//------------------------------// // The Tale of the First: Part Two // Story: The Wardens of Order // by ScottTrek //------------------------------// Celestia legs worked in a constant rhythm as she hiked her way up Solaris Mountain. Her heart was pumping, not only from the steep path but from anxiousness at where she stood. Solaris Mountain was where the great Unicorn sages gathered to move the Sun and Stars through the sky each dusk and dawn, a ceremony they had performed without fail since time immemorial. A few feet ahead of her strode Lady Astramiris, The Heaven-Weaver, one of the foremost Astromancers in living memory. Her status was such even the Imperial Family held their breath when she spoke. The great Lady’s form was outlined by the great corona of magic burning at the top of the sacred mountain as the sun was moved below the horizon once again. “No need to panic,” She thought to herself, “This is only a precursory tour of the Solar Temple, it’s not like their inducting me today. Dozens of unicorns get this visit… And I’m sure Lady Astramiris takes… some of them…” She took a few breathes and smiled to herself, as scary as this was perhaps the most exciting day of her life. She had studied and worked for this task all her life. When the golden sunburst soul-mark had appeared on her flank a few days ago she had nearly fainted from happiness. If she could have she would have jumped and sung and whooped for joy. But of course that wouldn’t have been proper. After all her achievement had been expected of her. For a moment a shiver of doubt went through her and her hoof slipped. For a moment she tottered but quickly regained her footing. “If I could fly like you sister this would be so much easier.” And she smiled as the thought passed through her head. And as usual when doubt she thought of her sister. Her sister had been not bound by any sense of stoic and status. The little Pegasus had jumped and squealed and fawned over her soul-mark and babbled on and on until she went hoarse. Luna had insisted very strongly that she had asked the stars to behave themselves during Celestia’s final Stellar Cartography exam. They were not to move around or ‘twinkle funny’. Luna had been so insistent Celestia had smiled and thanked her sister for her help most graciously; while she worried for her sister’s mental state it was better to let her believe she had contributed since… well… what soul-mark could Luna achieve locked inside her little room? “How are you Celestial Grace?” Lady Astramiris’s voice came, cutting through her thoughts. “You seem rather distracted.” “Oh no I’m perfectly fine…” Celestia replied, trying to keep the shaking from her voice. “I’m …” “A little nervous?” “A little… perhaps.” “Ha-ha-ha.” Lady Astramiris tittered as she walked. “Quite understandable. I was much the same way when I first ascended this path 40 years ago with Elder Magellanic Cloud. I thought I would fall down all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Do not worry Lady Grace, you would not be here if you were not deserving of it.” “Thank you ma’am. I am honoured just to be considered for your order. I hope with study I can live up to your expectations.” Lady Astramiris seemed to look past her for a second before turning back to negotiate a particularly steep section of stairway. “I have read the reports from your various tutors. You have power. A great deal of raw power… and we need that kind of power more than ever.” “Ma’am?” “… It’s of no matter. You do not need to worry about our inner workings for a few years yet. And do not worry about the hike little one… one gets used to the journey with practice. We don’t lock our members up at the peak alone in cells away from the world.” “Anymore, you mean. I would… rather hate being stuck in a cell.” “… Indeed. Some of our ancient customers were rather severe, thankfully our forefathers realised the virtue of our sages continuing their bloodlines.” “Yes ma’am.” Celestia said, as she raised her head to the skies. Above her the great magical corona emanating from the Solar Temple flared for a moment then like a cloak the starlit night descended. Luna squinted through the coronal flare radiating off Solaris Mountain, she’d been trying to watch her sister walking up the winding stairway but as the light cleared she could no longer make out the small white blob she had been squinting at. “Good luck Tia!” She whispered, climbing down from the chair she had perched on. And as the night’s sky filled with twinkling stars she looked up and thanked them too. Thinking back she wondered of Celestia had believed her. If she was being honest she wasn’t sure she knew it herself. She didn’t know if her asking the nights sky to be calm had made it so… but… she felt like it had. She still remembered that night, and since then she had looked into the sky in wonder. Unicorns seemed to concentrate on the sun, but… there was something about the night she couldn’t quite seem to shake… Well if Unicorns were going to harp on about the sun it was only fair she harp on about the moon. Suddenly feeling a wave of tiredness she slumped onto her bed, “Funny,” she murmured, “I’m normally such a night owl. Still, exciting day…” She yawned, “Maybe when I wake up Tia will be back…” In a few moments her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep. When she opened her eyes there were no walls. Luna blinked a few times, trying to figure out if she was dreaming or not. Around her was a scene like none she had ever dreamed before. Instead of her cell stretched a wide expanse further than her eyes could see, long streams made up of stars as small bubbles floated overhead. She was suspended in ether, nebulae-like clouds of the deepest magentas and midnight blues drifted around her, interspersed with glittering rainbow eos interspersed throughout. She cautiously moved a hoof and she felt the cosy air currents brush against it, just as detailed and lucid as any real life breeze. “But… this can’t be real, can it?” Luna wondered out loud, “Can it?” She stretched out her other limbs and tried to walk but they found no traction. She tried to flap her wings but that yielded even less of a result. And as Luna floated through the void she began to wonder for the first time in her life if she was afraid of heights. “Ok, well if this dream then… maybe if I wait something will happened!” She said folding her legs, “I am NOT going to flail around and panic!” A good minute and a half passed as Luna waited for the mystery of the situation to reveal herself. When she had kicked out before it had caused her to pick up some momentum, causing her to spin in place. And after each rotation her face became even poutier.