As Silent Wish stared out into the darkening desert, she was amazed at how smoothly the flying car soared through the sky, and despite obvious wind, there wasn't any rocking inside the somewhat spacious interior. It's chrome shell reflected the last rays of the setting sun as it went higher into the sky towards a set of blinking lights in the distance.
“Where are all the trees? And the villages or ponies?” Silent Wish asked her pony companions, surprising them with her sudden breaking of the silence. “Why is everything so...dead?”
Corporal Lance sighed and shook his head. “The hubris of ponykind knew no bounds. We dared to touch the heavens and become gods, and in return lost that which we held dear.”
“You been reading that thesaurus again, Lance? All those big words will make people think you're actually smart!” The brown earth pony, Sergeant Sparks, chuckled as he elbowed the Pegasus. “Well doesn't change the facts. He is right of course. We screwed up the world below. Only go down there now to find supplies and lost folks like yourself. Only place left with trees and fresh water is the Everfree forest. Don't want to go there though. It's even worse than the Dust.”
“So...the doctor was wrong. Maybe he was lying. Maybe I'm not 200 years old.” The bat pony pondered some more.
“We won't know for sure until we get back to Canterlot. It's the main hub of our people now that we all live up here in the sky. I don't remember anything about bat ponies after the Nightmare Moon incident, but I'm just a soldier. I wouldn't be privy to anything secretive.” Lance said, a small smile playing on his face as he looked at Silent Wish. “So you haven't seen any of your kind?”
Silent shook her head, causing her green hair to fall into her view. “I have only seen myself. And whatever the Doctor is. He was mostly just machine, but I could tell he had the heart of a pony. Said he rescued me and I got attacked so I was put into sleep for a long time.”
“That's interesting and all, but we're approaching Canterlot now. Prepare for docking and departure.” The pilot of the vehicle sharply stated, causing Silent to pout a little. She wasn't used to being interrupted. She didn't even know the pilot’s name, and he seemed content with that.
Silent Wish returned her view to the windows and was awed by the sight of what was now Canterlot. It certainly looked different than the images in the old books she read.
What Lance had called a city, Silent Wish could only describe it as a giant floating fortress of smooth steel and lights everywhere. It seemed to sit steadily on a huge bed of clouds, with wings of square shaped black glass that shone brightly from the reflection of the sun.
As their bullet of a car approached the yawning opening filled with similar vehicles and rushing dock workers, the pilot calmly and gently steered through both incoming and outgoing traffic, softly landing in a reserved spot marked by even more flashing lights. “Gosh there is so much light here. I'm not sure I like it.”
“Heh, you'll get used to it. If you decide to stay here anyway. Come on, Silent. Let's go get you inside.” Lance led the way out the door followed by Sparks and Silent. Her blue uniformed pony friends saluted to a waiting unicorn in grey military uniform who looked utterly annoyed to be away from whatever plans he had. “Captain Flowers, this is the one we found out in the Dust. As you can see, she is certainly different.”
“Hmm, yes that is obvious. But what is she even doing here? Her people are gone.” The unicorn said. His expression was one of confusion and wariness. “I suppose that I’ll find out soon enough. I've alerted the Princesses and they are waiting. I shall take you to them. Sergeant, Corporal, you are dismissed.”
Silent Wish hurriedly walked to catch up with the tall unicorn. His pink coat and blond mane looked almost out of place in his uniform and serious expression. “Where are we going, sir? I thought the Princesses were too important or busy to see people.”
“Oh no, they mostly do just that. Sitting in court is as much of talking to the citizens as it is ruling the empire. Usually the persons interested in speaking to them need an appointment but you are quite the exception. Considering that you shouldn't even exist.” The captain strode quickly through the steel halls and avoided eye contact with everyone who seemed to take notice of Silent Wish, his hand now on her shoulder to hasten her along. “Just be very careful around the Princesses. They are about to be in for a rather rude shock. I'd hate for you to be sent to the moon.”
Silent Wish chuckled at the thought, but her cheerful mood was tempered by the stallion's seriousness. They approached the doors to the main hall, opened quickly by two strong looking unicorn guards in golden armor that looked ancient amidst the steel and electronics surrounding them.
The main hall was even more impressive than the exterior. It was a bright room filled with tapestries and banners that covered every inch of the walls, great marble floors reflecting everything, and stone seats lining the walls that were barren for now.
Captain Flowers knelt on one knee when he reached the end of the long red carpet near the throne and attempted to get Silent to do the same. Princess Celestia sat upon her golden throne with her sister Luna by her side. Both wore simple yet elegant dresses and shocked expressions on their faces. Barely even noticing the captain and his attempted introductions, both of the Princesses walked quickly over to Silent Wish and stared down at her, studying every feature. It was Luna who broke the silence first. “You...what is your name and why are you here?”
