“You waited too long to strike, now it is us that will have our heads on a pike!”
“Chieftain Mamook, you have been told before, we need to wait for the scouts to come back and confirm the location of rebel griffons headquarters.” Stone Face growled over the table at the disgruntled Zebra in front of him.
“Damn you, you sit on your little porch, whist my forces have been put to the torch!” Mamook roared, his golden brackets clanking against his stripes forelegs as he slammed his hoof down onto the table. “What is done can not be undone, damn it all they have my son!”
“And who’s fault is that, you were told to wait until the main forces arrived. But you wanted glory.” Sparklehoof said, his muzzle gaunt, almost hollow across the dark candle lit tent.
“Glory?!” The zebra chief snarled, “it is us who the griffons had struck, so do not tell us how to handle these rebels you ignorant -“
“Enough!” Lord marshal Luna growled across the table. The other stallions around her froze, even Mamook who reluctantly eased back into his seat. Luna winced at the pain in her skull. So this is what her grandfather dealt with? No wonder he was always angry.
Luna messaging her head, blast it these headaches were getting worse and worse and these babbling old stallions and zebras were not helping. “Chief Mamook, steady yourself, we are not fighting each other here!” She lifted herself up, nearly stumbling from her seat as she glanced at the venerable lords around her.
Good assert your authority, dominate them. If these old stallions won’t respect you, let them fear you instead.
“Lord Marshall. Let us take a hunting pack. We will find this rabble and go on the attack!” Mamook said after a moment.
“And leave half the army with their flank exposed!” Marshall Red Bar squawked.
“That is treason!” Stoneface roared in agreement.
“Treason?” Mamook balked at the idea, “says the Marshall without reason. You have done nothing but sit on your flank, eating cake and laying like a plank.”
“That is it, you crass talking savage, I have had quite enough of you.” Stoneface growled, fumbling for his sword.
Oh look at that, nothing like a little blood to get the soldiers blood boiling, what fun.
Luna bit down, her head hurt. it had been getting worse and worse since
“I said enough,” her voice was like a crack of thunder, as she grabbed both Stoneface and Mamook in each hoof and lifted them into the air. “I am the ruler here, I am the one who you obey.”
Now, now little Luna, let’s sound like a ruler and not a little foal throwing a tantrum… you can’t just say you're a leader… you should make an example of one of them.
Luna ignored the painful and tempting thoughts buzzing in her mind, though it was getting harder and harder lately. “Grandfather, your king put me in charge of dealing with this rebellion and I will not have disorder in my court.”
“A-and what have you done, is this all for your vain fun?” Mamook croaked out, teeth bared at her as his hooves clawed pointlessly at Luna's vice-like grip.
“What was that?” Luna growled, dropping Stoneface as she turned to him.
“Y-you are like a foal playing at war, i-it is obvious to all you have never done this before.” He spat, “S-since you have been here, what have you done, talked and talked while they have taken my s-son. You are unfit to lead, your command is as thin as a r-reed. Leave it to stallions who know of this craft, it would have been better if you had been a g-good mare, raised a foal and complained to your staff.”
The tent was silent at that, nothing save the howling winds could be heard. Of this Luna could hear nothing save the grinding of her teeth and beating of her heart in her eardrums. The fear that everything she had worried about had been called to the front and the anger at this worm of all of them had called her out.
Do it, do it now, you know you want to.
Luna felt ever muscle in her body tensing, her teeth bared like a wolf showing its fangs, her body was not her own then, she was a passive spirit hovering behind her own eyes as she slowly but inexorably began to squeeze the zebra's throat.
Yes, show him. Show him haha, show him why you, not sister, deserve to rule!
She was vaguely aware of a fat pony rushing forwards, Silver Tongue, no, no that wasn’t right. Silver Coin beside her, he was holding her foreleg, trying vainly to get her to stop “Princess, oh fields above, please stop, he can’t breathe you’re going to-
“-Message for the high command!” A pony soldier announced, sauntering inside, his beak curved into a smile as he looked at the chaos inside the tent.
Not a soldier, a griffon, our griffon.
Luna blinked, the silhouette of an armored stallion in her mind's eye all at once changed to the form to a griffon, a griffon with a yellow beak that gleamed, not like gold but like a pair of brass knuckles heading towards someone’s face.
Luna rubbed her eyes, no of course it was a griffon, who else could it have been, one that had come out of nowhere and offered its services all those months ago, sauntered in. What had she thought it was a stallion she had sent?
“Princess,” Silver Coin and also not Silver Coin pleaded, “Luna by all the grass in the field, please stop!”
Luna finally snapped out of her thoughts long enough to realise what Silver was saying. She saw the nearly blue zebra in her hooves, gasping and dropped him to the ground. The chieftain sucked in huge rasping breaths of air, writhing on the floor. But no pony was paying attention; all were focused now on the Griffon.
