Virgo led Gale and Cygnus to her house. They were seated around a table while Virgo prepared tea for them. As she began her story her expression seemed gloomy. “That zebra you saw used to live here with us. His name is Orion. For a long time he was a respected member of our village. But then… something happened.”
3 Years Ago
Cygnus was alone in her empty home, weeping on her bed while holding the crown ornament she had received from her dying mother; the only thing she had to remember her by. She had just lost her great grandniece, the last of her family, and was utterly devastated by it. Virgo looked inside and was distraught seeing her friend in this state. She quietly left for the village square.
“The poor dear is certainly taking it hard,” She told the other villagers. “Not that I can blame her. Being a guardian naturally forces you to outlive your family; it’s never easy. She told me last night after her niece passed that she has decided to leave the village tomorrow to start a new life. And so, we must decide who shall take her place as guardian of the Sacred Moon Grove.”
Most of the zebras present quietly looked to one another, looking distraught as they felt Cygnus’ pain with her. However, one bold male zebra stepped forward.
“I’ve told you time and again Virgo, I should be the one to become guardian! I know more about the grove’s power than anyone here.”
Virgo’s face turned stern. “We have been through this Orion, it isn’t your capabilities I question, but rather your intentions. Your ideas of how to protect the grove go completely against the established traditions.”
“I don’t care about tradition, I just want to keep the grove and the village safe, same as anyone!”
“No you don’t! Your idea is to use violence and fear as a shield. Instead of simply driving away potential threats you wish to bring them actual harm. That’s the kind of darkness I don’t want anywhere near the grove.”
Orion’s rage started to grow but before he could fire off a retaliation Perseus stepped up.
“I’ll assume the responsibility, elder,” he said with no hesitation.
“Perseus, are you sure?” Virgo asked worryingly. “Being a guardian will mean you will eventually have to deal with the same pain and loss that Cygnus feels.”
“I am aware of that, and I am ready to accept that burden. This village is my home and I wish to protect it and see it prosper for generations to come.”
“Well put, Perseus. Very well,” Virgo nodded.
“Are you serious?! He barely knows anything about what the Sacred Moon Grove even does. What does he have that I lack?” Orion asked angrily.
“He has a pure heart. Your heart is clouded by the darkness of your delusions of grandeur. You desire power for the sake of having it. Perseus doesn’t care about the power that comes with being a guardian. Rather, he only wants the power so he can protect us.”
“I’ll show you. I’ll show everyone!” Orion bolted in the direction of the Sacred Moon Grove.
“Orion, you mustn’t!” Virgo reached out.
“I’ll stop him,” Perseus said to Virgo before running after him.
It wasn’t long before Orion had made it to the Sacred Moon Grove and was standing in front of the Lunar Flowers. “If they won’t give me the power, I shall take it instead!”
Perseus then arrived at the scene. “Orion! Stop you fool!”
“If the flowers can give their power to a mere child like Cygnus then I should have no issue attaining the powers of a guardian. I’ll make sure that all threats to the grove and the village get exactly what they deserve.” While he was turned away from the Lunar Flowers, he didn’t notice that their glow had turned black. Suddenly, a dark aura came off of them and enveloped Orion.
“Orion!” Perseus tried to save him but the aura knocked him back.
While this was happening, Cygnus suddenly felt cold as she clutched at her chest. She could feel something stirring in her heart. Her ears stood erect as a shrill whistle flew through the wind, which sounded like a wail of pain. “This feeling is…” She looked in the direction of the grove. “I understand what I must do.” She ran towards the Sacred Moon Grove, surprising Virgo and everyone else as she passed by them. Once she arrived at the scene Perseus was shocked to see her.
“Cygnus? What are you doing here?”
“My duty as guardian.” She held out her hoof and closed her eyes. The blue portions of her body glowed a brighter blue and a white light emanated from her hoof, dispelling the aura from Orion. However, his body was no longer the white and gray of a normal zebra, rather black and dark blue. Just after this happened, Virgo and the other villagers arrived at the grove to see the aftermath.
Orion looked down at himself and was shocked. “What has happened to me?”
Virgo stepped forward. “It would appear that the grove has given you a fitting appearance to match the darkness in your heart. It is clear now you are not fit to be a guardian, or a part of this village anymore.” Virgo pointed to the forest. “Orion, you are hereby exiled from Starshine Village. You shall never be welcome here again.”
Orion gave them an angry glare before going off into the forest. Once he left, Virgo turned to Perseus. “All right then Perseus, are you ready to accept the power of the Sacred Moon Grove? Are you ready to become a guardian?”
“I am, elder.” Perseus turned to Cygnus. “Cygnus, I hope you will live a happy life, wherever it may lead you. Just know that I will do everything in my power to protect the grove, the village and everyone here as you have throughout the years.”
Cygnus gave him a proud smile. “Thank you Perseus, I know you’ll make for an excellent guardian.”
“All right then, let us begin.” Virgo began. “Perseus, step towards the Lunar Flowers. If your heart is indeed pure and your intentions just, you shall accept their power, and become a guardian.”
