//------------------------------// // Her Name Echoes Through The Forest Part 1 // Story: She Drives Me Batty // by I Thought I Was Toast //------------------------------// “I can’t believe your parents aren’t letting you out for Nightmare Night.” Diamond made for a very scary Queen Umbra as she scowled up at my house. “I’d finally convinced you to dress up as Nightmare Moon, and this happens…. That’s months of planning down the drain—years if you count all the time it took to convince you.” “We can try again next Nightmare Night.” I smiled as I tossed her some candy from my spot on the porch. “Ugh… what? But I hate dressing like this.” Scootaloo stomped her patchwork lionpaw into the ground and it squeaked. “Why do I have to be Eris?!” “Because we were too busy making out to touch our noses.” Rumble snorted from under his glistening, green bed sheet. “You should be glad I let you win. You aren’t stuck as the Smooze.” “I mean, the rest of you won’t have to join me and Diamond.” Scratching the back of my head, I looked down. “It could just be me and her.” “I don’t know….” Sweetie giggled as she beamed with very sharp and hungry fake teeth. Thanks to Rarity, her white coat shone like the sun even under the crescent moon. It was very fitting that our Daybreaker would hurt to look at. “I think these costumes are good enough for a second year. “I’m with Scoots here.” Applebloom grumbled as she adjusted her horns. “Lady Tirana might be better than Eris or Smooze, but not by much. Do you have any idea how many ponies asked where my udders were while we were walking over?” Sweetie giggled even more maniacally at Applebloom’s exasperated sigh. “I’d put Lady Tirana as worse than Eris or Smooze for that.” “Centaurs aren’t cows for pete’s sake!” Applebloom threw her hooves up. “I work with cows! I know the difference!” “I dare you to put on this sheet and say that again.” Rumble raised a hoof to point at Sweetie, his wings flaring beneath the glistening and goopy sheet and making it squelch from all the smooze goop soaked into it. “If I might…” Silver’s cold dead eyes surveyed us all like we were the insects and not her. “I believe what Night is trying to say is she wants a couples costume, not a group costume. I can taste just what she has in mind.” The swarm of fireflies accompanying her buzzed and glowed with malevolent glee as I blushed. It was definitely a mistake to let her be Queen Chrysalis. “It can’t be next year.” While everypony else had bantered, Diamond’s glower had only gotten worse; she glared at my house with enough seething anger for her eyes to burst into shadowy flames. “We need to do it this year. I’m sure if I just talk to them, they’ll—” “Hate to burst your bubble, Diamond, but that wouldn’t change anything. I have plans once I’m done holding the fort here.” Even as we chatted, my shadow snuck out to deliver some candy to the families that had been politely holding back while we talked. “Since I only have weekends to go out with you guys, I moved some things around. I was due to shadow the Everfree Rangers this weekend, and I didn’t want it getting in the way. Dad has a friend in them though, and he was nice enough to let me come out tonight instead.” “But— But— But—” Diamond’s glower leveled itself over me, making me take a step back at the intensity. The anger quickly melted as she looked at me, though, her face running an emotional gauntlet as it tried to settle on something until she finally just pouted at me and whispered. “You can’t promise to do it next year…. You’re going to be off doing who knows what.” Oh… oh, buck. She was right about that. I hadn’t even thought about— I staggered as it hit me like a spear to the chest. I was going to miss out on my last Nightmare Night in Ponyville. It might be years before I managed to make it back depending on where I went, and there was no way I would make it if I picked Hollow Shades like I wanted to. Rangers out there could go years without any sort of real contact. Bugbits and guano, I’d made a mess, and there wasn’t anything I could do to fix it…. Was that why Mom had offered to let me have Nightmare Night off? No… she would have told me if she had thought of that; Dad would have too. Why had I stupidly stuck to the rules? They had offered, and I— I— I— “Stop it!” Diamond thwapped me on the back of the head before pulling me in for a quick kiss. “You know I hate seeing you like that. I’m not mad at you. I get it. I’ll just… hire Pinkie to throw a last minute party, I guess.” The next kiss was longer—long enough that I used my wings to give us some privacy as she did things with her tongue that I didn’t want foals seeing. “You will be dressing up for it~ No arguments~” “Yes, My Queen!” When