“Well don’t just stand there, out with it soldier.” Marshall Red Bar snapped as the smiling black cloaked griffon. Who was now watching the Zebra with lifeless black eyes, like a crow watching a worm on the ground.
“It seems the fat pony was correct,” he said finally, flicking those soulless eyes up towards Silver. “We found it right where he said it was.”
“You did, where?” Stoneface asked breathlessly, lifting himself up from the floor.
The griffon pointed out towards the camp out further past the flat mountains, the tops cut as if some great giant had sliced the tips off them generations ago. Perhaps it had? “It’s been looking down at us this whole time.”
Finally, victory is in our grasp.
The tent exploded as the ponies began to argue with themselves. But Luna wasn’t listening, she was still staring down at her own hoof in horror, terrified at what she had just done, at what she had been prepared to do. If it had been just that little bit longer she would have…
It would have shown that you were the one in charge? Snap out of it. Don’t look weak!
Luna shook her head. No time for that now. She felt hope burning away some of the pain in her head, hope that at least now she could see an end to this. A way to earn her name and rank amongst her grandfather's side “Summon our forces, all of them, make ready the camp. We set out at day break and finally send all of these damn rodent chasers to—“
*snap*
Luna stopped mid-sentence at the alien noise that sounded just behind her. She turned and spotted nothing. Literally, there was no tent anymore. No billowing wind or wooden planks hastily laid out for a floor. But utter blankness.
What!?
Surprised Luna spun back to her soldiers and Marshall’s. But the whole scene in front of her had changed. The war table was filled with food. But not just that, a banquet fit for a coronation. Candelabras, red velvet place mats and silver plates stuffed with cheeses and sweet hays.
Each member sat around the table in the velvet chairs. All in their finest suits and ties all looking up expectantly at her.
Hadn’t they just been in the war tent, when had they moved towards the banqueting hall. Did they even have a banquet hall?
“Princess?” She turned to see Silver Coin, three plates balancing mountains of food. “Surely you're not going to muster our forces without desert?”
“D-desert?”
What, what is happening!?
She turned and stared at the banquet in front of her. Food lay in silver platters with the Marshall’s all staring expectantly at her. “Oh right, desert…yes of course, Uhh, how silly of me.” She said trying to work out what was going on.
She gestured for the waiter, only a single paw came out from behind her with a large silver tray and cover and set it out in front of her.
“Speech.” Marshall Stoneface slurred, sloshing a goblet of wine “I bloody love speeches.” He had one hoof around Chief Mamook shoulders, the two of them drunkenly holding the other upright ready to fall at any movement. “Yes,” Mamook slurred, “and end with a joke, like the one about the circus trick, about the stallion who could stand using only his-“
Ignore this, this is not supposed to be happening. You are at war, you are not in some banquet hall.
Lunas whimpered as a blinding migraine throbbed in her skull, the walls of the banquet seemed to melt away, but then as if something was fighting it, it returned as if it had never left.
“Princess,” Silver Tongue Coin said, his face serious which only made the white face paint red lips and red ball on his nose, all the more confusing “Has there been any news of my niece? I have to find her and your daughter, perhaps if you could *Chirp chirp*.”
Luna blinked, “what did you say Silver?”
“I said *Chirp chirp purr*, your majesty.”
Ignore that, Ahh when I find who’s doing this I’ll...
The metal cover on the table by Lunas hooves began to vibrate slowly, moving and emanating a soft purring sound. Luna glanced around as Lord Stoneface downed a whole mug of cider upside down to the chant of “chug, chug, chug!”
“What is making that noise?” Luna asked.
“In here.” A tiny echoing voice answered..
“Apologies, your majesty.” The disembodied voice of the waiter said from behind her, “I thought it was getting quite dower in here, too much brooding for my liking. Allow me.” A mismatched claw shot out of nowhere and lifted up the tray to reveal a smiling little griffon cub who was looking up at Luna. Big yellow eyes surrounded by purple feathers and a soft white head of downy primary’s looked up at her, tail wagging with an heir of innocent inquisitiveness.
“Yay, you found me.” She cheered.
You? I knew it, What are you doing here you chaotic Rat. This is my domain!
The disembodied voice gasped dropping the metal covering, “Rat? I’ll have you know I’ve always thought of myself as more of a snake, but I suppose you should know all about vermin, parasite.”
I will make you eat those words, idiotic fool!
“I’m positively quaking in my boots, now off with you, go brood somewhere else for a while.”
You dare come to my domain, this is not the end, when I…
Suddenly the ground began to shake beneath Lunas hooves. She clutched the table as everything else fell around it. She felt a pinching sensation on her nose and sneezed.
“Bless you.” The little Griffon cub said with a wide smile.
