THE BLACK GATE

In the beginning, there was nothing but Equestria.

Spanning hundreds of miles in all directions, the vast pony domain of Equestria sat in the middle of the known world. The Griffin Kingdoms of the North were marred by civil strife and borderline anarchy, a defining characteristic not only of the many Griffin Kingdoms, but of their inhabitants themselves. To the west were the Chillypeak Mountains, the dwelling of the various Dragon Clans, each vying for dominance. Fortunately, while they were destructive when unified, the dragon clans were powerless when scattered. To the east was the Everfree Forest, an ancient land long abandoned for reasons unknown to all but a few ponies. There, nature reclaimed in silence what pony settlements had dotted it's ominous presence centuries ago. To the south were the Great Plains, unexplored and wild. It seemed it would forever remain uncharted, as frequent exploration missions always failed with a mysterious and unexplainable consistency. A popular lye was how one could be 'cursed with the southerner’s luck'.

So Equestria sat in the middle of all this. Long ago, ponies had affectionately referred to it as the 'Center Kingdom', ruled by their loving Princesses: Celestia and Luna. Both ponies were unmatched in age, and were rumored to be older then the land itself. However, they were reluctant to share their true age, or the true origins of Equestria, for that matter. So, for better or worse, the ponies of Equestria lived in a joyous and prosperous land yes, but in an admittedly ignorant one as well.

Many generations of prosperity resulted in a consistent outpouring of support for the two regal sisters. Whenever trouble eventually arose, legend tells that the two Princesses were always able to defeat it. There are ancient tales of would-be plagues of darkness threatening the land, only be unquestionably beaten back by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. However, there have been no written accounts of these such ‘plagues’, and obviously nopony is old enough to remember such a time. Nopony was about to question either of the Princesses, either, especially after the Second Nightmare Moon Crisis. The Second Nightmare Moon Crisis would prove to be a turning point in the history of Equestria, as historians would hail this event as the unfortunate end to the ‘Pax Equestria’, which had lasted for a thousand years.

Those who did suspect that the Second Nightmare Moon Crisis did foreshadow a collapse of the Dual Monarchy were silenced forever, however, when the long-lost Elements of Harmony resurfaced in the form of six young fillies. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie-- Magic, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Laughter. However, many would later agree that the appearance of the Elements of Harmony further flung Equestria into a ‘passive’ state. Perhaps, however, they deserved a respite after the Second Nightmare Moon Crisis. Such a threat to the safety of Equestria hadn't been seen in the last thousand years, during the First Nightmare Moon Crisis. So who was not to think that future trouble couldn't be far, far off, perhaps another thousand years? Ten thousand years? Perhaps such trouble would never be seen again? We cannot pin blame for this kind of thinking, however, on anypony, and it would be foolish to do so anyways.

However, as we all know, the ponies of Equestria did not get such a respite. Come the end of the Pax Equestria, after many of years of prosperity, Equestria fell farther than it had ever had in it's known history. And to this day, my friends, we remain in this Dark Age. Hmmm? What's that? How did it all begin? Well, you could say it began with a small pegasus-pony who we know as 'Exotic'. It really wasn't her fault what happened, that is to be sure, but it is understandable why her name bears a negative connotation today...

A turquoise pegasus-pony flew across the Equestrian skyline. The pony’s sapphire-green mane provided a stark contrast with the blues of the mid-morning sky as she tried to gain speed. Peering down with bright-blue eyes, all of Equestria lay before her. The Lake Mead River Valley was famous for its rolling hills and meandering rivers that stretched for countless miles in all directions. It also boasted some of the most fertile land in all of Equestria. The nearby Whitetail Forests’ trees stood silently rooted in a solemn vigil, protective of its ancient ruins and secrets. Flying high but just beneath the clouds, Exotic inhaled the dewy sting of the wet morning air as she flew top-speed to her destination. All of her friends teased her for not staying in one place long enough to enjoy life, her being the Canterlot dispatch-runner. Or dispatch-flyer, she joked to herself.

