//------------------------------// // Act I: Hunger: Shadow // Story: Six Shadows // by Vicron //------------------------------// Luna awoke to the intense feeling of being watched. She didn’t move for a long moment, listening intently.  One of the guards beyond the door yawned, but beyond that all was utterly silent, not so much as a breath.  She carefully opened an eye to glance around, her room seemed the same as ever. The table next to her bed still held the book she’d been reading, the curtains remained drawn, the canopy above her bed staunchly refused to be moved by whatever was observing her. She narrowed her eyes, moving slowly from beneath her covers to walk over to the curtains, pulling them back to reveal the glass door leading to the balcony, no one was there.  Glancing about she lit her horn and concentrated, casting her power out to try and root out a possible scrying spell. Still she found nothing in the long shadows cast by impending twilight, and the feeling persisted. Careful not to move her head she glanced up at the ceiling, studying the constellation murals painted across it.  Nothing seemed out of place. Blast it all, she knew something was there.  She heard the lever on the door click and spun to face it, her horn and wings flaring in preparation. One of the guards opened it, jumping a little at the sight of her.  She let out an irritated breath, straightening out her posture as the magic in her horn flickering out. “I-is something the matter, your highness?”  He murmured, giving her a nervous glance. “Nay, Steady Hoof, I was merely taken by a bout of paranoia, I apol-” the air above the door shimmered a moment, a beast making itself apparent.  She only needed a second’s flash of its fangs before she sprung into action. She leapt, vaulting over Steady Hoof to intercept the creature halfway through its pounce.  She felt her hooves impact metal; so, the creature was armoured. Tumbling out into the hall she managed to pin it down, its teeth snapping shut just shy of her muzzle as she glared down at it, pressing one of her hooves against its throat to keep its head down. It was hideous. The elongated faceplate reminded her of nothing more than the gargoyles of old, its cavernous maw hung open, its wicked fangs bared for a moment before it snapped it shut again, cocking its head from side to side as the two guards came to flank it.  Dull, scarlet eyes flickered open and shut for a moment and she felt something vibrate through it, only then did it turn the front of its face towards the guards; it was blind, then. She glanced down across the rest of it, trapped beneath her.  Its forelimbs were massive, a strong, blue leading edge trailing out into polished, metallic blades above the expanses of silvery, batlike wings that ran the length of its body from shoulder down, their thumb claws cruelly hooked and serrated.  It seemed to lack anything more than vestigial back limbs, a pair of blue hindclaws grasping at air. In the center of its silvery chest an orange orb faintly glowed. As she let out a low sound of irritation the beast’s sightless gaze zeroed back in on her, “what manner of creature are’t thou, beast?”  She demanded, pressing a bit more firmly with her hoof at its throat. “Make thy purpose clear, afore We make ours.” It cocked its head at her curiously, almost seeming to study her with those blind eyes. The quick vibration rumbled beneath her hoof again.  Its brow furrowed, as if it was having trouble considering something.  Its wings folded against its sides and it leaned its head back, exposing its throat, a gesture of submission.  Her brow arched, “We shall release thee, but thou art remain here, understood?” An almost conflicted expression crossed its grotesque visage, its head tilting slightly towards Steady Hoof, Luna pressed harder on its throat, “are We understood?” It nodded slowly, she gave it an approving grunt as she stepped back.  It lay there a moment longer, almost seeming dazed before it turned itself over and rose, shaking itself slightly and sitting back on its shriveled hindquarters.  After a moment of further silence with no move from the beast Steady Hoof stepped forwards, clearing his throat. “Your Highness, you’ve slipped into the Royal We,” the beast bared its fangs at the sound of his voice but made no move. “Ah, apologies, I was caught in the heat of the moment,” she chuckled sheepishly.  The beast tilted its head in question. “Hath thee something to say, creature?” Its brow furrowed again as it gestured to her with one of its wings, then to Steady Hoof, then to its own teeth as it made a biting motion.  Luna cocked her head in confusion, “are you asking a question?” The beast nodded. “I do not understand.” The beast puffed up a moment in what almost seemed like a huff before gesturing to Luna again, miming another bite, and gesturing more forcefully to Steady Hoof. Luna looked between the two of them a moment before hazarding a guess, “did you think my attack was aimed at him?”  The beast nodded. “Why?” Annoyance flashed clear across its face, it gestured to her again before planting both of its wings on the ground and flaring them out, lowering its head like she had when Steady Hoof had opened the door. Luna blinked, “you were the one watching me?”  