Diamond finally let me pull back, my pupils were dilated and my wings were rustling. The only way to hide my gasping for breath was to fall back on the old standard and salute. Even light headed from lack of air, my body obeyed, and it continued to do so as she backed away with the most sinful of smiles. “Good girl~” She turned to saunter away as the rest of my friends all snickered at me. They waved and said their goodbyes, but I didn’t really hear. I had eyes and ears for only one pony. “Truly only the fairest of maidens are worthy of thee, Squire Nightingale.” Okay, I had ears for two ponies, but my eyes stayed glued on Diamond for as long as I could see her. “You never made me a squire, Princess.” “Had your parents allowed it, I would have.” “Guess I dodged lightning twice, then.” I grunted as Diamond turned the corner and likewise turned to bow to the Princess of the Night. “That would have been worse than you having me jump right into the Lunar Guard.” “I can still give you an invite, if needed.” She smiled at me, and I scowled right back. “But… I understand your desire to work for it. If you weren’t like that, I never would have offered.” “Thank you.” The gloom about me lessened just a little at her admission. “If I may, what are you doing here? My dad said you were going to Las Pegasus this year.” “‘If I may…’” Princess Luna sighed. “Whatever happened to the eager little filly I knew? You’re so formal with me now…” “She grew up, Your Highness.” I arched my brow a fraction of a millimeter in textbook guard fashion. “Hrmph! Well, keep that up, and you’ll lose your spot as my favorite niece.” Princess Luna sniffed and looked away—an absolutely empty threat. “I would hope I’m not your favorite.” Shaking my head, I sighed. “As much as I’d love it… it’ll just get in the way of my dreams.” I managed a smile as I looked up. “Funny how that works. Silver Fang says he gets guano for being one of ‘yours’ and he’s just a normal Canterlot Guard. I’m gonna have my work cut out for me when I finally get into the Lunar Guard.” As Princess Luna glowered, the whole night sky turned darker, the sea of blurry, murky greys blackening until I could clearly see the individual stars. “If the time comes and anypony gives you any grief for being one of mine, I will destroy them faster than they can blink. They’re my guard—all mine—and I will not brook rumors of favorites.” “That way lies the Nightmare.” I nodded. “But… you would be playing favorites if you booted them just because of me, Princess.” Thankfully, the sky didn’t get even darker, but the air around us did start feeling a bit heavy as Princess Luna’s horn crackled and her shadow snarled and gnashed its teeth. “True… I will… need to think on how to deal with that. Perhaps a few trips to the moon?” Ummm… say what now? “Yes… that seems like a good way to strengthen their bonds. I shall take them all to the moon for training and a picnic—something only for them and not the foals.” “What?!” The worry inside me evaporated in the face of instant, seething jealousy, the Nightmare rearing its ugly head within me. “They’re gonna— gonna— But I want to go to the moon!” “Work hard and get there fast, then.” She grinned like a loon under moon. “Now that you’ve convinced me not to play favorites, you need to earn that privilege.” “Mmmmmmmm… Mrgmrf!” I crossed my hooves and pouted, ears flat against my head. “And lo! Is that all it takes for my most faithful and devoted guard to break her stoic mask?” The grin turned into manic giggling as the Princess plucked a piece of candy from the bowl. I looked away, using the happily spectating line as an excuse to avoid answering. Princess Luna let me stew for a bit as she nibbled on candy, waving to foals yet ultimately making excuses when they wanted to talk or ask questions. It was weird—doubly so since she had never told me why she was here. When the line was gone, however, she tossed me a subtle signal to fly up to the house. My shift was done anyways, so I nodded and leapt off the porch to circle up. There, in the clouds, she looked up at the moon. “Officially, I canceled my plans in Las Pegasus at Princess Twilight’s request. We are claiming that her mystical map is calling me to solve a friendship problem.” Ah, so it was above my paygrade. Need to know only. “Unofficially, I am here for your Aunt Mercy. Has she or your parents told you anything yet?” Her gaze shifted from the moon to Mount Canter and her face hardened for a moment. She dropped back into a soft smile the instant she looked at me, though. Oh… “No.” I grimaced and looked down. “Dad says it’s only something Aunt Mercy should tell me.” “Mmm… understandable, if no doubt frustrating.” Princess Luna nodded sympathetically. “Young