Soldiers of the Night

by bahatumay


Chapter 4

Luna flew, her powerful wings beating at a steady pace. The little filly on her back squealed. What fun! This was much faster than she could fly!

Flying seemed to come naturally to pegasi, and so it did for Luna, as well. Instinctively, she knew the way she had come, and corrected her path by merely leaning her body. She couldn’t help but smile as the filly daringly took one hoof off her back, and then the second. She cheered, her voice sounding very high-pitched, almost like a squeal. If that were how she reacted to flying, it would be interesting indeed to hear her reaction to the castle.

It came as a shock, then, when she burst from the trees into a clearing, only to see the same camp as before. She skidded to a stop, her hooves kicking up snow, her mouth slowly opening in confusion. How was she back at their settlement? Luna slowly shook her head. Impossible. This was impossible. She had flown straight and true.

She paused to assure herself that this was the same encampment, and it most assuredly was; for the little filly on her back jumped off and ran to a pony that could only be her mother, excitedly telling her about how fast that strange pony could fly (and how loud her wings were as she flew). Some others gave her sad smiles, as if she were just discovering the truth of this world.

But Luna was not one to give up so easily. She furrowed her brow and reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her compass, determined to plot the way manually if necessary.

This, too, would be more complicated than she had previously assumed. The needle spun a bit, as if trying to spin through oil, before finally settling on pointing towards the sun. Luna frowned. That wasn’t right. She tapped on the glass covering the compass. It jiggled, but it didn’t correct itself. She pursed her lips. Even this time of year, the sun should have been more eastward than that. She turned and took a few steps forward, and when she looked down, the needle had jumped slightly, now pointing at a two degree angle from the sun.

Wait…

She closed her eyes and strode forward a good forty paces, intent on walking in a straight line. She should have been in the trees; but when she opened her eyes, she was still in the clearing, and the compass now pointed five degrees away from the sun.

Of course! Luna laughed as she suddenly understood. There must have been magnetic ore in this place, enough to throw off her compass and her internal sense of direction. No wonder they thought they could never leave! They were just disoriented! Any attempt at flying in a straight line would just leave them going in circles! She chuckled wryly. Now she felt much better about her flubbed teleportation from earlier.

Luckily, she was not limited to just her flight magic. She replaced her compass and lit her horn.

This, as can well be imagined, instantly drew the attention of the bat ponies once more. As one, they stopped what they were doing, clearly keen on seeing what she would do now.

Knowing that everypony here was watching, Luna smiled softly to herself, and then cast her spell. A shimmering ball of magic materialized in front of her, and, like a ball of ethereal yarn, it unraveled, carving out a trail through the forest and through the trees. Gasps and whispers spread through the bat ponies again.

Luna spoke, her voice loud and ringing against the mountain. “My little ponies,” she said. “I can take you away from here. My magic is powerful, and can cut through the confusion. You were trapped here, but no more. I will set you free.” Her voice grew quieter. “Trust me.” Please.

She looked around, but none of the bat ponies moved towards her. It must have seemed too good to be true. Were they convinced?

Arctic Night stepped forward. Luna felt herself tense. And then:

“My little ponies, gather your things,” he ordered, his voice soft but carrying through the cold air. He glanced back at Luna, his expression determined and, for the first time, hopeful. “We will leave at dusk.”

* * *

Luna stood proud and tall, trying to give off an aura of confidence. Not that she wasn’t confident, of course; but the bat ponies seemed more apprehensive than anything else, and many were looking to her as if for encouragement.

Finally, Arctic Night neared. “This is everypony,” he said quietly. “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Luna said.

“I’m trusting you,” Arctic Night said, just as quietly.

“And I will not betray that trust,” Luna said firmly.

Arctic Night nodded.

It was time. The sun began to sink. Luna flapped her wings once, shooting upwards. She lit her horn and, with a slow toss of her head, raised the moon into its perfect upright position.

The bat ponies stared and whispered again. Luna smiled proudly. It was strange to have an audience for this, but she certainly wasn’t complaining.

She dropped to the ground. “Come,” she said. “Let us depart.” She lit her horn, cast the spell again, and began to fly. Behind her, she could hear ponies moving against the snow, but could not hear them flying. Their leathery wings made them fairly silent, and she probably would have been intrigued on how that worked if she weren’t so focused on getting home.

She led them forward, following the magical trail. Even as her brain knew she was going the wrong way, as her instincts screamed that she was going to run into the mountain if she kept going this far this fast, she trusted the magic.

These misgivings weren’t hers alone. “We’re going the wrong way!” she heard somepony whisper behind her.

“Follow Luna,” Arctic whispered back.

It almost became a sort of rallying cry. “Follow Luna!” “Follow Luna!” It spread like wildfire through the ranks of the bat ponies.

Soon, the small forest from before came into view. With a renewed burst of speed, Luna charged forward.

And then she felt it. She had crossed the invisible barrier. All of a sudden, she felt a comforting feeling of orientation; somewhat like when one’s ears finally pop and the sensation of hearing properly returns. She skidded to a stop, reveling in this feeling. She grinned and looked around.

That smile faded a bit as she did. The bat ponies had, as one, hit the snow. Most were panting hard, hooves to their heads. One foal lay face-down in the snow, unmoving, the only signs of life a few weak twitches of his left hind leg. A few just sat, a few rolled on the ground. What was normal for her was new for them. It must have been disorienting, being hit with that sudden sense of direction. It would be as if she had just given a unicorn wings or something.

She chuckled in spite of herself. As if that could ever happen.

As the bat ponies recovered, she looked behind to see if all had made it out. A younger pony hadn’t quite made it across. He stared, confused, as he tried to cross but found his body rotating away, his instincts and his eyesight giving him conflicting information. Luna lit her horn and lifted him across, and he soon joined his brethren on the ground. She smiled in spite of herself.

Arctic Night stumbled over. “I…” he started hoarsely. “I had no idea.”

Luna smiled. “Oh, Arctic Night,” she said, “you have seen nothing yet.” She spread her wings once more. “We fly!”

This triumphant cry was answered with mostly pained groaning. She glanced around and realized that nopony here was yet in any condition to fly. “We will wait for us all to recover,” she amended, “and then we fly!”