Both Twilight and Starlight found themselves once more traveling through town with blindfolds blocking out their view, much to Starlight's annoyance. Twilight herself was too worried about what would come to bother worrying about what the town looked like.
When Starlight had asked the reason for the blindfolds, she'd been completely ignored by the thestral mare that now led them to who knew where. Thankfully the trip was nowhere near as long, and by the lack of general voices, there seemed to be less thestrals about, wherever they were going.
That wasn't to say they didn't run into any other thestrals and their strange phrasing, which Twilight was beginning to realize might've been either some unique form of Old Ponish, or a language specific to the thestrals.
She hadn't bothered to learn much about other languages in general, and decided that if she managed to make it out of this place, she'd make an effort to learn as many languages as she could. There were several other races where she lived now anyway, and it might do her well in the future, if she even had a future.
The sound of a door creaking open pulled the lavender filly from her thoughts, and by how loud the sound was and how it reverberated through her small frame, Twilight guessed the door must've been massive.
She didn't have too much time to ponder it as she and Starlight were forced through the doorway. The air around them became somewhat colder, and both fillies shivered, but for different reasons. To Starlight, the temperature had simply dropped a few degrees, but to Twilight, the cold felt slightly unnatural in a way she couldn't explain.
Though she couldn't see, Twilight glanced around nervously, wondering just what it was that was making her so uneasy. She couldn't put into words what she was feeling, so she remained silent as they all made their way towards their destination. After a few moments, The fillies heard their escorts speak in that strange language, followed by a shuffling of hooves and the sound of another, smaller door opening.
Both Twilight and Starlight cried out in surprise as they were pushed forward into the room, the door closing behind them with an ominous click. A moment later their blindfolds were torn off and they blinked a few times before looking around. The room was far from jaw dropping, at least to Starlight.
Twilight however, could sense something wrong in the air, though she couldn't put her hoof on what it was. The room itself seemed to be much like their own cell, but bigger, and much harder to see. The floor, walls, and ceiling came together naturally and seamlessly, giving the impression of a cave, albeit much larger.
The biggest difference was that the cave seemed to be much more circular in shape, almost perfectly so, Twilight noticed. Above the fillies were a row of five identical, brightly glowing teal crystals embedded deeply in the ceiling directly overhead.
The crystals above were placed in such a way as to bathe five figures that sat in the center of the room below in their own individual spotlights. Contrary to what either filly was expecting, these figures didn't seat themselves on some high bench or thrones, or behind some raised desk looking down on them.
Rather, the five heavily shadowed thestrals before them simply sat side by side on large, lavish cushion on the floor. Still, with how dark, empty, large, and quiet the room was, the atmosphere did much to make them imposing either way, to say nothing of the thestrals themselves.
Though a lot of their forms were hard to see due to the odd way the light above reflected on them, the two fillies could still make out their general features. All five thestrals wore dark blue robes similar to that of the mare that brought them here, though theirs were more opulent, with silver lined hems, and swirling silver designs along the sleeves.
A stylized image of a white crescent moon adorned the front, and atop each of their heads were dark blue skullcaps that matched their robes, along with the same stylized crescent moons on the front.
Though their dress made their forms beneath somewhat indistinguishable for the most part, their faces were clearer to see, and each of their eyes seemed to glow, piercing the darkness around them and burning a hole through the shivering fillies.
The thestral on the far right looked slightly emaciated, his ashen coated features were gaunt and heavily defined. Though he looked the frailest and oldest of the five with his bony cheeks and the wispy, snow white mane beneath his skullcap, his crimson eyes bore the most intense gaze of all of them.
It was also this stallion that spoke first, his voice loud, reedy, and ancient.
"Interlopers!" he boomed, making both fillies jump slightly, "you stand before the Council of Elders, accused of committing a grave sin within our domain!" he paused and inclined his head slightly giving the fillies a baleful glare devoid of any mercy, "...though you are outsiders, as well as mere fillies, do not think this absolves you of your crimes. You shall be tried in accordance with our laws, and the sentence shall be carried out swiftly and without fail."
Unbeknownst to Twilight, Starlight had had enough, and when they'd been let out of their prison, she'd fully intended on giving the Council a piece of her mind. Now however, beneath the burning, venomous gaze of this elderly stallion, the pale pink filly found herself completely speechless.
The stallion's words robbed her of her own, and all she could do now was stand there, cowering next to Twilight who herself was having trouble keeping her wits about her. More than the focused stares of the Council, it was both the gravity of the situation and the utter wrongness in the air that rendered Twilight speechless and shaky.
