She was normally very proud to be able to boast of her precision control over her magical capabilities, but right now…

I can't feel anything… is this how an earth pony feels every day?

Somewhere in the vague parts of her mind, a small voice was telling her she should be terrified at this fact, but it was too small for her to take any notice of. She tried to move her wings, lift them off of the cold floor. Again, nothing. They remained stubbornly on the ground, not wanting, it seemed, to move at all.

"Ahh, you're awake."

The voice came from behind her, but her inability to move prevented her from seeing him. Not that it was really concerning her at the moment.

"Your Royal Highness Princess Luna. Keeper of the night and joint ruler with your highly esteemed sister Princess Celestia. It is my great honour to meet you dear Princess."

She heard a dark chuckle that worried her even in her drugged state.

"The cult of the endless night welcomes you, bearer of Nightmare Moon."

---

Stalwart Defender awoke, cold, stiff and sore. His eyes darted open and started looking around, sitting up a little too quickly and trying to fight off the burst of dizziness caused by this almost made him fall again. After overcoming his dizzy spell, he could firmly agree against all odds that he was, in no metaphorical sense, imprisoned. Stone walls around him, a single torch outside lit up the surrounding area.

I can't be sure, but I'd be willing to guess this was the Canterlot dungeons… but why in Equestria would I be in the dungeon?

He approached the barred doorway and knocked on one of the bars in an attempt to gain the attention of a guard.

"Hey! Anypony there?"

The sound of metal shoes on stone echoed through the cell and Defender sighed in relief as one of the guards came into view.

"Guardspony! There's been some sort of mistake. I shouldn't be here! I need to be out there, looking for Luna!"

The guard nodded seriously, then glared at him.

"That's nice. Shutup! Unless you're telling us where your assosciates took her majesty, you can go to hell, and make sure your voice goes with you!"

With that, the guard spat in Defender's face and walked off. Defender was too shocked to speak.

Associates! Me take Luna? What in the name of Equestria is she talking about!

He took a moment to wipe the saliva off of his face before swallowing himself.

What the hell have I been thrown into here!

---

"Celestia? I hate to disturb you ma'am, but I just received word. Concerning Luna's absence?"

Celestia turned to Shining Armour, her face tired and worried. It wasn't marred by any physical defect such as lines or wrinkles, as they normally would, but her anxiety more radiated off of her in waves of emotion. The captain of the guard could feel it from here.

"Yes Shining? Pray tell."

He paused for a moment, not quite believing what he was about to say.

"Two of my guards captured one Stalwart Defender, presumably in the act of kidnapping your sister. His accomplices, however, got away."

Celestia frowned at him.

"You don't actually believe that do you?"

Shining hesitated and glanced at the open door behind him. Celestia noticed that and the door swung shut.

"You can speak freely in here dear Nephew. Nopony else will hear us."

He shot her a grateful smile before speaking.

"Quite frankly Celestia? I think it's ponyfeathers, through and through. I don't believe it for a second."

His face fell.

"But… they have the body of another Moonlight Guardian ma'am… Stonewall has been killed."

"Oh no… Not Stonewall"

Saddened, the monarch looked at her hooves.

"I guess compensation for the family is needed."

Shining Armour nodded sadly.

"I'd hate to be the one to tell his two foals they no longer have a father… But I'll do it myself. Make sure it's done."

Celestia was silent for a while before speaking again, a frown of thought on her face.

"Stalwart Defender thought very highly of Stonewall. So much, in fact, that he personally appealed to me to transfer him into his services. In a lot of ways, I guess he considered him a father figure. He wouldn't kill Stonewall, even if his life depended upon it. And, though he would never admit it, you and I both know that he cared much too deeply for Luna harm her. He would sooner harm himself."

Shining Armour found himself agreeing with her wholeheartedly. He'd only met Stalwart Defender on occasion, and even then it was for very short times. But even then, his determination to defend Luna even from Shining Armour himself at first meeting was not something you saw every day. It wasn't fanaticism, Shining had seen and met fanatics before and Stalwart Defender wasn't fanatical. Zealous, determined and devoted suited him better.

"Celestia… I respect Defender and think him as a great guard and I hate to say this but… There's a little too much going against him right now to earn him in good graces at court. To be blunt with you ma'am I'm not actually sure why she even hired him in the first place. His record is far from clean. Anything from assault to theft to attempted murder. Fact is, he was banished from his town because of it."

Celestia sighed heavily.

"I already know all of this Shining. There's nothing my sister and I keep from each other. I know of what has been said he's done, and he's denied every act. He swore to Luna that he didn't do any of it and I believe his word."

"Your opinion won't hold in court Celestia. You and I both know it."

"I run the court, remember?"

Shining nodded.

"Yes but you cannot simply let one go on opinion alone. Start doing things on a whim like that and ponies will lose respect for you. You can't afford that."

Celestia grimaced, knowing that this was true.

Oh Luna… please be safe.

