The Everfree Palace was as huge and labyrinthian as Vermilion remembered from their first visit. Thankfully, Cloud Fire lived up to his navigator’s billing and remembered the way to Luna’s wing, leading them down corridors and through cavernous halls filled with bureaucrats and nobles and soldiers rushing about their business. Guards stopped them once or twice, but each time Vermilion simply explained who he was, and they were on their way again. Apparently his name was well-known within the palace walls.
He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
Quicklime thought it was great. She kept up a running commentary on everything she saw, their interactions with other ponies, how far they had to walk, why the steps were too tall and the palace architect should’ve built things with more of an eye to small ponies like her. At one point a well-meaning secretary tried to give her a piece of candy and asked whose little sister she was.
Zephyr stuck by Cloudy’s side for most of the trip, nodding along as he pointed out the palace landmarks. She managed to hover alongside him, though the effort of flying with wings whose feathers were still a few sizes too small clearly exhausted her, and she spent the latter half of the voyage on foot with the rest of the ground-pounders.
Rose Quartz kept by Vermilion’s side, though she walked in silence. As always, she wore her mane down across her face, covering her right eye and guarding it from the casual observer.
In time they reached the Night Wing of the palace, and the crowds dwindled to nothing. Only rarely did they hear hoofsteps aside from their own echoing down the corridors, and the legions of bureaucrats and nobles that populated the Day Wing vanished completely, replaced by a few silent guards who stood sentry at intersections. There were several new pieces of artwork decorating their path, apparently installed within the past two weeks since Vermilion had last visited. Luna’s collection of sculpture and tapestry must have been truly immense to cycle through works so quickly.
The same charcoal unicorn mare as before was taking notes behind the broad oak reception desk outside Luna’s official quarters. Starry Night looked up at them, smiled, and trotted out from around the desk to give Vermilion and Cloudy quick nuzzles of greeting.
“Welcome back, sweeties. Congratulations on your success at Maplebridge,” she said. She turned to the others and gave them a polite nod. “Let me guess: Rose Quartz, Zephyr and Quicklime? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you three; Luna has said only good things about you.”
“All of them deserved,” Vermilion said. “Is Luna available now? She asked for us to see her.”
“Let me make sure she’s not busy.” Starry Night trotted down the hallway leading to Luna’s office, and after a moment returned. “She’ll see all five of you. You know the way, I believe. Remember to knock before entering.”
Vermilion led them down the shadowed corridor behind Starry Night’s desk. As before, two dusky pegasus guards waited on either side of the huge iron-barred double doors that blocked entry to her lair. The lanterns here were fully open, their flames burning with extra measures of fuel, but the light they cast barely seemed to make an impression in the hallway. The shadows here devoured everything.
Vermilion stopped at the doors. “It’s dark inside, and very cluttered. We’ll stop to let our eyes adjust. Be careful where you step, and don’t let anything scare you. It’s not dangerous in there, just a little, uh…”
“Unsettling,” Cloud Fire offered.
“Yeah, that.” Vermilion raised his hoof and struck the door hard, three times. Even so, the knock it produced was feeble, barely managing to reach their ears. He swallowed his doubts and pushed the doors open just wide enough for one pony to slip through at a time. “Quickly now. In.”
Cloud Fire led the way, followed by the three mares. Vermilion brought up the rear and pulled the door shut behind them. As before, the rays of light leaking in from the lanterns in the corridor lingered for a moment in the cool, dim air of Luna’s office, floating like mist before slowly dissolving and leaving them in darkness. After a few seconds Vermilion’s eyes adjusted enough to make out their surroundings.
Luna’s hoard surrounded them. All manner of forgotten things lay in cluttered heaps and piles as far as he could see, with only a semblance of thought given to their order. Stacks of ancient books and scrolls commingled with musical instruments; a carved bone flute with dozens of holes, far too small for a pony to use, lay beside a sheaf of dry, leaf-shaped pages bound by animal sinew. A tall arms rack filled with rapiers and broadswords leaned haphazardly against an armor stand bearing a helmet with beetle wings and a stag’s horns. A collection of corroded brass lanterns sat by themselves in a puddle of oil. Above them, a dozen chandeliers hung like stalactites, crafted from every material Vermilion could imagine: shell, bone, crystals, even one that seemed to be made of dragon scales. Tiny ribbons of spidersilk hanging from their chains danced in the wind.
