//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 - Think // Story: The Red Dusk // by Barony //------------------------------// "Sir Dusk? Are you alright?" "Sir Dusk?" "He must be in a daze from the teleportation, sir." A clink and a small, insignificant force on Red's armor rouses the stallion from his thousand yard daze, the alicorn shaking his head and looking down at the culprit: A gruff Thestral stallion with the typical amber eyes and dark purple mane, looking up at him in his armor, chainmail and all. "Oh, there he goes." the stallion says as he blinks, backing away as another, more wiry Thestral stallion approaches, adorned in a cloak whose hood went over his head, covering his mane and ears. His lighter, lemon yellow, slit eyes looked up at him. "Sir Dusk, are you alright?" the small cloaked Thestral asked, the alicorn also noticing a book in the pit of one of the other Thestrals, a familiar black book. He squints at it, before looking back down at the cloaked stallion. "I am fine, Initiate Mythic." his voice, deep and almost wise sounding, came out almost without Red even thinking about it. How did he know this pony's name, he asks himself as he looks over his legs, all coated in his signature armor, chainmail running along his body everywhere and many little plates covering it. They all jingle as he shakes his leg. "Well... Are you ready for the four hundredth twenty eighth Feast of the Moon, Sir?" asks the armoured stallion, attracting the other cloaked Thestrals as Red blinks, almost in surprise. The four hundredth twenty eight Feast of the Moon? he thought explicitly to himself, almost voicing his thoughts out loud. He looks around to see that it's his personal throne room in Hollow Shades. Eight large, midnight purple banners bearing the simple yet powerfully symbolic white Crescent Moon adorned the wooden room, hanging from rafters leading from the big, decorated oaken doors to Red's throne. Red's throne was that of aged, darkened wood with muted burgundy padding and a small stand for his halberd and another for his helmet to the sides of it, all three resting just beyond the final of three wooden steps. The throne was engraved with all sorts of runes and old Equestrian characters, with the back rest holding an iron moon to the sky. All along the walls were stained glass with various shades of blue, purple, and violets that communicated stories of the centuries, mostly about Nightmare moon, but some about him. Those about him had extra color to them: burgundy's and crimsons, two of which are the most common colors used to describe him, atleast color wise. The pillars behind the banners were just as decorated as the stained glass, throne, and door. Many of them were actually engravings about Him, Red. He was the one supporting Nightmare Moon's regime, so it's only obligatory. The one banner that got him was his. His banner, a sign of his nobility, a herald of his presence, a warning to all who opposed him in his own courts and land. It held his sharp, diamond like helmet on the lower half, its vision port a dark abyss that stared down viewers of the banner. Most importantly, his recognizable, red four pointed star reigned supreme in this banner, its brighter red contrasting with its darker brothers. Ofcourse, the banner itself is a tribute to Nightmare Moon. the crescent moon decorated the edges with its own purples and violets, a constant reminder of who was truly in charge, all the way up there. It all flooded back. This dream is must simply be memory, a natural reminiscing of the past. He looks at all the different weapons and spies even more Thestrals, all wearing the same heavy armor as the other stallion - His Guard. He bites his lip as he looks down again at the pony. "Indeed, yes. Just ehhh... One question... Where's Grace?" the lesser pony is taken aback, and turns around, speaking in Prench, a few of these ponies being foreigners from around the region, while Red himself is surprised yet again by the lack of control he has in his own mind, but it is a memory at that. Who was Grace? Red asked himself as he thought, before shaking his head, giving up. No matter, anyway, for he should atleast be optimistic in spirit when the feast, the good part of this memory he hopes, begins. "No idea, Your Majesty Sir Dusk, but do you wish to have some more time before the festivities start?" Red shakes his head 'no' and the stallion beams. The gruff stallion barks, yet rather quietly, at the other guards, who with bared teeth of anxiety put on their helmets and run behind him. Red moves himself to align with the center of the door, the opening in the middle of his vision. Two guards, notably unicorns in their helmets with visors down, take places on