//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 - Prey 
// Story: The Moon Has Two Faces 
// by Ether Echoes 
//------------------------------//

Normally, when presented with a puzzle, Selene approached it as another mare might a vacation. Fascinating problems, be they word games or mechanical contraptions, gave her the opportunity to work through something difficult and yet rewarded her personal sense of order and stability. Given the opportunity, she might quite enjoy the diversions offered by the video games Moira had introduced her to, and she looked forward to a time when she had helped shepherd the human Earth into a stable enough condition that she could tackle its many strange and beautiful wonders, while at the same time introducing her own.
Regrettably, however, when the puzzle was a broken down truck on the side of the road, certain frustrations crept in that spoiled whatever enjoyment she might otherwise have derived.
They stood on the side of a densely tree-lined road, and even there, nestled between mountains that arched like the rounded backs of sleeping giants, the air pricked her keen nose with the sting of pollutants. Moira’s noble chariot rested with its hood open beneath her gaze, and all the while she poured over its workings, she could hear the ticking of an imaginary clock.
Moira stood in the bed to get a signal, her ear pressed to her phone as she sought roadside assistance, but somehow Selene didn’t imagine that would arrive swiftly. It wasn’t as if the mechanics of this world could send a team of pegasi out to the middle of a national forest on a moment’s notice, and the only airship she had witnessed had been a gaudy blimp splashed with commercial art. If she could but spread her own wings and fly, she would have had Moira on her back already so they could continue their search.
Not that, of course, their journey had been all that productive so far. The Poconos were dotted with cabins of all sorts, and even ruling out all that possessed neither lakes nor what was defined localled as neo-modern architecture, that left quite a few to review. It didn’t take them long to rule them out—all Selene had to do was show up and scent the air to know that Light Breeze hadn’t passed through—but every false lead meant tens of minutes lost.
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help, Lady Selene,” Luna the Witch offered, her equine form reflected with her hooves propped up on the hood where Selene’s hands were. “I’m a wretch when it comes to mechanics.” The sight made her fingers ache terribly, a reminder that both of their souls poorly matched their present flesh.
“Pay it no heed, child.” Selene pulled her hair back and deftly tucked it into a ponytail. Despise them or no, her adroitness with hands had increased substantially. “Without you, none of this would have been possible.”
The truck shook faintly as Moira’s slender form clambered off, and the gravel beside the road crunched as she joined her. “There’s a tow truck that’ll be coming. Could be a half hour, maybe more. If it’s just a bad battery or something easy to fix, we could be on the road in another fifteen. Otherwise, we may need to hitchhike or something. I couldn’t find an Uber up here to save my life.”
“It may come to saving a life,” Selene said grimly, her eyes scanning along the battery. Resting her fingertips against it, she felt at its contours. Like an eager puppy, it sparked at her touch, as though to reassure her that it was perfectly functional. “It’s not the battery.”
“Is it going to be that urgent?” Moira asked. “I mean, I know we want to find her as soon as possible, but is she in imminent danger? We’ve already been out here for several hours, and she’s supposed to be out for a few days, right?”
“Normally? I would agree with you, but a sense of urgency has burrowed its way into my heart. The moment the engine suddenly stopped, my heart dropped, and I felt as though a shadow had passed over us. It was like being stopped in the middle of a race and seeing your opponents blast by you, and I’ve lived to regret ignoring such sensations.”
Nodding, Moira glanced at the engine with a worried twist of her mouth. “Should I leave you alone, then? You look pretty focused, and I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Fear not. My mind is vast, and I can endure conversation without substantial lapses in concentration. Indeed, if anything, it helps to keep me on task.” Selene’s hand brushed along the belt, finding it taut, if worn. It would need replacing soon, but it hadn’t failed. “Actually, Luna, I wanted to have a word with you. I was going to wait until we rescued Light Breeze, but this is a fair moment for it.”
“Oh? What is it, Lady Selene?” Luna’s ears perked up, her long tail swishing and kicking up gravel behind her.
