Moonshadow

In the far reaches of the northern wasteland, where not even the keenest-eared hare could hear your screams, the snow covers every inch of fur, devouring warmth like a ravenous beast. It was there that a grand empire once rose, majestic and imposing—a place that, to the ponies, was the closest thing to Olympus on earth, though now it was but a frozen desert in a forgotten corner of the world.

By order of the princess, two archaeologists roamed the surroundings of that ancient kingdom, lost among the shadows of a history wrapped in silence. They had previously unearthed the horn of the tyrant who once ruled those lands, a discovery that had shaken Cadence and put the empire on alert for the possible horrors that might emerge again from snow and time.

For it's protection, Cadence assigned them two escorts: a seasoned general, weathered by the adversities of his time, and a young prodigy soldier, frustrated by the routine tasks he deemed unworthy of his talent. Despite the security they offered, the cold and the wind were relentless, and time passed slowly and dangerously in that boundless tundra.

Countless minutes went by, and the only traces they found were scattered fragments of rock, broken remnants of a lost glory. One of the archaeologists knelt over the pieces, examining them with the hope that their journey would not be in vain. But the general looked up at the sky with hardened, tense eyes, his firm voice a whispered warning in the blizzard:

"We must head back before the storm claims us."

"As always, another pointless job," murmured the young soldier, his tone verging on disdain. "Though, I suppose it's better than escorting the princess to her endless, trivial parties."

The archaeologist frowned, his gaze cold as marble.

"Soldier, I won't tolerate such recklessness. Disrespecting Princess Cadence is unacceptable."

The soldier, unfazed, flashed a defiant smile.

"Actually, I don't even take direct orders from her. Most orders come from Sir Shining Armor, who, by the way, has few tasks to handle," he added, almost as if joking."And, in the end, it's Celestia who truly gives the orders," he added.

Feeling the rising tension, the general let out a restrained chuckle, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"At least it gives us the perfect excuse to sneak back to Equestria now and then, doesn't it?"

But the young soldier seemed untouched by the attempt to ease things. His eyes flashed with a fire of frustration.

"I'm sick of Equestria, sick of the empire! Nothing interesting ever happens here!" he grumbled, his voice laden with a restless, suppressed yearning.

The general opened his mouth, ready to scold the soldier, when a sudden, dull thud echoed in the distance, breaking the silence of the mountains. The snow trembled, then began to slide gently, falling in a white rush down the slope.

In an instant, the guards sprang to action, forming a protective shield around the archaeologist, who, pale and wide-eyed with fear, took refuge against an ice wall. Then, a strange song rose in the air. It was both familiar and foreign—a howl that resonated among the peaks like the echo of a distant threat. But how could there be wolves in the Crystal Empire?

A frigid gust swept over the ponies' coats, leaving an invisible trail in the snow that soon vanished with the wind. Scarlet drops, nearly imperceptible, speckled the snow like an omen.

The general advanced towards the archaeologist, a strange feeling stirred his heart. As he turned his gaze, an unsettling emptiness greeted him: his young subordinate had disappeared without a trace. But before he could call his name, he spotted him in the distance: the young soldier stood erect, his sword gleaming high as he galloped with determination towards the shadow of a beast waiting in the distance, hidden behind a cloak of mist and mystery.

"Soldier, return here!" roared the general, his voice resonating with authority and concern, but the echo was the only answer that returned to him.

Finally, the sounds of galloping faded, leaving behind a thick, almost oppressive silence. The snow crunched beneath his hooves, but even those sounds seemed muted in that ominous void, as stillness hung over the scene like a dark omen.

"Let's run!"

"B-but the young one," the archaeologist stammered.

"Do you want to live or not?" he declared as he hurried away.

Both steeds ran desperately toward the empire, left vulnerable as they departed from the mountains, where anyone could spot them. When they reached a small mountain, they stopped to catch their breath, until they saw it.

Its white fur gleamed with celestial lights like the sky, its eyes a deep, almost black blue, and its long, elegant muzzle armed with sharp fangs as it gazed at them passively from the rock. The sun made its icy shards glisten on the hardened fur, like blades that set it apart from any ordinary wolf.

They didn't waste their precious breath and took shelter at the entrance of the Crystal Empire. The Beast stayed behind, watching them run—no one could tell what it was thinking or what it might do.

The day unfolded naturally, but the Canterlot meadow made it impossible to ignore the tragedy of that day.

Twilight's friends were having a picnic in the royal gardens. She had told them she'd join them in a moment, but as usual, the food had begun to cool.

Having exhausted every topic of conversation, the mares' minds drifted back to Sombra, who was standing with Starlight several meters away, almost at the base of a hill.

Applejack began to speak.

"I still don't trust that guy. How does Twilight put up with having him under the same roof?" Applejack clicked her tongue.

"I still don't understand why we don't just throw him into Tartarus," said Rainbow Dash.

"Remember what happened with Cozy Glow and Tirek," said Pinkie Pie.

"And we can't kill him," added Applejack.

The three of them sighed, until Fluttershy decided to break her silence.

"I can't believe this from you. We promised to trust Twilight. She knows what's best for everyone," scolded Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, we're talking about a damn monster," argued Rainbow Dash.

"Darling, if Twilight didn't think he was redeemable, she would have gotten rid of him already. She's a princess for a reason," Rarity responded.

"Still, I don't know how she can sleep peacefully with that horrible monster around," said Applejack, frowning and shaking her head as if trying to erase the image from her mind.

"Monster, yes; horrible..." Rarity continued, pausing slightly and tilting her head with a hint of interest. "Well, for not being a pony, he is rather... attractive."

Rainbow Dash spat out her orange juice, coughing so hard that her wings flapped. The others looked at her with concern as she tried to catch her breath, her eyes wide. Rarity, however, averted her gaze with a slight blush; apparently, even she hadn't thought through what she was saying.

"After Blueblood, I didn't think you would fall so low," Rainbow Dash grumbled, composing herself as best she could and looking at Rarity in disbelief.

Rarity shot her an offended look but couldn't find words immediately. For a moment, a silence filled with unspoken whispers hung in the room.

"As if you all haven't thought about it," Rarity replied, raising an eyebrow defiantly while smiling innocently.

The others narrowed their eyes at her, judging openly. An awkward silence fell among them, and a slight discomfort crept into their expressions, as if, deep down, some part of them was considering her words.

Starlight pretended not to hear the whispers around her, as if her friends weren't murmuring in the same space. She couldn't blame them; after all, Sombra was a difficult topic to ignore. But those whispers certainly didn't make her task any easier.

Since bringing him to the School of Friendship, Sombra had remained inexplicably stoic in the face of any situation that arose. He didn't growl, protest, or even show a flicker of expression or comment. That unflappable calm made her more nervous than when she was just starting to get to know him.

"Well, what do you want to do today?" she finally asked, her tone somewhat defiant.

Sombra kept his gaze fixed on the horizon, his eyes empty and his expression as impenetrable as ever. Only one of his ears twitched slightly as a gentle breeze caressed his face.

"I guess... nothing," Starlight sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Wow, for being the embodiment of evil, you're boring."

Sombra snorted, letting out a whinny of exasperation as he sank to the ground, releasing a frustrated sigh. His eyes glimmered with a dark, weary tint.

"Why don't you go off with your little friends and insult me?" he growled, his tone laced with resentment and exhaustion.

Starlight held her ground, though the tension between them was palpable, like a taut rope about to snap. With a calm but unyielding voice, she replied, "Hey, you can't blame them for feeling nervous—you've caused quite a lot of harm."

There was a brief silence, heavy and thick. Starlight, trying to lighten the oppressive atmosphere, let a comment slip without thinking twice. "Well, at least Rarity thinks you're handsome..." The words vanished from her lips before she could stop them, and she instantly realized how absurd they had sounded.

Sombra arched an eyebrow, looking at her with a mix of concern and bewilderment, as if she were speaking in an unfamiliar language.

"No one has ever said that about me."

Starlight laughed nervously, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

"Really? Well... I know you were a villain, but some mare must have had her eye on you." She tried to sound casual, though the words seemed to stumble out of her mouth.

Sombra let out a bitter laugh.

