//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Queen Nightmare Moon // by Makitk //------------------------------// The caravan soon set back on the road again, rolling along peacefully for a full night-and-day after their encounter with the Changeling. Sunmane was kept in a cart close to the back of the caravan, under guard at all times, and responded to the questions asked of her with only minimal resistance. Seated in her cart near the front of the caravan, Nightmare Moon's thoughts were set mostly on the potential for a second transformation in her life; the merger with her Element of Magic. The more she turned it over in her head, the more it started to make sense to her. And that, in itself, was disturbing. Her captains interrupted her thoughts on occasion when they learned of new information from their prisoner or scouts, but the expected attack by Timberwolves just would not come. Nor did they spot any of the Changelings which Sunmane had spoken of as having a massive invasion force in the area. There were no ponies on the roads, the creatures in the woodlands near to it were quiet, and the guards' moods steadily dropped as they continued forward. The wait was heavy on everypony's nerves. When word finally came of Timberwolf tracks on the road, a grim determination washed over all in the caravan; this was what they had been expecting. No strange Changelings coming to take over their nation, but animal packs straying out of their regular hunting grounds instead. This was something they could handle. From that report onward, all guards took extra caution; carrying their weapons openly, staying close to the carts, their eyes on every shadow or moving element in the vicinity. It did not take long before the howling came to their ears, as they passed through a narrow pathway through the woods. Vision was limited, and the guards stuck to the carts as if they were glued to them, their eyes and weapons pointed at the wild growth around them. "Timberwolves, my Queen," captain Starstruck suggested as he walked to the right of her cart. "We're ready for them." "I would not expect otherwise from my longest-serving nightguard captain, Starstruck," she returned. "Wake my sister if she's not already conscious. She will want to take the lead on this." "Yes, my Queen," Starstruck responded, falling back to Darkstar's cart. Nightmare Moon soon found them both running past to the front of the caravan, her sister's dark aura already surrounding her, and she smiled to herself. It would be good for Darkstar to let go of her energy, as dark as it was, and the Timberwolves would make for good targets; they were indiscriminate in who they attacked, and Darkstar had no qualms with banishing them to what unholy realm they had been spawned from at the beginning of time. Soon enough there were shouts from the guards as the attack began, and magical energy flew through the woods - striking one wolf after another. Nightmare Moon was well-protected, being the Queen, and simply let herself fall to deeper thoughts again. Merger with an Element of Harmony... It really was the only one thing that was going through her mind right now, save for the Changeling invasion. She could not act upon the little information she had on the latter, but the former issue had been with her since the day she emerged from Luna. She had become intimately aware of the Element of Kindness and its finnicky way of dealing with her. It had a mind of its own and she often struggled to find a reason to it hampering her. If Darkstar could truly see the, supposed, full picture through her Element, why not Nightmare Moon herself? Would she truly gain a deeper insight in the workings of this Element of Harmony within her, understand it at a level she could not truly comprehend right now? It was daunting, off-putting, going against her every fibre, but also tempting, inviting, and somehow calming to think of allowing herself that final step. To become whole, as Darkstar had put it back in the palace. The Queen let her head sink down until she rested her chin on the floor of the cart and closed her eyes. There was nothing to occupy her right now, nothing which needed her to make decisions. This was one of those rare moments when she could rely on others to protect her and sort out the situation on their own. Now was the only time available for this for weeks to come. She reached out to her gemstone eye and opened herself to its influence, let its magic seep into her without being blocked. "Speak to me," she whispered, feeling a warm glow spread from her eye through the rest of her body. The world around her faded from her conscious observation. Sounds dampened, lights equalized, her body felt lighter as the sensation of gravity left her. The warm magical glow from the Element of Kindness took a hold of her, embraced her, encompassed her, became her. The cart she was in snapped its axle and came to a sudden stop, the Earthpony pulling it jerking to a halt as well. While Darkstar continued to make quick of the attacking packs of Timberwolves, the guards nearest to their Queen's, now broken, cart turned their heads to peer at it. The canvas cover lit up with black-blue flames eating away at the material until it had wholly evaporated, leaving behind a pitch-black orb which barely touched the wood it rested on. Their Queen was held inside, barely visible as a slightly brighter silhouette in the orb's center. There was a surge of air pulling to the orb, and loose-lying items flew to it, only to be catapulted in all directions again as the surge reversed with great force as the orb exploded! The Queen slowly sank down to the remains of the cart she had been on, her black hooves landing gently