The great assembly of Canterlot had followed us to the grand lake at the mountain’s roots. Said assembly was gathered for the baptism of one Princess of the Night, here to watch as the Wargess left an old life behind. Weather it be out of curiosity for the Way or to see what “witchcraft” I’d use on the Princess, I couldn’t say. I honestly didn’t care for their reasoning.
The Warg sisters had spoken with me and Luna last night, telling us that after some magical scans and testing, they had discovered that when the Priests turned Luna back into a Warg, the transformation wasn’t complete. They had skipped the last section of the spell, just leaving Luna in her half-released state. A vast amount of magical power had been kept sealed, as well as Luna’s original pelt color. But thanks to a long night of studying… and three dozen pots of coffee, the two (along with their parents’ help) had cracked the code and made a counter spell to release Luna from her confines.
It took me a long moment to fully wrap my head around it, but I knew that the spell they’d cooked up would fully break the enchantment. Luna’s full power and pelt color would be released, and the Princess had planned to do it during the baptism, saying it was her letting go of the past and gaining a new future in God’s hands. It would signify her coming to God, and the old Luna’s death, weak state and face gone.
So there I stood in the shallows, bible in hand, waiting for the Princess to get ready. At long last, Luna stepped out from behind the privet tent and walked down the path toward me, dressed in a long white gown. She had said that she wanted to wear something that signified renewal, to which I thought was appropriate.
The crowd parted for her, curious as to what was going on. We hadn’t told anyone outside of our little circle about the baptism, but apparently seeing a Princess leaving the castle draws a lot of attention. Anyway, Luna was followed by her two Warg sisters, both dressed in white to help signify the Princess’ new beginnings. I held out my hand to help Luna in, the Wargess shivering slightly at the cold water. The two sisters remained on the bank, summoning their magic, and weaving their shared spell.
I turned to a bookmarked page, clearing my throat before speaking. “’John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ It is said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. I believe this to be true, for it’s not easy to give up things of the world. So few succeed and find the Lord, so few find the peace they want, yet you are willing to step away from the world. You, a daughter of kings and queens, a lady of wealth and power, have chosen to lay it all down and follow the Lord, now broke. Do you still want to follow?”
I looked up to see Luna give me a sure nod and a smile, her air of power gone, now just a woman. “I do, but it’s not that I want to, but I need to.”
“The title ‘Lord’ means ownership. Whenever I call Him Lord, I am saying that I pledge myself to His ways. To quote S.M. Lockridge, ‘He didn’t have to put a signature in the corner of a sunrise, He’s the Owner. He didn’t have to put a laundry mark in the lapel of a meadow, He’s the Owner. He didn’t have to carve His initials into the side of the mountain, He’s the Owner. He didn’t have to take out a copywrite on the songs He gives the birds to sing, He’s the Owner. Beyond the human level, the word ‘Lord’ stands as a reverent illusion to God.’ Now, I’m paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. ‘God possesses absolutely our lives, in Him we live, and move, and have our being. We ought to call Him Owner, we ought to call Him Father. For He is our only hope, and our only help.’” I shifted my weight, a new energy flooding my system. The power strengthening my bones making me feel like I could run six marathons and still give it my all. “Jesus is Lord, this I know to be true. When on earth, He took your sins and mine, went up on Calvary, dropped His head in the locks of His shoulder, and died.”
The crowd gasped, an almost deafening sound, yet I focused on my task, reading from my notes. “Again, I feel that Lockridge got it on the nose, and to quote him again; ‘He died until the sun refused to shine! He died until the veil in the temple was ripped in two! He died until the dead got up out of the grave and walked the streets after the resurrection!’ But according to the whole of the bible, Jesus didn’t stay in the tomb they put Him in for long. Three days later, Jesus awoke from the depths of death with every power known and unknown!” A wide smile soon stretched across my lips, my heart beating like a drum. “’The one who holds the waters in the hall of his hand. Comprehends the dust and weighs the mountains on a scale, and the hills, and the valleys. The one who walked on the prow of nothing and with a gesture of His hand, worlds were formed. Scooped out the seas with the palm of His hand, dug deep the gorges, piled up the hills, and propped up the mountains by His will. The moon and stars lean on His arms… and they tried to bury Him in a whole… How does that work exactly?’”
