The moon hung high in the sky, a giant, unblinking eye that saw all. Like a pearl in an endless black and bespeckled canvas, it was beautiful and perfect. The mere sight of it was calming and soothing. It spoke, and its children listened.
Soft Step would do anything for the moon.
There was no more pain or suffering or strife. The moon had washed all of that away. There was only the glowing, bright eye in the sky, His bright eye, watching over her. The feeling of moonlight and shadows on her coat was like ecstasy and pure joy given physical form. She would do anything for the moon. She would listen to its every word.
As her eyes reluctantly parted from the moon, she took in her surroundings. She had three siblings now. They would all fight to protect each other and do what they had to do. But something felt wrong when she looked at them. One of the stallions she thought she recognized, and something fearful clawed at the back of her mind when she looked at the other two. When she tried to remember why, her eyes would dart back up to the moon and her thoughts would be smothered by a heavy blanket. It felt like there was somepony taking her hoof and leading her away from a particularly inconvenient train of thought, and like a foal, she was powerless to resist.
Her body shuddered and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Something deep inside of her screamed and tried to claw its way out of her eyes and get away from the moon. But the moon brightened its sweet light once more, pushing that rebellious thing’s head back under the water. It struggled and fought, and Soft Step briefly convulsed, but bit by bit, it weakened and evaporated like sand in the wind. Soft Step’s mind screamed one last time in panic and sheer terror, and then she was gone, blown apart into tiny motes of being and scattered to the far corners of her own skull.
The mare’s eyes burned blue and white, and she adjusted her wings. She did not remember who she was. She did not remember her family or her friends or even how old she was. There was only one thing that mattered to her, and it lay deep within the tomb in front of her. It was why she was brought into existence, the entire reason she was born.
Like a shambling sleepwalker, the mare once known as Soft Step followed her new compatriots into the entrance of the tomb, where the essence of His moon permeated the very walls around her.
-----
Black Flag followed Champagne with more than a little worry in his gut. Though the survivor seemed earnest in her desperation for additional aid, and though what he’d seen at the tomb had convinced him all the more that she was being truthful, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that this a horrible idea. The survivors had the numbers advantage, and his only remaining cards had been the ability to hit and run and disappear into the shadows of the jungle. Now, he’d gone and given away his trump cards based on a frightened plea from a Prench mare who he was certain he’d taken a shot at before in one of Squall’s attacks on the ruins.
It still wasn’t too late, he realized. Champagne trotted through the undergrowth only a couple of feet ahead of him as she led them toward wherever the survivors had moved to. If he wanted to, he could strike her down and disappear into the undergrowth with Hayseed whenever her chose to. But if he didn’t, he just had to hope this Prench mare wasn’t leading them right into a trap.
Even if she was, he hoped that his brother would be able to see it coming. Jolly Roger never landed with him and Hayseed, but Black Flag had spotted him flying quiet circles above them several times. Even though that meant his brother likely didn’t know what was going on, it at least meant they had an eye in the sky. He just hoped that Jolly wouldn’t do something stupid and get them all killed.
At the very least, Hayseed had discreetly kept up her shield. She hadn’t said anything, but Black Flag noticed the air shimmer or flicker a few times as they walked through the jungle and rainwater dripping off of the trees splashed around them. If they ended up ambushed or attacked, her invisible shield would hopefully give them enough time to react and fight back before they fell.
The small cadre of ponies crossed a channel of water between two small islands, stopping only briefly on the other side to shake off some of the water before continuing onwards. Black Flag was starting to understand how the survivors could have disappeared and moved around the island so easily. If they used these channels intelligently, they would’ve been able to make their tracks untraceable. It would explain why he used to see hoofprints and tracks coming into and out of the jungle at odd angles all across the big island where their camp was. Perhaps, he had to admit to himself, he and his crew had underestimated the survivors a little too much.
Which brought him back to his number one concern that they were being led into a trap. The survivors were a little too clever for their own good.
Champagne abruptly turned around and held out her wings, stopping the pirates in their tracks. “This is as far as I can safely take you,” the Prench pegasus said. “If I bring you with me any farther, my friends might assume I’ve been captured and you’re forcing me to lead you to them. They’d attack without question.”
“So we’re just supposed to stand out here in the middle of the jungle while you go and rally your buddies to wipe us out?” Hayseed spat, her tail practically bristling with distrust.
“It’s not that, please!” Champagne insisted. “I just need to explain myself to them before I can get their help. It wouldn’t be good if I simply brought you two right into our camp unannounced.”
“I think she makes a good point,” Black Flag said. Nodding to Champagne, he sat down in the sand. “Go and do whatever you have to do. We’ll be right here. But don’t think we won’t know if you’re crossing us.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Champagne said, emphatically shaking her head. “There’s too much at stake to do so.” Then, extending her wings, she quickly lifted off and briefly hovered in place. “I will be back as soon as I can!”
Black Flag and Hayseed watched her leave, flitting through the trees until the foliage became too dense to make her out. Perhaps no more than thirty seconds later, another set of wings became audible, and Jolly Roger landed next to his brother. “Okay, what’s going on?” the pirate barked, cocking his head at Flag. “Why are you following this bitch?”
“Did you see anything at the temple?” Flag asked him. “Anything strange?”
Jolly quickly shuddered and glanced back the way he came. “I can’t really explain it. I was sneaking around behind the ruins when a bunch of bats suddenly showed up. There was some screaming and then… nothing. I didn’t stay long enough to figure out what happened.”
“Apparently this bitch says that her friends got turned into moon zombies or something,” Hayseed said. “And apparently, Matchlock and Scabbard were down there, too.”
“Really?” Jolly blinked. “No. Really?”
“Apparently whatever happened to that mare’s friends happened to our two missing crew members,” Flag said. “Now she’s going back to her camp to rally the rest of her survivors and put an end to whatever’s happening at the tomb. She even sought out our help.”
“And you agreed?” Jolly frowned and stalked up closer to his brother. “Are you insane? We’re just gonna get stabbed in the back when all this is over with! It could just be a trap!”
“It could be, but that mare, Champagne, would have to be a phenomenal actor for this to be a trap.” Black Flag shook his head. “Regardless, that’s what we’re doing now. But that doesn’t mean I trust her.”
Jolly nodded. “Want me to follow her?” he asked.
“If you can,” Flag said. “Just stay high and out of sight. They’ll probably shoot if they see you before Champagne can explain everything. But if they look like it’s just a trap, warn us any way you can.”
Jolly saluted and took wing. “Right. You can count on me. You two might want to find someplace around here to hide in the meanwhile.”
“Good idea.” Flag gestured to Hayseed to start looking, and he quickly bumped hooves with his brother. “Be safe.”
“There is no such thing as safe on this island,” Jolly Roger grumbled, and with a brief wash of air from his wings, ascended through the trees and disappeared from sight.