on the surface of broken woodboards and dirt. She opened her eyes as she felt the ground beneath her, blinked them a few times, then came to a realization; "I don't see pink," she breathed in a raw voice. "...my Queen?" a familiar sound behind her called out, and she turned to face Merryweather. "Yes, it is I," the transformed Alicorn replied, her voice no longer having the sharpness to it which that of Nightmare Moon had, nor the softness of Luna's. It sat somewhere between, like a parent's promise of kindness if one did good or punishment when one acted against her. It had a bit of a maternal feeling to it, which spoke to the Queen. It felt right, true to her spirit. She smiled weakly, her lips brushing past her fangs as she did. Her tongue snaked out to feel around the teeth, realizing at once that they had grown slightly smaller than Nightmare Moon's had been before. They still stuck out, but now no longer rested against the flesh from which her lower teeth had grown. She had some space to work with now, which was a nice realization. "What happened to you?" Merryweather queried, the shock still on her face. "I gave in to the magic," the Queen spoke matter-of-factly. "How do I look to you?" Merryweather clearly had no words, her slitted eyes moving seemingly at random as she tried to take all of her Queen's new appearance in at once. Not waiting for her captain to find her voice again, the Queen turned her head to look back along her flank. The first thing she spotted were her new wings, and she slowly extended them out to get a feel for them. Where Luna and Nightmare Moon had had feathers, she now sported the same leathery wings her Lunar children had on them. There was a soft peachfuzz of fur on the fingers, but the soft, supple leather skin between them was bare. It felt strange to extend them in the cool air of the night as they were no longer protected by the warm feathers her predecessors had; the breeze passing by them sending sharp tingles through them which were almost pleasurable to experience. She spread them up high above her back at a slight angle and smiled at the sight of them. There was a strength to the fingers extending this way, a beauty to the dark limbs with their curves and sleekness. It suited her just fine. "...gorgeous," her captain managed to breathe out, further emboldening her Queen's heart. Her eyes traveled along her black flank, her fur shining with a silver glow as she breathed air along it. It was like a knife's edge trailed along her body, leaving a sharp metal line which left no trace of its existence as the hairs fell back in place again. It was different from her earlier dark coat which had a blue sheen to it. Sat prominently on her flank, was the pink gemstone which had imposed its influence upon her and her eye before; slightly extended from her hip's smooth form as Darkstar's Element did, but shaped like the crescent shape appearing shortly after an eclipse; barely a sliver growing out from the darkness. A few silver specks sat near it like the stars in the night's sky. It was a calm design which was easy to remember; a pink crescent waxing moon with few stars speckled around it. It would make for a good flag. Beyond her rump were the silver hairs of her new tail, spread behind her like a silver cloud illuminated by the moon's light, moving constantly like a cloud by the Queen's magic. A tilt of her head made her aware of a similar silver mane with pink edges sitting on her head, and she decided to shake it out to feel its weight. It felt comfortable. It felt right. She felt whole. The Queen's eyes set upon Merryweather again, idly spotting other guards and the cart-pulling ponies having gathered around her where they were not fighting to keep the continued assault from the Timberwolves at bay. "Crescent," she started, then shook her head. "Eclipse." "Crescent Eclipse," repeated through the gathered group in a whisper, an expression of shared reverie on their faces, and the Queen blinked at them. "No, that's not what I meant," the Queen started to protest, but the expressions before her made her fall silent. The admiration in the eyes of those gathered around her was starting to make way for a fearful doubt, and it stung her heart to see. "You know what? I'm actually okay with that name. Call me Crescent Eclipse from now on," she owned up to her mistake, trying to reassure her subjects. She let her head sink down to Merryweather's height and looked the mare in the slitted eyes. "Tell me, daughter of mine, what do my eyes look like?" Somewhere in her mind rose the question of why she had addressed her captain with those words, but it was just as quickly pushed away again as she saw the tears springing up in the other's eyes. Having already given herself to her Queen when she decided to undergo the transformative process, Merryweather broke at being seen as the matriarch's daughter, and she could only reply with a thick voice through tears streaming down her cheeks. "Like be... beau... beautiful slitted pools of pink, my Queen..." Pink eyes. Eclipse reached out with her left forehoof to gently wipe the tears from her captain's right cheek. "Pull yourself together, dear. We are still under attack." "Ye... yes ma'am," Merryweather sniffled, trying to get her composure back. The Queen straightened herself again and gave a quick look around. "Let's give my sister some help up front," she suggested, turning to face the battle in time to watch a pitch-black implosion take care of an oncoming Timberwolf, "although it doesn't look like she needs it." With her horn starting to shine with a bright silver light, Eclipse set in a strong stride forward. Time to test her magic against these pesky wolves.