Everypony released nervous laughter, some looking to the mountain, probably preying that the God I’d described wouldn’t come down and rip that mound of rock from the earth.
“I think you got a little off track, but I think I got goose bumps from that picture.” Came Luna’s smiling voice in a whisper.
“Um… right, sorry…” I chuckled nervously, feeling my cheeks turn red. I took a moment to compose myself before continuing. “Seeing as you’ve pledged yourself to Him, I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
With that, I braced my right hand on her back, between her wings and the other in her tight grasp. She was still afraid of drowning, but holding my hand helped. A flash of light caught my attention, the water suddenly turning black, and Luna’s whole body became submerged. I waited five seconds before pulling her up, a messy mop of wet black rooted, silver hair whipping me in the cheek. I found myself staring as the hair split to reveal a black nose and white snout, a single teal and silver eye poking through the shadows of her hair. Said hair suddenly sailed upward as Luna flung her head back, her snowy fur coming into full view. The silver runes remained, their curved shapes dancing across the Wargess’ body as she looked herself over. A silver band decorated each eye, the band coming off like waves of stardust.
“Uh, Fang?” I tore myself away from Luna, looking to Akiira. “Her body’s about to accept her full power, you might want to step back.”
“Everypony! Get back!!” Roret yelled at the stunned ponies, shooing them away.
“We aren’t your pets, dog! We—” The stallion noble didn’t get to finish as an explosion of power and magic erupted from Luna.
I was nocked back only a foot, but the ponies looked like they’d sailed several feet. I looked back to see Luna hovering above the now clear lake, her shimmering fur alight in the sun. Grand silvery wings outstretched, rings of ice, fire, water, metals, and other elements encircled her body. The full extent of elemental magic was at her command.
“Wh-What is going on?!” Shouted Luna in a panic, her eyes darting around.
“Luna!” Called Roret from behind me. “Focus on your Chroma pool, shove it all down!”
The white Wargess seemed to struggle in pain, clenching her fists. “I-It’s too much!”
“This is more than she’s ever dealt with, Roret!” Said Akiira over the small whirlwind at was building. “We need to form a link! Do you remember?”
“How could I forget?” With those bitter words, Roret’s magic sprung to life; a thick cord of green fire. Akiira followed suit, her deep blue fire taking on the same shape.
“Anything I can do?” I shouted over to them.
The two looked at each other, another band of power reaching out to one another, the whips connecting between them. Akiira looked at me in the eye. “Take these two bands and get her to grab them, we’re going to teach her how to handle all that power.”
Nodding with slight confusion, I stuffed my bible into my belt and grabbed both fiery cables, turning toward Luna. Roret’s and Akiira’s voices suddenly jumbled together in my head, and after an eternal moment Akiira’s came out on top. ‘Micah, we can transfer knowledge with these cords, so long as we are in close proximity to the one we want to share with. But we can’t throw these to her in the storm. Do you think you can make it to her?’
I looked up to the frightened Luna, the light dissipating, but not fully gone. That made me curious. ‘Would the magic settle down if we just let it be?’
‘Yes, it would.’ Spoke Roret through the link. ‘But it would also take out every living thing in this storm that’s building up, and it would last for about an hour. We don’t have that long with these ponies around; they’ll die if we wait.’
‘Yeah. No pressure…’ I thought back, making up a plan for myself.
Trudging through the shallow water, I trekked toward the floating Wargess. This method didn’t work however, as the winds and magic flowing off her sent me back a few steps. After another moment of thought, I brought my earth powers to bear. While I knew I was fairly strong, but I wasn’t super heavy, allowing the winds to still carry me off. Making short and quick uppercuts, I created pillars of rock to hide behind, forging a zig-zag path to Luna. Second by second, I rolled and dodged between the rocks, making my way toward the Princess. As I drew closer, boulder by boulder, the winds became stronger. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to reach her hands with how the tempest was going, but I kept pushing forward. Finally, I hid behind the last pillar, but didn’t peek over, silently fearing I’d accidentally get a glimpse up her skirt.
