//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - The Lecture // Story: The Lunar Chalice // by Spirals95 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 A spacious lecture hall was brightly lit at the university, a wide open room with rows upon rows of chairs for students to sit in while their professor demonstrated. White colored walls ran the sides of the hallway carpeted in blue, and the back doors clacked shut as the students filed in to listen to their educator, Midnight Blaze, who was giving a lecture on some of his magical inventions. “The mindstone is the future of household tools,” declared the unicorn, proud that he was finally able to give a lecture on his life's work, “with it, earth ponies and pegasus ponies will finally be able to use equipment only unicorns could pick up.” Midnight walked over to the black granite counter top near him, where one of his precious mindstones sat attached to the base of a large salad fork. “Watch, I'll pick this up without using any of my magic,” he said proudly to his class, focusing on the fork. The amethyst colored gem at the bottom of the oversized eating utensil glowed brightly, and it started to float into the air as Midnight Blaze's eyes tracked it. After a few moments of hovering the fork in front of his face to show the class, he dropped it back on the table. Pleased with himself, the young inventor trotted over to a nearby green chalkboard, which was covered in runic symbols drawn in white chalk, and a diagram of the Equestrian brain with several arrows pointing to a drawing of a diamond. “Mindstones are enchanted to attach themselves to the thought patterns of the Equestrians that own them,” explained the unicorn as he pointed at the drawing, “each of us has a unique pattern, just like our cutie marks. I hope someday to perfect the technology so that all Equestrians will be able to maximize their abilities.” Proud of himself, he turned around to face the students, eyes shut, “So, are there any questions?” Midnight found himself not getting a response from his class, so he opened his eyes. All the students he had been teaching were gone, and the room had grown eerily dark and quiet. He knew he had heard the chatter of the pupils before he started giving his lecture, but he couldn't remember what any of them looked like. It was as if they hadn't actually entered the classroom to start with. “What happened?” he sighed, his ears drooping in disappointment, “Was I too boring?” “Not at all!” It was that stupid voice again, and Midnight gritted his teeth, looking around for it, but his eyesight couldn't quite get through the darkness. All he could see was a faded figure, clearly a larger stallion, as he had imagined his unwanted guest to be based on his voice. “Oh no, it's you...” growled Midnight, “Look, if you don't stop talking to me, my friends are going to think I'm nuts!” “Oh, well that's a shame, now isn't it?” chuckled the specter, staying in the darkness but clearly smiling, “I thought your presentation was delightful. Your mind is far too good for what that ignorant fool thinks you should be doing.” “Ignorant fool?” thought Midnight, curling his front hoof in caution, “Does he mean... my dad? How does this guy know about me and my father's fights, and why the hay does he care?” “Your thoughts aren't as safe as you think they are, Midnight,” warned the stranger, “though your guess about your father is accurate, I am a bit disappointed that you don't seem to really understand why I'm supporting you.” “I probably don't understand because you're making me think I've gone crazy,” answered the unicorn gruffly, “if you're trying to help me, why are you making me look like I have a mental illness?” “Mental illness, Midnight Blaze?” mocked the darkness, “I am no mental illness, I am very real. Unlike your 'dad', I want to talk to you, to support you, and see this mindstone project to completion. That's why I'll be meeting you very soon.” “Who are you?!” demanded Midnight, stomping his hoof back down, “And how come you can read my mind?” “Only one who cares about you,” answered the voice, “enough to watch over you and guide you to me, where you'll be exactly what you deserve to be. For now, all I can do is consult your mind, whether you're awake... or asleep.” Midnight understood now that he was dreaming, and looked around nervously. This was obviously a horrible nightmare, and any second now, Princess Luna would step into the dream and ask him about the progress on restoring the chalice. But these thoughts were intercepted by the shadows and the darkness, and it continued to torment him. “Princess Luna isn't here, nor will she be able to enter this dream,” said the voice eerily softly, “I cannot have her keeping us apart. As it is, one of my loyal servants has made a tiny error in trying to stop you from reaching your destiny by breaking your train.” “Oh yeah,” muttered the unicorn in response, “the engineers had to come to, and we all fell asleep in the car while they got out to fix it and get us moving again.” “No matter,” assured the voice, “his mistake is forgivable and easily understood. Patience and calculation is important, Midnight Blaze.” Midnight could sense the slight annoyance, and knowing he was dealing with something out of the realm of what he knew and understood, he decided to grovel in hopes of getting peace. The room was beginning to get extremely cold, as if his body heat was being drained from him slowly. “Please, whoever you are, don't make me go insane! I'll do whatever you want, just get out of my mind!” It answered honestly, “You're already doing what I wish, why should I leave? I enjoy our conversations, and I have no intent to harm you, the opposite in fact. You'll see soon enough.” Midnight Blaze was shaking like a leaf now, and the force in the room seemingly took notice as it relaxed, returning his body heat rapidly. “Before you leave me for now, I'd like you to promise me you'll make sure those ponies traveling with you stay with you,” it requested, “they should be