//------------------------------// // The Ritual // Story: Remember the Moon // by Leviathan //------------------------------// ___ Rainfall’s mouth was agape. Her eyes had widened to the point where her cheeks were hardly visible. Her head was cocked slightly, and she let out a very high-pitched squeal. “You fought Princess Celestia!?” She didn’t even blink. “Yes I did.” My reply came out in a matter-of-fact tone. “The duel I had with her was definitely not one of my finer moments. Knowing that I might have murdered my own sister still haunts me. Guilt is dreadful on its own. Even worse when it is triggered by family issues. Family issues that had aged over centuries.” “And you beat her too.” Rainfall was silent for a moment. “That’s friggin’ amazing.” “No, I did not. Were you not listening?” I felt a bit annoyed. “What do you mean? She had to resort to using the Elements of Harmony to beat you. If she didn’t have those she would have lost.” I contemplated for a moment before answering. Obviously the little unicorn was correct in assuming that I was the magical superior to my sister. She had skipped over one major constraint, though. “The elements simply embody the spirit of harmony, which in itself epitomizes the spirit of power. She was the moral superior to myself, so she was able to wield the elements. If I had tried to wield them I likely would have failed. Her virtuous nature ensured the out come of our duel before it even began.” “But weren’t you fighting for Equestria too? Wasn’t it your goal to make it all peaceful and stuff?” She sounded more curious than confused. “I did want to better Equestria, true enough, but my actions in achieving that goal were morally questionable. I had snuck behind the backs of the Equestrian government, I lied and deceived, I was cruel at unnecessary times, I hoarded my knowledge out of cupidity, and I was callous and rude when a situation called for care and tact. No matter who was the more powerful between Celestia and I, I would have always been forced to swallow the inhumane, acidic taste of defeat. The shackles of envy and turpitude which had entrapped my essence for so long became an integral component of my ethics. The conception of morality itself had been so twisted within the boundaries of my mind that I could not see beyond the realm of corruption. For all my knowledge I was blind to the presence of dualism; Equestria would trail into the future, but it would suffer along the way. It was a justified misery, a tribulation from which Equestria would propagate itself. That is what Luzear implied a millennium ago when he said Equestria was remarkable. It is not the values we hold that make us great, but the ability to maintain them.” “Okay.” Rainfall still looked unsatisfied. then she broke away on another tangent. “If Celestia was able to use the Elements of Harmony on you the whole time, then why didn’t she as soon as the duel began?” Rainfall cocked her head a bit as she spoke. “Because she was merciful.” Celestia had always been quite kind. “O-o-o-h, I get it now! She wanted to give you a chance to change your mind and redeem yourself! Is that right?” I gave Rainfall a wide smile. “That is correct. Celestia is a big believer in clemency and second-chances. She wanted to give me a chance. She was willing to fight me in order to save me. Even when I was on the brink of destroying her she gave me a chance.” “How was she able to use the elements? I mean, if the connection between you and your elements was broken- then how did she take control of them?” “By showcasing what they symbolized.” Rainfall gave me a frown. She was not pleased with my short answer. I heaved a deep sigh. “Celestia constantly called my plan insane during our ‘scuffle.’ She tried to reason with me, tried to convince me to stop, but never once did she try to sway me with lies. Honesty. She constantly offered me a way out, told me that we could work out these menial differences and that she would be lenient. Kindness and Generosity. She stayed true to Equestria and it’s ways, even when faced against her own sister. Loyalty. My distasteful insults were brushed off as mere jokes by her. Laughter, of sorts. And then, of course, she was quite powerful. Magic. She represented the core of every element and used them.” Rainfall blinked. “Wow. So that’s the story of how you got banished to the Moon. Cool.” She looked up at me then began to sweat. “Well, I mean, it’s not cool you got banished to the Moon, it’s just that the-uhhh-story was errrhhhmmm...educational.” She gave me a sheepish smile. I gently patted her on the head with a hoof. “It is fine, my dear. I have come to terms with my past deeds and fully understand that my punishment was justified. The alternatives would have been far worse.” It sent a shiver down my spine to think of it. The alternatives were death, being turned to stone, and the