But I needed to do this. So, closing my eyes, I brought my fists up as the earth heaved with them. A pillar jutted out of the water, carrying me along with it, a second pillar coming up behind me to brace against. Once I was at eye level with Luna, I held out my hands, still grasping the cords. I shifted my weight against the pillar behind me so wouldn’t be sent into the mountain’s side.
“Luna!” I peeked through a narrowed eye; my face scrunched up as I face the harsh wind. “Take these!”
Luna nodded, and grasped at the cords below my hands, suddenly jolting as her mind connected with her sisters’. However, I was connected too.
‘Ok, now that that’s done, focus on your Chroma pool, Lulu.’ Roret’s voice said. ‘You should feel carefully to find a funnel like space, you too Fang. Focus on expanding that funnel, it will help you channel all that power. Right now, Luna, your magic is returning. It’s got enough space to be stored, but it’s having trouble getting out. Think of it like a tube of toothpaste with a small nozzle. There is plenty of toothpaste, but the nozzle is too thin for it to travel down in quantities…’
‘And while Luna is talking to Roret, Fang, you need to do this too. But you need to do it with your earth, lightening, and fire elements, since they are all you have.” Called Akiira, sounding somewhat winded in her own mind. “Luna is doing it for all the ‘valves’ for her elemental energies, you however need to widen the funnels for those three. You’ll be able to pour the magic originally used for all other elements into those if you do this.’
‘In short, I’ll be able to pour more power into those elements. And how do I ‘feel’ for this funnel?! I don’t—'
‘ARG, just shut up and let me handle it!’ Grumbled Baldur, his focus fading into deeper parts of the mind. After a long second, I felt a stronger connection with my elemental energies. ‘Ok, we’re good.’
I kept my eyes shut, my heart pounding as the wind around me calmed. My eyes peeked open and I found Luna looking up at me, a smile on her new face. “Better?”
The tempest had vanished along with the ring that had been orbiting Luna, yet her fur still held some of that previous radiance in the sun. I looked behind us to see the two Wargesses give us a thumbs up, and the crowd of ponies giving us wide-eyed stares. I turned back to Luna, both of us standing on the same pillar, seeing her pant ever so slightly. “I’m good. You?”
“Tired.” She huffed out, smacking her lips as a small smile peeked through. “So, are baptisms always this exciting?”
That got a laugh out of me, rubbing my chin with a hum in mock deep thought. “Hm… not to my knowledge, no. I’ll have to look into it.” I ended that statement with a wink.
A soft giggle rose into her throat before she twirled around. “How do I look? I know my fur is white, but…”
I took a step back, looking her new figure over. Nodding in approval after as I sent us back over to the shore, the pillars crumbling. “You look great, I think the white fur gives you a resemblance with your mom.”
“I can say that it feels familiar, but… maybe it feels like that because… I remember from when I was a baby. I don’t know.”
“It’s possible.” I shrugged, noticing a weird look she was giving me. “What?”
“I’m not the only one that’s changed. Look.” She directed me toward my forehead, where my little horns were. But upon reaching and touching them, I discovered that my horns were… not so little anymore. They had grown into full, almost dragon-like horns, curving over my skull before shooting up into sharp points, smooth as polished stone.
“Dang,” I whistled, poking the tip of my right horn, wincing at how sharp it was. “I could definitely take a few things out with these things. But at least I’ll be safe if someone tries to headbutt me.”
We both shared a laugh. I then took a moment to look at her, admiring how she’d changed, focusing my gaze on her.
“What? I-Is something wrong?” She asked in a small panic, looking herself over.
“Nah, it’s just…” I chuckled apprehensively, rubbing my neck in my growing bashfulness. “It’s just… I’ve always liked white wolves.”
A sly smirk sneaked across her muzzle, her voice changing an octave, yet I didn’t notice at the time. “Oh, really? ~”
“Huh, yeah…” The blush grew stronger as she took a closer to me, our noses almost bumping. “Er, uh… y-yeah, ever since I saw the Balto movie… w-what are you doing?”
