//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Luna's Lacunae // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Woozy, Maeve eased herself down into a chair. Her head ached somewhat, she felt a little tired, a little cross, and a little happy. Her arm ached, the pain was becoming unbearable now. The infirmary smelled like disinfectant and nose-tingling soap. There was something comforting about the smell; Maeve spent a lot of time here and the smell was familiar. She settled in to wait for Doctor Greycrest. He was busy, but Maeve didn’t mind waiting. She was weary from looking after all the yearling first year students. Maeve’s stomach gurgled and she felt a moment of nausea. Maeve closed her eyes, leaned back in the chair, and then tried to relax. She thought about Fuschia. An earth pony with magic. Maeve had never heard of such a thing, but then again, she didn’t know much about ponies. Unicorns had magic, pegasi flew, and earth ponies were strong. At least, that is what Maeve had been told. Human girls weren’t supposed to have magic either. Magical pony princesses didn’t come through closet doors and rescue little girls from unspeakable nightmares. Maeve yawned and gave thought to these impossibilities. “Sorceress Maeve, wake up… wake up, sweet little one…” With a most unladylike snorgling sound in the back of her nose, Maeve jerked her head up, awakened by a voice. She blinked, waiting for her blurry vision to focus. For a moment, she thought she had heard her mother’s voice, but realised she she might have been dreaming. Something white loomed in her vision. “Princess… is that you?” Maeve reached up and rubbed one eye with her right hand and then the other eye. She blinked. “I must have fell asleep, I’m sorry.” “Do not be sorry, Sorceress Maeve. How are you feeling?” Princess Celestia asked. “Mouth dry,” Maeve replied, now rubbing her head. “Hurting more… hurting bad.” “The doctor is preparing an injection. I know how much you hate them, but I am sure that you will agree that it is necessary. Burns are very painful.” Princess Celestia’s face became one filled with concern and she lowered her head down almost nose to nose with Maeve. “I wanted to thank you.” “Thank me?” Maeve blinked and then winced. She could feel a thudding inside of her head now and her stomach spasmed, causing an intense moment of discomfort. “You looked after my yearlings, my most vulnerable and precious students. Almost all of them come here due to tragic circumstances, usually magic that they have no control over.” Princess Celestia frowned and then shook her head. “A foal should not be separated from their mother at that age, but sometimes, it is regrettably necessary.” “I liked looking after them, but I got a little panicky near the end.” Maeve covered her mouth after she was done speaking, and then yawned, her eyes squeezing shut as she did so. “I spoke to Fuschia, the foal you rescued. I worry for her, being the lone earth pony. I do not get earth ponies or pegasi often in my school, but it has happened in the past.” Princess Celestia raised her head, took a step backwards, and then cleared her throat. “It can be very difficult being the only one of your kind, as I am sure you know. Maeve, I would like for you to spend time with Fuschia, to be her friend if possible… her foalsitter.” “Like Princess Cadance was Princess Twilight Sparkle’s foalsitter?” Maeve looked up from where she was sitting and looked Princess Celestia in the eye. “Yes, Sorceress Maeve.” Princess Celestia took a deep breath. “Can you do this for me? It would mean the world to me, you said you wanted more to do, and you said that you wanted some responsibility. Here you are. Have some responsibility.” “Can I ask a few questions first?” Maeve smiled a dopey smile and tried to be congenial, hoping she did not sound disrespectful. “I would be delighted to answer any questions you have,” Princess Celestia replied. “Fuschia says she has scary magic. What happened and why is she here?” Princess Celestia’s smile vanished. “That is the very heart of the issue, I suppose. Very well.” The alicorn cleared her throat, took a deep breath, looked thoughtful, lifted one hoof, lowered it, and then took another deep breath. “Fuschia is a natural floramancer. Almost all earth ponies are, to some extent. But Fuschia… she causes more than just plant growth. She makes them come alive in terrifying ways. The first incident was with her older brother, who teased her. He pulled on her tail, hurting her. A nearby willow tree became quite animated and whipped her brother across his backside several times, leaving behind a some severe welts.” “Serves him right.” Maeve’s lips curled into a scowl. “Hair pullers are the worst.” “There were some other incidences. Minor ones, but her family began to suspect that she was gifted in floramancy.” Princess Celestia’s face became pained. “There was an incident with Fuschia’s older sister. Some harsh and ugly words were said. Fuschia began crying. The family’s rose bushes came to life, thorny brambles grabbed Fuschia’s sister, pulled her into the rose bush, and tried to strangle her. She was almost killed. Not long after, Twilight Sparkle was called in to investigate.” “I see,” Maeve said. “So scary magic. Scary, scary magic. Poor thing.” “Sorceress Maeve, you are a soft gentle sort… which is why I want you to spend time with her. I believe that you have her trust. You can understand why I am worried about her spending time with the other students. Foals are not always the most logical of creatures. They tease. They say hurtful things.” Princess Celestia looked around the room, trying to think of what to say next. “Things like this will be part of your duties as a Sorceress. I think that you are responsible enough to begin your duties.” The human girl sitting in the chair felt her eyes tearing over. “Thank you.” Doctor Greycrest cleared his throat. “Should I come back later?” “No, Doctor Greycrest. Sorceress Maeve and I were just finishing up. She appears to be in considerable pain and with her stomach gurgling the way it is, I suspect