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Dark Side of the Moon

by Rust

Chapter 1: Prima

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DARK SIDE

~ of the ~

MOON

An MLP:FIM fanfiction written by R U S T


When the dark sister is felled, Two becomes One
a regret ne’er forgit
With the tears of the Sun, the Six becomes None
but new hope may be alit

Hamper not her way, but crown her as Night
salvation lies with the tome
What bested her might, love and friendship will right
and all may one day come home.

Amidst the stars, an exiled race
alone, aloof, bestrewn
Lost in space, upon the pale face
of the dark side of the Moon

— The Prophecy of the Eclipse


There are many mysteries that the universe still holds. Secrets of its innermost workings, of the way the ethereal cog grinds and spins against his brothers and in turn, spreads his energy across the entire cosmos. There are certain aspects of reality that are instinctively unquestionable. One of these absolutes is the notion that all things must come to an end.

My kind are no stranger to this notion. We take comfort in this ultimate law. All things will simply cease at one point so that they might be replaced by others, so they might continue the cycle. The galactic gears age and rust away, and they must be replaced from time to time to keep the strange, seductive engine known as the Universe running smoothly. We know this because we have watched the goings-on of the stars for uncounted eons, alone and content in our shadowy kingdom.

But sometimes, those pieces merely need a a refurbishing, a spit-shine of the brass and a fresh coat of paint, and they'll run good as new. In the Universe, all things must end, yes. That doesn't mean they can't begin again...

WHA-BOOOOOM!

A thunderous rumble filled the air and made everything in my study jump a good foot off the ground, including myself and the desk I at which I sat. I let out a squeak of surprise as I tumbled onto the floor, and the paper I had been writing gently fluttered down to land across my face. I blew it aloft with a disgruntled exhalation.

A quick examination of my furniture was conducted — thankfully, no damage, though my books would need re-shelving — before I began to wonder about the cause of the massive disturbance. I peered out the glass door to my balcony, where I could see the beginning of the Maria some ways away from over the edge of the railings.

I was rather proud of my residence. It was a cozy, homely place, carved out of a small spire of rock on the edge of the dark silver Maria desert that covered a thousand leagues towards the West and South. The view was quite impressive, and you could see the blackest of night skies when it wasn't Sunday. I could make out the stunningly colorful green and blue orb called Equus peering over the horizon, as if curious as to the goings on. Today was still Shadowday, when our land was on the far side of the moon, away from the blinding light of the Sun, covered by a lovely darkness. Sundays tended to hurt our eyes, so we rarely ventured outside during those times.

With such a commanding position, I could easily spy what could only have been the source of the commotion.

A terribly large trench had been scoured through the Maria, disappearing and reappearing as if the object that had dug it out had been bouncing along at a tremendous rate, until finally coming to a rest in a gigantic, smoking pit some distance away. I squinted my eyes. Had we been hit by a meteor? The Elders hadn't predicted another impact until six cycles from now. Curious indeed. I decided to get a better look.

My writing was left upon the desk, unfinished.

I opened the balcony door and stepped outside. A light breeze was blowing today from the direction of the newly-formed crater. It carried a strange scent to it, not entirely unpleasant, but one that I could not ever recall having smelled before. The tufts on my ears began to tingle a little, a sure sign of excitement in the future. I had a strange sixth sense when it came to such things.

With a shrug, I extended my wings and took off into the pristine sky. It was a glorious day for flying, and I found myself wishing that I indulged in this luxury more often. The air was filled with eddies and whorls brought about by the entrance of the mysterious crater-creating object.

I alit upon the dust of the Maria, at the very edge of the mighty score carved into the moon's surface. Tentatively, I prodded at the gash, only to find that the freshly turned dust was warm to the touch. I hopped right down into the center of the path and began trotting down towards where the object had finally come to rest, admiring the size of the walls that now stood on either side of me. My, what a bully of a meteor this one must have been! A roc could have easily walked in here, head held high, and never once been able to peer over the top.

