//------------------------------// // Shadows of the Past // Story: Umbratara: The Garden of Shadows // by Kipakuta //------------------------------// A small blue alicorn filly trembled behind a pink-maned white alicorn filly. "Tia. I am frightened." The blue alicorn complained. "I know, dear sister. He scareth me as well." The other alicorn replied. "But we must needs do this." She walked up the stone steps to a triple archway. The smaller filly followed. "Ready the Elements, Luna." She stated, as the three gems of her tiara began to glow. Luna closed her eyes and tried to recall the necessary feelings. Sympathy and Verity came easily enough. She was honestly scared, for herself and for other ponies. Jollity however, remained elusive. "Ehheheh." She stated, trying to force the emotion as they entered the palace courtyard. "Discord!" Celestia used a voice amplification spell. "We demand that thou show thyself!" "And what have we here!?" A voice bellowed. A moment later, there was a bright flash, as a strange chimerical being appeared before them. "Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?" The dracocapris sang out and grinned cruelly. Luna cowered behind her sister "Thy reign of terror ends today!" Celestia shouted. Discord snapped his fingers, causing the stone to liquefy and form a cage around them. "How cute. The little freaks think they can succeed where so many have failed before them." "Hast thou looked at thyself lately?" Celestia retorted. "Thank you for reminding me." Discord grinned, snapping his fingers and conjuring a slab of highly polished metal. He looked at his reflection and grinned. "That's been taken care of. Now..." He sliced the metal into numerous thin shards, then sent them hurtling towards the two fillies. Celestia put up a magic barrier, deflecting the shard shower. "Luna, why dost thou hesitate." Celestia whispered to her sister. "Raise thine elements, and be done with this." "J-J-Jollity will not respond." Luna whimpered. "I be too scared to laugh." "Hey, Discord!" Celestia looked to the Draconequus. "Art we not entitled to a final request?" "Make all the demands you want!" Discord snapped his fingers, causing a throne to appear. He sat on it and crossed his mismatched legs. "You only delay the inevitable." Celestia quickly considered her options. (Make us laugh? No, he could control our muscles to induce a laughing response, and that wouldn't activate Jollity. Put a smile on our face? Same problem. Muscle control.) "We do not find thee amusing!" Discord looked shocked. "Moi?! Not amusing?!" He put a paw to his forehead. "If I cannot amuse a couple of foals, then I have truly failed as a Jester. Time to pack it in and head on down to the next town." He slumped against his throne. Luna tittered a bit. "I have tried." Discord raised his paw and talon skyward. "Oh how I have tried. But ponies just do not appreciate a good joke." The third gem on Luna's tiara began to glow. "Where did it all go wrong? Was it the flower breathing dragon? How was I to know that one pony had hay fever?" He held the paw to his chest. "Or maybe it's that you just do not like jesters." He turned one eye to a smugly grinning Celestia. "And I must ask. Why?" A white glow surrounded the two Alicorns, levitating them up within their stone cage. "Because." Celestia replied. "Thou hast hurt ponies needlessly." Discord held his talon out to the side "But I at least made you lau-" A rainbow-colored beam suddenly emanated from each of the alicorns. The two beams swirled together, then slammed into Discord, turning him into a stone statue. The stone bars around the two sisters shattered, then the aura dissipated, dropping them to the ground. "We, did it?" Yesyesyesyesyesyes!" Luna repeated, jumping in a circle around her sister. "Luna, calm yourself and save your strength. We have much work before us." Luna stopped her bouncing. "Apologies, Tia, but I be happy that we wert successful." Celestia draped a foreleg around Luna's neck. "Let us be off, to tell Starswirl of our success." - - - "If we divide the land like this..." A pegasus traced a border along a map, following the contours of a mountain range. "...Then we can use this plain to help feed the western settlements." "I still think that we should move the border to the river." A unicorn replied. "Otherwise Luna would have more territory than Celestia." "What if we extend this top portion here, from this river to this river?" The unicorn moved a few beads along an abacus. "It's a roughly equal trade, but Luna would not have a border