She growled; it nodded, having the decency to look chastened.  She huffed as she thought on what it had communicated, “were you trying to save him?”  It shook its head hard, sneering a little like it had been insulted. “Then what?” It gestured to Steady Hoof, brought up both its wings and slammed them down, miming holding something to the ground, then pointed to Luna and made the biting motion again.  “You were… going to help me kill him?” It nodded, an almost prideful look flashing across its features, Luna’s expression creased in no small measure of disgust. “Why?” It cocked its head again, this time seeming utterly uncomprehending. The communication stalemate lasted for a few long moments before the beast shrugged.  There were no words, but the meaning was clear, “why not?” Luna let out a frustrated groan, “why are you even here, how did you get up here?”  It leaned forwards, its head turning from side to side, as if listening intently. Its brow creased and it shook its head, gesturing to Luna and then to the sides of its head before miming a howl.  “You were called? By who?” It gestured to her again, but this time its wing swirled with blackness, dark blue bordering the shadow across its limb. Luna stood straighter, “by me?”  It nodded and bowed low, its wings flaring out as its chin nearly touched the floor.  The shadows spread across both of its wings and drifted away, splaying themselves across the wall behind it in jagged forms, twisting into the shape of a swooping, three pointed, unfamiliar crown. Luna’s eyes narrowed, “guards, fetch a length of chain, my sister shall wish to see this.” ______ They were out of time.  Antroz was fuming as they made their way to the throne room, Gorast rolled her eyes at him. It had been a longshot anyways, tracking down a rogue Vamprah of all Makuta.   She’d worked with Vamprah exactly once before, and she only saw him at the beginning and end of that mission.  The only way she’d even been able to tell he’d done his job during it was the fact that it was done by the time she needed him to have it done, and anyone who gave dark corners a second glance vanished within the hour. No Witnesses was a creed he lived by, thinking they’d be able to catch him had been foolishness.  Now they just needed to skip town, lay low, and wait till folks stopped reporting for duty, then they’d at least have an idea where he’d set up his hunting ground and might have some luck with him deciding he wanted to let them in on it. Still, she thought as she tested the connections of her arms, unwinding them into four and slipping them back together, she had the feeling he would still be somewhere in the castle.  There was something cozy about it, even with that Light wielding Princess roaming the halls. She didn’t like it. As the doors to the throne room opened her gaze caught first on the so called Princess of the Night.  She felt her feet glue themselves to the floor. Antroz and Chirox hesitated for a brief moment, but without the sight of her whatever force this witch had mastered to draw her breath away had little effect on them.  There was a moment, a sickening, awful moment, where she felt her entire body begin to relax, it was like standing next to Teridax at the height of his power. She grit her teeth, now she knew what made this castle seem comfortable.  She despised it. Tearing her gaze away from the Princess’ piercing cyan eyes she found her own eyes catching next on something that drew her ire enough to drive the feeling of Luna’s presence out of her head entirely. “Vamprah!?” ______ ‘Tia had found her encounter with the Beast- a “Makuta” as she’d called it- quite humorous.  Doubly so when Luna had dragged it before her on one of the thickest chains she’d been able to get her hooves upon and it began hissing at her.  Say what she would about its ability to follow instructions and not sniff at her guards like freshly baked sweets, it was certainly strong; strong enough that she was sure it could have given her a proper bout had it not been for the combination of her surprising it and the strange affinity it had for her. Luna couldn’t help but be a tad irritated that her first encounter with one of these new beings had been with a murderous, semi-cooperative mute that seemed to be increasingly irritated she wasn’t snapping at every imagined offense it could conceive of; but after hearing Celestia’s recounting of her meeting with them, she got the feeling none of the Makuta would be forthcoming with their intentions. Still, she had heeded Celestia’s advice and taken off the Beast’s leash once she’d come to her throne.  Instead of bolting like she’d expected it to do, it had settled itself down next to where she was seated and was lounging like some form of enormous cat. She was currently staring at it. It didn’t move much, didn’t even seem to be breathing.  Unless the squirming from inside the luminous orb in its chest counted. She found herself hoping it didn’t. It suddenly twitched, the side of its head turning towards the door.  She would have sworn she saw the flicker of a grin across its lipless mouth.  Huffing and resigning herself to being endlessly confused by it she turned to face the door herself as it opened, admitting three more Makuta. If she thought back on Celestia’s descriptions, the one in the lead, looking for all the world like he was attempting to convince himself he wasn’t furious, would be Antroz. The one to his right didn’t match any of the descriptions she’d heard so far.  