“Well… this is just silly.” Then as she continued to tumble something same into sight. Luna twisted to look at the twinkling object as it floated past her. It was some kind of sparkling bubble. She reached up squinting, trying to reach it. Her hooves clenched in frustration as her unused wings flapped their displeasure in unison. She reached higher. The bubble floated just close enough to wrap her hooves around. In it she saw a small Pegasus foal with pink fur like Tia's mane and a blue mane almost identical to her own. She was flying through the air with big strong wings that carried her through fierce winds as she performed tricks Luna could only dream of seeing. She span in circles so fast the wings swirled in her wake, then dived steeply Luna was certain she would hit the ground. Then a split second before she would have been flatter than one of Tia's pancakes she pulled up, a centimetre from scraping the ground with her hooves. As Luna watched she hollered in unbridled delight as she looped in the air purely for fun. Then her hooves hit solid ground. Suddenly gravity took effect and she tipped forward. With nothing to break her fall Luna came crashing down on the bubble with a sharp crunch. Cringing Luna peeled herself back, beneath her the cracked bubble swirled and boiled. Inside the tiny pink Pegasus was being tossed on rolling storm clouds, yelping in fright as she tried to stay aloft. As she looked down at what she had done she slowly became aware of something moving into her peripheral vision. Its very presence seeming palpable in the air itself. Biting her lip, she looked up guiltily. A tall figure stood before her. Bigger even than Celestia, she towered over everything Luna had known. Had they been stood in her small room rather than this strange place she had no doubt her horn would have pierced the roof and the ceiling Luna could never reach would have bowed to her will stretching beyond the laws of physics to make room for her. She met the eyes of the towering figure unable to tear her eyes away from the wonder now existing before her eyes Luna's head ducked down, her thin legs shaking beneath her. She felt unworthy to even look at the Celestial Titan. What could she, a broken useless thing that only one pony in the world could even try to love, have to offer to a Titan? The stars, if they even had whispered to her, were deathly silent now. The long heavy pause continued to drag as Luna felt the Titan's gaze burn her back. Still she did not look up. Taking what small measure of courage she had stored deep inside she forced her knees to steady and then to bend as she slowly knelt. Only one pony could save her now. "S-sorry to bother you Miss Titan. But if you could just let me leave I...I won't bother you ever again. You wouldn't want something as unimportant as me anyway. Were you trying to reach my sister?" A wide hoof, gentler than Luna thought could be possible for such a size, softly cupped her face gently lifting her head to meet soft pools of midnight blue set in an ocean of silver fur. The Titan frowned, her gentle eyes widening in a strange sorrow Luna could not comprehend. "How strange… I have never known a single pony who was not important." Her eyes were pleading freezing Luna in place. Somehow forcing her to believe her words, even when experience and sense told her they were impossible. Luna tried to reply. She froze. But the Titan with the deep kind eyes saw her hesitation. "Little one… No pony has ever been able to enter my realm until you. I think that makes you very special indeed. Don't you?" Her mane, palest blue, rippled out behind her, a thousand strands of golden light caught in its wake as at her sides two mighty wings stretched out from her sides, reaching out for almost as far as Luna's eyes could see. As they opened that same golden light shone out through them enfolding the cracked orb of the pink pegasus filly, still fighting the storm within the orb. The soft stands of light flowed around the sphere, sealing the cracks until all was as before and the filly was zooming carefree through the air again with no sign of the previous hardship to be found. Luna gaped. She had never seen wings with such beauty and power. To create with them instead of destroy. Not just to fly but to aid others to fly as well. This strange mare of golden light and magic truly was just like the angels from Celestia's stories. Luna had never truly thought herself good enough for them, had always assumed the mystical beings who brought wonder and joy to all good unicorns foals would surely always pass her by. Maybe this was the day she could finally become a proper unicorn pony and stop Tia being sad all the time. Make the rest of Celestia's family proud of her too. Finally prove she was more than a rabid birdpony who should have been cast away at birth. Hardly daring to look up Luna looked for the horn to accompany her beautiful wings, desperate to prove her theory. There was none. She could have sobbed. But then she realised where this Angel's power truly lay. In her wings. “You… you’re a Pegasus?” Luna squeaked, barely able to breathe. The Titan carefully sat down, making a big dramatic show of looking at her wings then patting herself playfully on the head. “Hmm, it would certainly seem so.” For the first time in her short life Lunar Grace flapped her wings, flew through the air, and landed as smoothly as could reasonably expected on the chest of her Angel, quickly wrapped in glowing wings of silver and gold before she ever had the chance to fall. “M…my name is Luna.” The Titan laughed, eyes crinkling warmly. “Luna you say? Well Lady Luna, my name is Selene. And I am the Mare in the Moon.”