Picking up where last left off in Equestria. In my last posting http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6369613 Princess Celestia decided to test a theory about who I really was. The results was messy but very revealing to Celestia. In the end she was able to determine I was somehow connected to another pony named Paynes Gray who I believe is the individual responsible for me being a unicorn pony in that world. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6136875/

With Paynes cover blown he started communicating directly with people through me. This was very odd for I found myself saying words I would not have thought of and having images in my mind that were not of my own. Celestia canceled all her outstanding appointments for the day and over the course of the morning and afternoon Paynes story became know to all present.

With her return from the moon and her freeing from the curse of Nightmare Moon, Luna has spent much of the last year studying history in an attempt to understand what has happened to Equestria during her thousand year absence. She has come to several conclusions about history. While Equestria has benefited from a thousand years of relative stable rule under one ruler and the lands have for the most part provided for the ponies of Equestria: history is still basically made of "occasions and moments" that are fascinating to read about later but not fascinating to live through.

Paynes Gray lived in Everfree which was also the name of the city that surrounded the Everfree Castle a thousand years ago. He was a unicorn painter who had the ability to paint the most amazing illustrations and images. People said they thought they could step into his paintings or that objects on the pages would spring to life. His images were in constant demand in palace and all the best houses of Equestria.

Sunrise was an alchemist who came to Everfree looking to learn more about her art than what her small community could offer. She came from a family of alchemist that had a long history in the science. Sunrise's main talent was in the preparation of ingredients and components for alchemic experiments and work. She had an uncanny ability for refining and distilling of raw materials into far more potent elements.

As fate would have it Paynes and Sunrise eventually met. Initially it was strictly in a professional capacity but as time went on there blossomed a true love for one and another. It was at this time that Paynes began to develop the skill of making the objects on his pieces of paper actually come to life and leave the paper. At first he kept this talent a secret, but eventually he confided in Sunrise and demonstrated the skill to her.

Sunrise was initially alarmed by Paynes newfound talent but soon she started to realize what it was capable of doing. Carefully examining various specific organic sample that Paynes created she was able to determine that they were just as potent if not more potent than samples she could obtain through normal means. Under her study and direction he was able to create a host of normally rare and exotic components needed for alchemy, medicine and other professions.

Over time Sunrise and Paynes started experimenting with the idea of making whole new examples of plant tissue and minerals that were not naturally found in Equestria. This way Sunrise was able to tailor materials to the specific wants and needs of their growing base of professionals in Everfree. All the while there love for one another continued to grow.

They were very careful to create only inorganic materials and never create complete new organisms. Just parts like leaves, seeds, sap, scales, blood, skin or bark of the imaginary organisms that arose from Paynes pages. This was done to avoid introducing a completely new organisms into Equestria without knowing what the impact on the world would have.

Of course this was too great a talent to remain secret and eventually they were granted an audience at the palace to demonstrated their amazing ability. Celestia and Luna were impressed by the two unicorns dazzling talents however they also warned them to be cautious with their skills. This last warning was particularly directed at Paynes.

If Paynes had a vice a weakness it would be his interest in the macabre. He was a charming, gentle, caring individual but he was very curious about things that went bump in the night. He was always the pony who came up with the ghost stories at parties that made your hide crawl and your heart pound.

In fact Paynes had aspirations of someday being writer of the macabre; He eventually wrote and illustrated a book himself called "The Kingdom of Shadows" It was odd mixture of Poe meets Lovecraft. It was the story of a land where the ponies lived in fear of the Lord of the Shadows. His form was that of a giant black raven who could seep into any room and lurk in the tiniest dark crevice waiting and watching. He and his minions lived primarily in the negative space created by the shadows and shapes of solid objects, but sometimes they would intrude into the physical plane, in the book he referred to it as positive space, and grab some poor pony and pull them into their world never to be seen from again. It was a world where everyone was to some degree afraid of their own shadow! The monster I created in Twilight's kitchen http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6272094/ was a critter from that book. It could enter into our world very easily and anything it saw the Lord of Shadows saw in his realm. They could also under certain circumstances allow people in positive space see into the Kingdom of Shadows. But that was rare.

Both Paynes and Sunrise understood the Princesses concerns and every page of "The Kingdom of Shadows" had a ward on it to prevent Paynes, or anyone else, from accidentally bringing its contents to live!

But neither of them had any desire to do something that foolish. Life was good for them. Business was booming they were passionately in love with one and another. Other unicorns sometimes mocked Paynes for being built like some earth pony from the farm because of his stocky build, but Sunrise could care less. To her he was the most beautiful thing in the world. And for Paynes there nothing more precious in the world than Sunrise. They were still young, successful, and recently married. They had their whole lives in front of them!

Then one of those "moments" in history happened. A moment that destroyed Paynes and Sunrise's happy world. A moment that changed the shape of a kingdom for a thousand years. A moment that destroyed the city of Everfree. A moment that killed a great number of ponies and rendered Everfree inhospitable to ponies and their magic. A moment that over the centuries turned from survivors tales into fable, folklore and tales that one told your fillies and colts to make them behave and do their chores. A moment that Luna was at the very center of, and even a thousand years later it haunts her like a bad dream she seems unable to wake from. Nightmare Moon.