She knew this wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but she hadn't expected the trial to be nearly this harrowing. She'd been relieved when she heard the thestrals didn't cut off horns, but with the utter contempt she heard in the stallion's voice, she wasn't so sure that was the case anymore, and the fear returned in spades.
"Please calm yourself, Elder Sanguine Oak," came a deeper and far more measured voice from somewhere left of the red eyed stallion, "we are all well aware that you have more reason to be upset than anyone here, but we will get nowhere if you let your personal grudge cloud your judgement."
Both Twilight and Starlight's eyes focused on another stallion that sat second from the leftmost thestral. The voice came from a giant of a dark grey thestral who sat head and shoulders above the rest. His brilliant, golden orange eyes were far more gentle than the older stallion's, though no less stern for it.
Mostly tucked beneath his skullcap was a dull orange mane with visible greying in some areas, and though wizened somewhat, his facial features were far stronger than that of his much older counterpart. As he spoke, he kept his eyes firmly on the two fillies, as though he expected them to flee at any moment.
"Do you realize exactly what it is they've done, Dying Flame?" Sanguine Oak snapped, turning to face the larger thestral, "Tenebris is dead! Impaled! Pierced through by countless blades of Dark Magic!" he whipped back around to face Twilight, his eyes blazing with hatred as he jabbed a withered hoof in her direction, "and it's all because of this... this unicorn brat! If you ask me, we should return the favor! A life for a life!"
Twilight flinched back and hung her head, unable to say anything in response due to the fear and guilt welling up at the old stallion's accusations. A glance in her direction was enough to restore a bit of Starlight's resolve and she glared at the furious Elder in defiance.
"That's not fair!" she cried, taking a step forward, "she was just defending herself! It was an—"
"SILENCE, WHELP! YOU ARE ONLY TO SPEAK WHEN WE DEEM IT NECESSARY!"
At Sanguine's indignant shout, Starlight's mouth snapped shut and she stepped back, but her glare didn't falter. An audible sigh of exasperation drew everyone's attention to the thestral seated directly in the middle of the group of elderly thestrals.
An old thestral mare had turned her wrinkled frown and narrowed cerulean eyes towards Sanguine Oak, her displeasure with the stallion plainly visible for all to see. Her coat was a light grey, nearly matching a pale grey mane that came down in ringlets below her cap, and when she spoke, it was with an odd musical lilt.
"You should not take the lives of the young so lightly, Sanguine, even if one of them did kill one of your precious pets," she said, her voice full of disapproval, "the Sacred Trial of the Waxing Moon is an important event in the lives of our foals, and the death of Tenebris is indeed a terrible loss that will set us back, but there was always the possibility, however small, that a youngling would fell her eventually."
"Impossible!" Sanguine scoffed, "in no conceivable universe would a thestral foal be able to best the likes of Tenebris!" he stomped a hoof on his cushion and glared in the old thestral mare's direction, "the trial is meant to be a test of survival and endurance, not some... some hunt to be carried out! Those that undergo the trial are meant to try and outwit her and stay alive for the duration of the trial!"
"On the contrary, Sanguine," came another feminine voice on Dying Flame's left, "I believe your exact words dictating the rules of the trial to the younglings when asked if they had to kill the brute were 'if you think you can, go ahead and try', am I wrong?"
The two fillies turned to see another thestral mare, this one with a jet black coat, dark green eyes, a faded turquoise mane tied back in a bun beneath her cap, and an unpleasant smirk on her face. Out of all the thestrals that'd spoken so far, this mare looked the youngest of them, though she wasn't without her wrinkles and crow's feet.
"TENEBRIS IS NOT A BRUTE YOU—"
The enraged old stallion fell into a fit of coughing before he could finish, and the black thestral mare merely chuckled in amusement before returning her attention to the curly haired old mare in the middle.
"While I do believe the outsiders should be punished for interfering with our sacred rite, I think death might be a bit too much, Elder Fallen Snow," she turned to Twilight with an enigmatic smile, "this one may have forestalled any future trials, but Elder Sanguine Oak can always train a replacement, and once he does, we'll be right back where we were."
Fallen Snow opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by an angry stomp of a hoof. The black thestral furrowed her brow, giving Sanguine an annoyed frown as the stallion spoke again, his tone venomous.
""Damn it, Jade—"
"Elder Jade Rose if you would, Elder Sanguine—"
"You will not treat the death of such a hallowed creature so blithely," Sanguine sneered, barreling right over Jade's words, "that manticore was a gift from the Glorious Moon herself, and it was I who was tasked with raising her from a cub! Now she is no more! This is a travesty that cannot stand, and justice needs to be served properly!"
