//------------------------------// // The Circle Is Small // Story: The Stormmaster // by BlndDog //------------------------------// “Who’s there?” Snowdrop had never felt so scared in her own home. The presence at the foot of her bed was large and powerful, yet entirely fluid. Its tendril reached all over the room, worming through the cloud floor and walls. “Do you not recognize me, Snowdrop?” She dared not speak. She reached for Sunshower, forcefully prodding his shoulder, but he did not stir. “Have you really forgotten me, my old friend?” “Your voice sounds familiar,” Snowdrop said quietly. “That’s all.” “Really, Snowdrop?” It said in a booming voice. In the silence that followed nothing moved. “Do you not recognize my face? My body?” “What body?” Snowdrop asked, her voice a little stronger than before. “Come closer,” It said. “Touch my face.” Snowdrop propped Sunshower up in bed and shook him with all her strength, but he slept on. “You cannot wake him, or anypony in Cloudsdale. Night is for sleeping, is it not? This night is short, but there is still enough left for us. Come here.” Snowdrop felt the form surging towards her. A hoof took hers; she felt a cool metal shoe, but it seemed to her to be made of the thinnest silver foil. The limb that wore it was little more than warm air, just solid enough to hold her hoof without passing through her entirely. The face was thin; skeletal. Parts of it seemed to materialize out of the ether beneath her hooves, only to dissolve once more when her hooves continued on. A crown. A horn. Wings. “Well?” “I…” Snowdrop hardly dared to speak. “I don’t know you.” “It is I, Snowdrop!” Declared the voice. It came from all around, and even from within Snowdrop’s own head. “I, Princess Luna of Equestria! The lesser princess, or so I used to be.” Snowdrop focused all her senses on the central mass of the being. Its longest tendrils had faded deep into the clouds that made up her home. Energy cracked through the air like lightning. But it was not lightning; lightning she could control, but this energy was entirely foreign. The vapor that claimed to be Luna flowed in an unfelt current, and writhed like an octopus trapped in a jar. Sometimes Snowdrop got a glimpse of something familiar; hints of a long regal leg, or the rustling of a wing. “I want you to know that I forgive you, Snowdrop,” Luna said. “We were both too preoccupied with our own concerns, especially in recent years. I had my children to care for, and you have yours. They have grown into strong ponies, and I can say the same for your son Wintergreen. I passed by his home tonight. It is almost as good as your own work.” “Leave him alone,” Snowdrop said coldly. “Luna, what happened to you?” “I have grown, just as you have grown,” she said. “Just as everything in the world grows. I am wiser than before, and stronger in every way. And I am here with gifts for you; gifts I wanted to give to you years ago, but was never able to. “By noon today I will be the only princess of Equestria. My children will have Canterlot as their rightful inheritance, and you will have the entire sky. Cloudsdale will have no more mayors or generals, only the Stormmaster. Your line will be the greatest, entirely above the Noble Families.” Even Snowdrop’s humble heart was moved by that offer. She rose off her bed and landed in front of Luna; dangerously close. A smile tugged at her lips, but she forced it down. To be the greatest pegasus of her time, recognized by all; nopony could shun such an idea entirely. “You are pleased,” Luna observed. “But this is only the beginning. I can give you powers. Magic. Somepony will have to watch over the sun in my sister’s absence, and my children are not yet ready for such a task. You can have it, Snowdrop. Give it to your son if you do not want the burden, or one of your daughters. Whoever it is, they will be the most honored official in my court, equal to my own children.” Wintergreen, the Lord of the Sun. Or will it be Sunray? Woodbine? But already many voices were screaming in her mind, calling her back from the brink. “And the thing you wanted the most,” Luna continued. “The thing you've wanted for all your life. Snowdrop, it has taken me decades to design this spell. Now it is perfect, and I have the power to cast it. Tonight you will see.” Her blood turned cold as those words sank in. “Ever since I met you, I wanted to give you your eyesight. Pegasi are so proud of their far-seeing eyes. I still cannot imagine how difficult it was for you to live in darkness all these years. “I meant to give it to you when you were made Stormmaster of Cloudsdale, but the spell was far from ready. I tried again and again over the years, but you became less receptive as our friendship became strained. You would not even listen to me at the funeral. But now I am ready. “You will have the most beautiful eyes. The best eyes. You need only accept my offer.” “I cannot, Luna,” Snowdrop said slowly. In an instant Luna changed. The tendrils flared out of the floor and the walls, and lashed the air. When they brushed against Snowdrop, she felt as if frost was forming on her coat. “Am I not generous, Snowdrop?!” Luna roared. “Are you such an ungrateful foal that you would shun all my wonderful gifts? Any other pony would have kissed me eagerly for a fraction of what I am offering to you! The matriarch of the greatest Noble Family would grovel at my feet for any of these things that I am offering freely to you!” “I want nothing from you,” Snowdrop said without raising her voice. Her heart pounded, but she stood tall. The magical aura writhed and lashed out more viciously. The top layer of floor was torn to shreds, and cracks opened up in the walls. Snowdrop stood unharmed. “I can give you so much more!” Luna said. Her voice was a little softened, but her wild passion had only grown. “Everything short of a kingdom of your own, I can give you. I will give you. No longer will the Noble Families of Cloudsdale scoff at you and your family. They will bow to you and kiss your shoes. You and all your descendants will have the first fruit from the best orchards of the earth ponies. You can have wealth beyond your wildest dreams. All I ask in return is that you accept these gifts. Take your new eyes now, and see me in my hour of victory. See me now, in all my glory! Say the words, and the line of the Stormmaster will be secure forevermore!” “No.” Like a flood Luna’s strange magic filled the room floor to ceiling. Snowdrop reached for the bits of clouds floating around her, creating a shroud of swirling air to shield herself. Gigantic projections pried at her defences. A few made contact, delivering mighty blows that made her knees buckle. But Snowdrop felt no pain. “Look at me! Witness my power! look!” “Not like this, Luna,” Snowdrop said softly. Suddenly the storm had passed. Only Luna's “body” remained, its outline slowly undulating. “What?” “I don’t want to see you, Luna,” Snowdrop said shakily. “Not right now. And I don’t want your gifts. “What happened to you, Luna? I don’t recognize you, and I don’t want to remember you like this.” The shape did not speak immediately. Snowdrop could not discern even the vaguest outline of a pony in that writing mass. “Will you accept anything from me?” “No.” “Then we have nothing left to discuss,” Luna said. “I will return after my victory. I will offer all this to you once again. Snowdrop, I want to be your friend.” “And I want to be yours,” Snowdrop replied sadly. She did not recall Luna leaving. Snowdrop woke up on the floor, with the sun through the wall coloring everything bloody red. # It seemed every pony in Cloudsdale was flying around in a panic. Snowdrop stayed low on the east watchtower. The settlements on the ground were not faring any better. The sun had disappeared just before noon. Even Snowdrop missed the light. She imagined the two alicorns in the sky. How long could they fight, she wondered? And who should win? She had not told anypony about Luna’s visit that morning. A small part of her still fantasized about Luna’s gifts. She knew Cloudsdale’s mansions all too well. When was the last time she thought about having one for herself? And all the unteachable children she had been tasked to teach; if she could make them bow, why wouldn’t she? But it’s not right. “Look!” If Cloudsdale ever could capsize, it would have happened then. Every pony raced to the south side of the city, many of them overshooting the edge. Some took off well before then, apparently meaning to fly all the way to Canterlot. The shockwave was little more than a soft breeze by the time it reached Cloudsdale. Bit by bit the warmth of the sun returned, as if a veil had been lifted from the world. Snowdrop breathed a sigh of relief.