with the Griffon Lands, and thus no direct trade." "What do you think, your Highnesses?" The pegasus looked to the Princesses. Luna's stomach rumbled. "Food..." She uttered quietly, before slipping away to the kitchens. "I do not mind giving her that land," Celestia added. "Food it is then." The unicorn levitated a stylus to mark the borders. - - - A pair of pegasi towed a chariot over the forest, as the occupant looked out over the land. "How soon until we arrive?" She asked, looking off in the distance at a tall rock mesa. "We should be there in a short while." One of the pegasi replied. "I can see it now." A dark stone building came into view. The chariot's occupant's smile grew the closer they came to it. The building was soon identifiable as a large castle constructed of a dark blue stone, with a city sprawling beyond it, filling the broad and wide stepped terraces that had been cut into the side of the mesa. "Nocne Mesta." She stated. "The capitol of my domain, Umbratara." The rest of the ride was silent and uneventful. The chariot landed in front of the castle. Luna disembarked, then the pegasi stowed the chariot in a designated covered alcove. Luna headed into the castle, and was met by a chartreuse unicorn, whose mane and tail were striped with green, white, yellow and red. "Zyczenia, Princess Luna." She bowed. "Chancellor Mimeze." Luna returned the bow. "We wish to inspect the castle 'afor we address the assembly." "Your will be done, Your Highness." Mimeze stated before leading Luna about the castle." - - - "Leaders of the Zigany!" Luna addressed the crowd on the lowermost terrace. "We thank thee for answering our summons. Thy tribes hath wandered the length and breadth of this land, and are well suited to be our eyes and ears. We shall extend our blessing to any of thy folk who choose to serve us. Thou shalt be at home in this city of Nocne Mesta, and in return, we ask that thou abide by the Laws of Equestria. As thou wilt note, there be a stele in each terrace, as well as at the city gate and the castle gate. Engraved 'pon each of these steles are the names of the six Elements of Harmony. The gross violation of any of these elements will be cause for the removal of our blessing, and banishment from Umbratara." After the assembly, and the subsequent hearing of oaths, Luna provided her new retinue with tabards. They were made from silver fabric, and dyed to have her cutie mark visible on the left and right sides. The tabards were fastened with strips of fabric that could be knotted around the belly. Luna's blessing allowed her to know where each of her servants were, and to borrow their senses as necessary. The benefit to the Zigany was an augmentation of their tribal gifts: Earth ponies had more control over animals and plants. Pegasi had greater influence over the weather, and Unicorns had their magic increased. Luna's chosen made their homes in Nocne Mesta, fulfilling the different roles that she required of them. The upper terraces handled the day to day functions of running and maintaining the castle. The middle terraces upheld the laws, and defended against threats, both inside and outside Umbratara, and the lower terraces handled the crops, trade, and other resources of the land. - - - Luna gazed out over the lands below. From her balcony, she could see the numerous small villages that dotted the land below the plateau. "Night after night." She said to her companions. "The villagers huddle inside their houses, and are afraid to look up. Only the Zigany see." She motioned up towards the starry canopy. "Princess Luna, if I may speak freely?" "Aye Mimezy." "Perhaps they feel your Highness values Zigany more than them." Luna tapped her chin in thought. "We shall offer them a say in the affairs of the country. A parliament as our sister implemented for Praeclara Terra." "Your Highness. I'll put out the call, and Clover can divide the land into manageable units." An armored pegasus volunteered. "Thank you, Commander Pansy." Luna replied. - - - Umbratara was divided into four Domains: Bohaymia, Mareravia, Trotsylvania, and Dneighstria. Luna oversaw the construction of a capital city for each, though they were smaller than Nocne Mesta. From among the ponies of each region, she appointed noble families to manage the Domains. Though it helped to alleviate some of the concerns about her being distant and unapproachable, the ponies still feared the night. Luna implemented a Night Watch for each Domain, charging them with defending against whatever night terrors the ponies might