//------------------------------//
// Chapter 36: Defiant Fate 
// Story: Luna is a Harsh Mistress 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Silver was frozen in indecision, staring into the face of death. An unseen soldier shouted for him to come forward, and he had a good idea where that path would lead. Probably he'd be marched out to join the ones being executed at that moment. It was an obvious, inglorious end.

I'm better than that. I can't change things if I'm dead.

Silver closed his eyes, building concentration as he prepared to teleport. It was always about familiarity, and there was one place he knew better than any other. The world started to blur, as he built up a connection strong enough to warp.

An armored figure emerged on the top of the hill, aiming a rifle straight down at him. Silver's eyes widened, and his instincts kicked in. The teleport frayed to nothing around him, and he called up a much more important spell—a bubble.

The report echoed around them as the rifle went off, flash bright enough to briefly blind him. It struck his shield with incredible strength, shattering it into little shards of magical force that sprayed around him. But it had done its job—the plastic bullet rained down around him as plastic shards, burning into his jacket but not causing any real harm.

The soldier, a bat like most soldiers, stared down in shock. "Who... the buck are you?"

Silver didn't give him an answer, didn't hesitate for even a second. He turned and ran, tearing up the soggy ground as he did. At least he had a jacket to try and conceal his cutie mark. Hopefully. That was really just wishful thinking.

"Hey, over here!" the soldier called. "I think one of the prisoners escaped! He's getting away." The pony didn't try to run—as Silver had predicted, he'd stopped to reload the rifle, bringing out powder horn and all. There was no chance he'd get a second shot before Silver was long gone. Unfortunately for Silver, it sounded like there were several other soldiers, because soon he could hear half a dozen other voices. He didn't try to listen, just ran.

"You realize how... stupid this is..." Magpie said, darting along in the shadows beside him. Somehow even the narrow gap between the muddy floor and the dripping cave ceiling was enough space for her. But then, she was quite small for a pony. "They're raising an alarm. You're going to get caught." Her hoofsteps were so light that she didn't sink into the mud—or maybe that was more of her undead magic at work.

"Got a better idea?" he called, frustration building. He couldn’t take his eyes from the ground, even when a second rifle report went off behind him. He had no shield this time, so nothing to protect him if they actually aimed with any accuracy. But he didn't feel the burning pain of a bullet killing him, so that was something. "I'm kinda... only one way to go now!"

Alarm bells began to ring, beginning at the parade ground but soon echoed from the city itself. Initially there would be no sign of what the problem was—but somepony had seen him in the dark. How close a look had he gotten?

I need to get away. Let things cool down. Where could I hide?

Magpie's shelter was one option, but it was heavily guarded. More importantly, it was on the opposite side of the city. By the time he made it to that extreme end of Moonrise, the soldiers would probably know what they were looking for. He had only time on his side, and not much of it. So what was close? Only one place, located near the ancient parade-grounds because of historical reasons entirely lost on him.

"I told you not to come here!" Magpie yelled, frustration in her voice. Were those... tears? "I can't keep you safe from a whole army! Why didn't you listen? Now you're going to die, and I still won’t have my wings!"

"I'm not going to die today," he declared, swerving abruptly to the right as the cavern widened, stumbling up the ramp. Moonrise was like a hive of bees roused from their peaceful sleep, and streams of reserve troops poured out of the openings between the buildings. Silver dared one glance behind him, and wasn't surprised to see a growing number of ponies chasing along the edge, pointing at him. As they did, some soldiers leaving the city turned. He'd been faster than the ones following, but it soon wouldn't matter.

He broke into a gallop, leaving a trail of mud as he headed towards an ancient stone archway. There was little traffic here now, though he'd heard that in ancient days it had been like a second capital of Moonrise. The Gatecrasher compound, with its statue of the blind explorer at the head of the arch. Even in death, she watched over the members of her guild. Though how she'd have done that even in life, Silver never knew.

As he got closer, he broke into the light of electrical lanterns along the arch, and suddenly Magpie wasn't there anymore. He couldn't blame her for that—she wouldn't be able to use her powers with no shadows around. There was no reason for her to go down with him if this didn't work.

The doors of the ancient airlock were sealed, heavy metal with a rotating drum to secure itself in place and lock out all unworthy to travel. There was no way he'd be able to get them open before any number of his followers reached him. It was teleport or die.

More gunshots went off behind him, smashing into the statues and stone pillars and showering him with dust. But at this kind of extreme range, there was little chance of a hit. So long as he didn't stop moving.

He reached the wall and didn't even slow down, gritting his teeth as the barrier approached. The world fuzzed, and for a few steps he ran in the nowhere-place surrounded by hatred. Cold tendrils fiercer than the surface wrapped themselves around his hooves, instantly freezing the mud and moisture he'd been walking through.