She looked up. Clouds flew by and more clouds replaced them, creating a never-ending panorama of beautiful and perfectly blended hues of whites and blues. The morning sky, she thought. This kind of silence, with the perfect atmosphere to-- Exotic’s nose twitched. Something was wrong.

The pegasus-pony flipped her brakes and stopped abruptly mid-air, frowning. She had flown across this lane every day, but something suddenly seemed out of place. The pegasus-pony couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but something about Lake Mead was definitely different. Exotic glanced down at the familiar landscape, but couldn’t see anything immediately wrong with it. She frowned at her confusion.

Lake Mead at first glance seemed no different than it always was, being the large body of water Exotic flew across before entering Canterlot several miles away. However, something was definitely amiss. Lake Mead, normally vibrant and sometimes even violent in crashing against the shore in its wake, was uncharacteristically calm. Calmer, in fact, than Exotic had ever seen it before. Suddenly, she felt a splitting ache in her upper-back. Flying nonstop from San Franciscolt to Canterlot had certainly taken it's toll on the pegasus-pony's wings. I shouldn’t have stopped flying so abruptly, self-lectured the pegasus-pony. Well, I can take a quick stop, she thought, her frown quickly disappearing. I've never seen Mead this quiet before.

She landed roughly, the pegasus-pony being much more accustomed to landing mid-gallop. Her hooves touched the soft, still grass. The teal pegasus-pony took a deep breath, expecting the rush of dew and tree bark but instead receiving the rush of... nothing. Exotic tilted her head in confusion. Where were the rich smells of the swampy marsh, of the fresh water? Come to think of it, where were the birds, the rabbits? Exotic slowly started to back away from the dense forest, to Lake Mead. She backed up too much, and her left hoof connected with the water. The water, far from being a summer warm, was instead ice-cold. It felt as if her hoof can connected with a solid plate of ice, and Exotic pulled her hoof back as fast as she could. She shook herself off vigorously by the lakeside, and caught a glimpse her own reflection of Lake Mead. She saw herself: the gorgeous, azure mane; the sleek, turquoise coat- All in top physical condition! she affirmed to herself confidently.

Suddenly, she saw something behind her. A tidal wave-- not of water, but of... something darker than springwater... in her reflection. In fact, it seemed to be bearing down right on her from behind! She whipped around, half-expecting to be drenched, while she clenched her eyes tightly shut and raised her hooves in what she knew to be a vain attempt to shield herself. She remained that way for several seconds, then opened her eyes. There was nothing there. The puzzled pony blinked once. Then again.

Oh, you silly filly, she thought to herself. Perhaps you should get more sleep from now on to avoid hallucinations. It’d be pretty bad if they appeared in flight! She turned back to Lake Mead. However, without warning as she was about to take off, a searing pain overtook her in her back-left hoof that made her knees buckle underneath themselves. She turned to her hoof, flinching, and saw that it’s normally teal coloration had turned into a shade of gray like a smear of black paint on her normally blue-green coat.

“What the-” she began, but quickly stopped as the pain spiked. Looking closer, Exotic then noticed something strange about the gray area on her left hoof. It appeared-- it appeared to be spreading. Gray tendrils shooting out of the splotch of black paint-- it was covering her whole lower body.

“Gah!” What the... Exotic looked in the distance, making out the vague outline of the Ponyville township which she passed every day on her way to Canterlot. I've got to get to Ponyville... away... away... AWAY! Knowing that somepony at Ponyville would be able to help her Exotic took off, flying faster than she had ever thought possible.

There was a low rumbling of thunder across the dark Canterlot sky. It would rain soon, Princess Celestia could tell, and it would be quite a heavy rain indeed. Very, very curious, she thought. We just had such a downpour a yesterday; we won’'t need another until at least next month. Princess Celestia closed her eyes while maintaining her usual serene smile, and silently deliberated in her mind what could be going on. The throne was quite comfortable and posh with red cushions, and she fought off the impulse to nap.