Quicklime spoke first. “Are… are you sure this is the right place?”
“Yes,” Vermilion said. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. “Luna, it’s Vermilion. We’ve returned as you asked.”
The echo of his voice slowly faded, and when silence finally returned it brought with it a sudden chill that raised the hairs of their coats. Shadows flowed out from beneath the sundry items around them, dripped down from the walls, welled up from cracks in the floor, gathering into a single black, formless mass that piled atop itself, higher and higher, until it towered above them. It pulsed and shifted with a kaleidoscope of impossible colors, like the afterimage of the sun dancing on his retina. The inky darkness twisted, breathed, and then coalesced into the shape of their princess. Her face lit with two white orbs, each as brilliant and as the moon, and in the darkness opened a mouth bristling with silver needle teeth.
“Vermilion, noble Cloud Fire, my champions, welcome back,” Luna said. She stepped toward them, and the shadows surrounding her contracted, vanishing inside her dark indigo coat, and she once more wore the guise of a normal pony, albeit one with wings and a horn. Vermilion still saw the sharp points of her teeth behind her lips. “Congratulations on your remarkable success in Maplebridge. You saved hundreds of lives and earned the gratitude of our whole nation, and my personal thanks as well.”
Vermilion ducked his head. “It was our pleasure, Luna. May I introduce my companions to you?”
“I would like nothing more,” Luna said. She smiled at the three mares, and even managed something resembling a friendly expression. “I’ve seen you three in dreams before, but it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh. Again, in your case, Rose Quartz. I hope your wound no longer troubles you.”
Rose swallowed before answering. “It is fine, your majesty. I barely even notice it anymore.”
“Good, good. Very well then, Vermilion, introduce me to my knights.”
He gave Zephyr a little push, nudging her to the front of the group. “This is Zephyr, my oldest friend from the Company after Cloud Fire. She’s the greatest warrior I’ve seen since Canopy died.”
“Hardly that good,” Zephyr mumbled. She dipped her head and bent her knee in curtsey to the princess. “It’s an honor to meet you, your majesty.”
“The honor is mine as well, I assure you.” Luna leaned forward to sniff at Zephyr’s mane. “I know your dreams, Zephyr, and I know of your heroism in Maplebridge and Hollow Shades. Your skill at arms is enthralling. In fact, I have decided that you deserve a boon! Pray, wait a moment.”
Luna vanished. A flicker of movement caught Vermilion’s eye, and he turned in time to see a shadow dart away from them, fast as lightning, deeper into the recesses of Luna’s vast hall. In less than a moment the five of them were alone.
“Uh,” Zephyr said. “What—”
“It’s okay,” Cloudy said. “She’s a bit eccentric. Just roll with it. Smile and nod.”
It seemed Luna was gone for a while, though they had no way to measure time aside from their own breath and heartbeats. But eventually she did return – the room around them dimmed, darkened, and just when all was black she appeared along with the rest of their sight. She held something long and thin in her soft blue magic, and the sudden light stung Vermilion’s eyes. He blinked rapidly to clear them.
“A renowned warrior deserves a renowned weapon,” Luna said. She held the object aloft, and Vermilion saw that it was a spear, shorter than he was used to, with a worn, cracked haft crafted from some black wood and a head made of tarnished, pitted silver. It barely seemed able to support its own weight, much less function as a weapon.
Luna rotated the spear until it hung point down, then dropped it. It fell less than a foot and sank several inches into the solid stone floor.
“This is the first spear I ever touched,” she said. She leaned forward, eyes closed, and rubbed her face along the haft. “Along a dark night I dreamed of pain, and when I woke this marvelous needle had pinned my shadow to the floor, stealing it from me. It took weeks to grow a new one.”
Luna opened her mouth, her jaws stretching impossibly wide to reveal a forest of teeth, and she bit down on the haft with a bone-rattling snap. She gave her neck a savage twist, and the spear burst from the floor in a shower of dusty rock. When all was settled and the sound faded away, she stepped forward, offering the spear to Zephyr.
“Er.” Zephyr glanced between Luna, Cloud Fire and the spear, then extended a shaky hoof out toward it. Luna opened her jaws, and the spear fell into Zephyr’s shaking hooves. She barely caught it before it clattered to the floor.