I began to wonder about that, though. The Elders had never once been wrong about an impact. They had good reason to be so accurate, as a large percentage of our kind were involved with observing the starlit sky, discerning its secrets and charting the paths of the cosmos. Collision Forecast was an important part of this, because as our land's pockmarked appearance can show, we have endured many an impact, the last of which occurred when I was but a toddler, eighty-five cycles ago. I was still young, by my kind's standards at least. Barely an adult. One hundred and seventeen cycles, and with many more to go.

As I reached the end of the line, a curious light appeared over the edge of the crater itself. So distracted was I by it, that I misstepped and pitched forward into empty space. The object had come to rest quite violently, and I ended up tumbling down from the trench into a small decline until I rolled to a stop at the center of the depression. After groggily shaking some sense into myself, I regained my footing and found myself face-to-face with the meteor.

It was a lumpy, twisted thing, half-covered in grime and faintly steaming scorch marks. The mysterious blue glow from before seemed to be leaking out of it from a few points. I reached out and brushed away some of the filth. The meteor was surprisingly soft and warm , its color indistinguishable from the sheer amount of muck. Clearing away some more, something incredible revealed itself to me.

Emblazoned upon the object was a symbol -- a crescent moon!

The moon suddenly twitched. The entire heap began to shift slightly.

I staggered backwards, tripping over myself and landing soundly upon my rump. A low groan issued forth. At first, I looked about. Was there another with me? Then, as a second noise was sounded, I came to a realization. It was coming from the meteor itself! It sounded...hurt.

"Um...excuse me...meteor? Can I call you that?" I asked it politely, feeling a bit foolish about the whole thing.

"..."

I decided to try again. "Quite. Are you all right, meteor? Do you require any assistance? Medical attention, perhaps? That was quite a terrific crash you had there."

"..."

"I'll take silence as a 'yes,' then?"

"..."

With that confirmation, I sprang into action, whipping out my wings and flapping sideways instead of up and down, causing powerful currents to uncover the object in it's entirety. "Why, you're not a meteor at all!" I declared in shock at the filthy thing. "You're...like me!" I looked closer. "Sort of."

She --for it was certainly of feminine shaping-- resembled my form in an astounding number of ways. She appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a member of our own race, yet with several mutations! Where mine were a standard pale purple, her own mane and tail were made of a confounding, ethereal substance, of a deep, navy blue, shot with streaks of an icier coloring and sparkling with faint lights. Where my wings were sleek and smooth, hers were covered in odd, soft, things that seemed to be growing out of her! Even more astounding — a horn, of all things, rose tall and proud from her forehead!

"But where..." I began, before looking back at the path of devastation she'd caused upon her landing. The trail was pointed directly at the distant blue and green orb in the sky like an accusing hoof at a guilty culprit.

Equus. She was from there.

"Oh, bollocks."

The creature made another soft, plaintive groan. She was clearly injured from her crash. And utterly filthy, at that. I had no idea of her true color. I needed to get her help, and fast. "Hush, you're safe now," I murmured as I hefted her gently upwards and across my back. She whimpered as I did so, but remained more or less unconscious. I would not be able to fly her home. She was larger than I thought and weighed quite a bit! I eyed the side of the crater wall like a duelist sizing up an opponent. This was going to be a challenge.

Some time later I staggered out of the crater, huffing and puffing, but triumphantly carrying my burden; an odd visitor from the ball of color in the sky. I could see my home from here, the only real visible landmark in any direction for many leagues. I had always been a bit of a loner, and enjoyed the solitude that the location brought.

I set off across the Maria, at a pace that I deemed I could hold without tiring myself out, and still fast enough to make good time. I tried to step as lightly as possible, though, to spare my precious cargo any grief.

I heard her mumble something out of the corner of my tufted ear. I spared a glance backwards. "Hmmm? Did you say something?"

The creature spoke something so softly that I could barely hear it.

It sounded something like "'Tia."

Whatever that meant was yet another mystery to me.