present for your ultimate triumph in life.” “My friends?” gasped Midnight, “You leave them out of this!” “There will be no arguing about this, if you told them I exist they would indeed believe you to be insane,” reminded the spirit calmly, “Now, make sure they stay with you until we meet, and also...” Without warning, the ceiling of the lecture hall was ripped open, and bright rays of light shone down, dispelling the darkness and flooding the room with light again. “Until we talk again...” whispered the fading voice, just as Midnight Blaze was shocked awake. “Midnight wake up, we've made it to Stargazer's Peak,” said Techorse softly, shaking Midnight with a front hoof on the back of his neck. Techorse and the others had already woken up hours ago. With the engineers having had to get out of the train and repair the wheels manually, they hadn't made it to the city to sleep at the inn. Each of the other three ponies had gotten only six hours of sleep by napping on the train's separate seats, but they looked much better than Midnight. The poor unicorn looked as if he hadn't have slept a single minute, his eyes were heavy and his expression was miserable. “I guess you were tired,” Techorse continued, encouraging his groggy friend to wake up, “did you sleep ok?” Midnight was tempted to talk about the nightmare, but he could remember his dream vividly. They'd think he was crazy if he told them about the voice, so he simply smiled. “Yeah, I slept fine. Just need some more caffeine, I guess.” “Heeey now that's the idea,” interrupted Flaming Ivory with a happy laugh, “Let's go bug our very thankful wait staff whose lives we totally saved for some coffee!” “I'm sure they'll love it if you keep bringing it up,” sighed Shadow Breeze, shaking his head and smirking. “Come on Shadow, I'm new to this adventure thing,” answered the musician, “besides, I know you want a nice hot cup too!” The pegasus yawned, and then blushed a little bit. “Well, maybe a little bit.” “All right, we'll go talk to the staff for some coffee,” said Techorse, “we'll bring you one Midnight, just stay here.” Midnight nodded slowly as his friends left the train car, leaving him alone to his thoughts as he looked out of the window at the rising sun. The mountains were clearly around them now, and the air felt much colder, perhaps why he was a bit chilled in his dream. “This is all just me being upset about dad,” he reasoned, still sure he wasn't actually talking to someone real, “Besides, Luna doesn't have time for every pony's dreams, I was just lying to myself to make the nightmare more comfortable.” Princess Celestia was attending to a charming yellow orchid, a handsome flower that had been given to her as a gift by the local greenhouse for helping them fix their facility the last time it was damaged in a storm that had swept through Canterlot. The beautiful plant received a fresh drink of water from a small can the alicorn held with her magic above it, and she smiled at her new treasure. “Celestia, I need to speak with you for a moment,” said her sister from behind her. The Princess of the Sun put down the watering can next to the plant and turned to face her sibling. As soon as she saw her sister's facial expression, the smile given to her by the orchid disappeared. Princess Luna looked very upset about something, her eyes betraying her feelings. “What's wrong?” asked Princess Celestia, “I haven't seen you this upset in a long time.” “It's Midnight Blaze, Techorse's new friend,” explained Luna, “You see, I sent him with Techorse to retrieve the Lunar Chalice. I wanted it to stay a secret, but now something terrible has happened.” “The chalice?” asked Celestia, taken aback by the name of the artifact, “I thought it had been destroyed.” “Perhaps I should have been more upfront, but no, it has not been destroyed,” admitted Luna shamefully, “that evil cup still exists in the collection of an affluent griffon family. I have sent Techorse and his friends out to retrieve it as Twilight Sparkle is absent... I wanted to protect the chalice from abuse.” Princess Celestia had known about the chalice and what it had done in the past, but in the modern world, it was unlikely anyone would even know how to use it, “Luna, I am pleased you have sent our friend Techorse to retrieve the chalice. Everything is behind us now, there's no need for shame anymore.” “That is not what I am worried about,” continued Luna, shaking her head, “I am worrying because I have not been able to dreamwalk with Midnight Blaze. I was able to locate Techorse, Flaming Ivory, and Shadow Breeze's dreams, but Midnight... wasn't available.” Her sister could tell that wasn't a good sign, but not knowing much about Midnight besides the fact that he was Techorse's friend and was aiding him, she made a suggestion. “Perhaps Midnight did not sleep tonight. The stress of this quest you've sent him on might have given him a sleepless evening.” Celestia's confidence in her answer was soon broken with Luna's response, “I would agree under most circumstances... but I was not unable to locate Midnight's dream and sleep pattern. I found them, but I could not get in... it was if I was being... pushed away by a strange force.” Luna sighed, and then continued as her guilt got the better of her, “Perhaps he did not want me there. I have never been denied entry before, but I can understand why. I should have done the retrieving myself like Flaming Ivory suggested.“ The other alicorn watched her closest family member's head and demeanor sink slowly. It was clear the subject was making her feel bad, and Celestia didn't want that to continue. Perhaps it was time for a break, and she knew just how to convince Luna to take one. “I don't know much about Techorse's other friends besides Shadow Breeze, who is about to become our next diplomat,” said Celestia, smiling again as she hinted at a much needed change of topic, “would you like to tell me about them over tea?” Her sister's happiness returned, her head lifted up again and a weak smile returning, “I'd... love to.”