two sides of the double door. Looking behind him, left to right, he can see that the guard has four of themselves escorting their alicorn leader in a square formation, while the cloaked ponies are still in the back, conversing with eachother before making their way and surrounding Red. One of the cloaked ponies, Mythic, carries a bowl of burning incense in his mouth, with a crescent moon hanging below it, the moon's concave shape pointed up at the bowl as it hangs by small chains. His four pointed star hangs below, in red copper. Finally, the gruff stallion takes center, standing right infront of the alicorn before stamping his hoofs four times. The doors open, white aura's of the two unicorns taking hold of the handles and pulling them, revealing a large, long hall with all the banners of both Nightmare Moon and Red Dusk. Multiple pots of fire illuminate the hall, the table and the guests sitting at said table. Guests of all races, classes and gender sat in their respective seats, all looking at the opened door and therefore, Red Dusk. Servers walked about with amphoras full of wine, pouring the red liquid into the goblets of those who had just come in or those who had downed their's before Red appeared. At the head of the table was Red's dining throne, as he liked to call it. He had his sitting throne, his thinking throne, and even his porcelain throne as The entire group escorting Red began to walk as he did so himself, coinciding with how the entire thing happened going by memory. The cloaked Thestrals whispered amongst eachother, the guards remained stoic as they moved, their hooves making metallic clip-clops. He stops beside the throne, looking up and down both sides of the table, seeing his guests, before looking to his right side. He could see three guards walking past the table with some of the initiates running past, going forth to the kitchen. The guards all stop, each one taking position at a pillar beneath a banner, their visors lowered. He could feel their eye's staring at him through their slits. The alicorn, then looks down to his section of the table before stepping aside into a position in front of his seat, prompting a younger initiate to push in his chair for him to sit down, planting himself in its plump, comfortable cushioning. The guard captain quickly takes his seat to the stallion's left, looking directly at him. His armor clangs and his chainmail rattles, before all is silent in the feasthall, except for the cold wind outside and the cracking of the torches that illuminated the hall. All eyes were on him, each with a different emotion to the other beside them. Some of them were nervous, new friends of the knight. Others were patient and comfortable, usually the older, more acquainted colleagues of Red's. The silence is broken as a door being opened could be heard, along with the sound of hurried clip-clops. An initiate canters over, a unicorn, holding a black, metallic amphora holding the crescent moon on it, with stars and white on its edges. She hurries over, Red glancing over to see her blue eyes. She seemed nervous to be this close to him, filling his large goblet, filling it with a dark, purplish liquid; wine of a special make. She finishes pouring it in, the initiate bowing her head and muttering a prayer of sorts under her breath, before wheeling about and going back to the kitchen, the door closing with a rush of air and a slam. It was quiet once again. Someone sniffles at the other end of the table, maybe some one has gone down with a cold? He wonders, but he rises, goblet in the cleft of his hoof. He clears his throat, remembering how to do his royal Equestrian voice. A useful skill for talking to guests in a big room, he supposed. He smacks his lips, before beginning. "Welcome! Esteemed guests of Hollow Shades, rightful territory of Her Excellency, Nightmare Moon! I trust that your journeys to here have been safe and wrought with good fortune, considering you are here and intact, and I also trust that you are warm and comfortable with what amenities my castle staff have been able to provide you." A synonymous "Aye!" comes from those sitting at the table, the alicorn smiling to himself, before shivering as a small draft blows in before the sound of a door being closed is heard. Everyone's head turns, before a tall pony in a dark purple cloak with a crescent moon, escorted by two initiates, walks in. The pony shakes off its hood, before revealing it was another Thestral, but with lime green eyes and long, drooping hair. Her eyes wander over to meet Red's as she walks over to a seat to his right. It's the religious matriarch, Grace. Young, but he liked her, less zany than the one before. She looks up at him, before nodding for him