Then he was through, and he landed on the stone. Muddy boots shattered from around his hooves as he ran, so at least he stopped leaving a trail. The lights were all dark here in the Gatecrasher headquarters, with old storage rooms and suits of air-armor hanging in racks. Behind him the soldiers had stopped at the door, working the complex airlock. But it wouldn't take them very long to get inside. There was no time to be properly equipped. It was time for his night of magical learning to get an emergency test.

Magpie appeared beside him in the gloom. He couldn't help but envy how neutral she sounded, running along without getting winded as he had. There was no justice. "I've looked through this building before," she said. "You aren't going to find anywhere to hide here. Most of the rooms are empty, and it only has the one entrance. The only other way out leads to a cave under hard vacuum."

"I'm aware of that." He was slowing a little, clutching at his chest and fighting back the burning in his muscles. He was no earth pony with infinite endurance. Part of it was probably the teleport, which had taken enormous energy on its own. "That's where we're going. Do you know which direction it was?"

She pointed towards a spiral staircase, and he took off running, taking the steps three at a time. From the sounds coming from behind them, they'd gotten the inner airlock doors open at last, and would soon be gaining again. Some of those guards were earth ponies. "Why would you want to do that, Silver? You're still alive, remember? You wouldn't let me forget it every time you had to make a trip to the bathroom..."

The stairway emptied into a massive room. On the far end was a second airlock, much larger than the first one. Dust lifted from the floor as he ran, a slow-moving trail. He cut right to the machines, smashing his hoof against the button. The inner door rolled out of the way, like a giant gear along a track. He ran inside, to the much smaller, thicker outer door. The cave beyond looked little different than any other cavern, with only the slightest difference. Through the tiny window, he could feel terrible cold against his hoof. 

"You knew we'd be going to a dead end, and you ran here anyway?" Magpie settled beside him, though her ears were constantly twitching, facing the stairwell leading in. "You're insane, stallion. Coming here wasn't going to get my help. I can't shadowstep with you. You're alive, that's just not how the power works. Otherwise regular bats could use it."

"I'm not going to shadow-anything." He closed his eyes, remembering the diagrams he'd studied. But he'd already practiced this. Simply activating the spell wasn't going to be the hard part. A few seconds of effort, and a faint shield appeared around them, capturing the dusty air in a bubble about the size of the airlock. It wasn't a very costly spell, about the same as lifting a modest weight in the air beside him. But it was constant, and dropping it for even an instant would mean certain death.

The inside of the airlock had its own controls. Fortunately for him, there were labels stenciled on the old Lunarium, and he pressed the button for "open."

The heavy entrance rolled closed, just as he saw the first sign of motions from the stairs. The guards had arrived, but they wouldn't be able to follow. A harsh hiss filled the room, making his ears fold flat with discomfort. But after only a few seconds, the hissing became almost imperceptible, and he could feel the vibration of distant pumps through his hooves more than hear it.

"Oh, I see what this is." Magpie circled around him, glaring. "We're going to cut across the surface. There's got to be... a dozen different ways back into the city. But won't they just put on suits and follow you?"

"No," he answered. "The guards aren't trained for it. They'll send the Dustwalkers after me. But there's no mine down here, so they'll have to bring them through the city first. It will take them at least an hour, and we'll be long gone by then."

"Gone," Magpie repeated. "I mean, the caves are an absolute maze. There are thousands of different ways for us to go. But even if you're immune to the cold, how long can you keep a spell up like this?"

He thought about the answer to that, and numbness began to spread through his chest. He'd already teleported three times today. He could feel the first stirrings of magical exhaustion in his horn. The truthful answer was probably “a few hours.” But he wasn't going to admit to that. "Long enough," he said instead. Behind them, a stupid guard banged the butt of their rifle against the airlock—entirely without effect. It would take far more than that to get it open, and they probably wouldn’t be stupid enough to break it and breach the entire building to vacuum.

I'm actually doing it. The air-shield spell. He could barely believe it. He expected his horn to fail any second, and leave the pocket of air around them to be claimed by the void. But that didn't happen, and his lungs stayed clear.

The outer door finally clicked, then swung open just a little. Was it jammed, or... maybe this was normal? Either way, Silver wasn't going to find out. It wouldn't take the soldiers long to figure out they could press the button to get the cycle to reverse, or find a pony who could. He shoved up against the doorway with all his might, making it swing out a little further. Wide enough for him to squeeze through. Magpie followed close behind, clambering out of the protection of Moonrise and into... the portal cavern.

This wasn't his dream of a stable job on the surface, where fruit was served with every meal and every room had a heat-vent. This cavern had clearly been finished, with a level floor and support pillars along the wall. Heavy wooden shelves lined the walls, with shovels and rocks and other equipment piled up.

"Why would they keep the air out of here?" Magpie asked. "This just seems like another room. There's even lights over here—don't switch them. I need to be able to get away when this inevitably fails."

