...It was nearly Shadowday. The sun was kissing one end of the horizon, and Equus remained in its eternal position on the opposite side of the sky. It was about this time that our guest had finally decided that she was tired of remaining bedridden, and demanded to be allowed about my estate.
We inspected her wounds, and found them to be healing along quite well, though she would still have to restrain herself for the time being. If she tried anything like that spectacular flight from the first encounter, then no doubt she would end up only injuring herself more.
When we changed her bandages, I couldn't help but notice how odd her bloodstains appeared. She bled a light, luminescent blue, far different from the usual dark purple of the Equinocti. Perhaps this 'magic' of hers affected her at a biological level?
Since Luna's arrival, the house had taken to a strange pattern of activity. She slept for small cycles of about six to nine hours, and was awake in the time in between. At first, we thought something might be the matter with her, but then I came to the realization that she was unconsciously following the schedule her body had kept on Equus, which completed a revolution roughly ever twenty-four hours. The moon held a different rotation, and spun at such a rate that one face of the moon constantly presented itself away from the planet. Our home was located on the very edge of the far side, as I had it built there that I might see Equus in my horizon. That said, we slept twice a day, quite a reasonable amount, and remained asleep or awake much longer periods of time than Luna did. Chives and I began to try to rotate our sleeping shifts, that our guest might have some of our company whenever she wished for it without needing to wake us.
For the occasion, though, we were both present.
Luna stood uneasily at first, having been prone for so long, but was soon trotting about the room, stretching and contorting herself into the strangest of ways until we had to scold her, for fear of opening a scab. She was naturally curious, and was soon following Chives and myself about the property, showing her the the many ins and outs of my not-so-humble abode.
She showed a particular interest in my study, and of the vast array of star charts and telescopic apparel that cluttered the room.
"We have never seen so grand a laboratory in all of our years," she murmured, lightly tapping an array of lenses with one blue-and-black mottled hoof. The ebony patches of her coat had been receding since her arrival, but she knew not of why this occurred or what it meant.
Of course, this statement implied she had seen laboratories before, though, I knew that if I asked I would only provoke another bout of sulking. A shame, really - I would kill to learn what the Ponies had at their disposal. I bit my tongue as the question began to slip out.
Chives was there to pick up the slack as always, bless his black little heart.
"What, this? This is the equivalent of an infant's plaything. Lady Luna, you would do well to see the observatories in the Celestial City."
She flinched, then, as if she had been struck by some unseen force.
"What...what did thou say?"
Chives and I exchanged a glance. "The observatories in the Celestial City, our capital," Chives explained. "They are known for their immense height and the clarity of their telescopes. It is said that you can see straight through the galactic core with a good night's sky."
"Celestial City," she whispered. "That name, it rings a bell in our ears! Hmmm."
I could see that potential sulk fast approaching. Luna had quite the temper, when given the opportunity for her emotions to simmer.
"Look at these, My Lady," I directed her to the large desk at the back of the room. "I found you wearing these when I removed you from the impact crater." Luna's slagged armor lay in a disorganized heap upon it.
The alicorn removed the topmost piece, and turned it over a few times in her magical grip. I resisted the urge to step away every time she used it. Luna held the object up to the fading sunlight streaming into the window. It was the helm, smooth, icy-blue, and forged of a single piece of metal. Creating such an item must have taken incredibly talented metalworkers.
Luna placed the helm upon her head. Her horn slid smoothly through the hole in the top, projecting forth like a fearsome needlepoint. Her mane seemed unencumbered by the material, and seemed to float around her like a halo, rather than be pressed down underneath it. I let out a soft whistle at the sight. Luna looked quite splendid in it, even if it was damaged and battered.
"It fits like it was made for you," Chives observed.
"It was," Luna said simply. She then took it off and set it back on the pile with a fond pat. "We know not how, but this equipment holds special meaning to us. We thank thee both for preserving it. Mayhaps we will get it repaired, one day, before we return."
