//------------------------------// // Preparing Phase Four // Story: Between Day and Night // by Davesknd //------------------------------// Luna was smiling. No, grinning! She had slept exceptionally well, had a quick, yet good breakfast and her plans were coming together nicely. With a bit of a spring in her trot, she was on her way towards the lab, she had prepared for her new left hoof-stallion. A part of her was still flummoxed: She had followers and they were useful! Luna had her doubts when she sent for the two cultists. Ponies willing go against a god-princess like Celestia were prone to holding grudges and she didn’t expect much loyalty now, after Nightmare Moon had failed them. Yet they were helping her. It wasn’t as if Luna needed the help. All she asked of them could be easily accomplished by a spell, some manipulation or some other of her many abilities. But she wanted them to help! Autumn, Pipsqueak and her other honest fans gave her a sense of belonging. Of true identity! They looked up to her because they loved her night, her work and most importantly: Her. This plot was not being carried out by a lonely Nightmare Moon nor a backwards ruler demanding undeserved loyalty! This was the work of all the forces at the command of Princess Luna! And luck gave her two surprisingly useful individuals. Red was a distant relative of Applejacks and well known as a bit of a special case in his family. He had once left his home orchard in search for a sophisticated life in Canterlot, just like the orange mare of Ponyville had in Manehattan. But unlike his relative, he never found back home. Currently he was tending to the adornment trees of some noble. It pained the born farmer to grow trees that were not meant to bear edible fruit. His sudden arrival would not surprise anyone, since he used any excuse to escape his job and he could easily keep tabs on Ponyville. And Autumn… Discovering that the Galerina family had lasted for this long was surprising. Once, they had been great alchemists. Many breakthrough in those fields had been made trough the special talent that ran through their line, like apples were tied to Red’s family. True alchemy had always been looked down onto by the regal unicorns. The magi of the court used to call it “the vulgar brother of true magic” and many of them outright refused to study or teach it, since even “common earth ponies or pegasi” could learn the basics and maybe even emulate unicorn magic over time. Luna herself had been asked several times to regulate or outright forbid its use. And it was telling that the court would become desperate enough to ask the princess of the night. Still, the Galerinas were proud of their talent and never stopped studying and practicing their often arcane and strange art. Both princesses decided to tolerate the use, as long as it benefited ponykind. And then she happened. One terrible pony far beyond redemption hailed from their family. Sadly, she was a genius. For what she did, she was punished severely. The royal sisters saw no choice, but to limit the explorative and experimental side of alchemy and outright forbade the use to anyone without a very hard to earn license. It was no wonder that poor Zecora’s skills were seen as witchcraft and why she remained in Everfree, away from those laws. The Galerina family fell from whatever little grace it had. Many left Equestria and most of the remaining members gave up their name in shame. They took on new ones in desperation to use their talent again, since being called “Galerina” was a sure way to not get a license, while Death-, and Skullcap seemed to work. Autumn’s branch had kept the name for some reason and their youngest member had sadly inherited their ancestor’s special talent. In Canterlot’s society, that was akin to having a murdering cutie mark. Using all of his skills, he managed to get into her school for gifted unicorns, one of the last places where Alchemy was still taught. And then there was this accident that changed everything and had him kicked out. He blamed Celestia, formed a Nightmare Moon cult and tried to prepare Equestria for her return. And now he was working for Luna to make Celestia happy… Sometimes life can be very strange. The princess of the night stopped in front of an average looking door that used to lead to one of the rarely used rest rooms for servants that did not live in Canterlot and would sleep in the castle over the week. With a flicker of magic, the door opened. Bubbling test tubes and the sound of a burner greeted her, together with a familiar, scarf wearing pony. “Autumn?” Luna