“I am ready to accept the power and responsibility that comes with it.” Perseus stepped towards the Lunar Flowers and they let loose a warm light that enveloped him. After a moment, he stepped out of the light and showed all the villagers his new body. “So this is what it feels like,” he said as he looked over himself. “I know that I cannot turn back on this, so I shall uphold the responsibilities of being a guardian with pride and honor!”
The villagers all cheered for their new guardian as Cygnus stood there with a smile. Although on the inside she was masking multiple emotions: grief for her lost family, sadness about leaving the village and worry about the exiled Orion.
Gale idly took a sip of his tea while he tried to process the story he just heard. “So he was forced to leave because of his lust for power. It’s pretty scary to think what could have happened if he actually did become guardian.”
Virgo looked down at her tea. “I felt like I had no choice but to exile him. I had hoped he would stay away and that would be that. But it seems he has harbored a grudge ever since that day.”
“But why would he return now, elder?” Cygnus asked
“That I do not know. But I do know that as long as he trots these grounds, trouble will follow.”
Cygnus got up and headed for the door. “I shall let Perseus know and we will ready a defense for when he inevitably comes our way.”
Gale meanwhile just looked at his tea with a troubled expression. Virgo took notice. “Gale, is something bothering you?”
“Something feels off,” He explained. “When I chased him down he took out this jar filled with some kind of black smoke. After he released it, he was gone. I can’t shake this nagging feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Orion was outside his cave watching the sun set on the horizon. “The time has finally come. Everything is in place; I shall finally be able to claim the power I rightfully deserve.”
Cygnus and Perseus rallied all the villagers that could fight and relocated all those who couldn’t to a safe house in preparation for Orion’s arrival. While they were finishing up, Gale approached Cygnus. “Gale, why aren’t you in the safe house?”
“If you’re in this fight then so am I. I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you,” Gale said with a determined expression.
Cygnus looked at Gale with her own determined look. “Please understand Gale, Orion is no normal enemy. We don’t know what he’s done over the last three years. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“I am.” As he said that, he felt a crossbreeze. “He’s coming.”
Cygnus nodded to Perseus. “Warriors, stand your ground!” Perseus commanded. “This is our home and we will not let Orion defile it!”
After a moment, Orion stepped out of the darkness of the forest, not fazed at all by the villagers ready to fight him. “My my Perseus, I return home after so long and this is the reception I get?” He said with a mocking tone.
“Don’t be coy with me you vermin, what are you doing here? You know you were exiled.”
“Yes I’m very aware, but you see spending the last three years in exile has given me plenty of time to think. About the village, about the grove,” He gained a manic grin. “And about how I’ll take the power of the grove for myself.”
“You will do no such thing!”
Orion simply chuckled at Perseus’ anger. He then cast his gaze up to the sky. “Do you see it? The moon in all its glory?”
Everyone else looked up as the clouds parted to reveal the full moon, its light beaming down. Suddenly, all the villagers that were ready to fight started clutching their heads and groaning. Perseus, Gale and Cygnus weren’t affected and didn’t understand what was going on.
Perseus then looked to Orion. “Orion, you miscreant, what have you done?”
Orion simply stood there, that grin still plastered onto his face. After a few seconds a black crescent moon marking appeared on every villager’s face and the white sclera of their eyes turning an inky black as well. They all slowly walked over to Orion’s side. “Quite the powerful effect wouldn’t you say? I know all about the power of the Sacred Moon Grove, including its… darker parts,” He explained while Perseus, Cygnus and Gale stared him down with fierce expressions. “You see, I used the hidden potential of the Lunar Flowers. I created a special concoction that lets me control anyone exposed to the light of the full moon. Of course, it wouldn’t affect a guardian. And it seems your winged friend was lucky and didn’t get my concoction onto him.”
Gale was visibly angry now. “I’ve had just about enough of you!” Gale charged straight at Orion.
“Gale don’t!” Cygnus tried to reach out to save him but it was too late. With a smirk Orion spread the remaining black powder from his satchel right into Gale’s face.
Once it made contact Gale’s actions slowed down tremendously. “What’s… going on?” He then felt major pain in his head and clutched it. After a moment the crescent moon marking appeared on his face and he opened his eyes, showing they had become black; he was under Orion’s control now.
“Gale, no...” Cygnus then glared at Orion with tears in her eyes. “You’re a monster, Orion.”
“Your insults mean nothing to me dear Cygnus. I suppose if you really care about this one so much it would only be fitting to have him be the one to finish you off. Attack!” Orion ordered.
Gale made no hesitation to charge straight at Cygnus, to which she swiftly dodged. “Gale, you must listen. It’s me, Cygnus.” She dodged another attack.
“Save your breath, I’m the only one he’ll listen to now.”
Gale continued to attack Cygnus; meanwhile Perseus lowered his stance, ready to attack. “Perseus, we can’t hurt them! They may be under Orion’s spell but they are still our friends.”
Perseus grunted in anger. “What should we do then?”
“I don’t know.” Cygnus shrieked as Gale managed to tackle her and pin her to the ground.