His mask appeared to be a silvery counterpart to what the one Celestia had called Mutran wore, but that and the orange orb in its chest that most of the Makuta seemed to share were where the similarities ended.  This being’s form was considerably more rugged than any of the others, almost looking like it had been designed to make itself appear part of some metallic cave wall, all matte blacks and polished silver armour. Its wings were even more enormous than the Beast at her side’s, ending in similar, if considerably more angular, rigid silver blades.  It was at least a head taller than Antroz, with only two toe claws at the ends of its legs and three fingered hands attached at about the midpoint of its wings, two foreclaws and a thumb claw. The third, to Antroz’ left that had stopped in the doorway, gaping at her with something resembling awe, matched Celestia’s description of Gorast.  Luna arched an eyebrow at her and was about to beacon her forwards when Gorast’s gaze twitched to the Beast and twisted in fury. “Vamprah!?”  She roared, almost making Luna jump as she turned to see what the Beast was doing now.  It was yawning, exaggerated as much as possible to show off its fangs before settling back down.  Now she was sure it was smirking. Looking back to the other Makuta, she was met with irritation, Antroz in particular was cupping his face in a hand, rubbing at his brow to try and smooth it out. “I take it my sister was right in assuming this creature was among your number?”  Luna asked, attempting to appear as unsurprised by Gorast’s outburst as Celestia would have seemed. “He’s a smart-masked little Mua-” Gorast started stomping forwards before being cut off by a firm gesture and jab of unfamiliar language from Antroz. “What has Vamprah done?”  He asked, turning back to face the throne. “Little beyond make a nuisance of himself,” Luna assured them, though if the flaring of Antroz’ eyes was anything to go by it wasn’t working. “I find that difficult to believe,” he said lowly, placing a hand on one of the blades strapped to his hip. “You would threaten me?”  She shot back, drawing herself up imperiously, “and question my word?”  He flinched, almost as if he’d been struck, Gorast sneered, shaking herself, and the third cocked its head, shivering slightly.  Vamprah was suddenly at attention, snarling silently at the others. “No, your Highness,” Antroz said quickly, his eyes flashing slightly brighter red for a moment before he bowed.  “Apologies, Vamprah is simply… unpredictable.” His sightless gaze cast about a moment before Vamprah pulled a face and tapped one of his claws on the floor, drawing Antroz’ furious attention.  “Especially when he vanishes without telling anyone.” “With that outburst concluded, may we proceed in proper fashion?”  Luna huffed, “though I am sure you have already gathered, I am Princess Luna, Triarch of Equestria, Mistress of the Night and Warden of Dreams.” Gorast and the larger one joined Antroz in bowing their heads as he responded. “I am Makuta Antroz of Xia, this is Makuta Chirox of Visorak, and Makuta Gorast of the North.” “And a great many other titles from what I have been told,” Luna bowed her head in return as they rose, “each carrying the songs of great battles and greater victories.”  Gorast blinked a little, her attention entirely on Luna for a second before she shook her head and settled a scowl onto her face. Luna decided to pull a slight page from her sister’s book, the atmosphere had become entirely too oppressive. “You will need to regale me with the tales of their acquisition sometime, noble Gorast.”  If anything her scowl deepened, though the others took no notice, Antroz and Chirox relaxing slightly and Vamprah going back to lounging as he had afore they entered. After a moment of studying Gorast’s expression, Luna let out a quiet sigh and addressed Antroz, “from where does Vamprah hail?”  Vamprah shifted slightly, as if considering answering the question himself but settled down once more. “Vamprah once held providence over the island of Odina,” Antroz began, confidence returning to his movements.  “Though since the island was taken from him by the Dark Hunters he has refused all titles.” Luna glanced to Vamprah, who shrugged, seemingly at ease. “I see,” Luna hummed to herself, “your audience with my sister was cut short by an unsteadiness of both sides, but from what she has told me it would seem you have little need of our assistance beyond simply a bed to lay your heads upon while your brother recovers from the effort of bringing you here; which may be readily given, as long as we have your word you and your siblings will not slink into others’ chambers the way this one did.”  Luna gestured to Vamprah, who’s expression had slipped into a placid curiosity, as if he was only half listening to proceedings. “We need little else,” Antroz agreed, a plastic smile across his face.  Celestia had been right, she would need to be careful of this one. “However,” Luna pressed, “there is the matter of your wording, you wished for asylum, not simply shelter.  That implies pursuit, which is of concern to me and my sister. We know little of your war and the forces therein.  