Strata. Eventually you will come across this term, my daughter. You likely know by now that there are five strata to the starsea forest. From the bottom up the strata are named: Crystalla, the bottommost strata; Abyssa, the fourth strata; Lianea, the third strata; Umbria, the second strata; and the Forest Roads, the first strata. The brightblooms hang above the Forest Roads, and are sometimes called the Lunar Strata.
Each strata from the Forest Roads down is progressively more dangerous, with the exception being Crystalla. Crystalla is where we used to mine the glowing crystals and various vital materials for Alchemy. The abundance of celestial magic has had an unexpected effect on the plants, animals, and minerals of the forest. Many are more powerful, more dangerous, or have effects not found elsewhere. It is why some ponies can make a living only off of foraging from the various strata, as even the thestrals can make potions using these potent ingredients, and the small unicorn population can create various rare and powerful enchantments. It is this which allows the thestrals to hide on the rare occasions when a patrol enters the forest proper.
SE 1014
“Do you know any changelings?"
Emotions are at best an abstract concept to ponies. They may understand on a theoretical level that emotion affects things physically. Some powerful unicorns have mane and tail turn to flame when upset, some have physical changes when they are down, such as losing all of the curls in their hair. However, even with these two facts, the truth remains: to ponies, emotions are at best a metaphysical concept. To changelings, however, they were not only what a pony would think, but also physical effects as well. So it was that while the two adults broke into an argument about having a letter from changelings, Moonlight didn't even react. Not even when Silent Gaze took the letter from her hooves, and began to read it for himself.
To her, the storm of emotions was exactly that, a storm. The words they spoke were but background noise compared to the torrent she was subjected to. Silent Gaze's were the worst, she could feel the warm current of his love for her, of course, but there were harsh tones of hostility, pins and needles because it was not aimed at her, but sharp and painful all the same. His anger at the changelings, having the audacity to not even talk to them, was like standing just far enough away from a furnace not to be burnt, painful, but with no lasting harm. However, the emotion that was most painful, and aimed towards her, was by far the worry and protectiveness. Normally such were like a blanket, but at this point it was thick, almost like suffocating or drowning. His panic, another high-pitched feeling like being in the midst of a windstorm, combined to make each more sensitive to her. Alone, this would have set her to hyperventilating, but combined with Lost Script's emotions, a chilling combination of fear, anger, confusion, and any number of more subtle emotions lost under the buffett of stronger ones, combined to make her practically catatonic. She lay there, eyes glazed over, having returned to her natural form unnoticed by her guardian and host for a good ten minutes. Eventually they calmed down enough to notice her state, and with a cup of chamomile tea and much calmer heads, the two of them began to talk things out rationally, whilst Moonlight slowly returned to reality.
"One more time, let's read the letter." Lost Script, sounding much calmer than her prickly emotions would show, began. Silent Gaze nodded, gesturing for her to do so. Holding the letter in one hoof, and the cup in the other, she began to speak aloud.
"On behalf of all the Changeling Hives, Queen Alatea speaks to the Lunar Empire.
"By our combined decree you are to release the changeling royal in your care to the Royal Conclave by the 3rd month, on the 5th day, according to your pony calendar. Passage will be guaranteed during the interval and on your return trip. We permit a total of 6 guards to escort her. If you do not release her by the above date the Lunar Empire will be held in violation of their treaty with the Starsung Hive, as well as guilty of reckless endangerment of changeling royalty, and appropriate actions will be taken.
"A changeling royal should never grow to the age of twelve without the Hive Mind, and as her own mother was lost, the Empire was well aware that their duty was to turn over the foal to us before her fifth year of life. The Changeling Royals find your lack of prompt action and irresponsibility to be utterly contemptible, and will be taking such ill faith into account when considering further relations with the Empire." Silence hung in the air, for a few minutes. As before, their emotions were stirred, though less in anger and more in concern and fear. Before either of them could say anything more, however, Moonlight spoke, her cup now empty and eyes only half focused on the room around her.
"That... means I have to leave, doesn't it?" She looked to the two of them, who couldn't meet her eyes just yet. "Father, I do, don't I?" He started, but she gave him her best (not very much so) intimidating look. "If I don't that means something bad will happen to everypony, right? I don't want anypony to get hurt just because I want to stay with you." His ears, which had been drooping, snapped forward at that. She blinked, the warm solidness of his sudden resolve was not something she had expected.
