Evening Star Also Rises

by Starscribe


Chapter 17: Icefalls by Night

A few minutes later, and Hayden had followed Lodestone back inside, accompanied only by the guards and a handful of other ponies. None of the guards asked for her identification.

“And what of Polestar, Lord Snow Storm?” Captain Lodestone asked, as soon as they were safe within the castle walls. Most of the servants and staff didn’t follow them to the upstairs sitting room near where they had first entered. But Hayden followed, and Lodestone glared at any guard who dared approach her. “Why didn’t they stop this?”

“Captain…” The stallion slumped into his chair, expression heavy. This was a man who had been having conversations like this too often. “Polestar was destroyed. I don’t know what happened to the garrison there, either carried away captive, or… or worse.” He shuddered. “The entire northern garrison is in shambles. Equestria itself is in danger, and Harmony will do nothing! General Autumn was already drafting a letter to you—I’m sure it’s waiting in her study even now. We must consider whether we will abandon Icefalls to the enemy and flee south, or…” He shook his head. “I can’t even imagine what else we might do. If Equestria will not send more troops, then we can’t defend here for much longer. The Armada will destroy us. But if we do flee, it seems our own kind are as much a threat to us as the enemy outside the walls. Truly there is nowhere for us to go.”

Lodestone took the seat across from him, nodding back towards Hayden. “Before we go further—this is Lady Evening Star. Princess Luna herself sent her to improve… well, it doesn’t really matter. The point is, she is—”

Snow Storm rose immediately from his seat, bowing to Hayden as though a princess were standing behind her. “Forgive me, Lady Evening Star! I had no idea the princess cared so deeply for her city that she would’ve sent you. I would’ve made sure you received more honor at the ceremony had I known.”

Lodestone watched with an expression of increasing confusion. “What are you… talking about? Lady Evening Star is a member of the princess’s house, but that doesn’t mean you should—”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know.” Snow Storm waved a dismissive wing at Lodestone. “Much has happened since your last visit. The city would not have survived this long were it not for Luna’s care. Without the Gift she sent us, we probably would’ve been overwhelmed by the Stonebeaks weeks ago.”

Hayden had returned the lord’s bow, not knowing what else to do. But now she couldn’t find the focus to do even that. “When you say Luna’s ‘gift’…” She extended one of her wings. “You mean this?”

Snow Storm nodded eagerly, returning to his seat. “Of course, of course! Luna’s own steward brought it back, a magic chosen for these desperate times. The princess was truly watching over us, conscious of our needs even if she didn’t answer our prayers in the way we thought.”

“Nightbreeze,” Hayden said. “That was the steward, wasn’t it? Where is she?”

“In the Lunar Temple, of course,” Snow Storm said. “Our soldiers fight better with the magic—almost all of them have chosen to receive it.”

“I do not…” Lodestone spoke slowly. As though being careful not to offend. “I do not understand what you’re discussing, but it will not change this decision. The princess has given me instructions to look after the well-being of her family. I must borrow a carriage, and the ponies to drive it. She will be returned to Harmony with all haste.”

“If that is General Lodestone’s wish,” Snow Storm said, sounding doubtful. “But I question the safety of any bat sent to Equestria.” He lowered his voice, as though afraid of how Lodestone might react. “One of my messengers returned beaten, and he said the garrison had done it. The other didn’t return at all. Apparently Equestria is reacting badly to Luna’s new magic.”

Is that what the assassination attempt was about? Hayden reached out to Luna’s emotions as she had done before, and again she was staggered. She inhaled sharply, breathing rapidly, and trying to banish the terrible despair. It came from Luna, but it found easy root in her. I caused this. I’m the reason Nightbreeze became a bat. Whatever she did after, I caused it.

What have I done?

Snow Storm and Lodestone didn’t seem to be paying attention to her.

“This ‘gift’ is spreading beyond Icefalls, then?”

Snow Storm nodded. “All the way to Harmony, or so I hear. It’s hard to ignore the advantages. Even in places without such cold and darkness as Icefalls, ponies can find a use for these powers. Not all revere the sun equally.”

It had been barely three months since her night with Nightbreeze. More importantly, she hadn’t heard anything about the magic spreading before she left for Defiance, just over a month ago. It can’t have spread that far in so little time!

“What advantages?” Lodestone raised an eyebrow. “I do not doubt the princess would give us every advantage against the coming storm. Perhaps this magic is her answer.”

“Well…” Snow Storm looked uneasy, glancing sidelong at Hayden. “It would be better if the priestess herself would explain it, in the temple. My understanding is not as good as hers, and I wouldn’t want to misrepresent this new magic to the general of all Equestria’s northern forces.” He bowed slightly to Hayden, though this time he remained sitting. “I will of course have rooms prepared for the visiting emissary of our princess’s house. Though after today, I fear my city may not remain safe long. We may soon be forced to risk the tolerance of our kin in the south. Whatever they do to us, it can’t be as bad as what the Stonebeaks have planned.”

“I think I need to talk to this priestess immediately. Nightbreeze, you said?” Lodestone rose to his hooves. “If you would be so good, Lord Storm, instruct your servants to gather whoever remains of General Autumn’s command. We will meet at sunrise in her office. You will be invited to attend as well, of course.”

Snow Storm nodded, but didn’t rise as they did. “Of course, General Lodestone. You remember the temple?”