Leaping worlds is an impressive feat, who would you have to fear chasing you through the chasms between reality?” “You worry your land will be caught in a crossfire?”  Antroz asked, his tone so reasonable she felt she may as well be speaking to an unsigned document.  Celestia may have grown deaf to it over the centuries, but Luna recognized a practiced politician's tone when she heard it. “I worry how you may react should that become a possibility,” Luna narrowed her eyes, “we cannot have a brawl breaking out near our subjects for a war we have no stake in, especially when our knowledge of the powers at work within is so lacking.”  Irritation soured Chirox’s expression but before he could speak Antroz pressed on. “Understandable, we will not ask you to stand for us, at the first sign of incursion we will do our best to be out of your way.”  He was still dancing around the question. “It is most likely we will be able to protect our fallen brother by our own means, at most what we wish for is an early warning, a heads up to ensure we know if our enemies come for us.” “I will repeat my question,” Luna’s patience was already beginning to wear thin with his attempts to deflect the question.  “What force do you expect to follow you?” “It is not important, you will most likely never have to bother yourselves with them, even if they do arrive.  They will be focused on us, which will present us with an opportunity to return home and you may continue on as if none of this ever happened.” Luna remained silent for a long moment, glancing down at Vamprah out of the corner of her eye, despite his outward stillness the side of his headplate was twitching slightly in her direction and his diminutive legs were tucked beneath him.  He was listening carefully, though to her, not Antroz, ready and willing to pounce on her command. For some reason, the thought brought down her rising temper. “And if they are not focused on you?  If they decide to occupy our territory while they pursue you?” “Then we will both have an opportunity to press the advantage, their focus will be split and it will be simple to drive them off your land.”  Antroz’ smile actually softened a little, this was more than just a politician, this was a merchant hawking broken wares by speaking only of what was still intact. “If the force is so trivial, why are you here?”  Luna decided to change her angle of attack, “yes, I know you were trapped when your plan fell into place, but if your enemies were as simple to defeat as you say, surely you could have pushed past them to escape.”  Antroz’ stride hitched. “Why do you need asylum from foes you could best while numbering only five if given even the slightest distraction?” Antroz tensed for a moment, Chirox almost seemed to pulse disdain, though his focus didn’t seem to lie on anything in the room, and Gorast looked as though she may speak if she could only trust her voice. “They are known as the Toa,” Chirox was the one who stepped forwards.  “Self proclaimed heroic fools. Alone or in pairs they are of small concern and smaller threat, but they are… formidable,” he spat, “in a proper group.”  Antroz’ hands clenched and he closed his eyes, pulling his arms in close to his body, Gorast winced, some mechanism in her body whirring. “Self proclaimed heroes?”  Luna said carefully, looking across them once again.  Her sister had mentioned that their appearance had set her on edge and Luna had to admit, they hardly cut a valiant figure.  A menagerie of monstrosities, more like. Antroz hesitated. “Celestia told you the purpose of our war, yes?”  He asked, seeming more nervous now. Luna hummed her assent.  “The Toa and their allies were not told. So when it began, they saw the disaster, a God, their World, falling silent, breaking down around them, without a clear purpose in sight.  They think we are obsessed with power instead of striving for our preservation, so they believe their resistance justified, and they style themselves heroes.” “And they would have refused you either way.”  Luna’s suspicion had been roused by Vamprah’s earlier behavior, and they were doing little to keep it at bay. “It was meant to be a swift transition.”  Antroz continued to explain, “over in the course of a day, but we were scattered to the winds.  Mata Nui had many moving parts that needed attending to, both to stop their function and restart them quickly.  While we were distracted a group of six Toa cornered our leader, Teridax, who was meant to be the one to take the Great Spirit’s place, and captured him.   “Within the hour, when there was no signal to restart the machinery, we knew something went wrong, but it was weeks before the details became clear.  We sent agents to see to his release, but by the time we were successful it was too late. The Great Spirit had been deactivated for too long, the world was dying.” He let out a long, rattling breath, curious as he hadn’t seemed to take one in, “we restarted as much as we could to buy time, a thousand years of it, but the damage was done.” “You had plans for if this happened, yes?”  Luna pressed, this seemed a colossal risk to take.  Though, she had little room to judge in that regard.  