she is having gastric issues from the opium extract,” Princess Celestia replied. “I suspected that she would. I’ll look into it. Maeve, may I have your permission to give you an injection?” Doctor Greycrest looked at the girl, saw tears, and felt bad for what he had to do. These were always hard on her, sometimes even causing a terrible state of panic. “Yeah… get it over with. I’ll try not to freak out.” Maeve fidgeted in her chair, now looking nervous as she sniffled. “I wish you didn’t have to use big horse needles!” “I think I will stay and help,” Princess Celestia said. Still no sign of Red. Maeve began to feel a creeping sense of worry, but there wasn’t much she could do about it at the moment. Staring up at the ceiling, Maeve realised that she couldn’t feel much of anything from the neck down. Even the itchiness was gone. Everyone that she depended on was gone. Luna had vanished, having gone north with Twilight Sparkle. Red Russet was still not returned from his lessons. Maeve figured that her companion would have come to see her when he was done, but that did not seem to be the case. Bored, drugged, Maeve yawned, and her heavy eyelids began to settle over her eyes. The bed, a comfortable one, was somehow even more comfortable. It was great. It was like laying in a cloud. She yawned again, and without realising it, she drifted away, carried off into dreamland by the ghosts of long dead poppies. “You are a most interesting little girl… most interesting.” The towering figure looked down at Maeve, his face a stone mask. “I can be a cruel master, if that is what you desire. Do as I say, follow my instructions to the letter, obey my every word, and I will be a fair master. Make no mistake though, I own you. I had a good streak of luck gambling. You are quite a prize. You do not even realise what you are.” Maeve, kneeling on the floor, did not bother to look up. She was sore, in pain, her bottom hurt. Her mind was a fevered, confused jumble of thoughts, memories, and she couldn’t tell if she was dreaming or having a nightmare. “My name is Lunn. You may call me Master, except for when you are sick, like you are now. As a kindness, you may call me Master Lunn. Mind you, this is not my real name… names have power girl… Maeve!” His last word was a strange growling hiss, and Maeve felt her whole body contort from pain. She fell over, going from a kneeling position to a prostrate position, her chains clattering on the floor. “Those chains annoy me. The clatter is offensive to my ears.” The tall figure made a dismissive wave with one hand and the chains fell away from Maeve. “You cannot escape, those chains are pointless trinkets intended to break your spirit.” Maeve felt broken, there could be no doubt about that. She lay on the floor, unmoving, not even trying to rise. The stones were cool against her cheek. “You are filthy. And you appear to be bleeding. How grotesque. Well, I cannot have my servant dying on me. It would be… uncouth.” Lunn shook his head. “Get up.” Maeve struggled to pick herself up. She got up on her hands, her elbows wobbling. Without warning, the floor rushed up to meet her, and she smashed her mouth against the stones, her teeth lacerating her already swollen lips. “I said to get up.” Lunn’s voice sounded low on patience. “I can’t,” Maeve whimpered, her hands slapping against the stones. “Don’t make me use the Wyrding Voice upon you again.” “I can’t even walk.” Just trying to talk caused Maeve severe pain, her bloodied lips trickled on the floor, and she could feel sticky blood on her face. Heaving an exasperated sigh, Lunn reached down, grabbed Maeve by her hair, jerked her head up to waist height, and then began to drag her across the floor, ignoring the spluttering screeching that came out of the blood caked lips of the girl he yanked along. He pulled her through the room, her body almost limp, her legs making a few feeble kicks, and then with a powerful motion of his arm, he whipped her whole body around, lifted her, and then threw her down upon the stones. Maeve did not move. She lay there, stars in her vision, hoping that she would die. She became somewhat aware of the fact that her clothing was being torn off. She tried to scream, but couldn’t tell if she had screamed or if she only imagined it. She felt herself drifting away, her mind disconnecting from her body. As if in a dream, for a moment, Maeve could feel hands upon her naked flesh, and then she was flying, flying as swift and free as a bird. Through the air she flew, a marvelous feeling. And then, she became a fish. She felt wet. Warm water was all around her body and she came to her senses for a moment. Like any fish, she gulped in water. She felt a painful tugging on her scalp as she was picked up once more by her hair and lifted pulled up out of the water. Coughing, sputtering, Maeve tried to get the water out of her mouth and lungs. “I am many things, I have engaged in my many acts of depravity, but the acts done to your body disgust me. Whomever did this needs to feel the hospitality of our dungeons.” Maeve, drifting in and out of reality, had trouble making out the voice or what was being said. She only had some small awareness that she was being bathed, scrubbed clean. She tried to kick and struggle, but there was no strength left, it was too much trouble just to keep breathing. “I am doing you a favour… you do not know it yet, but one day you will understand. For now, you are a plaything. A slave. One day, I might use you as a pawn. But for that to happen, you must become strong. Cruelty is kindness in this place. I will cut away your weakness and one day, if I do my job right, you will be as kind as I am.” Maeve had no idea what her captor was saying, and only heard some of his words. “If only I could wash the human stink off of you, but for now, I suppose you are stuck this way. Perhaps we can fix that…” Maeve did not hear the rest of what was being said. She slipped into utter blackness, her consciousness failing, and she went into a place where she could feel no hurt, suffer no humiliation, and could not be touched.