House of the Rising Sunflower

by kudzuhaiku


A mother's prayer

Pearlescent moonbeams dappled the sunflowers that swayed in the hot evening breeze. Up past his usual bedtime, Sundance allowed them to tickle his sides and to rustle against his neck. The soil, still warm from the sun, was soothing to his frogs. Today had been a long one. He'd started in Ponyville, flown home, sorted everything out, and what a sorting it was. Multiple trips back and forth to where the changelings had settled, a flight out to the orchard, an inspection of the barony's new tower, which was a marvel of engineering, and now, at the end of the day, he found himself in curious company with a mysterious mare. 

Litany. 

He was warned about her, but that had not prepared him for their actual meeting. She was a mule, though that term was frowned upon. Litany called herself a unikey—half donkey, half unicorn, with the best features of both. She was small, slight of build, even fragile in appearance. Yet, she wore armor. There was no need to wear armor, but she wore it nonetheless and did so with no small amount of pride. The barding was heavy oiled canvas with shaped steel plates in particularly vulnerable places. In Sundance's eyes, the armor wasn't so much for protection as it was to send a message. 

And that message was that Litany was one of Princess Luna's chosen. 

The blue-grey mare was a dark colour, one made darker in the absence of sunlight. She had a stubby horn—though Sundance would never judge because of horn size—which was rather cute. Though he'd never say that aloud, because quite honestly, Litany was terrifying. Her confidence might be mistaken as arrogance by some. Every movement she made was a statement of dominance. Her small stature did nothing to diminish her commanding presence. Yet, there was a gentleness to her, even if it were a cold gentleness, one without much warmth. 

"So I had a moment where I broke, you say. I don't remember. I just… remember being in the bathroom, with my head under the sink… and I was angry. No, I was beyond angry. I was something else. Some kind of… I dunno… some sort of—" 

"Furious, bloodthirsty murder-beast?" Litany's cool tone was almost teasing, though perhaps it wasn't. It was difficult to tell. "You were on the very edge of the Night Lady's reach. Any further, and she wouldn't have been able to aid you. She smoothed out the wrinkles that formed in your mind because you experienced memories not your own." 

"Which is why you are here, so that my connection to the land can be studied." 

"Correct." 

"I saw the brand and suddenly the memories of thousands upon thousands who died fighting woke up within me. Their blood is in the soil here… along with some kind of psychic residue. Is that right?" 

"It is," she replied in a cool, collected tone. "It is no common anger, but the rage of those who died for a cause. A belief. They sacrificed all that they had, and when that was not enough, they gave up the only thing left that they had to give." 

Sundance understood. "Their lives." 

"Correct." 

"And so Princess Luna thinks that because my own blood has dripped down into the soil, that some kind of connection has been made… a connection beyond that of the little crystal tree?" 

"Stranger things can and do happen," was Litany's cool response. "Some ponies have anger management issues. It can be hard to control one's temper. Believe me… I know. The world is full of all manner of injustice. But to control the blood-soaked rage of thousands… this is something that the common pony cannot do. This is no mere manner of anger management. A solution must be found, for if you were to find a Neo-Separatist and meet them face to face, you might very well disembowel them and hang them by their own glistening entrails. That would be bad." 

"Would it really, though?" he dared to ask. 

"Oh, it would, though I for one would not judge you harshly for it. I would be very understanding." 

"You're not like other girls," Sundance remarked. 

"Oh, you have no idea." Litany almost—but not quite—smiled, and something about that non-existent smile that wasn't quite there chilled the blood. She had no fangs, thankfully, but something about her suggested that she was quite creature-of-the-nightish. In fact, she was downright spooky. 

"Want to tell me more about yourself?" he asked. 

"No," she replied without hesitation. 

"Alright, that's fine. You do you. Be mysterious and spooky." 

"And you've given up… just like that? Have you no spine? Are you an invertebrate?" 

"You're armed. With a mace. And I like living. In one piece, whenever possible." 

She chuckled. It was a cold sound, one that lacked warmth, yet there was something appealing about it. "I suspect that even if I were not so armed, you would still give up. Not because you are a gentlepony, as you would no doubt have me think, but because you are submissive. Such is your nature." 

"Ouch, lady. I mean, you're not wrong, but ouch. I think I'll go hide in my room now and write bad poetry while I sulk. Probably grow my mane long and paint my hooves black." 

"Do not be ashamed of who and what you are. We are what we are because we are needed. Whatever we are, whatever makes us what we are, that is vital and necessary for destiny to work through us." She paused for a moment as the sunflowers around her swayed and strands of her night-dark mane were tugged upon by the wind. "I am Litany, and I am my mother's prayers. I am her hope. I am her perfect sacrifice given to Princess Luna, with the hopes that one day, I might secure a future for my mother's kind." 

"That's… wow, that's something alright." He chose his next words carefully. "That's kinda what I'm trying to do here, I think. I mean… there's Flax. And little Tarantula. I know he's a burro, but both he and Flax need some kind of future. Flax is branded, for crying out loud. I know that donkeys have it rough. They do. So do burros. The future I am expected to build here demands that they get an equal share." 

"Which is why I wouldn't crown you with my mace," Litany said in a way that wasn't wholly reassuring. "My father saw to it that I got the very best education that he could afford on his salary. He works the Night Watch. While I did not go to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns… for obvious reasons, I did manage to attend a somewhat prestigious academy in Canterlot. Mostly because my father knows so much of the upper-crust. Doors opened for me that would not have otherwise.

"After my graduation, I applied for a position in the Night Court. A lot happened. My mother 'gave' me to the Night Lady with nothing explicitly asked for in return… just a hope that the Night Lady might reciprocate and do more to secure our future. I live my life in such a way to prove to my mistress that we are worthy. Beyond that, I am the first of my kind to achieve a position in the Royal Courts. Not one donkey has ever been accepted before, much less a half-donkey. So even if I do nothing else with my life, I've already secured myself a spot in the history books and I've become a gleaming beacon for my kind. All that I could ever hope to be." 

"And I'm just some goofball with an interest in genealogy. You have some kind of ambition, Litany. If you don't mind me saying. I didn't have a plan for my life. All of this just sort of happened by accident." 

"There are no accidents," she deadpanned in return. "We are marked, you and I. Agents of destiny. I am the first of my kind in all of recorded history to bear such a mark. I believe it is because I demanded that destiny notice me, and I made myself worthy. You… you were born worthy. I had to fight for it." 

"Oh, I disagree," Sundance said. "There's a lot of worthless shits out there. Sure, we ponies get our mark… but I'd say that more than a few of us don't deserve it at all. It just sort of happens. I don't think we're special, or that we're the chosen agents of destiny. Just a quirk. But really, you need to reconsider. We're not special, most of us, and we're not more deserving." 

"I have never, ever, at any time, heard a pony speak in such a way. You… you are an oddity, Sundance. What a peculiar pony you are. Such things you say. For now, I must take my leave of you. I have much to consider… much to think about. We shall speak again, Sundance, though when I have something better to say. Good even, Sundance." 

"But I… but we… but the conversation was just getting interesting and I—" 

"Good even, Lord Sundance. And well met. We shall speak again, but only after I have chosen my next words carefully. Enjoy the night, and the many blessings of the Night Lady. May the stars light your path." 

When she turned to go, Sundance bit his lip and watched as she disappeared into the sea of sunflowers.