“When I was a filly, a young stallion or mare did not receive their adult name until they had undergone a special moment in their lives. For us, it would be gaining our marks of destiny—cutie marks, as they call them in Modern Equestrian—and being recognized as a legal adult. I was born an alicorn among alicorns, in a very different age, and the practice was abandoned sometime between my banishment and my return. My sister and I discussed reviving it when Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn, but we decided against it. However, I was contemplating what would happen when I guided the both of you to visit my world in dreams and meet with others of your kind to learn their magic from them, and since in this age I’m referred to as Luna, it struck me that it would be a little confusing.” She glanced up at the reflection for a moment, meeting her eyes. “If it would please you, child, I would be happy to revive the tradition and brand you with a new name to mark your transition into your new form.”
Luna gaped, and put a hoof to her chest. “Lady Selene… I’d be honored to receive a new name from you. Reviving old traditions is what I do, and I… I feel like we’ve become so close, that… that I’d be really, really happy to join you wherever you go. You’ve changed my life in more ways than one, and I can think of nothing more noble than learning at your hooves.”
Despite her vast age, Selene blushed and smiled, touched deep in her heart. Even Moira seemed moved, though to be fair she’d had her rough edges sanded off considerably in Selene’s presence. Folding her arms, she peered up at her, her red hair escaping from her knit cap. “What was your name when you were a little filly, Selene?”
“Oh, it was Kuensi.” Selene flushed with a hint of embarrassment. “Roughly translated, it means ‘Sweet Sleep.’ When I was but a foal, I was very shy, and spent a great deal of time sleeping and dreaming. In a way, when I found that Light Breeze had been forcing herself to sleep in this world to prolong her time dreaming on my world of Gaia, it was deeply familiar. I had a loving family, of course, but I was timid and dreamy and didn’t enjoy racing through sunlit fields like my elder sister Celestia.”
“Oh, my gods,” Moira said, a grin spreading across her face. “Sweet Sleep? That’s adorable.”
“It was,” Selene said with a sparkling little laugh. Thoughtfully, she brushed her fingers along the wires that clustered in and around the engine block. Something felt off, and she traced them. “I think, then, that I have the perfect name. Long ago, there was a vesper maiden I’d known who was near as adroit with dream magic as I. You differ from her substantially in some ways—she loathed the touch of stallions, for instance, and spent most of her time communing with nature—but like you, she loved the moon, and was drawn to me. She was my student, and I hoped dearly that she would become an alicorn like me so that I would have an eternal companion in my nightly wanderings, but unfortunately death found her before she could master her studies. Her name was Artemis, and I believe she would be deeply honored to pass it on to another.”
Stunned silence met Selene as she found a loose connector. Pulling it out, she inserted it back in again and peered at the dim reflection of Selene and at Moira. “What’s wrong? Is it an ill name?”
“N-no! It’s a wonderful name, Selene, it’s just a little surprising is all.” The young mare scuffed at the ground. “It’s just—Artemis is the name of a god from the same mythological cycle as the one Selene came from. She was the daughter of the King of the Gods who overthrew the titans, and she was the goddess of the hunt, yes, but also had responsibility for the moon, which was the domain of Selene.”
“I’m starting to wonder what authentic gods we actually have,” Moira added dryly, “and I’m worried that I won’t like the answer.”
“Even so…” Taking a deep breath, the reflection turned to face her more fully and spread her pearly wings. “Lady Selene? I’d be happy to take the name Artemis. The mare who once bore it was important to you, and I… I hope to be as important to you as she was. I have witnessed your mind in action, and I’ve seen your heart and how good and kind it is. I love and admire you in a way I never have anyone before, and I’m honored by your regard.”
“I love and admire you as well, Artemis, and I cannot wait to start your lessons in earnest.” Selene pressed a hand to Moira’s shoulder. “Go test the engine. I think I’ve resolved our problem.”
Looking pensive, Moira nodded and took her keys out, sliding into the passenger seat to turn the engine over. It rumbled and whined, but the pistons thrummed as the fuel ignited. “Hey, look at that. Let’s hear it for Selene, Princess of Fixing Stuff!”
Laughing, Selene set the hood back down and joined her, taking an alcohol-based sanitizer from the cubby in the door to wipe her hands. “More of an interest than a divine prerogative, but I appreciate your praise, child.”