to continue. He exhales shakily, jittery from the sudden cold. "As I was about to say, I hope that your stay here has made this holiday worth your time. I know most of you have kingdoms to rule, armies to command, and taxes to collect, and I understand if you had to forgo being here for that. However, if you are here, even with such responsibilities, then I thank you. It is all very swell to have such friends of The Empress by my side. Now, let us eat! Luna resurgemus!" he raises his goblet into the air sharply, a drop of it spilling out before he takes a nice sip of the sweet nectar. His tongue flicks in his mouth as it takes the nice, sweet taste of the brew as he sits down, everyone chanting the phrase almost at the same time. The hall descends into them talking between eachother and the drinking of wine as Red sits down, looking around. The Matriarch snorts, before looking over at Red. "How has the North been?" she asks inquisitively, the Thestral taking up her own cup of wine and sipping it, putting it back down. "Cold, snowy, brutal. I lost four men to winter's bite, but we were able to reach the castle. Except it was not a castle. Just, rubble." she raises her eyebrow, shaking her head. "What do you mean rubble? Those were one of our best strongholds, that has held all of our scrolls and texts since you came around three centuries ago. Were there any left?" He swishes his wine around, sighing. "None. They found the vault and took everything, including burned a sizable portion, judging from a pile of ash in the corner." he speaks with dismay, seeing Grace fume with anger, the mare huffing before taking a nice long drink of her wine. Red rolls his eyes, before continuing. "We found the frozen bodies of all our troops there and it was obvious Captain Topaz was there, along with Celestia. Most of the bodies found were officers, and out of five hundred as reported, we only found four hundred fifty eight, meaning she took some prisoner." he takes another sip of the well crafted wine, swishing it around in his mouth before looking up to see that some of the initiates were arriving with food. "She's a bitch, plays with her food." his guard captain starts, his goblet resting on his lips by the time Red's eyes coast over to lock with his. "I'm not surprised she took our men, she wants information on where Hollow Shades is and she also probably wanted information on the whereabouts of my army. She knows that we're about to make a move, she can feel it." the alicorn continues, looking into his goblet as the waves begin to get smaller and smaller from movement. A shake of the table changes this, the waves coming from the edges once again as it shook. "I just wish we could get done with these wars and control Canterlot already. We've lost thousands of men over the course of decades to her armies, a miraculous achievement for them." the captain whines, before he's alerted to the arrival of an initiate with food. He lays down the tin plate in front of him, a salad with potatoes, some radish, carrots, just a general variety of cut up, steamed vegetables including a wedge of gorgonzola cheese. Red gets his own dish, a small tin platter with it's edges decorated in a shiny, polished copper. The food present on the plate consisted of breaded river trout, a salad with some potatoes, bread, a sweet dressing, squash, you name it. Red's tongue pops out to lick his teeth, before his fork floats up to impale a piece of the fish, putting it into his mouth. At the corners of his eyes, he could see both his captain and Grace shift in their seats uncomfortably while looking at him. He could not blame them, the practice of eating meat in Equestria as a pony is taboo, and this carries on to Hollow Shades, his home turf. "Anyways... Lord Dusk, have you had any confrontations with Celestia over the last few months before you went North?" Grace asks, her fork laden with spinach and blue cheese. The alicorn nods, taking another bite before beginning to speak, "Several. Though... Last one was, strange. Instead of actually meeting me, she just stalked me, studied me. It was when I was moving to the Everfree Forest castle ruins when I saw her silhouette against the night sky." Grace begins to lean in while he takes another bite, pausing. "I felt a flurry of emotions as I tried to process why she wasn't down and doing what she usually did, which was to fight me..." He shakes his head, biting his tongue behind closed lips. He sighs, taking another bite as he felt something, almost a pressure, weigh in on his head metaphysically. It was gone by the time he gathered up some food with his fork. "Like I said, she plays with her food like a cat. She's one for mind games, watching from afar." "True. But this