“Giving you a hug.” She purred as her arms wrapped around me, her breath tickling my ear. “Can’t I do that?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that her pupils had turned completely silver. “Uh, Moon?”
“Yes? ~” Her commanding voice cooed.
“W-what are you really doing?”
She paused for a moment, pulling back so she could look me in the eye. “I’d like to talk with Baldur. I’ve never talked with him before, and I’d like to at least get a moment. Does he not like talking to anyone?”
I hummed in thought for a moment. “No, he doesn’t mind talking. But, like me, he’s not much of a talker. He seems even more of an introvert than me, even…”
“Well, I’d like to speak with him now.”
I nodded before mentally nudging my other half, melting into the background of our shared mind. As they talked, I continued my observations of Luna and Moon’s new form. As seen before, her coat had turned a shimmering white, silver fur edged around the eyes. A long slim trail of silver sliced through each side of her jawline, climbing up and around her ears. A single stripe went from her forehead and down her slightly exposed back, her large silver and grey wings fluffing against her, the stripe continued until it reached her tail’s tip. A thick grey V lay below her collarbone, the fur along her forearms shaggier than before. Baldur snuck a glance down at her feet to see that the fur behind her paws had elongated too. And, if I wasn’t mistaken, her fangs had nearly doubled in size. Now the four sharp teeth peeked out from her behind her lips, barely noticeable when not exposed. After another minute of talking, Baldur turned to see that the ponies had just stared and watched us.
“Are you all quite done?” Glared a now irritated Moon, crossing her arms. “You all saw the ritual, now you can all leave.”
More than half the ponies started muttering in disagreement, demanding that we explain what just happened. For this, Baldur let me have the wheel. “It was a magical surge, Warg style.”
“Magical surges only happen when you’re a foal!” Snarked a mare, glaring at us from behind several other ponies.
“Ok, one; we’re not ponies, so we could have even more surges on the way. Ones far more powerful than this. Second… got a nice view behind all those living shields?” The edges of my lips tugged upward.
“C’mon.” Said Moon as she grasped my hand, pulling me away toward Canterlot. “We have a cult to hunt and we don’t have time to entertain these fools. And you have several new recruits to handle.”
And so we headed back to Canterlot, Luna flying alongside her sisters, with me flying behind like Iron Man, jets of fire shooting from my hands and feet. As we neared the palace, I looked over to the training grounds to find the band of rookies, scattered around the grounds like bored children. Saying my goodbyes to the ladies, I veered toward the rookies. Once close enough, I pushed myself forward more, speeding toward them and letting loose a loud roar. All the cadets jumped and looked up at me in shock, everyone screaming as I collided with the ground, sending stone and dirt everywhere.
“WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?!” Screamed a stallion.
“I don’t know, but… I think it was… our teacher.” Muttered a mare’s voice, their forms disturbed by the clouds of dirt and smoke.
I smirked as I stood up, the dust clearing around me. The ponies gasped in shock at seeing me, some trembling in fear and backing up. “So, you know that I’m your instructor, yes? That would be correct, call me Obsidian.”
“U-um, yes.” Squeaked the olive-green mare in leather armor, holding her spear shakily.
“Yes what?” I snarled, putting on a gruff and commanding act, my eyes narrowing at her.
The mare squeaked again, this time pointing her spear at me, but after a moment remembering that I was her instructor and unsteadily standing at attention. “Y-Yes sir!”
I nodded in approval and looked around at all the others, there were nine in total. I also spotted a clipboard over by the barracks, probably a list of all the recruits. My eyes then glared at the surrounding ponies; a scowl edged on my lips. “Get in a line, you dead corpses!!”
“Yes sir!” Shouted the recruits, all panicking as they hurried into a straight line. I then strode past them to grab the clipboard, showing me that there were ten on this team. My scowl deepened and I heard the present rookies’ unease, there hushed worries for their friend not so quiet to my ears.
“Is he late again?”
“What is this, like the third time this week?”