Artemis curled up in the back seat as they drove off, and Moira stared out at the road as they drove off, the boles of trees blurring to either side and the bare branches scraping at the sky.
“Does aught trouble you, my child?” Selene asked as they drove, checking Artemis’s phone to see if they missed any messages along the way. It had a signal only sporadically, long enough to get them a few more addresses from Jaime and Aisha.
“No, not trouble, exactly. I was just thinking about how much life will change after all of this. I don’t think I’m getting cold feet, exactly, but I’ve been considering the weight of it all.” She spared a look for her. “I’m still committed, don’t get me wrong. I would pay the price of my soul transforming and more. It’s just that, for most of my adult life, I’ve become accustomed to being let down and disappointed by everything, whether it’s college, my job, my faith, or my loved ones. I’ve never had anyone so… constant as you, which sounds like a funny thing to accuse the spirit of a god possessing the body of your best friend of being. Part of me wonders when I’m going to wake up and find out that all of this was just a dream that will evaporate with the sun like so much dew. I’d gotten used to shaking off sincerity, I guess I’d say, because it’s always a risk. If you get invested in something, you can get hurt, you know?”
“I’m pleased to hear that you are investing in me, Moira, because I am certainly investing in you.” Selene offered her a warm smile. “You’re a fine young woman who has been unfairly treated, and seeing you grow has been a joy to me. I want to be there to see you grow further. Coming to this Earth… I came in search of a single child, but it seems I’ve gone and adopted a few more in the process. I promise, my child, I will never leave you to suffer.”
Moira swallowed heavily. “So you keep reminding me,” she said with a little hitch in her voice. “Careful, I might start to suspect you will abandon me one day.”
“By my deeds will you know me true.”
A flicker out the corner of her eye caught Selene’s attention, and she turned her head, frowning up at the sky. Black shapes rose from the trees in great numbers, and when she rolled down the window and stuck her head out, her hair flowing in the wind of their motion, she witnessed hundreds of black birds rising from the trees to the cold blue sky, their trail perpendicular to the road as they flocked to the right.
“What is it?” Artemis asked, raising her head. “Ravens?” She frowned, her tail twitching faintly as her ears half-laid back. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Yes. That’s because I do.” Selene tasted the air, and felt a whisper of Light Breeze’s passage. Ahead, a small path diverged from the road into the trees on the right. “There! Take that turn!”
The poor old truck’s brakes shrieked as Moira brought them down from highway speeds, and its tires crunched and rumbled along the side of the road, snapping a few branches that dangled too far. They flew with the birds above, and Selene’s heart pounded in her chest.
Without knowing why, she could tell that they were running out of time.





Leaves and sticks crunched under Light Breeze’s boots as she hiked behind Adam. Her eldest human brother set a pace that was difficult for her, with her shorter legs and less athletic frame, but that was well within his own capabilities. Had she the use of her pegasus body, she could have kept up their pace without breaking a sweat, but as a human she was breathing hard. Jeremiah, as much of a shut-in city boy as her body was, struggled at her side as much if not more than she did. He put his blond hair up to keep it from growing slick with sweat in his face, and Light actually felt pity for him.
Of course, neither of them seemed to be suffering in quite the way she was. The longer the day went on, the more tired and listless she felt. It reminded her of some of her mother’s many lessons and warnings about flying. If ever she felt like she was starting to fade in the middle of a long trip, she had been drilled to find or form a cloud and rest, but somehow she didn’t get the feeling Adam would tolerate anything like a break so soon into their journey.
Through brown pines and bare trees they trekked, and mud squelched beneath their boots along the game trail. Even as a human, Light Breeze’s balance was excellent, but Jeremiah slipped a few times along the way.
“Come on, Adam,” he whined, slopping at the mud on his front. “This sucks. Do we have to go so far out?”
In some ways, Jeremiah was far more delicate than Light Breeze, and she briefly imagined what he’d look like as a deer. Of all the races of Equestria, deer were among the most elusive and clannish, but she’d seen a few in Equestria, and they could rival unicorns for their snooty daintiness, sharing with them the ability to channel spells through their antlers. Not for the first time, she wondered if he might be more of a doe than a stag, but that would have required a level of intimacy and openness that she simply had no interest in sharing.