was unlike any other time. If she pulled this before, she would've attempted to get me to do something, try to trigger me to do something. But no, she just stood there... Unmoving... For about, twenty minutes" He blinks, looking at Grace as he goes for another bite of trout. She seemed concerned. He looks away, his eyes scanning the table and his guests. The hall itself was alive with chatter and laughter from both sides of the table, with his own initiates fueling it as they brought in more wine. Closest to him sat some of his most trusted allies, mostly warlords, rogue nobles, or opportunistic monarchs eyeing for a piece of the Equestrian cake. He recognized many friends in this section of the crowd, many of which were Griffons, one of which was a princess from a Northern Griffon state. He forgot her name, yes, but he remembers her even after all those years. A dark feathered, slim man killer of a woman. Her amber eyes darted around the feast hall, before locking with his own. She smiles, the tension in her face loosening up before she looks back to the other side of the table. He purses his lips, before looking further down the table, bringing up another bite of his fish, coupled with some of the salad components. His army majors, merchants, mercenaries, even defectors of Celestia's regime. All conversing, laughing and telling stories between one another. Only thing was, he wasn't talking with them. Sure, he spoke to them after the feast usually, but the talk rarely led to anything objectively 'friend-like', such conversation s popping up regularly with his closest allies and even then, it's quick, straight to the point... His head began going alive with thoughts, going so far as to begin warping the dream itself. Why could he not hold actual friendships with those he cared about apart from the problem that was ageless-ness? He always felt disconnected yet connected, despite his trying to make friends and liven up his admittedly miserable life. Infact, why is he even continuing to fight this war? At that point even in the dream, he distinctly remembers being exhausted, tired of the constant fighting, the monotonous routine that was the missions for the Empress, his constant juggling of catering to her every whim be it following orders on Earth or serving to her needs on the moon. The only times he felt true joy was when it just popped up after he completed missions, like a treat to a dog... or when he actually had a semblance of control over his life on the ground. He looks to his hooves, the scratched up underside of his sabatons showing a history of constant abuse, punishment endowed by their creator in his constant efforts to please an almost ungrateful controller who was with him, even on Earth. As the thoughts grow deeper and deeper, surprisingly unimpeded, the alicorn suddenly feels somewhat of a sensation travel up his spine in a second. His eyes widen, his gaze darting to Grace. She seemed to be focused on her food, about halfway done, it seemed. He looks back down to his hooves, raising an eyebrow, only to see something of a 'tear'. A white that sparkled, almost snow white, that looked as if the floor was cloth that had been ripped. He looks behind him, only to see something unexpected: he only saw snow, and a thick, white fog, as if it were snowing. He looks back to his front, to see that it was replaced with the same thing: nothing but snow. At this point, the noises of the feast hall had withered away, and he realized that he was now standing up, still in his armor. Taking a step forward, the snow crunched underneath his right hoof while more snow fell down. He blinks as a snowflake falls down onto his eye, the cold stinging the moist ball. His eyes open as fast as any usual blink, only with one final difference: he was in his helmet, he was in full plate. The only vision he possessed was that with which the wide V of a vision port allowed him. He looks around, the helmet's lower edges rubbing against his neck plate. It was oddly calming, peaceful. The air was chilly, yes, and the alicorn shuddered, but there was no breeze, and he felt no rush to get warm, for it felt as though his undergarments were just about enough. The only question was... Why? Why is he here? Why did he suddenly- A ghastly wail came from the distance infront of him. His blood froze, a sudden panic beginning to rise within him as another wail goes out. Whispers from inside his helmet began to make an appearance, rising in volume as yet another wail goes out, this time closer. "Run. She's out to get you. Run." He slowly begins to wheel around to go in the other direction, the whispers growing in volume, before he hears yet another sound. The sound of hooves beating on snow. Red