said with quite a bit of surprise. Her follower was supposed to be in bed by now! And look less sickly! “You look terrible…” The stallion’s cheeks had a slight greenish tint as he turned to Luna very slowly. “I had a little… accident… with the ink, princess…” the cultist admitted and his stomach growled softly. “Accident?” Luna asked, worry invading her features. The stallion nodded. “I made a second batch as soon as it happened! Perfect results, just like with the first!” He pointed at a grey, marble inkwell with a huge cork. “What happened to the first?” the princess asked strictly “You know how illegal and dangerous *Really want it ink* is. We have to destroy every last drop, once this is done.” “Oh, that is taken care of…” “Autumn Galerina! You immediately tell me what happened to the ink!” Luna demanded, using the stallion’s full name, like a mother would with her foal. Her voice was on the edge of royal canterlot. “I put it in a translucent inkwell, when cooling it…” the alchemist admitted. “So?” “I saw the ink… and I… well… I really wanted it!” he added with a sigh. “Don’t tell me that…” Luna started, a very disgusting picture forming in her head. “Every last drop.” Autumn nodded and showed a completely black tongue. “Ewwww” “At least it’s not poisonous…” The stallion sighed and turned back towards the table. “I should have worn the lenses. But that proves its potency.” The night princess nodded. “Very well, but take better care. Even small mistakes might put the plan in peril.” “Could you please explain the whole plan to me, princess?” Autumn asked after putting on a pair of green glasses. At a closer inspection, one could see that they were very thinly cut emeralds. “It’s a bit hard to understand why we use means like these… I thought we just wanted Celestia to get some rest.” Luna let out a sigh and pulled a flier out from under her wing. “I had this flier printed. Please add the words ‘Dresses’, ‘Celestia’ and ‘Try on’ at the empty spaces.” She ordered. “I will elaborate while you do so…” The stallion nodded and went to work. “You see: Celestia needs more than a week off, I fear.” Luna started to explain quietly “Back, before my banishment, she and I had our differences, but we were here for each other. Now she has been mostly alone for a thousand years. And from what I see, she has become… how to express it? She has hardly taken any suitors in the last centuries, gone on adventures or allowed herself some other guilty pleasures that keep an immortal being’s sanity in check.” “Wait! The princess had suitors?” Autumn asked, almost dropping the quill. Four seconds passed. “YOU HAD SUITORS?” “Neither of us is made of stone, Autumn.” Luna sighed “Discretion dictated that we never made those… liaisons public, but eternity can get very lonely. If one does not sate his basic needs from time to time, one loses himself in fighting them! We owe it to our subjects to remain sane and happy, if only to rule them well.” The unicorn nodded. It was understandable… and a bit hot. “Anyhow: I suspect that Celestia has a certain attraction to her most faithful student. A Platonic love on the verge of becoming romance. If left unchecked, she will fight it, repress it and make herself as well as her student very unhappy!” “With Sparkle?” Autumn asked, raising an eyebrow. “WAIT! Celestia is into… she likes… you know… side saddles?” “Love and affection goes beyond gender, my follower.” Luna stated calmly. The stallion swallowed softly. This was REALLY hot! “So… why exactly do we want her to try on dresses?” he asked while sitting down, his body facing away from the princess. “Try to think about it.” The moon princess probed with a bit of a grin. Autumn stopped his writing for a moment and closed his eyes. He imagined his marefriend squeezing into that pretty saddle he had somehow managed to afford for her. “I BETTER WEAR THE LAB COAT!” he suddenly blurted out, grabbed said clothing off a stand and buttoned it close with almost superequine speed. “SAFETY AND ALL!” Luna raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now you are turning red… the ink must have some side effects.” “YES! INK!” the cultist agreed and grabbed the quill with shaky magic. “Please, tell me what the rest of the plan is!” “We will give them time and opportunities to develop their relationship!” the alicorn stressed. “If it was not meant to be love, then I have to accept it. But it will make them both happy and that is all that matters!” “That means: no love potion… good!” The cultist mumbled to himself he finally asked: “So we push and guide a bit?” “Exactly!” “The