“Don’t bitch, Remi.” Adam came to a stop in a clearing marked by a great and twisted oak. It seemed dead, its branches not merely bare but broken and missing, and something about the air struck Light Breeze as faintly unwholesome. “Besides, we’re here, so you can stop moaning and chill out for a second.”
He did, bending over and breathing heavily as he massaged his aching legs. Light Breeze, determined not to show weakness in front of them, looked around the clearing with its granite stones half-covered in deep lichen. She scratched at her arms through her jacket and rubbed at the goosebumps covering her arms. In her cold weather gear, and with the hike she’d just completed, she should have been flushed and warm, but instead she felt colder than she had when they’d started, her hands clammy in their gloves and her cheeks numb. Her ears ached beneath her cap, and her breath misted in a way neither of her brothers’ did.
With his hands on his hips, Adam took a deep breath. “Man. Can you smell that?” He looked down at Light Breeze. “No, I suppose you can’t.”
“What? I can smell the air.” Light Breeze cast him an odd look. “It’s fine, I guess. It’s mountain air.”
“No, it’s not that.” He inhaled again, his nostrils flaring. “It smells like… the ocean, only when it’s not filled with piss and trash. Sea salt and seaweed, wet rocks and tidepools. That’s what I smell.”
Ice worked its way down Light Breeze’s spine. Jeremiah stood up, wiping his face. “What are you talking about, Adam? I don't smell the ocean.”
“Remi, this is what I'd been telling you about. That special club that I'm a part of at Liberty? They open the mind in a way that you wouldn't believe. It's like living without a sense of smell, and then all of a sudden you get a whiff of a good steak.”
Light Breeze was no fool. She darted for the trees as soon as Adam's back was turned, but he caught her in a few strides, dragging her back to the gnarled tree like she weighed nothing at all. “Help!” she cried, kicking her legs, and tried to bite him.
“Just relax! No one's going to hear you out here except the bugs and the birds,” Adam said, fending off her efforts and pinning her against the trunk by the shoulders. She continued to struggle, but he was just too strong. Inhaling again, he looked her over as his eyes dilated faintly. “Owen, my man, how were you hiding all of this? I knew you were a little brighter than normal, but damn. Since I came back from school, you’ve been like a bonfire, but I’ve never seen anyone as bright as you are today.”
“You're crazy!” Light Breeze felt her heart thundering in her chest. She didn’t have the slightest damned idea of what was going on, but the look in Adam’s eyes terrified her. She was used to the depression that seemed to lie overcast over the human spirit, but he had none of that. It was the look a griffon might give a trout, and it made every nerve tingle with danger. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Jeremiah shied a bit, his eyes wide. “Adam, Bro, are you doing okay?”
“I’m doing great, Remi. Just relax. I told you it would be a little scary, didn’t I?” He kept his eyes fixed on Light Breeze. “It’s pretty simple, really. The world’s fucked up. Everyone knows it, but I’ve got the solution, and it isn’t Jesus. I met some real interesting people over my first semester, and they taught me a few things. First, though, we’ve got to clean up here. You’re absolutely filthy with hungry shadows.” He exhaled, and it seemed as though the air misted up around them, clinging to unseen shapes.
It was like seeing double. Light Breeze’s eyes watered as she became aware that they weren’t really alone in the clearing. Hazy figures, inhuman shades, clustered about her, and her gorge rose with every nerve tensing and tingling as she realized there were cold, clammy fingers clasped to her body. They pushed through her clothes, suckered to her face, with no respect to privacy or her personal serenity. Tiny shapes like leeches clustered between them. She screamed, and the air around rippled and shimmered as though with heat that they eagerly sucked up.
Jeremiah squeaked, staring in horror at the sight, but Adam seemed to know what to expect. He concentrated on the hand that wasn’t holding her up, and a blade whisked into being. It seemed unreal, not entirely complete, but it cut through the shadows all the same as he carefully carved away like he was descaling a fish. He slashed at the largest ones, dispersing them until they darted away with hollow eyes staring at him while they slinked with eerie, unnatural grace to meld into shadows and trees. It let Light Breeze breathe a lot more easily, even if the smaller ones still clustered about her and sapped up what remained. With deliberate effort, she drew in a breath and let it out slowly, tasting the air around the clearing in a way she never could as a human before.