"No, not you." He stood, sweeping her into a hug, snuggling her and trying to focus as much on his love as possible. It helped, a little bit. She relaxed a bit more,
"She has a point, Silent Gaze." Lost Script took a drink before continuing, "No matter what we do, we only have a short amount of time to decide. The trip will be at least 2 weeks just to get to the train, and then who knows how long to get to where the Conclave is held." That was a question, where was it held? She didn't know, and that was a problem.
"We'll talk to our Princess Luna, she will know what to do."
Moonlight tugged on his side. "Will I be able to go? Doesn't everypony hate changelings? I don't think I can keep my illusion up even while I'm asleep."
"Then we wrap you up in a cloak. Nopony will complain if I say you're sick." She frowned, but knew that he wouldn't listen while he was like this. Of course, their host didn't agree with that, and so she spoke next.
"The filly has a point. Just a cloak will not help. Shouldn't you send a letter to her first?" Lost script frowned, "At best the two of you will be arrested."
"I can get us through, I know how to get to her chambers." Silent stood and took the letter, before nudging his daughter. She stood, with a flash taking her illusion, and began to make her way through, feeling a fair bit worried about just how gung-ho her father was all of a sudden. "Thank you, Lost Script. We'll take care of the books."
A week later and the father and daughter duo were heading through the forests on the lowest, and darkest level. Even the heightened night vision of a thestral was not up to the task of piercing the darkness of the lowest strata, Crystalla. Luckily, so long as they travelled on the known roads, this wasn't much of a problem. Moonlight had returned to her natural form, and was providing light via her horn, but it was still very creepy. If one wanted to travel quickly through the forest, they either had to use the Forest Roads, and risk the monsters and animals of that upper layer, or drop quickly down to the lowest Strata and navigate the ever present darkness.
It was a precarious trip to fly all the way to the lowest strata. Each of the four above had different threats, increasingly dangerous as a pony flew further down. In a few places there were corridors down, usually at each major town, one of which was Eriazha. The two of them had paid the tax to go down one such corridor, and thus arrived at the bottom floor without incident. Unfortunately, the area they were in was between two of the trees, so they had to walk the way in the dark. Within Crystalla there was plenty of light to see, so long as you were near a tree. Crystia, the glowing crystals used for lighting above, were known to grow from below the roots of the trees, casting a subtle light on the entire area. However, the trip between two trees was oppressively dark, and though a pony could feel the ferns and grasses, without unicorn or changeling magic, or some other method of illuminating the area, one could not tell what they were. The past week had been spent hearing the sounds of dangerous creatures above, the rustling of red-pink tinged foliage, and heading towards the growing light in the distance.
This morning they had finally approached enough that her magic was allowed to fade away, and within a few hours they arrived at the first giant crystal. It was easily three times the size of the average griffon. The root behind it was one, thing, but the crystal itself was a yellowish gold, similar to pale sunlight. The two of them walked under the crystal, it having taken the shape of large grasses or fronds, and as they did a second appeared, forming a glowing cover over the two of them. Moonlight was in awe, in her short life she'd never seen anything quite like it... Moonlight's voice echoed through the crystal, taking on an almost musical quality, turning what was normally frightening into a thing of beauty, "Father, have you ever seen anything like this?"
"No. It is beautiful, but be careful. The crystals could break at any point." Case in point, they heard the echoing of something falling down, the crystals vibrating in response. The crash could have fallen near them, or all the way on the other side of the now branching pathway.
"What are they?" Moonlight's ears switched to point towards the location, but her fascination couldn't be swept aside so easily.
"They're called Crystia." Silent Gaze looked around, before stepping over to a splintered part that had fallen a while ago, now a dead grey. "Crystia store magic, Moonlight. Your ancestors used it to store love, but that is not the only kind of magic they can hold." He touched one hoof to it, slowly turning it silver, "They absorb the magic of anything that touches them, using it to grow." He removed said hoof, it began to give off the same silvery hue, almost buried under all the glow from the crystals, "These crystals absorbed Solar magic, filtered through the Brightblooms. Try to lift it in your magic."