“This is very generous, your majesty.” She held the spear out at arm’s length, like it might bite her. “Thank you ever so much.”
“Do you like it?” Luna leaned forward, eyes wide, her breath held in anticipation.
“I d-do. It’s wonderful.”
“Excellent!” Luna sat back on her haunches and clapped her hooves together, an expression uncomplicated joy on her face. “I tried to give it to Canopy once, you know. She said it was too nice a spear for a simple soldier. I do miss that mare.”
“We, uh, all do,” Vermilion said. Everypony had taken a step back from Zephyr and the spear. “May I introduce you to Special Agent Quicklime, of the Royal Intelligence Corps? On permanent assignment now, at your pleasure.”
“The Royal Intelligence Corps?” Luna stepped before Quicklime. Quicklime looked like a foal next to most adult ponies, and with Luna the comparison was almost comical. She was like a kitten next to the princess.
Quicklime nodded. “Yes ma’am. Lieutenant First Class Quicklime, at your service.”
Luna settled down onto her belly, so she was more or less at eye-level with the unicorn. “Tell me, Quicklime. When you joined the corps, you swore an oath to serve my sister, did you not?”
Quicklime nodded. “Uh huh.”
“And would you, Special Agent Lieutenant First Class Quicklime of the Royal Intelligence Corps, swear the same oath to me?”
“Um, sure? I, Quicklime, do solemnly swear to support and defend—”
Luna stopped her with a raised hoof and a chuckle. “Not necessary, my young servant. I simply asked if you were willing to. I am not so taken with oaths as Celestia.”
“Oh, heh, me neither.” Quicklime smiled as she warmed to the topic. “I mean, oaths are kind of silly, aren’t they? It’s basically just a promise that everypony thinks has extra special meaning, but there’s nothing stopping a dishonest pony from taking an oath, right? Then you’re actually in worse shape than before because you’re giving extra trust to a pony who hasn’t done anything to deserve it and—”
“Yes, quite,” Luna said. She turned away from Quicklime to the final member of their group. “Rose Quartz. I hear you’ve tried to talk sense into Vermilion.”
Rose’s eyes slid over to Vermilion. “Did he mention that?”
“To be fair, it was in a dream,” Luna said. “Ponies can’t help what they say in dreams. Just one of their many great attributes.”
“Just one, I’m sure,” Rose said. She dipped her head in a bow. “It’s an honor to formally meet you, your majesty. Your counsel to me during our mission to Maplebridge was useful and appreciated.”
Vermilion blinked, a sudden shot of adrenaline shocking his system. Had Luna been speaking to Rose in dreams, as well? There was no reason she couldn’t, he supposed, but… He held his tongue and kept his eyes from wandering too obviously between them.
“I am always happy to offer advice to my servants,” Luna said. “Whether you accept it is, of course, up to you. Now, if you will all follow me, there is one more thing we must do before your service to me is sealed.”
Luna led them deeper into her lair, past overflowing stacks of books and piles of gems and carved wood zebrican masks. Deeper and deeper she led them, and once more Vermilion was convinced that this chamber was part of some special, ensorcelled dimension rather than a real room in the palace. It was too large and dark and cold to fit anywhere in the Everfree he knew.
Finally, they reached the deepest recess of the hall, and stopped before the stone table that showed the map of the world. Luna climbed up onto her throne behind it and stared down at them.
“Mares, if you would, please place your hooves on this table,” she said. “When you are ready for a task, you will come here and— oh, hm, Vermilion would you mind getting a stool or something for Quicklime to stand on? Just grab that wood idol over there and… yes, there, that will do. Now, then, when you are ready for a task, you will come here to me, and here we will survey the world, and view all the dark places therein.”
As she finished, the surface of the table lit, and the glowing, raised map of Equestria appeared on it. Zephyr, Quicklime and Rose leaned forward to peer at it with wide eyes.
The map had changed since Vermilion last saw it. The dark shadow that had covered Maplebridge was gone, and in its place a bright star sparkled in its spot, filling the nearby valleys and forests with light, pushing back the darkness that lapped against Equestria’s borders like the encroaching tide. The darkness was deepest out east, he saw, and there was no longer any sign of Hollow Shade’s existence. Only inky waters swirled there.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Zephyr said. She reached out a hoof to touch the map, sending ripples of light across its surface. “What did you call it?”