flier is ready, princess.” Luna turned around to examine the work. The stallion had done well. The words were well placed and the color was almost perfect. Having to deal with the effects of the ink a long time ago made the moon princess’ will too strong to fall victim to it, but she was sure that Twilight would not have that much luck. “Really want it ink”… what a silly name for such a devious brew. By distilling Heart’s Desire oil and gemstone dust into an active agent and combining it with the natural ink of the incredibly grabby cuddle fish (sepia latimanus snugglya), one could get an ink that almost perfectly emulated the “Want it Need it” spell. Only that you always wanted the ink or whatever form it took. And worse: the effect was much more subtle. It burned the idea of having something into the victims head and left it there. Ponies would not steal things, but always have the nagging feeling that they really wanted whatever the ink told them. It was highly illegal for obvious reasons. Luna smiled. Yes, this would help them to have dresses for Celestia to try on. Wait! That was not how she would think that! “Autumn!” the moon princess demanded “What did you do? The ink is much too strong!” “What?” the stallion asked in surprise “So changing the mixture of gemdust did really work? I was on the edge, but I had to try it out. Just let me write it…” “YOU IMPROVED IT?” Luna interrupted her follower. The alchemist looked down. “I just had an idea…” “I give you the permission to brew one of the most dangerous liquids in the history of Equestria and you IMPROVE IT?” the moon princess yelled. “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?” “YES!” Autumn wailed and put the back of his hoof to his forehead “I lost myself in it! The process of creation, the idea that this might have some impact…” he shook his head “I’m so sorry, princess… but I FELT IT!” “Heavens forbid if anyone ever gets their hoofs on this! I invited you here to support me, not to find ways to brainwash me!” Luna chastised. Suddenly a bit dropped and the stallion seemed to lose every bone in his body. “Princess, I would never… horse apples, what have I done? I am so sorry! But… It’s my special talent. I can’t fight being me all the time.” Luna let out a sigh of frustration. “Lamenting won’t help us.” She stated “I overreacted. It’s not strong enough to control me, but I need to concentrate. And If I feel it, so will Celestia!” Luna sighed “We trained ourselves to feel any kind of mind altering spells or tricks. If she reads it more than once, she will find out!” “But there is not enough time to make a new batch. I already pulled an all-nighter for this one.” “Yes. Now you will make sure that she only reads it once!” Luna decided and quickly formed a plan in her head “I will bring them the newspaper myself, distract them and you will place the flyer.” “And how am I supposed to do that?” “I’ll turn you invisible! I’ll cast the spell and give it to you, and then you sneak in while I pay them a visit, place the flyer and steal it after they read it.” Luna explained. “That sounds pretty risky.” Autumn admitted. “And it is. But you brought this on yourself.” Luna stated coldly “And we have no other choice. I will prepare this newspaper and try to get it to Twilight.” she put a hoof to her temple “Yes… then I will act up a bit. When they both look at me, you place the flyer. I leave, you wait and once they put it away, you swipe it and hide in a corner until they leave. If anything goes bad, you yell out loud. I’ll place a listening spell in a hoofkerchief.” “You are really good with this, princess.” Autumn admitted. “I was Nightmare Moon.” Luna stated “Trickery and deceit are my forte.” The stallion nodded with a bit of a supportive smile. He was glad that the princess was so far that she could talk about her past deeds openly. “I’ll get some socks… hoofs on stone…” the cultist explained and turned to his suitcase. “Good idea.” Luna agreed *I will cut the articles out. That way Celestia will be more likely to give it to Twilight.* As Luna was doing her work, she looked over to her follower. A part of her felt bad for him. He simply did his best and… well… it was not his fault that he succeeded for once. If somepony understood what it meant to have a special talent that got no love, it was her. She sighed quietly. Later she would see that agent Shadow would get the afternoon off and spend some time with him. He probably needed a kiss. Yes, a deep kiss with that nice, black tongue of his! Wait! “DARN INK!” Luna yelled “AUTUMN! GO AND WASH YOUR MOUTH!”