Mercurial has been shutting me out of her nightmares for months.” “So you’re here to order her to let you in?” I tilted my head, ear flicking. “Stars, no.” Quick to shake her head, Princess Luna returned to looking at Canterlot. “Perhaps I will ask her in pony just to see if that changes things, but with certain information that has come to light, I have been digging through the archives and am here to offer legal advice.” “Oh… so she kept you completely in the dark too?” My face scrunched up. “Yes, indeed.” “But now you aren’t?” “Your parents know more, I imagine. I am little more than an advisor working on imperfect information.” Another glare was leveled towards Canterlot. “C-can you tell me what you know, then?” Flattening my ears, I bowed my head as I beseeched the glorious weaver of the night. When Princess Luna fell silent for a moment, I could feel the two wolves inside her savagely fighting each other. “No…. It is tempting. It feels unfair to keep you out of the loop, and yet… For the same reason I do not share what I see in others’ dreams, I cannot share your Aunt’s deepest woes. Her nightmares are without a doubt filled with what your parents and I have learned, and she still refuses me entrance. Even knowing that I know, she would rather suffer. “You and your parents are likely the only ones who can heal her. Once she is ready to tell you, I trust you will do what is right.” “That’s if she tells me.” I huffed and crossed my forelegs, sitting on my haunches and sinking my tush into the soft cloud. “She already told my parents. She doesn’t need me.” “Your parents found out by accident.” Princess Luna tsked as her ethereal mane fluttered in irritation, the stars in it twinkling a little too bright. “I am sure she will tell you when she is ready.” “Mrgmff… fine.” Taking a deep breath, I sighed and got up so we could head inside. “Can you help me with Diamond, at least? Give me some advice?” “You’re asking me for romantic advice?!” Lightning boomed as she stomped and threw her head back to laugh. “You’ve heard the stories, young one. You know I bring naught but tragedy.” “I don’t want romance advice.” Blushing a deep, burning black, I opened the door and hurried inside to the living room. “I have my duties; I need to carry them out. That’s all it is, Princess.” “Ah, yes… heavy is the burden of the crown. I know more than my share of trying to balance duties to the world and duties to my friends and family.” The way she stifled a snicker while answering was not helping the butterflies in my stomach. “I have seen many years as both a warrior and a princess. I’ve seen both sides of the moon.” “What does that have to do with—” She cut me off with a wave of her hoof, and gestured for me to sit in Mom’s lounger. “Metaphorically, dear Nightingale. It is an expression. You two face the same issue I have had with most of my lovers, few as they may be. Long ago, when I hunted the terrors of the night, I was warrior first and princess second.” With me on the lounger, she settled onto the couch and relaxed, laying out and using its length to full effect. “And yet… I fell for a tavernkeep of all things. Keg Tap was always there. He was always the one to wave me off and the one who listened on my return—the first and the last. “Back then, it was custom to crawl the taverns before marching out. You never knew if you’d come back, so it was tradition to celebrate the night before. It kept my soldiers’ spirits high, and it let me forget how most simply ignored the night.” She gave me a strange look—half-grimacing, half-smiling. “I am, curious, though. What do they say of Keg Tap in the stories nowadays, Nightingale?” “They…” Biting my lip, I looked down. “They say you came back to find his inn burned down and an invading army of griffons mowing through town towards the capital.” “Very true. That… that was his tragedy, but there are likely none alive save me and my sister who know that our romance ended not upon my return… but when I left him three months before.” Her smile was tiny and barely clinging to life as I snuck a peek—little more than a ghost next to the pain bleeding through it. “He broke our engagement when I left to fight the griffons; the stress of me constantly going into battle—whether it was with monsters or tyrants—was just too much. He had given all his heart could give me, and it wasn’t enough to weather the wait.” “Oh…” There was little I could say in the face of being trusted with such info. “Indeed.” Luna nodded sagely as she levitated a candy-coated cockroach out of the bowl and bit into it. Dad was watching from the arch to the kitchen, while Mom had left her post to shoo a nosy Aunt Mercy away. “I… felt it better to let his memory