She grimaced at the thought. “There were failsafes implemented into Mata Nui’s body that would activate in this sort of event, and we had backup plans of our own, but the Toa took the activators for both and fled to a place outside of our reach.  The Toa blamed us, we blamed them, the world sided with the Toa, and a masterstroke that was meant to take an hour turned into a war that stretched on for a thousand years too long. Long enough for grudges,” he gave Chirox a firm swat on the arm, “to form on both sides.” “I understand,” Luna hummed, “and you fear not even this degree of separation will be enough to stay such an ancient vexation should they learn of your survival.”  She ruffled her feathers a bit, “but you also believe it shall be enough to give them tunnel vision should such a thing come to pass.” “Exactly,” Antroz replied, a bit of his easy smile returning. “And yet,” Luna began, Antroz’ smirk hitching, “you still have yet to tell me anything of any tactical value.”  Luna studied him a moment, he seemed surprised, she allowed herself a sharp grin at the sight of it. Where Celestia was a dagger, carefully aimed to slip between layers of an argument to expose the core, Luna was a battering ram, indelicate and relentless to smash through to what she sought. She gave him a moment to gather his thoughts, she could tell he had expected her to be swayed by his story somewhat, to at least let him put off answering the question until he could be sure whether they would be followed or not.  He needed to reevaluate his tactics, and just as his smile began to return, she pressed the advantage. Clearing her throat, she began, “I now know their motivations, should they arrive, but that will be of little use.  I need to know what they-” her breath hitched a moment and she coughed to cover it as she realized the reason for his reluctance.  He didn’t want to tell her their enemy’s strengths, because that would give her a reference point to learn theirs- “are capable of, so we may prepare in the event of an invasion.” Another moment of silence passed, her next words would need to be carefully chosen.  “I don’t know how aware you are of this, but your entrance into our world decimated a sizable public space and every living creature therein, through sheer luck alone were none of our subjects were harmed.”  Bait the Hook, “there are but six of you. I shudder to imagine what an army arriving in such a manner might do to our city and our subjects.”  Throw the Line. “Oh, no, that would be impossible,” Antroz started.  And Sinker. “What we did was unprecedented, an act of brute force that we weren’t sure would work and has put our brother on death’s door.  Travel between worlds is generally much more streamlined and safe, if more exclusive. The only true method is with the-” he stopped suddenly, confusion writ plain across his face. “Go on,” she said firmly, frustration biting at her that he may have recognized her bait for what it was. “I apologize, there is no direct word for the concept I need to convey here in your language.”  He took a moment longer, Luna suspected he was using it to rebalance himself, but interrupting would give up the game entirely. He straightened up again, “it will have to be a more literal translation.  The Kanohi Olmak, Mask of Power Over Dimensional Gateways.” He grimaced, “Kanohi feels much better to say than Mask of Power.”  She suspected his expression had more to do with the information he was parting with than how the words felt to speak aloud. “It makes transportation between worlds a simple affair, the only true problem, is that the Toa are in direct contact with one of the three people who have one; a blade for hire by the name of Brutaka.” “Ah,” was Luna’s unimpressed  answer. “But, they would still have to first learn we survived, then discover what exactly Krika did, then trace us through the void between worlds to pinpoint our location in this world.  The odds against them managing all of that are astronomical.” “Are there other sorts of these Kanohi?”  Luna asked, “with different abilities?” “Yes,” he replied after a moment’s hesitation. “And what could these Toa and their allies do if they arrived?” “It would be easier to list the things they can’t do,” Chirox grumbled, earning himself an almost vicious pat on the back from Antroz.   “And what can’t they do?” “Kill,” Gorast finally spoke up for the first time since her earlier outburst, her voice quieter than Luna would have expected.  “Toa don’t kill, and they think it makes them better than anyone else.” There was a minute shudder in her fingertips as she clenched her fists, “but they’ll do worse things without batting an eye.” Luna thought for a moment, it wasn’t much, but it was actionable information.  Glancing across the three of them, she could see them steeling themselves. She wouldn’t get anything more out of them this time.  “As you say, the chances of your enemies actually succeeding in tracking you down are small enough to be near nonexistent, but the threat presented by that possibility still must be taken into account.  