A few yards away, it was Strider’s first month out of the barracks guarding her royal highness herself, Princess Celestia. The yellow-maned pony shivered inside his brown coat. Admittedly, and despite his post, Strider still had yet to fully adjust to the cool air of Canterlot, so high in the mountains. However, he had lost the nervous fidget that had defined his first week of guard duty, but not before the other guards had harassed him for it. Strider exhaled, and a small white wisp flew out of his mouth.

“Is that my breath? I can see my breath here?” muttered the shivering guardspony in desperation.

Princess Celestia seemed to nod to herself and raised her left hoof, beckoning towards Strider.

The brown pegasus-pony had never been directly addressed by Princess Celestia. There was of course the opening ceremony (Strider remembered Princess Celestia announcing that her sister was in ‘desperate’ need of a suitor), and the Summer Sun Celebration the better part of a year ago (Strider remembered Princess Celestia espousing that anypony who felt ‘attraction’ towards her sister should step forward), but never something like this. He tried to call out, but-- Oh no. No. NO. NOT NOW OF ALL TIMES! Strider felt his throat constricting, another one of his nervous habits that he had yet to conquer. The brown pegasus-pony knew he didn’t have long before he would lose his speech. In desperation, he called out to let Princess Celestia know that he was indeed ready and willing to serve.

“AaaaaAAaAAaeeEeeeeEeeiIIiiiiIiioOOoooouuUUu,” wailed Strider.

The other guardspony, Strider’s senior officer, facehoofed.

The brown guardspony immediately clamped his mouth shut, the damage done. He then inched his way over to her, his face half an inch off the ground. Princess Celestia knew of Strider’s ‘problem’, but didn’t believe that it would affect him this much. Still, she suppressed an urge to giggle, maintaining her smile. The humiliated guardspony slowly bowed before her and Princess Celestia leaned in close to speak with him, speaking softly to ease the pressure she knew he must have been was feeling.

“Oh, Strider, it’s more than fine, so don’t worry. The more often you are on duty, the faster you will become used to it.” Princess Celestia saw the guardspony smile slightly. “Lift your head. I have an assignment for you, Strider, if you don’t mind.” Strider was beside himself. If I don’t mind? Oh wow, Celestia’s got to be the most caring and -- Strider whipped his head up, eager to please. Strider’s lengthy mane, however, flew through the air-- and landed square on Princess Celestia’s snout.

“Ah...”

Strider saw it coming, and was horrified. He flung himself backwards, but it was too late.

“Aaah...”

The other senior guardspony’s eyes were glued to Princess Celestia. This would be good.

“Hach-ChoO!”

Panic mode. Oh god, I just made her sneeze. I made a Princess of Equestria sneeze.

Princess Celestia was still reeling from her uncharacteristic outburst, face contorted in an expression of shock and dizziness. Strider didn’t even think it was possible for Princesses to sneeze. His heart sunk.

It’s the guillotine for me.

“Princesses don’t sneeze.” Strider’s buttermilk eyes widened as the Sun Regent regained herself and stared calmly at the guardspony. Strider realized that he didn’t even have anypony to say a prayer to.

“Right as, uh, always, your Highness! I didn’t mean to, uh, assault you with my mane and cause-”

“Princesses don’t sneeze, my little guardspony.”

A light went off in Strider’s head. The guardspony responded softly, regaining confidence with each word.

“I... can’t... imagine what you’re speaking off, Princess Celestia. I didn’t hear anything, did you?”

Princess Celestia’s eyes narrowed at her young Royal Guardian. After a heated few seconds of amused staring, the Sun Regent regained her famous smile, eliciting a very loud sigh of relief from Strider. She nodded, silently, and beckoned once more with her hoof. Strider took pain to avoid any other such mistakes and gingerly trotted over to Princess Celestia, thanking his good fortune.