---

"WE DEMAND TO BE RELEASED AT ONCE! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!"

Luna, having recently recovered from her heavily drugged state, although not enough it seemed to be able to use her magic, was bending the full force of her voice upon her captors. Standing before her was a dark green stallion, almost black, and his hair was the colour of rotting flesh, his eyes completely dead looking. He wasn't even flinching. In fact, he had a small smile on his face.

"An outrage you say Princess? Oh, but it isn't. You want to know what the real outrage this country is facing is? This land is facing?"

His smile very slowly grew, his dead eyes beginning to creep Luna out.

"The illusions that our society faces each day. There are so many lies that ponies face each day it's absurd. Our time here is brief. Do you not believe we should face the truth each day?"

Luna faltered in her verbal assault, blinking.

"I… wait, what? Truths?"

"Yes little princess. Truth."

His smile turned into a twisted grin.

"The light shines brightly into the eyes of those who look into it, blinding them to the truth. Only in the darkness do the lies fade. Only in the black of night do the lights cease and the blinding of ponies die down to nothing."

The unhealthy looking stallion leaned forward, his eyes now dancing in dark, menacing, fanatical zeal.

"My Princess of the night. You were meant for something far greater than what you are. Once, you were a queen! The ultimate purveyor of the blackest night. The harbinger of night, the only power in this world capable of revealing the truth."

Luna stared at him in absolute shock and horror.

"You don't mean..!"

A sinister chuckle rolled from his throat.

"Yes Princess. Soon, so soon, our Queen, our one true ruler shall once again be born in the form of the ultimate queen of the night!"

His grin, nay, his entire face, split into a maniacal, sadistic smile.

"Nightmare Moon shall return! Ushering in a new age of enlightenment and eternal night!"

"You're Insane!" Luna screamed at him incredulously.

A sinister chuckle escaped his lips.

"No Princess. I'm one of the few left in Equestria that can still think clearly."

His facial expression dropped back down to the previously dead expression he wore at the beginning and he stood up and turned around. As he was walking away he called back.

"I'll see you later Princess."

---

Three days had passed without Luna's return, and no list of demands. Celestia had been covering for her sister, saying she was not well and was bed ridden. Only a select few knew the truth of the matter, those few being composed mostly of Celestia, Shining Armour and a few guards. The only civilian that knew was, in fact, Stonewall's wife, who the guard captain had thought was owed a full explanation.

Three days had passed, and now Stonewall found himself in a court room. He would be called upon to give his honest thoughts and breakdown of Defender's character, to try and prove that he would never do such a thing. Honestly though, he failed to see how his word would help.

I have to try.

As it turned out, Celestia was not going to be the judge, as she normally tended to do, based on a unanimous decision that she'd be biased upon decisions made to actually be a good choice for a fair trial. Not that Shining Armour believed this would be a fair trial. He didn't know how, but he knew that somehow, something was rigged. Celestia had never been questioned before in terms of fair trials, why would she now? The entire setup smelled fishy to Shining Armour.

His thoughts were interrupted by a gentle nuzzle at his neck and he looked over at the source of the welcome distraction. Cadance, the niece of Luna and Celestia, and his wife, sat by his side, a worried look on her face.

"It'll be okay Shiny, I know it will. They can't do anything much with him, they have no real evidence."

He grimaced.

"They have anecdotal evidence Cadance, and that just might be enough. I have no doubt the anecdotes will be lies, but there isn't a whole lot I can do about that. I just hope that he doesn't do or say anything stupid."

The court was called to silence. Not too difficult taking into account just how few ponies were included. This was an interesting sort of setup for court considering the extraneous circumstances. As it turned out, they weren't calling Stalwart Defender into the court, which grated against Shining since not only was it unorthodox, but against regulations.

But who was he to argue with a judge?

---

Stalwart Defender was in another room, that is to say, he was no longer in his cell. He'd been 'escorted' to another, larger room, still made of stone, because he had a visitor. It wasn't somepony he knew however. So why they'd want to visit him was beyond his level of comprehension. Apparently, the stallion who he was about to talk to was named Iron Heart, or something like that. Something to do with metals and organs. Defender was rather impatient, and more than a little angry, when the stallion finally walked in. He had deep, deep purple hair and a coat of deepest blue. His eyes shone with an inner light, seeming to constantly change colour and the horn upon his head confirmed his racial identity as a unicorn. Something about him put Defender on edge.

"Good afternoon, Stalwart Defender."

He smiled and Defender felt a chill go down his spine. The stallion's next words were directed at the guards in the doorway.

"Thank you gentlecolts, that'll be all. You can wait outside."

The pair of guards looked a little wary but walked out anyway, closing the door behind them. The instant the door closed the stallion smiled.

"Alright. Now that they're gone, guardspony, I can talk freely."

Defender looked at the stallion in a mixture of disbelief and disdain.

"They can hear you, you know."

He chuckled darkly.