“You see?” he said to both of them. “It’s magic. Real fucking magic, and more of it than I’ve ever seen in one place before. My friends at school taught me how to see it, how to use it. Remi, you have no idea what you can do with this, how it feels. It’s like being a brand new person. You can perform miracles straight out of the scriptures, live young for centuries like Methusaleh. My girlfriend has been kicking around the world since the time of Columbus, and she showed me what I have to do.”
Jeremiah tore his eyes from staring about for the shadows. “Have to do? Jesus Christ, Adam. I don’t…”
“Adam,” Light Breeze gasped, “I-I know about magic, but I—”
“You be quiet, you little shit,” Adam snapped, turning a callous glare on her. As their eyes met again, she perceived with her unclouded senses a kind of hollowness behind them, just a little gap like the void. “All you’ve ever done is mock us, and now all of a sudden you think everything is going to be okay? You’re the thing that’s tearing this family apart.”
Light Breeze tried to speak again, but Adam shifted the arm holding her up, pressing on her chest and making her wheeze. “Like I was saying,” he continued. “It’s pretty simple, Remi. There are people out there, like Owen, who have more than others. Leave them alone, and they get sapped of everything in time. They just become listless husks, raving lunatics before they inevitably die of something or other. All of that precious magic goes to waste.” He placed his other hand to Owen’s face. “But there’s a trick you can do.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but then Adam inhaled sharply, his fingers digging at her skin, and teal fire ripped from her with excruciating agony, like her skin was being peeled layer-by-layer. It swirled about her older brother, sinking into him and making him shine brighter than before. Adam’s eyes fluttered, and he had to shut them for a moment, overwhelmed by the sensations. “Oh, wow.”
Light Breeze whimpered. “Jeremiah, please…” Even the leeches clinging to her still seemed a minor problem by comparison. The cold air bit harder, and her head swam. The shadows, witnessing this, slunk closer with long fingers cast beneath the grey sky, like hyenas preparing to frenzy.
“And that’s all you gotta do,” Adam said as he recovered. “Then the magic is yours.”
Remi trembled faintly, looking between the two of them with a stunned expression. “I… Adam, I don’t think I can do that.”
“Of course you can. It’s easy. Look… when has Owen ever been anything but a fucking weight on our backs, Remi? What are you going to do if he gets Dad arrested? And then what happens after that? The world’s going to hell, Remi, you know that. Climate change is going to wreck shop, and there aren’t going to be enough jobs or even food and water to go around. What, you think you’re going to get into college, find some cute boyfriend, and just go on rotting like everyone else?” He took his hand from Light Breeze’s face and gripped Jeremiah’s arm when he tried to shy away. “This is our ticket out. You have no conception of how hard it is to find a mark this bright. It’s like a fucking unicorn just dropped into our midst. With this much magic, you could do anything you wanted, be anything you wanted.”
The arm holding Light Breeze up slackened a little, and she drew in deep, careful breaths. For the first time in her human life, she felt connected to the world around her. Even with what Adam had taken and the little mites still clinging to her, she felt magic surging through her body. It wasn’t quite like being back in Equestria—she didn’t have pneuma, after all—but it was real and alive.
Desperately, she cast about for a way to save herself. Appealing to Adam’s better nature seemed futile, but Jeremiah hadn’t done whatever their elder brother had to hollow himself out yet. She turned a pleading gaze on him, silently begging him and praying that her antagonism hadn’t escalated to murderous intent.
“Adam, this is… this is fucked up. We can’t kill him!” Jeremiah put a hand to Adam’s, trying to push him off. Confronted with something so terrifying and real, it was like watching a vase fracture in slow motion. “I know he’s been a piece of shit, but… but Dad’s a real fucking asshole! You’re perfect, you’ve never had him angry at you for anything, but even when I follow his rules, I’ve gotta hide who I am from him.”