face. This new system required revenue to maintain, which meant that ponies had to pay more in taxes. They increased production, which led to an increase in population. This arrangement favored Earth ponies and pegasi, so unicorns devoted themselves to more mental pursuits. There were some minor improvements to production and trade, leading to more revenue for Luna's coffers. But while the Principality became more prosperous, most of her subjects still turned from the night, and Luna was still unhappy. - - - Luna bowed before her sister. "I give, and I give, and I give." She sobbed. "And still they refuse to see my night sky." An aged unicorn strode down the stairs to the Moon Princess. "I think Your Highness is putting too much effort for too little reward." Luna raised her head to look at the unicorn sage. "Starswirl, what must we do to earn their praise?" "Naught." Starswirl replied. "Then we continue as we were?" "No; sit and do naught. Let Umbratara do as it will, for a span." "And in this way we might earn their praise?" Luna asked hopefully. Starswirl took a drag off a pipe then exhaled the smoke. "You cannot make ponies do what you want. They are not marionettes." "Dear sister, I hear your concerns." Celestia chimed in. "But Starswirl be correct. You cannot make ponies love you." Luna nodded. "I shall remove my hooves from the day to day business, then." - - - The sudden lack of Luna's presence about the land prompted curiosity from both the Zigany and the villages around Nocne Mesta. Ponies entering the palace to question this, found that she had a new open court policy. Anypony could come in, and bring forth a comment or complaint. Some did. After hearing each case, Luna told them to observe the night sky for her answer. Some were able to decipher the messages she sent, but most ponies still ignored the bright dots against a dark background. One morning, Celestia awoke to find the moon still high in the sky. A quick check outside revealed the stone form of Discord, still stuck in the pose he assumed when he was sealed 150 years prior. "Luna!" She hissed in a whisper. Celestia quickly ordered a chariot to be readied, then instructed Clover on how to handle any inquiries about the lack of sunrise. Accompanied by Chancellor Buttermilk, and Sergeant Hailstorm, Celestia headed to Nocne Mesta. Upon arriving, She found an army of ponies wearing silver ribbons around the base of their tails, the ends of which bore Luna's cutie mark. "Step aside, I need to see my sister." Celestia ordered. The pony army raised swords in a threatening manner. "You leave me no choice then." She lowered her horn and prepared to charge. "Wait! There's no need for this, let her pass!" A chartreuse unicorn called out from a tower door. "We're sworn to protect Princess Luna against all threats!" one of the soldiers called back. "Celestia is here without invite! Is trespass!" The unicorn looked to Celestia. "She's in her throne room!" Celestia teleported instantly. In the throne room, Celestia found a black alicorn with a shimmering blue mane. The alicorn was similar in size to herself, and wore armor composed of a glowing teal metal. "Luna?" Celestia asked with a slight quaver in her voice. "It be time to lower the moon." "Nay, Sister!" The black alicorn spat back. "From this moment forward..." - - - Luna shuddered. "Nay, we...cannot continue." She released Pipsqueak. "I'm sorry." The colt apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you." "Dear Pipsqueak." Luna lowered her voice. "Our own fillyhood was unhappy, but We wish you to never experience our sorrow. Twilight Sparkle knows what happened next." "It's...not exactly a story for little ponies." Twilight added. "Is it like those monster movies that Mom and Dad say I'm too young for?" "Yeah, something like that." Twilight replied. Luna stood up. "Thou art welcome to come again another time. For now, we bid thee good morrow. And thank you Twilight Sparkle." "You're welcome Princess." Twilight replied. Pipsqueak waved, then followed her out of the throneroom. Once they had left, Luna looked to Lime. "Maid Lime. I need to write a letter." "How about 'X', your Highness?" Luna looked over to see Lime's familiar cheeky grin. The alicorn shook her head. "Dame Sauce, what are we to do with thee." "Spray me with whipped cream and cover me with chocolate chips?" "And again!" Luna smirked. "In sooth, were you with me that day, Jollity would have been raised much sooner." Lime brought over a paper and quill. "Here you are. What's the message about, your Highness?"