"No good stallion, they can't. All they hear right now is anything outside of this room. A useful little enchantment I've kept for occasions. Now then. How about we get to the point hmm?"

Defender narrowed his eyes warily.

"You're not a lawyer like the guards who escorted me said… are you?"

An amused chuckle emanated from the unicorn.

"Very good Guardspony."

Defender ventured further.

"If I were to guess, I'd say you're not using your real name either. Not to mention I can't see any visible cutie mark either. Who are you?"

The smile decorating his face from before grew and with it grew the sinister quality to it.

"My my, you are good."

He sat down before Defender, who was restrained by chains leading to the floor, preventing him from moving too far.

"You're correct. My name, dear framed commander, is Splintered Dreams."

The stallion leaned forward, the same creepy grin still on his face.

"And if you ever want any chance of seeing your beloved Princess Luna again, you will listen to everything I say."

---

Celestia sighed sadly.

"I just know this is a mistake… Shining, are you sure this trial was..?"

Shining Armour nodded. The pair were in Celestia's quarters, and Shining Armour had just told the solar monarch the result of the trial, which he was now positive was rigged.

"I'm sure of it Celestia. But without concrete evidence… there's nothing I can do to overrule the judges' decision. They've ruled that, for now at least, he remains imprisoned in the dungeons, which is where he is now. But…"

He hesitated, not really wanting to continue.

"But..?"

He sighed.

"They're pushing that, in the possible event of termination of her majesty, that Stalwart Defender be terminated as well, penance. A life for a life."

Celestia stared at him in shock.

"Capital punishment? In Equestria? That hasn't been used since the dark ages! What makes them think I will allow this?"

He hesitated once more before speaking.

"Celestia… In the event that Luna does perish, I believe they would plan to use your grief as an excuse to say you are unfit to rule. In the event that the ruling body of Equestria is unfit to rule…"

"The court makes the decisions in the name of the crown… I see."

The pair sat in silence for a long while, both of them considering the implications of Luna's possible complete disappearance from Equestria. Rather regretfully, Celestia sighed and started to speak.

"Shining, I don't mean to seem rude and I'm not trying to get rid of you, but… I wouldn't want to distract you from your duties."

For the first time in a while, Shining smiled.

"Celestia, I'm off duty. If you would like, I can send for Cadance and you can have a bit more company if you would like."

Celestia smiled gratefully at her nephew.

"I would like that, thank you."

---

"You can't be serious!"

Splintered Dreams nodded.

"Oh yes, I'm deadly serious. See, this was all planned. Your trial would have just finished by now. Without you ever having been there. And I'm willing to bet that they plan on keeping you imprisoned until such a time as their plan comes to fruition. Which will take another…"

He paused, thinking.

"Three days."

Defender looked at the stallion incredulously.

"How did you know all this? Why three days?"

The creepy grin that had continued cropping up for the past hour split his face again.

"Why do I know this? I think it'd make more sense for you to figure it out yourself. Think about it."

It only took a moment for Defender to arrange his suspicions.

"My best guess is that you'd have to be one of them in order to get close enough to know all this…"

His thoughtful face turned into a disgusted grimace.

"But then, if you were really one of them, then you wouldn't be telling me this in the first place. Which could only make you either a turncoat or a spy."

The smile widened.

"Oh very good commander. You're very close. You're right, I did pose as one of them. In fact I still am. So far as they know, I am a fellow member. They're wrong of course. Personally I don't care for either princess."

He held up his hoof as Defender went to speak.

"However, I do recognize the need for a working government. And without Princess Luna, Celestia wouldn't be capable of functioning on her own for a long while."

He stopped, letting Defender process all of this before he rather casually cracked his neck.

"Now then. I have something for you."

His horn, for the briefest moment, glowed and his hoof met his shoulder. Or it went to. It stopped an inch or two away from it, and when it left, a mask came with it. It was, it seems, made of bone and shaped, rather morbidly, as the skull of a pony. Etched into the surface was a pictograph of three leaves.

"This is for you. I'm afraid I will have to hide it again, but I will give you a way of retrieving it off of your person. It's a rather unique item, and I expect to have it returned to me upon the completion of this little quest, understand?"

Feeling a little sick, Defender took the mask.

"Is this..?"

Splintered Dreams nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. It is, in fact, quite literally a pony skull. I didn't make it, I didn't enchant it. It's a…"

He paused, searching for the correct word.

"Practical antique. Invisibility is a useful asset to be in the possession of dear boy, and I expect you to use it well."

He went from smiling to dead set serious in less than a second.

"Stalwart Defender. The Princess is being held in the ancient castle deep within the Everfree Forest. There are a group of ponies in Ponyville that know the way. Seek out Twilight Sparkle of the Ponyville Library. She and her friends will show you the way."

He knocked twice on the door to the room and it opened almost instantly.

"Perhaps someday we'll see each other again. If you're not killed for your actions. So long, old friend."