There was another pause. Then:

“Strider, this weather is particularly dreadful, and I don’t see why it’s necessary. Please, inquire to the Canterlot Weather-Brigade’s quarters in the city, if you don’t mind,” said the Princess softly.

Strider’s dash to fulfill his Princess's wishes sounded off deafening noises as the guardspony's hooves hit the floor of ornately carved marble tiles, each telling a segment of the lengthy story of Princess Celestia’s reign. The Throne Hall's red carpet was at least half a mile in length alone, something that although Princess Celestia saw no purpose in, the architect-ponies of long ago apparently did. Strider eventually disappeared out of sight, and Princess Celestia eased herself, faithful in her dedicated guardspony.

There was a long pause. The Weather Brigade’s offices were several miles away from the Royal Palace, so Celestia nestled herself comfortably on her throne, again becoming a paragon of serenity. However, when she looked outside it was clear that the storm was determined to act against her, growing more intense as time went on. Princess Celestia sadly noted that with the amount of water the storm was pouring on them would almost certainly cause flooding in the scattered settlements below Canterlot. She looked at her remaining Royal Guardian, an ancient guardspony by the name of Silver Shield.

Silver Shield was without a doubt the oldest of her guards, and remained as a part of the Princess' Royal Guard only because of the lasting impression he had had on Princess Celestia many, many years ago. It was Silver Shield who Princess Celestia had constantly picked as her personal guardspony when it was insisted upon that she have protection in potentially hostile lands. Eventually, his constant contact with the Princess culminated into him being named as Princess Celestia’s ‘Personal Champion’, a title that he obviously cherished with great pride. Perhaps it was because of his attitude: the guardspony spoke for far too long to the Princess about topics far too beneath her, and became in the eyes of other castle staff far too close to Celestia than anypony should be. She held him close for these very reasons. Silver Shield was a friend first and one of the castle staff second, something the Sun Regent wished could be said for everpony in the castle. Princess Celestia was known to take Silver Shield's consideration over trusted diplomats and other ancillaries, much to the ire of the Canterlot political elite and nobility. Silver Shield had even once publicly introduced Princess Celestia as 'She-Who-Dominates-Our-Miserable-Lives' at a diplomatic conference between Equestria and the Dragon Federation, resulting in distinctly audible gasps from the officials of the former and bellowing guffaws from the officials of the latter. It was certainly no coincidence that that day saw the signing of a memorandum of ‘Mutual Understanding’ between the two races, which lay the groundwork for the formal ‘Treaty of Friendship’ between the two races several months later. Silver Shield was considered quite fetching by several of the castle mares. He sported a snow-white coat, and, true to his name, a wild and unkempty silver mane that seemed to flirt endlessly with the wind.

“This certainly is some foul weather we’re having, hmm? Your kind of weather, wouldn’t you say?.” The guardspony turned his head to his Princess and rolled his sky-blue eyes. The senior guardspony then gave a very audible and clearly disrespectful 'harumph', all while smiling out of the corner of his mouth. Princess Celestia was not amused: her usual serene smile faltered for a quick second as she bored holes of the sun’s fire directly Silver Shield's eyes. The white pegasus-pony didn’t even blink. The first time he had done such a thing, Celestia had thought nothing of it. The second time, Silver Shield had excused himself vigorously and promised that it would not happen again. The third time, Princess Celestia gave him a terse warning that a 'time-out' on the moon may be necessary if it happened again. The fourth, fifth, and sixth times had followed a short few seconds after the third time, and the Sun Regent had tried best to contain herself.

She realized, or at least reasoned, that her insubordinate guardspony had been testing her temper. Princess Celestia often used his brush-offs as a way to control that temper. Princess Celestia had always been complimented on being peaceful and passive, but that was only after, how many times had Silver Shield annoyed her like that?