immediately began to feel the need to run just in another direction from where he used to be facing, but at the same time, an almost garbled command to 'halt' entered his mind, from a familiar voice, one he heard recently. The command to stop kept on filling his mind, but meanwhile, the command to run, fly, sprint, and bolt fought with it for control. Halt became less of a command said by a confident mare, but now by an uncertain one, almost one of someone unsure of what they had stumbled into but certainly aware of Red's presence. He struggled to move as he attempted to process the sheer amount of information that was feeding into his head, before he saw it. A black void in the shape of a pony, a unicorn it looked, was walking towards him. It's mane bounced and flowed as it comes to a stop infront of him. All the whispers, commands, everything went silent. The only sound was Red's panicked breathing as he looked down upon the rather tall equine. It looked up at him, turning his head before it spoke. "Are...Not scared?" its voice echoed in his mind, the dream, his helmet. His ears lay flat against the flat top of his helmet in an involuntary yet desperate attempt to shut themselves out from the perceived 'physical' sound. He takes a big step back, groaning in pain. The pony seemed startled by his scream of pain, looking to the ground, almost in shame. He looks back up to see this, the sound having gone. He takes this time to study it, before it throws its head up to look straight into his eyes. "Hurt?" the voice suddenly became a bit clearer, not to mention less ear piercing and more identifiable as a mare, with a familiar deep voice. He takes a step forward, moving his head to look at his flanks before looking straight at 'her'. He nods shallowly. He begins to notice that 'her' body was flickering, almost as if either she was an anomaly, a mistake by his own mind that seemed to manifest itself in the bigger mistake... or an intruder that he was not meant to be here and is being removed by none other than... In the time it took for him to think, the 'mare' took it upon herself to get his attention more directly. She pokes him in the helmet, pushing it back for it to fall back and rattle all the buckles and straps that helped keep it from slamming into him during times of heavy movement. The simple touch made a sizzling sound and an odd smell of... something he couldn't put his hoof on. Almost akin to the smell of an acid making contact with something and 'burning' it. It must be the paste that coated the surface of his helmet, like it did on every other plate that made up his suit of armor. "Eh?" The sizzle and the push was enough to break Red out of his stare, for him to notice that she was alittle closer, almost in his face. Where her eyes would be were staring right into his vision port. She backs up, before extending a hoof. "Touch..." she says, the alicorn looking at it, then back up to her. He points with his own hoof at her's. She nods, her body flickering yet again. "Why... Not?" he says to himself, picking up a hoof and slowly bringing it towards hers. Quickly, the whispers and commands come again, flowing into his ears, from inside, outside, everywhere. His mind went alive with a demand. "Stop!" However, he felt a curiosity unlike any other, to touch... Just a prick. He blinks, his mouth hanging agape as everything else seemed to not matter except touching her hoof. "I order you to cease! She is a false prophet!" His lips slant as the true voice of the Nightmare in his mind took hold, her voice replacing every whisper, every command. Thousands of versions of her phrase echoed in his mind as his leg seemed to get heavier and harder to move every second. His eyes began to water as he stared at her hoof, his hoof just milimeters away. He's so close... Finally, his hoof makes contact, everything silent once again. Was that all? he thought to himself, disappointed. Suddenly, in an instant, the mare explodes into thousands of tiny black shards, filling his vision, but not before he saw one last thing. A flash of blue. The alicorn whips up in bed, panting. His body was covered in sweat as he looked around his dark room, terrified. He looks at his hooves, before bringing one up for him to nip on the skin. A sting of hard pain comes from it. He blinks, rubbing it on his blanket to feel it's nice, textile surface, a relief. He was back in reality, but at a late time, it seemed, judging from the lack of light coming from under the door. He slumps back to allow his head to rest on his pillow, closing his eyes. "Just a bad dream, just a bad dream..." he whispers to himself, attempting to assure himself as he mentally and physically prepares himself to get out of his bed.