It was several seconds before we realized the implications of that statement.
"Return?" Chives sputtered. "My Lady, is that truly wise? You barely survived the way here."
She narrowed her mismatched eyes at him.
I grinned. For once, the tables were turned.
"My servant does raise a valid point," I smoothly put in. "And, how would you even attempt to return to Equus, without the knowledge of how you arrived in the first place? There have been many Equinocti who have attempted to brave the void over the cycles. None have succeeded, though a variety of methods have been tried and tested."
"A good third of those failures belonging to yourself," Chives muttered.
"All the better - I know how not to get to Equus. Besides, only the Elders would know of a way, if any have already discovered the means, and you know how they are with their secrets."
"Who are these Elders that thou speakst of?"
I shook my head. "That is a long explanation, and I would rather it be discussed with something to eat."
They both agreed to this, and so we sat down in the dining hall, at the end of a long table that had seen almost non-existent use since its installment here.
I attempted to light a small fire in the hearth while Chives began setting out some platters of silverhay and pastries. A strong tea was brewing in the kitchen.
"Master, you are aware of what you are doing, yes?" Chives called from the table.
I grimaced and wiped some soot off of my face. Ugh. Accursed fire! Light, damn you!
"Of course I know what I'm doing, Chives!"
"Oh, all right, then."
I heard Luna make a muffled squeaking noise, and I glanced over to see her stifling down a fit of laughter.
"What? What is it?" I crossly demanded.
"Nothing!" she gasped through a hoof.
I returned my attention to the stubborn hearth, striking yet another fruitless match.
Confound it all!
Chives came up next to me and patted me on the shoulder. "Master, it would be most wise to start a fire after you set out some fuel to burn," he said, his mustache threatening to quiver with the hint of a smile.
At the table, Luna buried her face into her fetlocks and unsuccessfully stifled the sounds of her amusement.
"I knew that, you old sot." I looked around. "What do we have for kindling, then?"
"Nothing, Master."
"What, preposterous!"
"To you, maybe."
"Chives, don't make a mockery of this. We can't sit in here without a fire; it's damnably cold and drafty in here."
"Well, maybe if you actually gave this room some use, it wouldn't be so under-kept."
I massaged my temples with my wingtips.
"Was that yet another crack about my social life?"
Chives's face was as emotionless as a hunk of rock. "What makes you think that, Master?"
"...Nothing. Nothing at all." I looked back to the hearth, and the small pile of spent matches now resting at the bottom. I sighed despondently. "Chives, could you please-?"
"Done." He pressed a button on the top of the mantlepeice, and a click-click-click noise was heard. With a soft roar, a healthy spout of flame materialized within the hearth. I leapt backwards, alarmed.
"What? B-but...but how?" I whined.
"Gas fireplace," he deadpanned.
At that point Luna fell off her chair, so great was her laughter.
Eventually, the room had risen in temperature enough to be sufficiently comfortable. I sat at the head of the table, a position denoting my rank as the owner of the house and a minor Lord, at that. Chives sat by my right side, a position usually reserved for the guest of honor, but, seeing as he was my right-hoof man, I absolutely refused for him to sit anywhere else. Luna was on my left, upon a cushy armchair that we'd brought over from the fireplace. As we lunched upon the food Chives had brought out, I began to explain the notion of the Elders.
"Ever since the Great Awakening, when our society was first founded many thousands of cycles ago, we have found it necessary to interpret the motions of the heavens. We schedule our crops to receive the optimum amount of starlight, we power many of our cities with crystals that charge during Sunday and retain their luminescence on Shadowday, and we make sure of any rouge objects that might fall upon the moon. There are more reasons, but the fact remains that we needed an eye on the sky, so to speak.
"So, a group slowly arose, a group of Equinocti solely dedicated to the study of the starscape and the creation of technologies needed to observe it better. They forecasted the cycles and promoted the advancement of sciences in the name of a better society. They were the first Elders, the ancestors of what we have today. Subsequent generations of Elders, though, soon realized that they could harness greater influence by hoarding their secrets, rather than spreading them to our masses.