de-voiding. I had truly been lucky that the Elements of Harmony simply imprisoned me in the Moon. To be turned to stone and banished to the Ether would be horrid. To be stuck within an insane and abysmal prison with those who shared my fate. Those like Discord. Even graver would be to undergo the infamous de-voiding. A process in which the Elements of Harmony drain you. Not of your magic. Not of your aptitude. Not of your comprehension. No, they drain you of your emotions. Not just the negative ones such as hate and envy, but of every emotion. They, quite literally, absorb your soul and leave you a husk of yourself. Something that exists without motive, reason, basis, or purpose. I shrugged it off. “Besides, if my history edifies another creature to moral or intellectual then perhaps it was not all for naught. It is quite-” “O-hhhhh I can just smell you now! You’re just meat; sweaty, bloody, muscly, fatty, skeletal, watery, fleshy, tissued, raw, juicy, living, delicious meat. I’m coming to gobble you up, so make yourselves pretty for me!” The hollow voice reverberated off the walls of the cave reminding Rainfall and I of the situation we were faced with. I gritted my teeth as the little filly buried her head in my coat. She was trembling with fear. I could feel her tears soaking through my coat. If there was one thing I hated, it was watching a friend cry. “Rainfall, look at me.” She continued sobbing into my coat, not even acknowledging my words. I put my hooves on either side of her face and forced her head upwards. “Rainfall, look at me.” She suppressed a few sniffles and looked up at me expectantly. “I care little about what this being is or how powerful it is; anypony who instills fear within my subjects will undergo the deepest depths of perdition, courtesy of yours truly.” I stared intently at Rainfall, waiting for some conformation that she understood. Eventually, she nodded her head. Then Rainfall backed away from me, rather sheepishly might I add. “Princess. There’s something I haven’t told you.” I had figured as much by this point, considering the the way she had been acting, the lifeless mare on the grassy knoll, the way in which Rainfall hovered over said mare, and how closely the mare resembled Rainfall, but I kept my thoughts at bay and simply raised an eyebrow. “That mare out in the Paradise Grove. That is-was my mother.” She gulped down a knot in her throat. I positioned one of my wings around the young filly and gently placed my head overtop of hers. I had deduced that the mare was akin to Rainfall, of course, but I couldn’t have been sure of how close a family member until she told me. I drew a deep breath and said, “I am truly sorry Rainfall. I-” “That’s not all...” Rainfall interjected. I stared at her, confused. “That thing out there, that creature calling itself ‘Paradise’, is my mother. At least I think it is.” I’m sure if my features were reflecting my feelings at that moment I would have been a humorous sight. From what I had learned so far I had assumed that Rainfall’s mother had been unlucky enough to stumble upon the spirit, and that Rainfall had simply bore witness to her death at the hands of the spirit. I stuttered out a few worlds to Rainfall, seeking clarification. “Could you-would you please-what did-how...elaborate, please.” Rainfall took in a large breath and spoke. “Okay. See, my mom and I lived in poverty for a while, and we were getting hungrier and hungrier each day. We scavenged what we could, but it didn’t exactly shovel food into our mouths. She realized we couldn’t live like that anymore. So she took me to the edge of Paradise Grove.” “Why was her first instinct to take the both of you here? This place is dangerous, she must’ve known that.” I tried to ask my question without insulting the filly’s mother. “She had lived there for a while when she was younger, and she thought that we could live like that.” Rainfall said, voice void of anything but hurt. “Your mother lived in this accursed place!? For what reason?” To think that anypony would live here was beyond me. “There was this one time, before I was born, where she got into some...trouble.” Her tone suggested she did not want to speak about this ‘trouble.’ “Fine. So what happened when she brought you to the forest?” “She told me to wait where we were, on the edge of the forest. She said she would be back. She said after she got back that we wouldn’t need to worry anymore. She said everything would be taken care of. Then she walked into the forest.” “I take it you didn’t stay put, though?” For a moment Rainfall blushed and recoiled, but then she wore the same solemn expression as before. “Nope. I followed her. Through thickets and brush, marking each one so I could find my way back. she didn’t notice me because I was really quiet. Then we reached that place you saw me in. I saw her walk to the middle of the clearing.” She looked hesitant. I tightened my grip on her and said, “It is alright, my dear. Whatever it is, I shall not judge you, nor your mother.” I smiled at her to reinforce my statement. I meant it as well. This seemed to give her the courage to speak. “I saw her walk to the middle of the clearing. She pulled a tome out of her saddle-bag. She flipped to some page and then read it. Then she started to do some weird stuff.” Her tone changed to that of worry. My ears perked up at the mention of a tome. In the softest tone I could manage I asked, “What exactly was she doing, dear?” This was beginning to sound a bit like a ritual. Rainfall took a gulp. “Really strange stuff. Like she carved out a circle in the dirt with her hoof. Then she got out some weird relics from her saddle-bags, like really old items, the kind you would only find in a museum. I have no idea where she even got them, I hadn’t ever seen them before. She organized the relics in a pattern. She laid down a cup in the center of the circle. Then she did something really scary.” “What did she do Rainfall?” I did not like where this was heading. Rainfall voice cracked and she held her breath for a second before answering. “She formed this huge orb of magic around herself. A weird, green orb. This orb started to rotate and spin. The wind got really fast and looked like it was molding the magic. Then it started to compress.” I let my face betray no indication, but inside I was a whirlwind of thoughts. It was quite obvious that Rainfall’s mother had performed some kind of ritual, probably meaning to help her family. And this tome Rainfall spoke of, where was it now? It hadn’t been in the clearing, and the relics had been absent as well. Perhaps Rainfall had removed them, but that seemed a little far-fetched. So where had they gone? My mind snapped back towards the filly as she continued. “The spell was weird. It took her a really long time to cast. I mean it took her hours. Finally she built up magic in her horn. The strange thing was, it wasn’t her magic. I mean her magic was normally this really dazzling plum color. The magic on her horn was a really gross shade of green. It looked like bile. It also had these little dark green bubbles floating around in it. This weird effect came over me, though. It made me feel revolted at...well I’m not exactly sure what. It is kinda hard to describe. But it made me want to throw-up looking at it.” She paused for a moment, old feelings resurfacing as she spoke. I examined her words for a moment. I believed I knew the spell she was referring to. It was one that was well documented within the Canterlot Archives. It was an ancient ritual that required the caster to gather several items as well as give themselves up to darker forces. The spell was a summoning spell. One that was forbidden to the ponies of Equestria due to the dangers it presented. Nopony had cast it (that I knew of) since the age of Discord. The spell had to be performed within a certain range, so that explained the circle. There was also a few items that needed to be gathered. I was not positive as to what items had to be utilized in order to perform the ritual. A cup, obviously, but what else? I know I had read about the ritual somewhere in the Archives, but I could not place my hoof on it. Rainfall drew in a heavy breath and I heard her release a sigh a moment later. “The green ‘magic’ surrounded her at a really slow pace. It just started to cover her entire form in that weird, olive glow. She didn’t stop it either; she just let it happen. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. It began to lift her into the air. At least I think she closed her eyes. Her mane just kind of fell around her and I couldn’t see her face anymore. I didn’t get to see my mother’s face. She kept ascending until she was about a quarter of the height of the tree-line.” Rainfall sniffled. I brought her closer to me and only tightened the grip I had on her. She gave me a weak smile and continued. “Then there was this bright flash, and I mean really bright, blindingly bright. It ended, and my vision came back to me. I kind of wish it hadn’t, though.” The sadness emanating from her was overwhelming. “When my vision came back I saw my mom, lying face-down in the grass with this tiny, green orb of light floating above her. It just hovered there for a moment. Then it began to take shape. At first it was just an amorphous blob shape, but it started to look like a pony after a while. Then it uh...” She was looking for the right word to describe the process. “Solidified?” I offered helpfully. “Yeah!” Shouted Rainfall. She quickly put her hooves over her mouth after realizing the volume at which she had spoken. “I mean sorta. It solidified into a pony, but it was a see-through pony. Like it was a ghost or something. It was that thing we ran from.” “I see. And you fled from the scene, I’m assuming?” I asked the question in a monotone, thinking through a plan of escape in my head. “Well not exactly...” Rainfall began. I looked at her. Had she just sat there trying to remain hidden? “I ran out into the clearing.” I just gaped at her, astonished. Bravery is one thing, but stupidity is another. “I ran out and hugged my mom. I was trying to wake her up.” The filly looked down at her hooves and I felt a pang of sympathy. “She didn’t get up, obviously. But I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she was...you know. I still haven’t, not really. I just kept pounding at her with my hooves, shaking her violently, screaming ‘WAKE UP.’ She just laid there, blankly staring westwards. Her body was limp and just a deadweight. Her mane just sat on the grass, splayed in every direction.” Tears began to well up in the filly’s eyes and her voice cracked. She buried her head in my flank, and I could scarcely make out her muffled sobs. In pained me to listen. This filly was probably my only friend in the world and now- now I could only let her weep into my coat. I was a powerful alicorn goddess, yet not even I could raise the dead. All I could do was provide a shoulder to cry on. Oh, and prevent her from being eaten alive by a malevolent spirit that may or may not be her disembodied mother. There was that, too. The sobs ceased and I looked down at my companion. She was wiping her eyes with her hoof. “So yeah. The spirit was hovering over me and my mom. It descended to my eye level and spoke to me.” Rainfall proceeded to imitate the sharp, cold voice of Everfree. “And who are you, exactly? Doesn’t matter I’m famished, and I don’t really care. Come here, let me sample you. You’re not that powerful but I could always go for a sna-Hm? It appears that mare over there knows you. Oh, your her daughter! How wonderful, I can devour an entire family! Never done that before, should be fun...well for me anyways. For you it will probably be the worst moment of your life. Also the last. Although, if you look at the upside it will be the last bad thing you experience...so there’s that...” Rainfall let a shudder pass over her before continuing. “She stared me down and licked her lips. I couldn’t move I was just frozen in place. I closed my eyes waiting for something to happen. I just waited for death. Nothing happened after a minute of waiting, so I opened my eyes. The spirit just sat in front of me unmoving. Her mouth was twisted up into a snarl. She has thick fangs, that was the only thing about her that wasn’t transparent. They were solid and stained with dark smudges. It looked like she was trying to move, but some invisible force was holding her back. Then I heard it, a noise so faint, yet so far-reaching, a whisper that spoke to me. It said, ‘Run my darling, run.’ The voice was so mellifluous and melodious. It reminded me of my mother, so I listened and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran until, finally, I reached the edge of the forest. All while I was running I could here that evil spirit speaking to me. The other voice spoke to me too, though. It was so comforting. Once I got out of the forest the voices stopped.” Rainfall looked down at her hooves for a moment. I nodded my head along as she spoke, trying to decipher several things at once. It was becoming quite clear. The spirit was a result of a mother’s want for her child to survive. The mare had performed the ritual, hoping that in her new ‘powerful form’ she could keep her daughter taken care of. The spirit was much too powerful for a simple poverty-stricken unicorn, however, and soon regained it’s own ability and traits. The spirit was probably a dark being that came from the past. It was likely from the pre-history age when disharmony was erupting everywhere. Or perhaps it was like Discord, an ethereal being trapped in the infinite loop of the Ether. Either way the unicorn who cast the spell had not been powerful enough to bring the spirit all the way over the barrier. This accounted for the strange translucent appearance of the being and it’s need to feast on effervescence and power. It was stuck in the boundaries of Paradise Grove, at least until it was able to absorb the energy of something powerful. Something like me. Then it would be able to take full form and roam Equestria as Discord had. Strangely enough, this situation was playing out just as it had with Discord. My father had done the same as Rainfall’s mother. He had released a creature from the pits of the Ether to aid that which he loved. Although my father had been much more aware of the outcome of his actions. From Rainfall’s description it sounded as if her mother had expected to be able to control ‘Paradise.’ A thought struck me. “Was this before or after you met me, Rainfall?” I was starting to wonder if the filly had truly just been seeking knowledge when meeting me or if she had a plan in mind. It did seem rather odd how the young filly had just happened to be in the library that late at night. “This was a few weeks before I met you...” Her voice trailed off. She was still focused on her memories. Memories which could only bring about pain. “Rainfall, what exactly did you do during that time.” “I read and I studied non-stop. I looked up everything about the ritual I saw. I did my best to find some sort of clue as to what it was or how it could be reversed. I never found anything helpful. But I’m not gonna give up, I’ll find a way.” The young filly’s voice was emblazoned with a resolution that supported her final statement. “Did you only search in the Royal Library?” I had no doubt the answer was yes. A curt nod from her confirmed my thoughts. “Therein lies the problem. The ritual in which your mother took part is dangerous and forbidden. Any documentation on it would be in the archives, sealed away from the public.” My words came out a bit a colder than I intended them to. I did not like the idea of keeping secrets from my subjects, even dangerous ones. From my perspective it is foolish to do so, it only leads to the same instance reoccurring. We have to take the whole of history and place it within the grasp of every being, no matter how dark and twisted it is. Only then can one truly learn from a mistake made. The archives to me were just that, a secret. A secret that, while understandable, was still unbearable. I had appealed to my sister and the council to make the locked archives public. My sister listened to my request and said something along the lines of ‘Secrets are kept for a reason. We can’t change what they are or how people think. All we can do is make sure that no one finds them and uses them for nefarious purposes.’ The council said the same thing, except they hid their point under clever wording in an attempt to keep my ‘rage’ at bay. “After we get out of here can you help me undo this spell, princess?” Rainfall’s words sliced through the silence. I just laughed. “My dear, I was planning on that all along!” Rainfall perked up and gripped me in a tight hug. “Really!?! Yay!!! So I’m going to get my mother back?” I nodded to reassure the young filly. In reality I had no idea. This was a rather strange ritual, one that I had not seen before. I had, of course, read about it in the library, the royal archives, and received some first-hand knowledge from Luzear, but none of that really helped. There weren’t many incidents where a pony had actually performed the ritual. I had no doubt that I could somehow stop ‘Paradise,’ but I had no idea as to what would happen afterwards. If I killed the spirit, would the souls it has taken be released? Or would they simply evaporate along with the spirit? If it was true that the event had taken place a few weeks ago, then why had the body of Rainfall’s mother not started decomposing? What kept it from the forces of nature? There was only one thing out there that could have kept the body of Rainfall’s mother from damage; the spirit was the only thing with those capabilities. It needed the body. But for what purpose did it need the body? Wait, what if the spirit was not just incomplete, but non-existen?. What if the essence of the being was still in the Ether and the thing I had seen was a proxy (of sorts), used to help ferry the being to Equestria? And the body of Rainfall’s mother acted as a magical anchor (again, of sorts)! That would explain why the body was still intact. The caster of the spell had been too weak to complete the spell and was, therefore, in a purgatory state. She was stuck between worlds. The proxy was likely carrying the intellect and ability of the Ethereal being, just not the form. That would explain the need to feed. It would also explain why this thing had remained in Paradise Grove for the past few weeks. It would need an appropriate amount of magical energy to enhance the strength behind the spell. That way it could transport itself through the barrier and into Equestrian reality completely. “Princess Luna?” “What my dear?” I asked automatically, hardly listening to the filly. “What’s going to happen now?” The young filly did not look at me with fear. Her expression just conveyed a genuine curiosity and sadness. “Well, hopefully something brilliant. Or even just regular-old good, really. I would probably even settle for slightly above mediocre. Hay, I would settle for mediocre.” I looked at her confused expression. I guess fillies aren’t ones for nonsensical humor. “But I digress. Perhaps we should get back to the story I was telling you.” “Yeah, that sounds good. I’m kind of sick of talking about this...” I sneezed. Great, on top of it all, I, an immortal alicorn princess recovering from an elemental wound, who was facing an unknown foe of unknown power, was getting a cold. “Yes, so as I was saying earlier...” ___