"And it will be, Elder Sanguine Oak," Dying Flame sighed, "but the punishment for their interference will be meted out after we've all decided, and only then, after we've heard all the facts," he turned to the Elder sitting between Fallen Snow and Sanguine Oak, the only Elder that hadn't spoken yet, "do you have any grievances to voice before we continue, Elder Dusk?"
The slate grey stallion in question sat completely relaxed on his maroon cushion, his eyes closed and his worn and weather-beaten face a mask of serenity. At Dying Flame's query, Dusk slowly opened his eyes and fixed the two nervous fillies with an unreadable stare. much of his white mane fell into his smoky grey eyes, but that did nothing to diminish the intensity of his gaze.
Whereas Sanguine's glare seemed to radiate heat, Dusk's calm and stoic gaze sent chills down both fillies' spines. He watched the two squirm uncomfortably for a moment before slowly closing his eyes once more, his reply to Dying Ember quiet and raspy, but absolutely clear for all to hear.
"...None."
"Very well then," Fallen Snow exclaimed, prompting all Elders present to return their attention to the fillies, "if all of us are prepared, we shall begin," she inclined her head towards the fillies, "if you both would, please state your names for the Council."
For a moment, the two simply stood there, staring back at the Elders before them. They all wore various expressions ranging from indifference, to amusement, to pity, and in Sanguine's case, simmering fury. At a sudden clearing of the throat from Fallen Snow, the two snapped back to attention.
"Oh, s-sorry, um... my... my name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight shifted her hooves nervously before turning to Starlight, "and this is Star—"
"Starlight Glimmer," Starlight announced with a defiant glare, "and we didn't do anything wrong. This... whatever this is, is totally unfair!"
"That remains to be seen," Fallen Snow replied evenly, "now... Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, we are the Council of Elders who oversee all that transpires within Nightshade's domain," she nodded towards each of the other Elders, "starting from your left, I formally introduce you to Elder Jade Rose, then Elder Dying Flame," she turned to the Elders on her other side, "Elder Dusk, Elder Sanguine Oak," she returned her attention to the fillies and raised a hoof to her chest, "and myself, Elder Fallen Snow."
"Elder Dying Flame," Twilight muttered, the name having already triggered something in her memory. She looked into the large stallions golden eyes and it came to her a moment later, "I... I think I heard one of the guards mention you... are you—"
"I am Firebrand's grandfather, yes," Dying Flame replied with a curt nod, "I believe the two of you met him during his trial. Do not think for a moment that whatever rapport you've built with my grandson will save you from the appropriate punishment you are due."
"But we—"
"Enough," Fallen Snow exclaimed, cutting the lavender filly off, "there will be plenty of time to make your case, but for now, we will be the one asking questions," her eyes narrowed slightly and she sat up straighter, "be aware that we know what has transpired and that you are, without a doubt, guilty of criminal interference in the Sacred Trial of the Waxing Moon.
"What we are not aware of, are your intentions," she held up a hoof to forestall Starlight's outburst, "yes, we know what you say, but that has yet to be proven by our Mystic."
Starlight and Twilight glanced at each other with matching frowns of bemusement before turning back to Fallen Snow.
"Mystic?" Twilight asked carefully, "what's a 'mystic'?"
"Elder Fallen Snow refers to me."
Both Twilight and Starlight jumped slightly before snapping their gazes to the left, spotting a pair of milky white eyes in the darkness that they could've sworn weren't there before. As they watched, the owner of the soft and airy feminine voice stepped forward into what little light there was.
As it turned out, the 'mystic' was another thestral mare, though she was unlike any thestral the two fillies had seen yet. Her coat, mane, and tail were all pure white, and as they'd seen in the darkness, her eyes were glassy, the pupils and irises so light a grey that they were barely distinguishable from the sclera.
Her mane was swept back over her tufted ears, revealing a black, crescent shaped mark adorning her forehead. Starlight eyed the mare with mixed emotions ranging including shock, curiosity, and wariness. Twilight however, took an involuntary step back and shivered.
She knew for certain that this mare was the one giving off the horrible vibe she was feeling, yet couldn't place. Something was wrong with the mare, but Twilight was to unnerved to figure out what it was. Though she was sure the mare was blind, Twilight could feel her gazing at something within that the lavender filly herself couldn't see.
After a long moment, the Mystic looked from Twilight to Starlight, then took a step back and bowed her head to the both of them, much to their confusion. She lifted her head back up a second later and addressed them both in a respectful monotone.
"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer. I am She who Speaks for the Moon... but you may call me... Moonlight."