“M-my name? I'm Silent Wish. I uh, was told I was asleep for 200 years by my friend who called himself Doctor Steel. A big stallion who is mostly machine now.” Silent Wish felt a drop of sweat fall down her cheek. She didn't quite like being silently inspected like this. “I don't know if he was right though. He told me to find a town called Ponyville, but the soldiers who found me said there wasn't any Ponyville anymore.”
“Come with us. We have much to discuss. In private.” Princess Luna pointedly stated, the pink unicorn stallion bowing sharply. “Thank you very much for bringing her here, Captain Flowers. I shall see to it you get adequately compensated for your time. As well as the ones who brought her here.”
“Y-yes my lady. I'll be waiting in my chambers if you need me.” He said as he left the room quickly. He hoped the bat filly would be ok, but he wasn't quite sure now. The captain had never seen such a severe look on either Princess’ face.
Once the captain left, Princess Luna and Celestia walked silently to a small room to the side of the main hall. It was sparsely decorated and only had a table and a big screen on one wall. Luna guided Silent Wish to a chair on one side and then sat on the other side with her sister. Both of them stared at the girl, not quite knowing what to say. It was Silent Wish who broke the quiet.
“Uh, am I in trouble? I am sorry if I did anything wrong. I never met royalty before. I don't know…” Silent began, but was cut off by a raised hand from Celestia.
“It is alright, little one. We are simply in confusion. You are a bat pony, obviously. But what you may not know is that it should be impossible that you are here.” Celestia said, turning to her sister and smiling. “Luna would know a bit more about that of course.”
Princess Luna sighed and steepled her fingers in front of her face, wondering where to begin. “Yes, it is true. It was I who commissioned you and your people’s creation, after all. When I became Nightmare Moon, I knew I couldn't take on Celestia and her army alone. So I made my own army with help from...other interested parties not from this world.”
Silent Wish smiled softly as she took in the information. “I was already told I was created for that, but what the Doctor said makes me think he lied. Did he?”
“Maybe. Let me make some calls and have our fellow Princesses in on the conversation. They can be objective voices.” Celestia softly said, tapping a few keys on the screen on the wall. Two alicorns appeared on the screen, one purple, the other pink. Both halves of the screen were separated by a small black line. Both alicorns had surprised expressions upon seeing Silent. “Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, this is Silent Wish. A bat pony vampire who says she is from before Luna was banished.”
The Princesses bade the filly to tell them all of what the strange stallion who woke her up had told. They listened for a few minutes before Luna cut her off. “I have no idea who the machine pony is or why he told you those things. They are simply not true. Yes you were made to fight, but it wasn't even close to 200 years ago. It was well over a thousand at least. Closer to 1200 or so. The truth is that you were made to be...expendable. I purposefully had your people made with a single goal in mind and then to expire after a set amount of time. Which happened exactly as planned.”
“But if what your friend said was the truth, that you are a vampire and that he tried to reverse the effects, I'd say he was right to an extent. Maybe he was underground for too long? Not needing to eat or go above ground for anything. He probably hasn't seen the surface for years. He'd certainly not want you out there if he knew the horrors that lurk there.” Twilight Sparkle interjected. She smiled and bowed slightly before the filly. “Either way, it is very nice to meet you. I haven't met anyone other than the Princesses who lived longer than a normal pony. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage.”
“What do you mean?” Silent Wish asked.
“What she means is that the people we lead will be more inclined to believe you are a Princess, rather than freaking out about you being a vampire. Vampires are considered evil amongst the common ponies. For good reason. As you inevitably found out.” Cadance responded, a sad look on her face. “I couldn't imagine the horrors you went through before your sleep. For all of us here, I am sorry.”
Silent Wish didn't know what to think. She blinked in confusion before responding. “You don't need to be sorry, Princess. I am just fine. I don't even remember before. It's all...blank. And I suppose that is a good thing. But I don't think people would accept me as a Princess. I didn't do anything to earn it. And not having people to be Princess of is a little bit a problem too.”
The four Princesses in the room shared worried glances before Celestial spoke up. “Yes I suppose that is true. But having all four of us announce our support for you as Princess will help ease the people’s minds. After all, we are gods to them. What we say inevitably becomes truth. Trust me, it'll work. You get a good night’s rest. I'll put out a quick announcement to everyone for attendance, and when Twilight and Cadence arrive, we can reveal you.”
Silent Wish nodded politely. She wasn't tired but she understood that they probably were. Everyone said their farewells and Silent was shown to a nice room with a soft bed to await the dawn. She didn't know what to expect. Silent simply stared up at the ceiling and daydreamed. True non-magic induced sleep was next to impossible.