live on than to share the truth. Perhaps it was just one more mistake, but at the time, it soothed my soul thinking he would never be forgotten if all of thestral kind thought of him as their first prince consort. They immortalized him for me, and I couldn’t bring myself to correct them.” With a bitter laugh, she shook her head. “It was selfish of me, and worse, I did it without understanding why he left me. I had already been hurt, and his death only made it worse. I couldn’t spare time to think when I had griffons to make pay.” She took a deep, shaky breath and shivered. “But that… is neither here nor there. You wanted advice, and so I’m trying to make you understand both sides. Keg wished for me to stay at the capital and to command my troops from afar. I could have done it—I am a master of scrying and spying. My connection to dreams is a message system very few in this world could ever interfere with. I was perfectly capable of performing my duties and staying safe, yet it felt as if I was cheating my soldiers to consider such.” I nodded vehemently at her words. Finally, some pony was getting me. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that, Princess. Silver Fang keeps saying I should stay local, but if I can be out there doing good, I need to be.” “Hold now. I said there were two sides to the tale.” Luna smiled with the weight of the world on her shoulders. “After Keg, I only claimed fellow warriors—usually thestrals. Centuries passed, and eventually the tables turned. I was stuck tending to more and more matters of state as peace slowly took hold. There were fewer monsters for me to hunt, fewer wars for me to wage. As harmony took hold of the land, I was soon locked in a battle of a different kind within the capital.” “The Starfall Initiatives…” I glowered as I spat the words, my hackles rising as I ground my teeth in frustration. “An ironic name, is it not?” Princess Luna nodded. “In hindsight, so many of my attempts to have day dwellers appreciate the night were doomed to failure.” “I liked them.” I puffed out my chest as I defended my Princess’ honor, something that made Dad chuckle from where he watched. A squeak from the ceiling heralded the fact that Aunt Mercy had slipped away from Mom. That or they were both snooping now, which was terrifying. “Of course, you would like them.” Princess Luna giggled as she savored another candy-coated cockroach. “That was the problem. I was so used to being night kin that I had forgotten how to think like a day dweller. T’was a shame, yet I can’t blame anypony but myself for falling into my sister’s shadow.” “If… if you say so, Princess.” The urge to object was strong, but there was no changing the princess’ mind when set. “I do.” She frowned at my hesitation before sighing. “If you don’t believe me, close your eyes. I want you to imagine something for me.” Immediately slamming my eyes shut, I squirmed in my seat, ears standing at full attention. “Imagine the Castle of the Two Sisters as it once was, long, long ago.” There was the soft sound of Princess Luna’s horn lighting majestically, the sound wavering like a celestial wind. In my mind’s eye the old, ruined castle rose up to pierce the night sky. Crumbling spires turned into gleaming spears, broken ramparts sucked up long forgotten rubble to become whole, and the Everfree Forest faded to be replaced by majestic woods. Time rewound itself before me—the gaping hole that was the throne room’s scar vanishing into the aether—and the capital city reformed from its ashes like a phoenix from the flames. My face was scrunched in intense thought as my imagination went wild to make sure every detail was just right for the princess. I could hear her grin as she stayed silent save for crunching into more cockroaches and waiting for me to finish. “Alright, Princess, go.” I nodded as I finished the image with a nice full moon and Princess Luna stargazing on the balcony of her room. “Now… you can see the city, yes? It was always quiet at night…. The streets were dark; the sky was clear. It was always perfect for stargazing and moonlit walks—or it would have been if anypony was up. You see, unlike Canterlot, the old capital had no Undercity. It was a town full of day dwellers. The few thestrals that made their home there were mostly my own Lunar Guard and their families.” I tweaked a few parts here or there at the princess’ words, but for the most part I was happy I had gotten things right. “You believe your duty comes before Diamond, Nightingale?” My ears splayed back at the piercing question. “Ummm…” “Because it was there—in the Castle, alone—I was kept apart from my lovers by duty and the drive to do good. They were good stallions and mares—all of them, a