Yet my resolve only hardened, and so we made rapid headway. In no time at all, the spire of rock I had carved my home into loomed above us, like some kind of ancient statue made in honor of some long-dead hero. There was no way I'd be able to fly her straight up, my power strokes were accustomed to getting only myself up there, and rarely at that, due to the fact that I hardly left the place aside from an occasional foray into the Maria or a flight into the nearby town for the essentials that I needed. The only other option was a steep and winding path that spiraled all the way up until the landing upon which my front door lay nestled amongst the rock. I made a face. "Heavens curse the fool who invented stairs, wherever they may be," I muttered as I began the arduous journey up.


I lay not six feet from the door, utterly exhausted.

"So...close...neeehhhh!" I tried to drag myself another inch, but found I lacked the strength to even hold a trembling foreleg up for a measly couple of seconds.

"Chives!" I cried piteously. "Chives, get out here at once!"

It took only few moments before the door opened in the side of the wall. An ashen grey face poked out, complete with a magnificent purple mustahce that ornamented a stiff, unreadable expression. Chives gave me a disapproving glare, upon seeing the dirty state of me. At the creature, he merely raised an eyebrow.

"You called, Master?" my servant asked in his calm, sonorous voice.

"No, I was actually asking for the King," I hoarsely deadpanned.

"Ah, I wasn't aware he was in our abode. I will attempt to locate him at once." Chives began to withdraw back into the house.

"No, wait! Chives!" I struggled, only to find that the dead-weight upon my back rendered me immobile. "Gah! Help me!"

The servant's head poked back around the doorway.

"You are incapable of continuing, Master?"

"Yes. I've been walking for hours, now! And with this thing on my back!"

"Hmmm..."

I groaned. "Chives, for the love of the stars, help me. I'll do anything at this point."

There was a pause. He was seriously considering it, the blighter!

"Will you stop cheating every time we play checkers?"

"What-? I...I don't cheat at checkers!"

The door slammed shut.

"Okay okay okay! I won't cheat when I play you at checkers. There, happy?"

"And a pay raise," said Chives from behind the door. "I'd like to be able to afford to purchase something for myself that isn't from the clearance section of the store, for once. Your father was never so stingy with his money."

"I pay you almost as much as I make!" I sputtered.

"You are unemployed, Master."

"...Well played. You've beaten me yet again, Chives. You'll have your pay raise, and my word of honor at checkers. Happy?"

The door opened once again, this time all the way. Chives strode out, looking impassive as always. "Certainly, Master. Now, what do you require?"

I shrugged my shoulders causing the filthy creature atop my back to flop around. "We have a guest!" I declared. "We must clean her up and see that her hurts are taken care of."

Chives gave her an appraising glance. "This knot of mud and dust is a she? I say, we're having a female stay the night! And it isn't your mother, this time. How sad, I'm sure she'll dislike having another take her spot in the guest wing."

I grumbled something about extortion and how his face resembled a colony of fungus.

I wasn't exactly sure why I kept the old servant on. He'd been serving my family for more than five centuries, that's almost half of our average lives. He was legendary for his sarcastic wit, known to be even dryer than his signature martinis. Maybe it was a sense of nostalgia for the days before I'd left home with my inheritance --as was custom upon our one-hundredth birthday-- and taken him along with me. Or maybe it was the fact that he was really the only one I ever truly got along with, despite his constant stream of verbal jabs and barbs. He was a bit prickly, and oftentimes cantankerous, but he was utterly devoted.

Chives deftly scooped the crumbled body off of me and strode through the doorway. I somehow found the strength to rise and follow after him, closing the door behind me. I was going to take a draught of moonshine and sleep until Sunday, I was so tired.

I found Chives in the master bathroom, a furnished cave containing a natural hot spring. The creature lay in an ungainly heap by the edge. I slipped into the pool of hot water and let out a delighted sigh as my muscles began to loosen up. I reminded myself for the umpteenth time that I should seriously consider getting into shape.

Meanwhile, Chives fetched a couple of towels and dipped them into the spring, before beginning to rubbing the creature vigorously. As the gray muck began to peel off, her coloration began to peek through -- a strange combination blacks and blues, as her coat was at war with itself over what color it should be.

"Hello, what's this?" Chives wondered out loud. He had revealed that she wore a piece of metal around her head. It looked like some kind of war-helm. I swam over to the edge and propped myself up on the side of the pool, watching with interest. Soon enough, a similar colored piece was revealed along her neck and on her hooves.