I will confer with my sister on what to do with you, children of the Dark.” She gestured back towards the door, “until the morrow, return to your rooms; we will send someone to fetch you once we make our decision.” The Makuta bowed and turned to go, Antroz hesitating a moment. “It was a pleasure speaking with you,” he said before leaving the room. “Likewise,” Luna gave him a nod, smirking to herself, she’d heard that tone on more than one occasion, congratulations on a game well played. ______ “Well, that was unpleasant,” Chirox drawled to himself as they walked, Gorast growled her assent. “No it wasn’t,” Antroz murmured back, drawing Gorast’s gaze, so he had felt it too, “and that’s exactly the problem.”  He turned his head towards Gorast, “what time of day is it, is the sun still up?” Gorast glanced out a window, the sky was dark, “no.” “We restrict our movements to the day from now on,” Antroz grit his teeth, “she’s a threat to our goals. If you encounter her again, find an excuse to come back to me.  As far as I’m concerned, Vamprah is already compromised, keep your contact with him to a minimum,” he chuckled, “not that he seeks us out to begin with.” Gorast couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed, it wasn’t often she got to actually talk about her victories.  She quashed the thought, it wouldn’t have been a concern before they escaped Karda Nui, simply more proof of the Princess’ aura. “We got one thing workable out of this,” Chirox said, dismissively waving one of his wings, “they don’t even have a word for them, Kanohi don’t exist here.” ______ Celestia watched carefully across her desk as Luna paced in front of it.  She’d been taking a final look over the documents she’d been given today when Luna had stormed in, ordering the Makuta who had been trailing her most of the night to wait outside the door.  To Celestia’s surprise Vamprah had obeyed. Even once Luna had cast the soundproofing spell on the room she’d noticed no activity from him beyond the door. She considered what Luna had told her of her meeting with the other Makuta, and Celestia had noticed two details that interested her. “With how evasive they are determined to be about the details of the conflict that brought them here and what abilities they possess, ‘tis easy to argue that they are war criminals, and we cannot set precedent by sheltering them if that is the case.”  Luna muttered, more to herself than anything else if her half-focused gaze was anything to go by. “A war does not rage for a thousand years without atrocity,” Celestia said, regaining Luna’s attention, “it becomes increasingly difficult to prevent overzealous generals from running rampant with each year that passes,” she shook her head.  “I had trouble enough keeping mine in line during the two decades it took to reunite Equestria after… well, our seperation.” Luna didn’t wince, Celestia still couldn’t stop herself from grimacing slightly. She chided herself, how was it Luna could think of Nightmare Moon yet she still quailed at the memory.  “I cannot imagine how vicious it could have gotten had we been at war for the entirety of your banishment.” “But?”  Luna pressed, Celestia gave her a soft smile. “But, we have nothing other than their caution and reservations to support that as a theory; they have been torn from their world and thrown into one entirely unfamiliar to them.  We have been kind to them so far, but they have no way of knowing how long that will last or what may cause us to turn on them.” She sighed, “I cannot say I would give up my life’s story or my strengths any easier.” “They seemed quite willing to speak of their motivations,” Luna shot back, Celestia shook her head. “They’ve given us grand events, broad strokes, histories over a thousand years in the past.  Purely impersonal.” Celestia stood, “but they have given us some knowledge of use.” “Beyond assurance that pursuing them would be a fool’s errand?” “Yes, the first is that they seem to be drawn to you.” “Excuse me?”  Luna sputtered. “Gorast spent her entire meeting with me ensuring she was ready to fight and I knew it, how would you describe her while speaking to you?” “Irritable, yet relatively calm,” Luna pondered for a moment, “deliberate, her disdain performative, she had to remind herself of it more than once.  She seemed lost in thought for much of it, comfortable in silence.” “Compare that to what I’ve told you about how she behaved with me?”  Celestia walked around her desk, giving Luna a gentle nudge. Luna’s eyes darted back towards the door, where Vamprah still waited, unmoving. “I suppose,” she nodded.  “Though, is that not foul play?  Vamprah told of a Call, some siren’s song that guided him to me, to take advantage of something like that…”  Her gaze hardened a little. Celestia draped one of her wings around Luna’s shoulders, Luna leaned against her side.  “I think I will need to reorganize my thoughts on them if I am to do that. There is something familiar about them,” she tilted her head towards the door, “some yearning not unlike greed, yet buried deeper within them.  I would like to learn its source.” “Why?”  Celestia asked, smiling as Luna’s gaze softened. “I believe, I would like to help them.”  She nodded to herself. “And then, we come to the second piece of information they gave us,” Celestia sighed, Luna blinked, startled that Celestia was forging ahead. “What, sister?” “These Kanohi, Masks of Power.  Have you noticed?” Celestia’s own thoughts hardened as she turned her mind to the problem at hoof.  She felt Luna stiffen a little against her side. “All six of the Makuta wear masks.”