“The third time this week, huh?” I question aloud, spooking the ponies as their faces turned pale, a long grin slowly spreading across my face. “Well then, I think I know a suitable punishment. Hehehe…”
Suddenly, the doors to the castle burst open, a white furred stallion racing down the steps. Hastily fastening his leather chest plate and gloves in hand, he scrambled over to us, his brown mane flying every which way. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late! Geez, I could’ve sworn I set the alarm.”
Too focused on his team, the chatting stallion hadn’t noticed me. There was an equal number of stallions and mares, an idea forming in my head as I stepped forward, arms crossed as I loomed over the new arrival. Only when one of the mares nervously nodded to me did the stallion look in my direction and judging from the look of shock and how much sweating he was doing; he knew he was in trouble.
“Do you know the penalty for being late? Mister…” I looked down at the clipboard in my grasp. “Free Wind. Wow, your parents must have been seers, seeing as you are so free, that you can’t even be bothered to show up early or even on time. Real talent there.”
“I-I…” He sputtered, shaking in his protection gear.
“Tell me…” I looked at each of them, my glare intensifying as they all shivered in terror. “How are you all at perseverance? Oh, and welcome to Tartarus.”
For the next three hours, I put them to work building a tower out of rocks. After this, I had them do the death crawl, the mares hitching rides on the stallions’ backs, the mares having to do the same. Regardless whether they had finished boot-camp or not, I was dead set on seeing which one would cry first. I was going to break them.
-=Luna’s POV=-
It took a minute before Tia realized something was different about me, but after a double-take, her mouth dropped to the floor and her eyes flew open. Gone was her work obsessed self, now a blabbering and sputtering mess in her office. I openly laughed at her expense, seeing the look on her face was a true joy as I sat across from her.
“LUNA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!!” Tia shouted in a panicked Royal Canterlot voice, her words sending tremors through the floor. Yet, despite her practice and power, I knew and felt that I could do better than shake the floors.
“I got baptized.” I said simply, my voice carrying an innocent tone, hands fixing the wrinkled skirt I wore. “How was your morning?”
“Uh-Bu…huh?” The alicorn failed to produce any words, so I waited until she could. It took her a moment to get her thoughts in order, breathing deep to calm herself. “F-Fine…but…w-was that what that shockwave was? Fang’s ritual?”
“Well, it wasn’t his ritual that did the shockwave…” I paused for dramatic effect, feeling giddy inside. “It was me.”
Tia fell into another incoherent spiral, her guards and secretary started looking worried. “T-That… was you?!”
“It was me.” I echoed. I couldn’t help but show the smile tugging at my lips, releasing a small cackle. “Is it just me, or is there an echo in here?”
My sensitive ears caught the hushed snickers of two guards, Celestia gave me a flat look. “Lulu, you’re usually still grumpy and… well…”
“Impossible in the morning?”
“Y-yes?” She nervously grinned, squirming in her seat.
“I feel more like myself than ever, to be frank. Less angry.” I sighed, leaning back in my cozy chair. “Roret said that my power was still locked away, that the Priests didn’t want to unlock my full power. And, as a side effect, my fur remained black and blue.”
My eyes looked over the astonishingly beautiful fur that shimmered in the sun, the moon’s pale glow. “And I can honestly say that I like this more, but it just means I’ll have to spend more time brushing. What with all this long fur, I’m bound to get tangles, and you know I hate that. What?”
Tia gave me somewhat worried glance, though she demoted that look with a warm smile. “You just seem… different, in a good way, and it’s more than the fur. Which I can honestly say I love, it’s so shiny! I think you’d look great in that orange gown you have, the one you got from Joyous Frocks?”
“That was one of the dresses Fang chose…” I smiled to myself, a soft blush creeping onto my cheeks.
“Well, that just makes it better, doesn’t it?” She said with a wink.
My features slowly grew dark over the next few seconds, a darker topic plaguing my mind as my expression grew serious. “But while I would love to talk about such things, there are two things I’d at least like to get a head start on.”
The alicorn no doubt knew what I was referring to. “And they are?”
My claws clenched, anger seeping into my words as I glared out the window toward Ponyville. “We need to hunt down this cult and choke them out. But I would also like to know why the Tree of Harmony, the Symbol of Peace in our nation, would try to kill my mate.”