“Eight thousand, nine hundred and seventy-two times,” replied Silver Shield smugly, and Princess Celestia realized that she must have been wondering out loud. She quickly regained her composure, turning her head away from her personal champion, trying to hide a smile from him.

“Yes, well, don't blame me if you suddenly find yourself unable to breathe.” said Celestia cheerfully.

“Oh, yes, to be sure. We all fear the wrath of our mighty Queen,” smirked the guardspony.

“Princess!” insisted Princess Celestia. It was common knowledge that she was referred to as a 'Queen' when she was not present, which annoyed her to no end. Silver Shield, as always, delighted in taking it a step further, frequently addressing her as ‘Queen’ in front of others.

“Po-tae-to, po-tah-to. Hmmm... Speaking of potatoes, perhaps we should all bestow onto you a new title: the right and honorable 'Potato-Queen' of Equestria?” inquired Silver Shield, stroking his chin thoughtfully and stifling a laugh. It was a childish joke, true, but if not anything, Silver Shield did alleviate the painful silence that Princess Celestia found herself surrounded with all too often in the stuffy castle.

“I am controlling my emotions right now, Silver Shield. Thank you. But enough is enough.”

“You only had to ask, you know. I'm nervous, though, at Strider's lengthy break.”

“You would know him more than I would, Silver Shield. He's your protege. Is he as dependable as-”

*CRASH!*

Silver Shield turned his head. The sound had emanated definitely from a long way away.

“What do you believe that was?” said Celestia, maintaining a serene smile.

“Wasn't from the kitchen, Potato-Queen,” said Silver Shield gruffly, Princess Celestia's left eyebrow twitching slightly. “Which means it probably wasn’t a cooking accident like the loud noises heard in this castle are normally from. It would appear that it came from the East Entrance. Probably some kind of flying accident with some moronic pega-” Silver Shield was cut off as the sound of ponies could suddenly be heard from the East Wing, yelling loudly in surprise and shock.

Silver Shield stopped himself, shaking his head. No, those sounds weren't the yells of surprise and shock, they were screams of panic and fright. The guardspony flinched at a particularly loud scream. He quickly turned to a frowning Princess Celestia, who the wizened pony could tell was very much disturbed.

“That description does not seem to fit and describe why we would be hearing the panic-stricken yells of my subjects,” replied Celestia, resolutely standing from her golden throne, wings stretched wide.

“The other guards should have assembled here by now. I suspect that they've gone to deal with the disturbance first. I believe it'll settle down in some time. Let us remain here for now, your Highness. With luck, the Royal Guard will resolve the situation without delay.” Princess Celestia nodded curtly, and sat, closing her eyes in what Silver Shield had dubbed 'Regal Meditation'. Princess Celestia took in air so softly and daintily that Silver Shield never heard it, and exhaled similarly. Silver Shield made a note to himself to conceive some way to mock his seemingly breathless Princess.

For Celestia, sitting through the panicked yells of her ponies proved impossible a task, and after maybe a minute the Princess stood again, determined to find out what was wrong or amiss in her castle. She glanced fiercely at Silver Shield, who immediately understood her silent order, never failing to mistake Princess Celestia’s ‘serious’ look, rare enough as it was. He trotted over to the large double-doors leading into the rest of the castle. It appeared that as they approached the doors, the yells and screams grew louder, which only further agitated Silver Shield and made him more nervous.

Silver Shield tensed, looking nervously at the large windows that were littered throughout the Grand Hall, almost seeing dragons burst through them and other such nonsense. He put his hoof to his head, massaging it gently. He looked for the smile, Celestia's noble and inspiring smile. Satisfied with what he saw, flung the massive doors open with all his might.

“AaaaaaaAAaaaaAAAaaAaaaAaAAAAAHHHH?!”

The Moon Regent flung herself backwards to avoid being crushed by the massive stone doors, hitting the wall behind her hard and eliciting a loud THUMP! from the wall. She felt a sharp stab of pain, and collapsed to the ground, wincing.

“Luna! Are you okay?” asked Princess Celestia, hurrying over to her sister. Luna rubbed her side, and was able to immediately dispel most of the pain. She tried for a small smile to assure her older sister.

“Sister, I think something's wrong,” Luna said softly, still massaging her side. Celestia smiled at her little sister. That petite crown, dinner-plate eyes, insufferably adorable half-frown... all looking up at her...

“Princess, you're drooling again,” smirked Silver Shield. Celestia's eyes shot open and she quickly wiped her mouth, closing her eyes and trying to look as dignified as one could while wiping drool from one's face.

“Well. Something wrong, Luna? I'll say. Tell you what: let's go and find out what’s causing the a commotion.” Luna attempted her sister's radiant smile, and nodded eagerly. “Let’s be off then, hmm?”

Silver Shield took to the front of his Princesses, leading them to the East Wing atrium. They proceeded down the Grand Hallway, the longest in Canterlot Castle, connecting the North, South, East, and West Wings. ‘The most important artery of the Castle’ was how the architect-ponies described it, though the prospect of walking through an artery every day made Princess Celestia somewhat nauseous. The Sun Regent also wasn’t too overly fond of the choice of construction material. Marble, marble everywhere, she thought. The whitest of marble, for the ceiling, floors, walls. A long red carpet with golden knots at the end. Portraits of the most famous of her insufferably obedient lackeys-- Respectable statesponies, as they were known to the general public.

The guardspony glanced down the hall. To his relief, the yelling and screaming seemed to be subsiding. He turned to the Princesses, nodding sternly. It definitely was just some moronic pegasus-pony.

Luna trotted very close to her older sister's side, almost bumping into her with every trot. It was a habit started unintentionally a very, very long time ago. Luna had tried to break it, and did, surprisingly, but found that being at her sister's side was much more comfortable than not. The Moon Regent saw various portraits of statesponies as they passed through the hall: a vast expanse of scarlet rugs, expert masonry, and the most expensive of ornaments and fixtures. The first few statesponies she recognized, like Ostler von Hoofsmark, but further down the hall she began to see more and more unfamiliar faces. Wow. One thousand years is indeed a long time, she thought sadly. She frowned to herself, swearing to herself to kick her study of Equestrian history during her absence into overdrive when she got back to her room. She didn't notice herself tensing up.

Celestia raised her eyebrow, smiling. She saw her younger sister tense up, looking all cute and determined. Mostly cute. Outside, however, the ominous clouds had started to unload even more tremendous amounts of water on the castle, as if the castle was underneath a waterfall. This was just like... that... time. The Princess shook her head, dismissing the memories of a dark past. Better to focus on the task at hand.

Some time later, the loud yells and screams had died down completely. Though comforting, this dissipated fear was almost immediately replaced with a multitude of others. Where were the ponies who were scrambling to tell her what had happened? Why were they three the only ponies in the enormous Grand Hallway, normally a scene of intense hubbub and movement? And why...

Why did it seem like they were the only ones in the entire castle?

The large door into the East Wing atrium came into view slowly, and grew larger until the three ponies stood in front of it. It towered over them, the legacy of the architect-ponies who designed the East Wing. Princess Celestia smiled, remembering them fondly. By now they had all by now peacefully departed into the next life, but the Princess knew that their work would endure for many more millenniums. Princess Celestia reached out with her right hoof and ran it over the details, depicting herself and her sister on opposite sides of the door, facing each other while raising both the sun and moon, respectively.

“Your Highness?” said Silver Shield, turning to his Princesses. Celestia closed her eyes, still running her hoof over the detail, as if reminding herself of something long ago. She smiled sadly, but then frowned.

“Open it. Let's find out what's going on, hmmm?” Celestia said cheerfully. Silver Shield nodded swiftly.