“Cygnus!” Perseus tried to go to help her but was grabbed by another possessed villager. He could only watch helplessly as Gale looked ready to kill Cygnus.
“Gale, you have to still be in there. You can break free of Orion’s spell.” Tears began to fall from Cygnus’ eyes. “Please Gale, I love you.”
Orion chuckled again. “As touching as this display is, I do grow bored of this. Finish her off now!”
Gale raised his hoof, ready to strike Cygnus down. Cygnus flinched in fear and braced herself for the impending impact. After a moment though, nothing happened. Cygnus opened her eyes and saw that Gale’s hoof slammed into the ground beside her. Cygnus looked up at him, watching his eyes twitch and his breathing grow heavy. It looked like he was resisting Orion’s control.
Orion grew furious. “What did I say?! End her now!”
“No,” Gale said before clutching his head again. “Get out of my head!” Gale said as he screamed in pain, his mind torn in two.
Cygnus saw this opening and tried something she could only hope could work. She closed her eyes and her body started to glow, she then held her hoof up to the moon. The village began to grow dark as the moonlight was redirected to her.
Orion’s expression was a combination of anger and confusion. “What are you doing?”
“Removing the moonlight!” As the moonlight passed off the villagers the crescent mark on them vanished and their eyes returned to normal. “Perseus, get Gale away from me!”
“On it!” Perseus, now free, grabbed Gale and pulled him into the darkness away from the moonlight. The marking faded from his face and he passed out.
Cygnus then stood up in a spotlight under the moon and stared down Orion. “It’s clear that banishment was too kind Orion. If you covet the Sacred Moon Grove so much, then I shall make you a part of it!” She waved her hoof and a light appeared beneath Orion.
“What is this? No!” The light enveloped him completely and went towards the Sacred Moon Grove. It went into the patch of Lunar Flowers and dispersed among them.
Cygnus could only smile knowing Orion was gone for good. “The deed… is done,” Her body then ceased glowing and she too passed out.
“Cygnus!” Perseus rushed to his fallen ally. “You have done well Cygnus. And you Gale, you were able to fight off Orion’s hypnosis and allow Cygnus to save us.” He turned back to the villagers. “Come, let us get these two somewhere where they may recover.” Wasting no time, they helped pick up Gale and Cygnus’ unconscious bodies and carried them towards the village.
Cygnus cracked her eyes open and saw the ceiling of her home. Perseus’ smiling face then entered her view.
“It’s good to see you’re awake Cygnus,” He said in a soft tone.
“What happened to me?” Cygnus asked, still exhausted.
“You defeated Orion and sealed him away. After that you passed out, so we carried you and Gale back here.”
Cygnus’ eyes widened and she shot up. “Gale!”
Perseus gently put a hoof to her mouth. “Shhhh.” He pointed to the other bed that held Gale’s still unconscious form. “He went through quite a lot. Resisting hypnosis like that took quite the toll on him.”
Cygnus got up and walked over to Gale’s side. “He was able to fight off the hypnosis because he cares so deeply for me. I never would have been able to stop Orion without his help.” He took his hoof into her own. “I’m so lucky to have met him.”
“Yes, you were. Why don’t we get him some water for when he wakes up.”
A few hours later
Gale started to groan as he regained consciousness. “Oh man, my head.” He turned to his side and saw Cygnus’ smiling face. “Cygnus you’re—” Before he could finish his sentence Cygnus embraced him in a big hug. After a moment Gale started to cry. “I’m so sorry Cygnus! I was too rash, I let Orion manipulate me and I almost…”
“It’s okay Gale, it’s not your fault. What matters is that you were able to stop yourself. Thanks to your determination I was able to defeat Orion for good.” The two stayed in that embrace for some time. Eventually they let go and went to the village square where Virgo and the other villagers were waiting.
“It’s good to see the hero of that battle unharmed,” Virgo said with a great smile. “And you Gale, you are also commendable. It takes a great deal of willpower to be able to stave off dark magic like that.”
Gale bashfully scratched the back of his head. “Well, the only thing I could think about was protecting Cygnus. Once I realized what was going on I knew I had to stop myself. It didn’t matter how great the pain was, it would hurt even more to see Cygnus harmed.”
“Well, we can rest easy knowing that there’s one less threat to the Sacred Moon Grove. I do hope you’ll take care Cygnus, and please visit more often.”
Cygnus nodded. “I will, and I’ll be sure to bring Gale along when I do.”
Perseus walked up to the two of them and presented Gale with a Lunar Flower. “Here, you should take this as a keepsake.”
Gale was both surprised and a bit confused. “Are you sure it’s okay to take something like this?”
“As far as we’re concerned, you’re a part of Starshine Village now Gale. You can have this as a reminder of that.”
Gale accepted the flower. “Wow, thank you Perseus. Thank you everyone.”
“Well then, we shall be off. Until we return,” Cygnus said with a wave as she and Gale left.
“That Gale Twister is certainly something,” Virgo said.
“Yes,” Perseus agreed. “Cygnus is very lucky to have met somepony who cares about her that much.”