"It became apparent that having the Elder's support was paramount to maintaining any amount of political power for long. They held the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, with the knowledge of higher sciences and the secrets of charting the finicky seasons. When the Equinocti coalesced under a single banner in the 456th cycle of the 3rd Age, the King appointed these Elders as his own personal advisers, cementing his and their own base. Ever since, the Elders have maintained a close relationship with the wearers of the Nightcrown."
Luna thoughtfully nibbled on a biscut. "Then, if there would be any way to reach my home, these Elders would have the knowledge of it."
"If our kind has ever discovered the means to do so, then yes -- it would be in their archives," I said.
"They hoard their secrets like the King hoards his silver," Chives muttered. "And end up far more wealthy because of it."
"Is there any way that they would allow us access to these vast stores of knowledge?" queried Luna.
I pondered that for a moment. "I would hold little hope to that. Only the ruling nobility and the favored of the Court have access to the archives. Only the wearer of the Nightcrown has free reign of their libraries. And King Starfall the Wise isn't known for relaxing his grip on the throne."
"Art thou not a noble? Did Chives not mention that thou holds the title of a Lord?"
The butler in question scoffed. "A right terrible Lord at that. Yes, Lord Cassius is a member of the ruling body, however distant, but he has played little to no role in the governing of the kingdom for well over some seventy-five cycles, now."
At Luna's curious gaze, I consented. "I may be a minor Lord, but I lost all respect and favor from the Court when I left the Celestial City to live here, far away from scandal and pomp of the King's castle. I detest politics, despite having been born into them."
"It's one of his few good qualities," Chives offered.
Luna fell silent, obviously deep in thought. Her mismatched eyes were narrowed, and she tapped a hoof absently upon the edge of the table. She suddenly looked up. "What if thou wert to regain the favor of the throne?"
"Fat chance of that happening," I muttered. "But if I were in the King's good graces, I suppose I would be allowed to view the inside of the Elder's archives. But how would I go getting that?"
"The Court would see him as an outsider and a rebel," explained Chives. "And it doesn't help that Master's social graces tend to be somewhat...lacking."
"Some would consider frankness a virtue."
"Others would consider telling the King's own Aunt to 'take a bath, hippie' to be less of one."
"The old prune smelled like a sack of rotting vegetation. I'll not apologize for speaking the truth," I huffed indignantly. She had totally had it coming, anyway, strutting about like the rest of those over-inflated fops as if they were entitled to the heavens themselves.
Luna chortled at our antics. "What if..." she mused, "what if thou wert to bring these simpering lords and ladies...a gift?"
I raised an eyebrow. Beside me, Chives mustache twitched in curiosity.
"They value knowledge above all else, yes?" At our nods, she continued, "so present them with something even the Elders don't know of."
"And that would be?"
She smiled mischievously.
"Us!"
I blanched at this. More so of the fact that she was probably right -- the Elders would be frothing at the bit to observe our alicorn pony.
She sensed my hesitation. "Please, Cassius, we ask thee not as a guest, but as a friend, who knows very well of your desire to see the realm from whence I came."
Would she really do that? Provided I managed to pull this off, and the secret to traveling between worlds really was in the hooves of the Elders...that blue teardrop in the sky suddenly seemed a whole lot closer.
Even if it meant having to return to the Celestial City to face the music, there was a chance -- a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless -- that my fantasy would be fulfilled. I had fled from that place once, in disgust and apathy. And now, it was drawing me back in. I suppose it is true what we say about high society: its almost as hard to leave it as it is to enter.
"Oh, very well," I grumbled. "But not until you're better."
Luna squealed with delight and leapt up from the table, seizing me around the barrel with her legs and twirling around until I thought I might be sick. "Oh, most wonderful of times! We are going home!" she cried.
Home indeed.