The guardspony swung open the doors, and the East Wing Atrium came into view. Of all the Wings, the East was the most extravagantly decorated, as Princess Celestia would always stride through it to raise the sun in the East early in the morning. Various staircases along the walls led into the upper and lower levels of the Castle, where the guards, servers, cooks, and other such attendants slept. Across the atrium was a door of solid gold, mined, as Celestia remembered, against her will from the Chillypeak Mountains and fitted into what many Royal Artificers documented to be among the most priceless objects in all of Equestria. Through these doors lay the open sky, and because of this the East Entrance was a popular entrance for pegasus-ponies entering the castle.

The doors were open as they always were, showing a vast expanse of the night sky, with enormous rolling clouds unleashing a torrential storm upon the castle. The rain hit the floor of the atrium loud and hard, forming several pools of water throughout the atrium. That, however, wasn’t what the three ponies were staring at.

A hooded figure stood on the very end of the atrium at the entrance to the castle, it's back turned to the trio of ponies. It wore a long, brown cloak that billowed in the wind. The old guardspony's blue eyes narrowed as he took three protective steps in front of the Princesses. He didn't know what it was, but from this mysterious pony he sensed danger. Lots of danger.

Celestia was the first to speak.

“Dark one, who-” she began, but was quickly interrupted by the hooded pony. The pony had an ominous and dark mare’s voice, like somepony reading the introduction to a tragic drama that Silver Shield was often forced into going to at Princess Celestia’s behest to ‘guard’ her. The guardspony was able to make out the pony’s black coat. He didn’t know anypony with a black coat, unless-- W-wait a minute!...

“There are some qualities,” interrupted the hooded pony, “some incorporate things, that have a double life. It is a type of twin entity, which springs from both matter and light, evinced in both solid...” the hooded pony trailed off in silence, as if waiting for something. Princess Celestia stepped forward.

“And 'Shade',” the Sun Regent finished, her eyes narrowing. She couldn't see it, but she knew the hooded pony was grinning. Silver Shield shook his head sadly, closing his eyes, seemingly unable to stave off a flood of bad memories of a distant past invading his mind. Luna, however, was almost hiding behind her sister and was very confused. She opened her mouth to voice her concern but was interrupted again.

“So. It has returned to wander it's old battlefields, I see,” began Princess Celestia.

“Or perhaps it is looking for some foal's revenge,” finished the guardspony roughly, looking at the dark pony, it’s back still turned to him. The hooded pony tensed, and lowered it's head, speaking softly.

“I'm flattered you remember me, Princess Celestia. You too, Silver Spear.” Silver Shield stirred, clearly agitated. Eyebrows furrowed, he angrily stomped his hooves in protest of the dark pony’s remembrance.

“My name is not Silver Spear, dark one. My name is Silver Shield,” the guardspony said tersely.

“Silver Spear? Wasn’t your name, you say? Oh, but it was your name, it was, and do you know what, old friend? It will be your name again.” The pony turned around, and immediately Princess Celestia’s eyes widened. Visions of destruction, visions of hate, visions of despair, visions of death; they permeated the dark pony’s very essence, seeping into the hearts of all who held it’s gaze. The Sun Regent shook herself, shuddering.

“I-- I had almost forgotten. How... how unbecoming of me,” Celestia said. Silver Shield turned.

“With respect, your Highness, there were many of us who wanted to forget.” Celestia nodded.

“You know, I don’t know where this sudden hostility is coming from, Princess Celestia, Silver Spear. It’s obvious you hate me, but I’ve truly done nothing wrong. I’ve never even met you! What could I have done?” the dark pony said, raising it’s front leg, massaging it’s chin. The Sun Regent gasped.

“You’ve taken the body of an innocent, haven’t you!” cried Celestia, obviously shocked.