“The new darkness,” Vermilion and Luna spoke at the same time. Their eyes met, and he ducked his head.
Luna paused before continuing. “They’re returning. Canopy saw it in Hollow Shades, but too late. It was only through a stroke of tremendous good fortune that Blightweaver was checked there at all. Across the rest of the world, other ancient enemies are stirring, and soon they will run rampant across all of creation. My sister believes we can only stop them at our borders. I believe we can do more. With your help, my champions, we can save lives outside our borders as well. Not all of them, I fear, but some.”
“Any,” Vermilion said. “Even one would be worth it. Canopy died to save dozens. How could we do less?”
“Indeed.” Luna fixed the three mares with her gaze. “Will you join your friend, then? Serve me, as he does? Go out into the world, and be my instrument?”
Zephyr spoke first. She leaned the ancient spear against the table. “I will, your majesty. For as long as I am needed.”
Quicklime spoke second. “I will! I mean, I can’t really fight things like Cherry or Zephyr do, but I’ll help however I can!”
Luna smiled at her. “I think you will find your abilities are more profound than you realize, Special Agent Quicklime of the Royal Intelligence Corps. Not all battles are won through feats of arms, after all.” As she finished, her gaze shifted to Rose. “And you, Miss Rose Quartz?”
Rose simply nodded. “I have already cast my lot with them. I will do as you ask.”
Apparently Luna was satisfied with such a simple declaration, for she nodded and removed her hooves from the table. It went dark, the map fading away, leaving only bare stone behind.
“Excellent. You are five, then. A good number,” she said. “You are ready, now.”
“For another mission?” Vermilion asked.
“Not yet.” Luna shook her head. A wide, hungry grin split her face, and her eyes filled with a captivating light. “First, there is the matter of my sister to deal with. She would like to meet you, and I am eager to show you to her.”
Luna’s wings flared out, and out from them rushed a wave of shadows, sweeping across the hall in the blink of an eye. They stole every bit of light, leaving Vermilion blind and stumbling, and a loud rush of sound, like the whipping of air moving at great speed, filled his ears. A wave of dizziness stole over him, and he started to tilt forward—
Suddenly, the world returned. They were no longer in Luna’s quarters, but rather in the hall outside. Vermilion stumbled and nearly fell, barely catching himself before planting his nose on the floor. Beside him, Rose Quartz and Quicklime tumbled to their knees, while Zephyr and Cloud Fire hurriedly caught themselves with their wings. Zephyr’s spear clattered to the floor and rolled until it bumped into the wall. A thin shaving of granite fell from where the spearhead brushed the stone.
The two pegasus guards stared at them. One started to reach for his sword, hesitated, then returned to the position of attention. Their eyes never left the five of them, though.
“Tomorrow at dawn,” Luna’s voice sounded out of nothing. “Join me at the change of the courts. We will show my sister that ponies are willing to fight the new darkness, and can be victorious in doing so. We will expose her timidity, Vermilion. Let us raise a standard to which the courageous can repair.”
The echoes of Luna’s voice slowly faded, and as they did the corridor grew lighter, as though the night were fading into dawn. In moments nothing remained of the princess’s presence, and they were alone with themselves, the guards, and the bare stone walls.
“Well, I guess we have an appointment,” Rose said. She pushed herself up to her hooves and brushed the dust from her knees. “Have to say, I never thought I’d be doing this when I enlisted.”
“That about sums up the past month,” Vermilion said. He helped Quicklime to her hooves, then retrieved Zephyr’s new spear. The dark, aged haft left a gritty, earthen taste in his mouth. He was glad when she took it from him.
“What’s the plan?” Cloudy asked. “Should we, like, get new clothes or something? What do you wear to court?”
They all looked at Rose. She blinked at the attention. “Oh, um, nothing special. We’re not nobles. Naked is fine.”
“Easy enough,” Vermilion said. “Let’s meet at the palace entrance an hour before dawn—” The pegasi groaned and started to complain, but he rode over them, “—to give us time to get to the Day Court together. Yes, an hour. She’s the night princess, Cloudy, get used to being up before dawn.”
Cloudy and Zephyr protested all the way back to Osage. Vermilion tuned them out after a few blocks.
He had other things to think about.