“You know that’s wrong,” Adam said, frustration growing in his tone. “Dad’s just trying to protect you, Remi. Don’t be such a fucking pussy. Trust me, once you have a drink of this, you’ll wonder why you were being so stubborn.”
“No! Oh my God, Adam, what the fuck is wrong with you? You’re talking about… about killing and eating your own brother!”
Never in her life had Light Breeze felt so proud of her brother, and Adam’s distraction meant his arm had slackened another inch. Still, she couldn’t quite squeeze free, certainly not without getting his attention. Frustration and anger built up inside of her, and she tried to conjure a knife into her hand like he had, but she had no idea what she was doing.
Adam’s hand hardened around Jeremiah’s arm. “Owen’s a walking corpse anyway. He wasn’t going to survive the year with all the attention he was pulling to himself. Either the shadows were going to get him, or another like me was going to scoop him off the street. I’m not letting him walk away to be eaten by someone else, Remi, and I’m not letting you pass this chance up. Don’t worry so much about the body—we’re in the woods, and we’ll say he got lost. There won’t be a mark on him to say it was us.”
“That ain’t the fucking problem!” Jeremiah tried to jerk free, but Adam was too strong for both of them. “Let me go! I’m not going to do it!”
Seeing Adam’s expression harden as he looked over Jeremiah, a rage built up inside of her, and Light Breeze’s eyes turned white. She reached up, gripping the arm that held her. “Let, us, go!”
As she screamed the last word and shoved, a vast surge of energy crackled up from inside of her. The air sparked and burned with static as she discharged, and Adam flew back like she’d bucked him in the chest as his muscles seized up. He slammed into the ground, dazed and twitching, and Light Breeze tumbled, coughing. She stared down at her fingers for a moment, a blue spark jumping between them in a haze suggestive of hooves, and all of the remaining leeches had been scorched into oblivion.
Adam groaned, the sound turning into a growl as he started to get to his feet, his hands still twitching. “You… fucking… son of a bitch!”
Light Breeze met Jeremiah’s eyes briefly before the two of them bolted for the trail. If she’d only had her wings, she could have shaped the air and flown through away easily, but even without them she felt freer than she ever had before. Her exhaustion melted away, and even Jeremiah’s long legs couldn’t keep up with her as she darted through the trees, her feet slipping through the thick mud in a controlled fashion, then hopping from root to root with a pegasus’s sense of balance and grace.
Daring a glance back revealed Adam’s form at the clearing, stumbling still but gaining speed. When Jeremiah slipped through the muck she’d danced so adroitly through, she locked eyes with him. “It’s me he wants.”
“Owen? Wait—!”
She didn’t, darting into the thicker part of the woods that hadn’t been cleared, heading for the deepest, densest parts. Much of the forest was wide and open enough to run in, but she went where the ground sloped into hills, scattered with rocks and thick brush. Her human body was still frail and weak by comparison, but she had to trust it long enough to escape. Sure enough, she soon heard Adam crashing behind her, and didn’t dare risk looking back to see if he was gaining or falling behind. Her mother had taught her to keep her eye on the prize, and she kept hers fixed ahead, to the hill and the stream coursing through it.
Maybe she couldn’t cut through it like a fish like she might have with her wings, but she’d bet brass to gold bits she could swim a fair sight faster than Adam could run. All she had to do was survive. She’d promised her family she’d come home to them, and she intended to keep it.
When she reached the stones overlooking the swift-moving stream, though, she broke her rule and looked back. Moving with shocking, savage speed, Adam raced up the hill like a beast, clambering on all fours where two legs were insufficient. With her eyes opened, the twisted aura of her own stolen magic and others’ burned clearly across him.
Suddenly not so certain about her bet, she screwed up her courage and leapt into the current. The freezing water penetrated her clothing, but as long as she kept her pegasus magic intact it didn’t sting as much as she might have expected from her experience in her human body.
Swept away, she saw Adam perch on the stone, his gaze narrowed before he turned and sprinted off, and knew it was only a matter of time before he caught up. Eventually, the stream would empty back into the lake, assuming she survived the trip there, and the chase would begin anew.