"She appears to be wearing some kind of armor, Chives." I scratched my chin. "Perhaps she is a warrior of some kind?"

"Some kind, indeed," said Chives, prying the half-melted metal slabs off of the creatures body, revealing more of the dirty coat underneath. He dabbed at her sides. "What are these things on her wings?"

"I haven't the faintest. But, you should know, this was the thing that fell earlier today. I'm sure you heard the racket it made."

"I was under the impression that we weren't due for an impact for-"

"-another six cycles, yes. From meteors. She is clearly no such thing."

Chives continued cleaning away at the creature, revealing the mark of the moon on her flanks. "Clearly," he said, and for the first time I heard some uncertainty creep into his voice.

I leaned forward. "She's not from here, Chives. She's from somewhere else entirely."

"You don't mean..."

"I do."

Chives looked down at the creature.

"We have a member of a species from another world under our roof, Master." He said it like he was trying out a new word that he'd never heard before.

I spread my hooves wide. "Exactly! Do you know what this could mean?"

"Mass panic and a wave of xenophobia that hasn't been seen since we purged the golems from the Kingdom. She also might bear us ill will, for one reason or another."

"...That, or she might be able to finally be able to show us how to bridge the gap. We could go there, Chives! We could go to Equus! Can you imagine what it must be like? And she knows everything about it!"

Chives did not respond to that, and finished cleaning the debris off the creature. She truly did look a good deal like us, equine and elegant, but with the addition of those strange, deformed wings, the horn, and the oddly-flowing mane. Her body was marred with scrapes and burns, but it was the lacerations that were the most fascinating, as a pale, blue liquid seeped from her wounds, faintly glowing and steaming.

I clambered out of the hot spring, feeling refreshed. "Come, let us patch her up and put her to bed. I'm sure she will awake in due time."

"At once, Master."


It was nearly Sunday before the creature stirred. I was on my balcony, enjoying the peculiar grayish tinge the moon took before the Sun would crest the horizon, an essay on the gradual drift of the Ursa constellation laying forgotten by an empty glass of moonshine.

A polite knocking came from the balcony door.

"Yes, Chives?" I called, unwilling to tear myself from the view. "I'm busy."

My servant took a place next to me by the railing. He gave me a sour glare. "I can see that," he commented. "Try not to strain yourself from all the nothing you have been up to. I hear there is an rather effective remedy for such an ailing, although a bit painful."

"Hmmm. What's that?"

"A swift kick in the rump, Master. Preferably off a cliff."

"Ah. I see. Point taken." He had my full attention now.

"Our guest has begun to show signs of improvement, Master," Chives announced. "I was in the guest room not moments ago to see to the bandages, when she began to mumble things in her sleep."

I could have jumped for joy. Actually, I did. "This is great news, Chives! Anything else to report?"

"Yes, Master. She seems to speak the same language as us, if somewhat...accented. She said something about some 'Elements' but I could not decipher the rest."

"Astounding. The bridge of space separates our worlds, and yet we share this similarity? This whole situation...it truly boggles the mind." I strode back indoors, through my cluttered study and down the hallway towards the guest room. I intended to view he awakening myself.

"My mind is quite boggled, Master." The sarcasm in his voice was even more potent that usual.

I patted him fondly with my wing as we trotted down the hallway. "Come now, Chives, what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem is currently asleep in our guest bedroom," he said bluntly.

"How so?"

"You seem to have failed to realize the significance of the fact that we have an alien being in our home, other than the possible exploitation of her for your silly, half-baked idea to see Equus in the flesh. It simply can't be done, Master. Many have tried to brave the void, but none have succeeded." That may have been what I truly liked the most about my servant. He was always brutally honest. It was vexing at times, but he had a point. "In addition, if she found her way here, what's to say that there aren't others on the way?"

That thought gave me pause.

"Others?" I said.

"She could be a part of a larger group, Master. A group who's intentions we know nothing about."

"I..."

"It is in my opinion that we turn her over to the proper authorities at once. This is not the sort of escapade an old butler and a young, incompetent heir should be getting into."

"But-"

"-and she was wearing armor when you found her. That alone should be reason enough to worry. You wear armor for one reason and one reason only."

Chives' caution was quite deserved. I did not know what to expect from our guest. Nothing in the least.

We were outside the door, now. I came to a halt and stared it down. What unfathomable mysteries could be on the other side! This could be the beginning of a new age, and all I had to do was open the door and introduce myself.

...

So why couldn't I muster up the nerve to do it?

Maybe the paranoia of my servant was finally getting to me. What business did I have, acting as a representative of my race and Kingdom? Me! A lonely, indolent whelp of an heir with muscles like wet noodles and a brain that --at the best of times-- had the thinking power of an infant.

My tufted ears tingled wildly.

No.

I had to do this. This could very well be the beginning of my true calling. The rest of my life began the second I walked into that room.

"Chives, with all due respect, I think we can handle this," I said. Without another second's pause, I pressed down the handle and opened the door, Chives hot on my trail.

For a good minute, we both stared at the empty bed, still dimpled where a figure had lain in it for better half of a Shadowday. On the far wall, the window was wide open, curtain flapping in a lunar breeze.

"And she's gone. Oh! Look at that! She's gone! Hey, Chives, you've got to see this. She's just...gone. Ha!" I began to laugh, somehow struck by the hilarity of it all. Chives' words of caution echoed in my head. "Ha! Oh, my stars! We've just possibly doomed us all! Ha-ha! Hahahahahahahaaaaa!"

A sudden strike to the top of my head snapped me out of my fit of giggles.

"Thanks, I needed that."

"It was my pleasure," said Chives. He was utterly serious. "Now, we should probably attempt to find our guest. And fast."

"Then we've not a moment to lose!" I declared, galloping towards the window and hurling myself through. I plummeted several feet before my wings caught me, and I soared off into the night sky. Towards the West, the bright, burning disc of the Sun had begun to peer over the lunar horizon.

My ears detected the sound of another pair of wings. Chives had joined me in flight, just a bit higher and towards my rear. We flew upwards in a spiral, until we past the very peak of the spire of rock I had built my home into.

"I see nothing in this direction!" Chives called over the wind, as we climbed higher and higher. He was facing towards the darker half of the moon, scanning the ground for any sign of movement.

I narrowed my eyes against the heightening glare. It was beginning to sting a little. We could see for miles from this high up - so where had she gone? She couldn't possibly have had enough time to travel so far in such short notice. I blinked and itched my eyes again. Stars above, where had she gone?

Wait...stars above?

Up.

The one place we hadn't looked. I gazed into the ebony depths of the universe, searching the carpet of lights for our wayward guest, only to find that she was much closer than expected. If I had to guess, she could had stretched a hoof out and patted me on the head.

Her eyes, now open, glared at me with cold intensity. They appeared to be different; the one on the left was a deep blue, soulful and shimmering. The one on the right was the color of glacier ice, with a frightening, reptilian pupil. That eye was like one of a dead thing. I had a mere second to ponder this before the horn on her head lit up with an eerie light. There was a terrible, blinding flash, the sensation of falling. Who was that screaming? I hoped it wasn't me, it sounded quite shrill.

Then, everything slammed back into place with a sudden terrific wrench. I was lying spread-eagled upon my balcony. Chives's rear end stuck out of my lounge chair. One of his legs twitched. My eyes hurt like nothing else, probably due to the fact that the sun had now risen, scorching me with its unforgiving rays. I hissed in pain and tumbled backwards, only to crash into something. I awkwardly rolled over and found myself looking up at the creature, who was staring down at me with an expression so unreadable that she could have given Chives a run for his money.

I met her gaze as evenly as possible. I was dealing with a potentially violent creature, of a similar form to my own, but clearly with phenomenal power, seeing as she somehow knocked Chives and I right down into the ground without even batting an eyelash. I hadn't the faintest inkling of her temperament, her culture, her opinions, and not even her name.

It was time to make history.

I took a deep, clearing breath, and began bawling like a scared filly.

"O-o-oh p-p-please d-don't k-k-ill me-e-e-e-e!"

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