"Right." She nodded, her horn lighting up, the stone lit up as well, though only for a moment. Moonlight frowned, before focusing more magic into it, but the more she did the deeper the crystal changed to her magic's color... not reddish-pink as her horn glowed, but a light blue between the color of the sky and moonbeams. She gave up with a gasp, if she were in disguise she would have been sweating, but instead proceeded to pant and hug her father, "I can't.. why?"
"The magic all went into the crystal. Once they break off of the main base they can only absorb it from contact with magic. Watch." She did, noting that the crystal did indeed glow... brighter than when her father had held it for a few seconds. "That's your Crystia, Moonlight." She frowned, but picked it up in her hoof, "Once it's absorbed as much magic as it can, it'll be as easy to move as anything else. At least, that's what I've heard." She nodded, picking it up with her hoof, and putting it in her saddlebags. She'd pull it out when they were out of crystal reach.
A few more hours passed, before the corridor began to open up, spreading until it almost looked like a full courtyard, in the center of which was the remains of several blue buildings. The buildings were made of the same crystal as that of the crystal above them, and the two looked one to the other before taking to the air, the buzz of insectoid wings filling the space, once more the crystal changed to make it sound more melodic than frightening. They explored the small town, Silent frowning. He didn't remember anything about a forgotten town in Crystalla, at least not near where they were.
Finding a relatively safe space in the center, Silent landed, looking about with curiosity. The crystal that used to make up walls was engraved, somehow the coloring of them was different, for those still bound to the ground and yet glowing, but the ones on the ground almost looked like they were about to shatter. Moonlight, still worried, kept to the sky while she zipped around. It didn't last for long, but when she did land, the previously almost grey ground below them began to brighten. Each step she took left a pale brightness, before fading away. "What, where is this?"
"A lost town, it seems." He noted that her steps immediately caused the ground to respond, but said nothing, only rose one eyebrow. This was worth reporting, he supposed. To the Sovereign, not to the guard. He took out their map, and circled vaguely where they should be with charcoal, before closing it. Moonlight, were she any other pony, would have been lost by now, but instead she had sat down, while her father had marked the map. She was curious, of course, but she knew better than to run off. She wasn't even able to fight off the monsters in the first strata, Forest Roads, yet. Unlike ponies, she didn't have that much magic available to her yet, aside from shapeshifting.
The two of them explored for about an hour, trying to figure out what happened more out of curiosity than any duty, but aside from the heightened reaction to Moonlight's changeling nature, all they could tell was that this was yet another ruin. A curiosity, but not something that was worth becoming overly concerned over. As they left, however, Moonlight turned to look at the building. She almost wanted to go back, and explore a bit more. Something about it spoke to her, but she didn't have time for it... not right now anyway.
Once they turned from the crystal town the trip continued largely without incident, they were taking the quickest path to Hollow Shades. It was a long trip, but they had plenty of food just laying around them, which of course they foraged some of the rarer ones for later, and the rest ate what they knew was safe to. Three weeks they spent travelling, total, and arrived a month after their initial beginning of the trip, hearing the sound of steam and a railroad. The two of them stepped over the last natural hill, and before them lay the town proper.
"We're here!" Moonlight, with a flash her disguise in place, shouted with foalish exuberance. With flaps of her wings she was in the sky, and Silent followed a scant few seconds later. The two of them glided down to the town, the first thing of note was the look of the town, rustic brick buildings, lights everywhere, smokestacks. Second, they heard the sounds of ponies going about their day, a great change from the quiet of the forest before them, followed closely by the scent of pony and nature mingling, and trees that broke just enough to see a tiny bit of the sky, thestral and pegasi filled the sky, unicorns and earth ponies through the streets. "Finally. Any longer in there and I might have gone mad from the silence!"
Silent Gaze chuckled, one hoof rising to cover his mouth, before placing it on her withers, "Let's go, little one. We've much to do before we can get on the train to Canterlot." In his mind he went over each step, from selling their findings to getting a cloak in case of changeling checks. They had no way of knowing if the ponies of Canterlot were still paranoid about them, even with how long it had been since the fiasco of the Canterlot Invasion. If there was still a problem with it, he would have to sneak them into the town at night, flying directly to their Sovereign's Night Court. He stopped himself before going much further down that road of thought, no need to borrow trouble before it was time, the two of them still had to get to the capital.
Madrigal -A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment.