"Sister! We're done arguing the matter!"
"Tia! You can't say that, I must know why I was attracted to that ruin in the first place!" Not this same argument again. Celestia was sick of explaining the dangers of the Everfree forest to her younger, darker sister. She wouldn't allow her only blood relative endanger their life for such a ridiculous reason!
"That ruin has something within it! More than just the pedestal of the Elements, there's something... darker... brooding..." Celestia stared, this was the first she'd heard of this 'Dark, brooding' thing within the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.
"Why didn't you say before?"
"We were... worried... that something was awoken when we- I mean, Nightmare Moon fought the Elements of Harmony." Celestia was prepared to let this all fall under some guilt of Luna's after what she had done under the name "Nightmare Moon" but as she opened her mouth to dismiss the issue for what felt like the hundredth time. She saw her sister, her eyes filled with sorrow, regret, and most terribly of all, fear.
"You truly think there's something back there?" The solar princess queried, a frown of worry quickly growing on her forehead.
"Yes sister." Luna replied, her voice strong even with her nerves so obviously shaken. "I must know, if it was me that caused this. If it wasn't then it may be something far worse!"
"Luna..." Celestia began carefully, obvious worry for her sister becoming prominent. She didn't want her sister to go back there if it could be helped, too many bad memories could send the moon princess spiralling into misery and that could lead to the nightmare returning! "How can you be sure?"
Luna stared for a moment, her eyes growing round and horrified at the thought of explaining. She swung her head away and stared out to the gardens outside the throne room. "We can feel it..." She said, barely louder than a whisper. "Sometimes, it fades a little, but it's always there somewhere..." Her voice cracked at the thought of the feeling. With a cold chill running up her spine, she shuddered and looked to her sister. Her eyes where now completely full of tears. "It feels like... something's touching us...something cold... and dead... it touches us, and makes us feel just as cold and dead. It's something... wrong, it shouldn't be there!" Celestia took a step towards her sister, trying to comfort her.
However at her contact, the dark alicorn backed away fast, her hooves scraping loudly against the tile floor. "No!" the alicorn whispered, shuddering again. Tia couldn't understand how she hadn't noticed this behaviour before today. "I can feel it now Tia! Worse than ever! That's why I need to go find it... and end it! Before it becomes too strong for me!" She was bighting back on true tears of horror. "P-please Tia! I NEED to find out!" Tia sighed, realising that if Luna was getting like this, she would only get worse the longer the place went unchecked.
"Very well little sister... if it means so much to you...You may go, but the second things seem too bad, if you find yourself in any trouble, promise me you will teleport out of there!" Celestia's gaze pierced through her little sister, who felt burnt beneath their heat filled glare.
"Yes sister..." Luna whispered, trying to compose herself once more. Without another word, she suddenly stood and headed for the entrance hall.
"Wait Luna," the princess of the night glanced back to see her sister looking at her with a hopeful smile. "Won't you join us for Cadence's dress measuring before you leave?" for a moment Luna was close to accepting, but for some reason, her eyes were drawn towards the forest on the horizon through the window. As she gazed, she could feel it again. Those invisible decaying hands, slowly caressing her body.
She gulped, trying her best not to be physically sick across the polished hall. "N-no sister..." She choked finally. "We do not believe we would be much company tonight. Send our niece our deepest apologies." and wit that Luna left the hall, headed for the royal carriage stable. The sooner she set out, the better.
.....
No sound came from the forest, not a single birds song, or the snuffling of small furry creatures, noting made a whisper. The entire expanse was as quiet as the grave. Luna walked slowly, keeping her eyes moving, ensuring no rock went unchecked, not a single tree trunk left unnoticed. She knew how easy an enemy could twist the forest to frighten others. After all, she had done it herself.
The princess found nothing on her travel towards the castle, but found the deadly silence more than unsettling. With the area devoid of sound, it left Luna only able to feel the approaching darkness, her eyes stared into the distance, and it almost seemed like the shadows were reaching out, consuming all she looked at, trying to plunge her world into shadow once again. When this happened, she would usually stand on a twig, more to ensure she could still hear than a genuine accident.
The forest at night was far more terrifying than it had seemed through Nightmare's eyes. It created illusions that even Luna: the princess of the night and master of the moon, could not recognise immediately. She felt vulnerable, and unsafe!
The castle stood out like a dark inkblot against the sky. No light came from within, why should there be? The centuries had long since passed since the woodland had consumed this place taking Equestria's original capital for itself. Now, it was a shadow of its former self, the spires stretched into the air, and the exposed moon cast spindly shadows across the forest floor. Luna stood beneath their shade staring up at the castle she had last seen through twisted and tainted eyes. She gulped, trying to hide some of the fear that was emanating from her, and failing badly. She took a trembling step forward as she stared up at the tattered ramparts, every bone in her body feeling almost numb by the cold of the night, and the chilling feeling of the cold ghostly hands around her neck which had built to a climax as she had arrived here.
This truly was the place. The source of the choking, dying, feeling. Now to find out why it was here.