herd most fine—but it was often months between chances for our star-crossed paths to meet. It was because they chose to serve rather than love…” Luna took a deep steady breath. “…that I was left with naught but the Nightmare’s whispers.” I scowled as my mental image darkened, storm clouds rumbling on the horizon and doors and windows getting barred. The image went from majestic to barren in an instant, and instead of staring up at the sky, my mini mental moon princess gazed out over the city with a longing and weary face. “It is not their fault… at least, no more than it was Celestia’s or my own. They were my most devoted—their faith in me to handle anything was unshakable. I… never really let them see the pain I was in; I was too focused on enjoying what little time we had to let it get in the way. The rest of my guard told them, same as they told my sister, but to them, I was too strong to succumb to something like mere envy.” Luna spat the word with enough force that I flinched. There was just a hint of the Royal Voice to it. “Perhaps if I had shown them my weakness, tantabus help me…” Buck… I could see it now…. I could see it, and it couldn’t be unseen. The night sky darkened in my mind’s eye as the whispers filled my head. The castle was tall—too tall—and the princess was all alone in her room on one of the tallest towers. It wasn’t a room meant for a herd—too small. If they saw her one or two at a time, and each visit was months apart. Had she gone years without seeing them? Was she softening the blow? The sun and moon danced, constantly rising and setting as time passed in an instant, and I watched the Princess staring forlornly into the distance for days. “Envy is what the stories call it—envy of my sister.” Luna was shaking her head with a grimace as I opened my eyes with a grunt. “It was so much more than that, though. I finally understood what it was like for Keg Tap. I was left to constantly wonder when my herdmates would come home, and to worry if they would even make it back at all.” She barked out a bitter laugh. “I worried, and they faced troubles that were nothing compared to those I faced when I met Keg Tap. The things I must have put him through….” Weak as I was, I couldn’t take the sight. Every time I blinked, I saw the old castle, and the image burned to look at. The thought of putting Diamond through that…. But she was strong, right? Stronger than Princess Luna? Okay, maybe not, but… there had to be some form of compromise. “I see you understand the problem, now.” Luna gave a rueful chuckle as my face twisted and contorted. “Lady Tiara does not seem the sort to fall to the Nightmare as I did, but it will still hurt her to be so far apart.” “And it hurts me to hurt her.” I muttered sullenly into the floor, refusing to look up. Hurts her to hurt me to hurt her to hurt me to hurt her… Scrabbling at my head, I groaned and gnashed my fangs. “Ugh… it’s not fair!” Thunder rumbled as I slammed my hoof down into the cloud. “Sorry to interrupt, Night.” Dad stepped forward to rub my back. “But the moon is high and it’s getting close to when we need to head out. That might be a good thing, though. It seems the Princess gave you a lot to think about.” “I just got more problems.” I groaned and tried to bury myself in Mom’s chair. “Not answers.” “No.” Dad shook his head as he pulled me right back out of the cloud to set me on my hooves. “It’s the same problem you had with a new perspective. You’ve been running from it, Night. You think no matter what you pick, things will work out, and that’s just not true.” “Are you saying I shouldn’t even bother with Hollow Shades, then?” My ears flattened to try and hide from the truth. “No.” The truth didn’t come. “If you really want to keep Diamond and go to Hollow Shades, there is probably a way, but you are the only one who knows Diamond well enough to figure out what that is. It will take blood, sweat, and tears if that’s what you really want, but I’m sure you can find a way to stay with her.” Dad rested his hoof on my shoulder. “And if you can’t? Then you need to ask yourself if it’s worth losing her. There are plenty of other bugs in the cave. Diamond may be your first, but she doesn’t have to be your last.” “Or…” Princess Luna smiled from her spot on the couch with all the grace and warmth befitting the title of Nightmother. “…should she be worth far more than even a spot in my guard, then you will need to figure out just where you are going if you wish to keep her.” “Worth more than a spot in the Lunar Guard?” The words were heresy, and yet… Dad was right. I needed time to think about it—preferably days. Shaking my head I trotted to my room to get ready. It certainly wasn’t running. Definitely not.