“I do.” He turned, waiting by the door for Hayden to follow. Together they hurried from the room, back down the stairs through the empty castle.

“I was not aware you had unique powers,” he muttered as they walked, just quietly enough for her to hear. They passed through the castle courtyard into the streets of Icefalls. Even though it was not fully dark yet, the city seemed eerily deserted. They caught occasional glimpses of ponies peeking out from inside battered houses, but otherwise the only ponies they saw were soldiers, cleaning the rubble out of the streets or patrolling. “You have been so forthright with me during your visit, Lady Star. Did Luna give you instructions that her new magic was not to be shared with my stallions?”

“Not explicitly,” Hayden squeaked, avoiding his eyes. He walked very quickly, and she had to concentrate on her steps to avoid falling behind. “But I wasn’t aware I had any advantages. I only knew that I don’t have weather magic—I can walk on clouds, but that’s it. I can’t… do what your pegasus ponies do to regulate the climate around Defiance.”

“No weather magic,” he repeated, obviously distraught. “A high price to pay for… what, exactly?”

She shook her head, lowering her voice. As nice as it was that ponies seemed to be looking more suspiciously at the pegasus than herself, she didn’t like the idea of how many might be listening. “Lodestone, Luna didn’t create this magic to be shared. It was a single spell meant for a single purpose. Whatever else has happened… she didn’t plan on this. When I left, this”—she held out a wing—“having anything to do with her was a secret. Only Celestia knew. Apparently the whole country knows now…”

And so far as Hayden knew, there were three ponies in all the world besides herself that could’ve shared that information. Luna, who obviously wouldn’t have. Star Swirl, who had never displayed any inclination except to absolute secrecy—and Nightbreeze, who was now a “priestess” in some weird temple giving out Luna’s “gifts” to any pegasus who would take them.

“I appreciate that you followed Luna’s commands,” Lodestone said. “But I hope you won’t take offence if I don’t share this strange magic with my troops. Even if it seems to be the fashion here… it also seems permanent. And not just the soldiers taking it, either.”

Hayden shook her head. “I came to make the lives of your soldiers better, Captain. Err—General. Honestly, I’ve had a hard-enough time being a bat, I don’t know that I would want others to experience the same difficulties I have. Apparently they already are.”

“I don’t like any of this,” Lodestone muttered, his voice low. “Assassination attempts, raids deep into our territory, and now new magic is making a new tribe? This feels like somepony is giving me half the pieces to a puzzle without suggesting how they’re meant to fit together.” He looked up as they approached the doors. There were a pair of guards outside—both bats. Inside, they could hear many voices. Ponies had apparently packed in close inside. “You are one of those pieces as well, Lady Evening Star. Perhaps you will be kind enough to explain how you fit in by the end.”

“I was very close with Nightbreeze,” she whispered back. Better he learns that now than be surprised as soon as they came through the doors. “She will certainly recognize me. I never imagined she would be able to spread the magic, but if she can… she probably got it from me.”

Lodestone’s eyes widened, but he didn’t get the chance to ask what she meant. Hayden probably shouldn’t be telling him all of this, even if she had come to trust him absolutely over the last month. Lodestone was a soldier who cared about his men, understood their needs, and would’ve given his own life in their defense if he thought it would make a difference. He was exactly like the officers Hayden herself had respected, when she had worn a uniform.

They passed the guards without a word, who both stood to attention at the sight of Lodestone and held the door open for them. They both stared at his wings, but apparently weren’t surprised enough to speak.

The temple was a dark, round building, with a massive glass ceiling looking up at the sky. Everything inside it appeared devoted to astronomy in one way or another—there were maps of the stars on the walls, and incredibly detailed lunar calendar notations. Some of the windows above were stained, depicting comets or stars or other heavenly bodies, while the largest central dome was clear. Given the height of the temple compared to many of Icefalls’s other buildings, it would probably permit a quiet contemplation of the sky with minimal interference—it would’ve tonight if it wasn’t for all the smoke.

The temple ahead of them was packed with pews, and those pews were full of pony bodies. They smelled of desperation and bad bathing habits. Outside, most of the ponies with wings were bats. In the temple, there were only a handful of non-bats in all the space, and all of them lacked wings.

The room didn’t have a raised platform at the front, as many human religious buildings did. Instead it was round, with stadium-style seating that made sure everyone would be able to see the lowest point, where Nightbreeze stood.

Not just her. Hayden could recognize her even in the black robes, but there were two others. There was also a sword—not so much sitting on the stage as hovering above its plinth in a curtain of starlight, at the very center of the temple. Hayden could feel the magic radiating from that blade, calling to her. Demanding it be wielded. It was almost like words. There is much suffering here. Together we will take away their pain.

Hayden tore her eyes away from the beautiful weapon—though how the whole room could be looking at her and not the sword, she didn’t know. “Please, continue,” Nightbreeze said, turning away from her companions and up the ramp towards Hayden. “Continue the service,” she said again, a little louder. “I will speak to our visitors.”

Despite her instruction, there was complete silence in the room as she made her way up the ramp. Every hoofstep echoed through the vaulted ceiling, and Hayden could practically hear the ponies’ heartbeats. Nightbreeze stopped just a few steps away, barely seeming to even notice Lodestone there. “Hello, Evening Star,” she said.

“H-hey.”