"It won't." He made his way across the dusty stone floor, picking up plenty of gray surface dust with his hooves. It billowed about in the air, and he should’ve probably put on a mask or something. But there weren't any here—even unicorn explorers these days wore air armor, so there just wasn't any reason. He'd come up with something when they got there. "There's nowhere on the surface I can go. But I'm guessing that Colonel Flint won't want to spread it around that somepony made a fool of her soldiers. A week or two on that side, and we can come back. Maybe I'll dye my coat or something, just to be sure they don't know me."

Magpie reached the end of the room before he did, inspecting the complex metal ring set into the floor. Several crystals rested nearby in brass stands, crystals that seemed to completely ignore her. But as he neared them, they lit up, glowing faintly blue. "This is a teleportation spell," she said, squinting down at the floor. "Looks like... buck! This thing is going to send us far."

"Right, you can read runes." He walked right into the center of the circle. "Can you read which of those crystals we need to activate it, or should I do it?"

She twisted around, glaring back at him. "You think I'm going to go with you? Why the buck should I do that?"

"Because... we'll be getting the material for your wings," he suggested. "There's nowhere else on the moon we can find the cloth we need."

"You seriously expect me to believe this trip was for me? You had to see the executions. I know what this was about. You didn't listen and you got caught."

"And now I'm making the most of it." He glanced nervously to the end of the room. There was a chance a unicorn with teleportation and atmospheric spells would be following them, and they'd be interrupted any moment. The chance probably wasn't high—unicorns were too rare and important to be simple soldiers. Unless they had trash blood, of course. "Are you going to activate the teleport or not?"

Magpie hesitated near the edge of the circle, one hoof beside one of the brightest crystals. He could practically see the gears turning in her head. If she went with him, then she'd need to use another portal to come back, or else journey across the surface again. That trip had taken her years before, and she was only just back. "You're not allowed to die," she finally declared. "You still owe me, Silver." She reached out, touching the crystal with a hoof.

Nothing happened. Of course, she wasn't alive. Silver made his way over, grinning ruefully at her. "Well, it's the thought that counts. Because you're coming with me, I'll try extra hard to make sure nothing brutally murders me until after we make your wing." He touched the crystal she'd suggested.

The result was instantaneous. The ground seemed to rip out from under them, in a terrible teleportation that made his own efforts seem like a baby-carriage rolling gently along the road. Light flashed in front of him, and gravity seemed to bend and distort his whole body. Wild magic tore at him, and he had to grit his teeth, concentrating desperately to avoid losing his shield spell.

As quickly and painfully as it had begun, they appeared on the other side. Lunar dust scattered from around the portal, caught up in his shield of air. He wobbled on his hooves, nearly losing his balance and the spell with it. But then he saw the sky, and he fought back the fatigue.

The sky rose above them, entirely filled with stars. There was no sun now—if Moonrise was in daylight, then Vanaheimr would be dark. But that didn't bother his eyes. It only made for a clearer view.

There was no weather on the moon's surface, no animals or erosion or anything to disturb the portal. The Gatecrashers had built it on a slightly raised stone platform, with lunarite shelves beside it just like the ones left behind. And towering ahead of them, its ancient structure seeming to glow even in darkness, was the Sacred City. The ancient home of the Alicorns, home of incredible magic and science they could never understand. It seemed to be waiting for him.

"Stars above, I'm ash," Magpie squeaked, covering her face with both wings. She froze in place on the portal platform, body completely rigid. Her front was only partially covered since she only had one good wing. Even so, the display was... unusually pathetic.

Silver waited a moment, staring at her in confusion. He followed her gaze up to the city, searching for what had terrified her so greatly. But there was nothing there. No angry Alicorn, no weapons trained on them... just the old ruins. "Are you just going to stand there?" he asked. "Because... I don't think I can keep this spell up forever. We need to find one of the old supply caches. It's supposed to be a hundred times the size of Moonrise in there."

"I'm still alive," she whispered, voice incredibly small. "How am I... I shouldn't still be alive. You took me to Vanaheimr. It should've killed me by now."

"It's not going to kill you," he groaned, wrapping a foreleg around one of hers and dragging her down the platform. Past the supply-shelves, and towards the shattered, ruined city. It didn't seem like the city wanted them to be here. Its walls were broken, many of its windows were shattered, and only darkness lurked inside the glass. We can't just wait on the platform. The Dustwalkers will be behind us. "See? You're safe. No attacks. Just stop... dragging your hooves like that."

Magpie kicked and struggled, but she was so overwhelmed with fear that she didn't put up much of a fight. She pushed and squirmed, then fell still again as soon as her eyes opened, then went back to fighting. But whatever horror she kept expecting, it didn't happen.

They reached the ancient entrance, rubble cleared and fallen metal long harvested. A single cloth rope had been stretched across the massive doorway, with a sign hanging from the end. "None enter by order of the Princess herself. Violators face the wrath of the moon."

Silver shivered at that—the first genuinely frightening thing they'd encountered so far. But he was running out of energy, and they didn't have anywhere else to go. Hopefully you'll forgive me a little intrusion when it was this important, Princess. Your ponies were suffering. I can't help if I'm dead.