"My relationship with the crystal ponies was anything but friendly."

Starlight hesitated, unsure if her next question was too personal.

"You never had... a special somepony?"

"Absolutely not. No crystal pony was ever worthy of my presence," Sombra scoffed, his tone dripping with both arrogance and disdain.

Starlight flashed a mischievous grin and leaned in slightly, ready to poke where she knew it hurt.

"Oh, really? What about that filly you wrote about so much in your journal?" she teased, a playful glint in her eyes. "Twilight says you filled at least a hundred pages raving about how wonderful and perfect she was. Sounds a bit suspicious to me."

A wave of heat coursed through Sombra, and if he were any other pony, his face would have betrayed a telling blush. But his dark coat concealed the discomfort that was now burning through him at the mention of his first love. He kept his scowl fixed, though he couldn't quite control the slight quickening of his breath, a small crack in his otherwise impenetrable facade. Starlight's sly smile widened, her eyes sparkling with satisfaction as she caught that subtle falter in the stallion, who was clearly trying to compose himself. His discomfort only confirmed her suspicion.

"So I was right?" she said, tilting her head slightly, a playful curiosity glinting in her eyes.

The stallion cleared his throat, briefly looking away before replying.

"She was just... a friend," he muttered, though the uncertainty in his voice gave him away.

"Ooh, the dark lord had a sweetheart!" Starlight sang, drawing out each word in a mock-dreamy tone. "How romantic!"

"Shut up!" he growled, his voice barely masking his discomfort.

"Come on, tell me," Starlight pressed, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Didn't you read it in my journal?" he snapped, visibly annoyed, but perhaps a bit defiant as well.

"I tried, but I couldn't get past the first few pages. Too many pompous and... complicated words. Plus, your writing is so... eccentric," she replied, amused, pretending to struggle for the right word.

"It was meant to be imposing," he said, a hint of pride slipping through, though his tone carried a touch of embarrassment.

"You know, sometimes you're oddly charming," Starlight laughed.

Sombra's ears twitched at her comment as he turned to gaze at the horizon, silent. But Starlight could swear she saw a glimmer in his eyes. With newfound confidence, she ventured to ask,

"What was she like?"

"That doesn't matter anymore," he replied, his voice fading to almost a whisper.

"If it doesn't matter, then tell me about her," she insisted gently, as if afraid of shattering something delicate.

Silence stretched between them, and he hesitated for a moment. It had been over a thousand years since he had lost her, yet he still felt her absence like a lingering shadow. Finally, he sighed, letting the words fall with the same weight as his memories of her.

"When I was a colt... the others thought I was strange. I couldn't speak well; the words just wouldn't come out," he chuckled softly, filled with nostalgia. "But she... she was the only one who was kind to me. She was a bit weird, yes, but I enjoyed that. She had the biggest imagination of anyone."

A blend of happiness and melancholy wove through his voice as he spoke about his best friend, and Starlight couldn't help but feel moved. He shared stories of the games they invented, how she always stayed by his side at the fair when those awful pains would hit him. They grew up together, both weird... but they were weird together.

"She must have been very special."

"She was," he replied, a sad expression darkening his gaze. "Until…"

"Until when?"

"She betrayed me," he whispered, as if each word was heavy with pain.

Starlight felt a pang in her heart. She leaned in a bit closer, trying to grasp the storm that raged within him.

"Why do you think that? Was there something that made you feel that way?"

"When she discovered my true nature, when she realized the illusion they had created about me was a lie... she called the princesses to have me eliminated."

"Oh..." Starlight barely managed to contain her surprise.

"That's when I understood that you can't trust ponies."

The words slipped from his lips like poison, heavy with disillusionment and pain. Starlight felt the atmosphere grow heavy, the echo of betrayal resonating in the air between them.

He turned his gaze to the sky, and the once-dreamy expression twisted into a grimace of pain as he recalled the image of her—the one who had once brought him joy and love, now piercing his heart with grief. Yet, despite it all, his heart continued to beat wildly for her.

He tried to forget her, to bury that love deep in his mind, hoping it would fade away. But, inevitably, that love always found its way back.