“Well, my Princess, it was a necessity. I really wanted to see you again, so I don’t think this poor pegasus-pony will mind if I, er, borrow her body for a while, now do you?” grinned the dark pony.

“What you’ve done is against the highest law in this land. The penalty for the crimes you’ve already committed is permanent banishment,” said Princess Celestia angrily. The Princess knew that if this pony had returned, then it had brought with it some serious magic, magic unknown even to her. Or, perhaps even more dangerous, magic learned in the nether plane of banishment.

“You’re not going to send me back now, are you? We’ve only just been reunited, my Princess! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Silver Spear-- the only one you’re missing is me! Your faithful servant, Mor-”

“Silence. The evil you’ve brought back with you, dark one, why? I would have welcomed you, the true you, without question. But you’ve brought back such evil with you. We can all sense it. Show me what this evil of yours is for, dark one. Make me understand it. As with all things, there is a reason for your hatred.”

“Oh, Princess Celestia. As always, you talk in circles. You haven’t changed,” said the dark pony. “Equestria’s a different place now, anypony can see that. It’s a different land from the one that I despise, a different land from the one that abandoned me in my time of need. But my presence alone means that my job isn’t finished here, not at all. You need to face it, my Princess. Equestria brought me back.”

Luna was still even more confused. However, before the Moon Regent could question her older sister on the nature of this new arrival to the castle, the hooded pony charged towards the trio of ponies: brown cloak a blaze, white mane a cascade, black coat a blur, red eyes a fire. The dark pony was indeed fast.

“It’s time for a good old clash between good and evil, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” cried the dark pony, her voice a a twisted combination of malice and glee. Luna jumped at the mention of her name.

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, and nudged her younger sister softly, her smile gone. She motioned to Luna, who pulled in close to hear her older sister’s council in the face of this unknown threat.

“Sister, you need to assemble the Elements, now. For better or worse, we’ll meet up at that horrible place-- The Black Gate,” said the Sun Regent, almost spitting the last three words.

“You'll do well to remember who, or what, all of Equestria is up against once more,” she continued. “You know as well as I do the consequences of our actions, all those long years ago.” Princess Luna opened her mouth, but was interrupted again by her sister, voice rising as the gallop of the dark pony grew louder.

“Oh, and Luna-- remember to hit the ground galloping.”

At this, Princess Celestia channeled energy into her horn, and it began to glow. Luna was still utterly distraught, and saw the dark pony charging towards them still. Silver Shield lowered his body so that his upper chest was as close to the floor as it could get without touching it. He unfurled his wings defensively.

Why? the guardspony thought. Why couldn’t you just stay away, isolate yourself from us forever?

“Wait, but what's going on? And- and hit the ground galloping? What's that supposed to-” Before Princess Luna could voice any further objection, she felt a colossal amount of energy lift her up. She had a mind to complain to her sister, but suddenly felt herself catapulted into the air, right-- right out of a window?!

The Moon Regent suddenly saw the sky, and turning her head the castle had suddenly become nearly a speck in her view, growing smaller with each passing second. The Moon Regent was immediately pelted with an unforgiving rain, unable to see in the darkness of the moon she had brought up only hours ago.

The Moon Regent watched the castle recede from view. Princess Luna tried to stretch out her wings-- but couldn't. It was as if she was trying to unfurl her wings against two stone walls. Suddenly, Princess Luna became aware of a problem much larger than any of her sister’s old friends. There comes a point where it becomes impossible to stretch one's wings when in free-fall, Princess Luna suddenly remembered. Something about the 'G-force'. All you have to do, sister, is remember to stretch before you reach this point. If you do that, you should be fine. However, it seemed, her fate was sealed.

_________________________________________________________
I almost want to claim ownership of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic franchise (that
I don’t have, Hasboro yada yada) so that they’ll contact me about copyright infringement
andI can tell them how awesome the show is. Thanks for bearing with me here, people.
[Author’s note: this is all subject to rampant editing. Edits made since release: 23]