“Thank you.” Luna said, clutching her nostrils, glancing down at the griffon, “I don’t suppose you know what’s going on?”
“Nope, I don’t.” She giggled, “But it’s fun.”
Those were not the words Luna would have used. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I'm here to wake up new mommy, she’s been asleep too long and there are a lot of scary monsters about.”
“New mommy?” Luna said, head cocked in surprise. “Where is she, this new mother, little one?” She glanced around, seeing nothing around them but the quiet void.
The cub giggled, “Silly, she’s right next to me.” She paused her little brow furrowing, “Buuut, she’s also somewhere else, but also here.” She scratched her little head with her back paw almost like a dog. “It’s really confusing. We’ve been running for days now. It's been really fun. But mommy’s getting really tired, she’s not sleeping at all.” The little cub frowned, “also, she hit her head whilst we were running from a big scary monster, then she went all dizzy and fell over.” She looked upset, but then puffed out her little chest, “So I’ve been guarding her all morning.”
“Oh?” Luna said, as she saw the world around her start to drip and melt away, “Well then, um good job umm.” She looked at the cub, “What’s your name?”
The cub shrugged, “Don’t know, other mommy hasn’t given me one yet. she’s probably still thinking really hard though!” She added excitedly.
“Well that can’t be right, everything should have a name, even your kind.” Luna said, “where is your mother, your other new mother, that is, she should be given a lecture in parenting.”
“Too right,” That strange and oddly familiar voice said in the distance. “Absolutely terrible, do you know how hard it is to write something that doesn’t have a name, the hoops you have to jump through, terribly confusing.”
The cub chirped happily, “yay, it’s the funny creature, he’s back.”
“He never left,” and Luna turned to see none other than Discord staring at her, those different coloured eyes glaring at her, the madness burning like an open flame in the back of his small black irises that she could see the destruction and creation of galaxies in moments, madness, pure and untwined chaos.
“What are you doing here?” Luna said, watching as Discord picked up the cub and placed her gently on his shoulder.
“Oh you know me, same old, went to cause mayhem then got sucked into a portal and sent back in time, did battle with a spirit hell bent on world domination, ate some popcorn and now I’m here, pretty much the usual really.” He said, glancing at his nails. “Now I’m just seeing all the havoc unfold, as a purely passive observer of course.” He said with more relish, then glanced at some sort of portable sundial on his wrist. “Oh drat, the passage of time is always such a pain, speaking of pain.”
He turned back to Luna and then without a word pinched her muzzle hard.
Luna gasped as her blood shot eyes opened. She winced as something sharp dug into her nose. She spotted a tiny fluffy Newton’s cradle waving back and forth in front of her eyes. It took longer than it should to realise it was a tail and what she was staring up at was in fact a little griffon and the pain in her muzzle was her back paw nails currently using her nose as a pin cushion
The cub was facing something in the distance. It’s…her back was arched, her fur standing on edge. Feathers puffed up making her look like a kitten with its head stuck in a snowball.
Luna groaned, pushing the cub's paw away from her as she tried to rub her eyes. “What is going on?” Why was she on the floor, when had she gone to sleep? She fished through the haze of memories, but it was no use, everything was a blur and her head ached. It hurt worse than when she had accidentally taken a sip of her sister's new black wine and woke up two months later half the continent away, half shaved from the waist down and wearing someone else’s underwear.
Like that time she could only remember snippets of what had happened. She could only remember running. Running for…how long had it been? Days? How many she couldn’t say, three, no four, she had seen the moon rise four times, worryingly none of them by her own accord. That was frightening. Something else was controlling her moon.
The last thing she had remembered was running by moonlight. That was a worrying thought in and of itself. But what was more worrying, was why had she been running in the first place?
She yelped as the cub moved backwards her paw and the needle-like nails attached stabbing into her muzzle again.
“Get off me you little devil.” Luna yelped, snatching up the cub and nearly falling over as she dragged herself upright. “Can thou not get five minutes reprieve from thine clownish antics?” She was about to go on. A lifetime of chewing out nobles, maids and overly enthusiastic door salesmen had left her with a monologue that could send a thousand ships the other way.
But the little cub didn’t even notice. Her eyes were still fixed ahead of her. A long and low growl, like that of a wild cat intertwined with a shriek of a bird of prey emanated from its beak.
“What art thou so focused on?” Luna glanced up from the cub and towards…nothing. Only the base of a giant tree, the small foliage surrounding it and an enormous boulder in a large pond. Again the ache of familiarity bled into her, the place familiar in its ways. But she couldn’t concentrate on anything because of the pain in her head and the pain in her flank, that being this little rodent chaser.
“Oh will you stop that infernal racket.” Luna growled, bloodshot eyes narrowing down at the seemingly inexhaustible cub.
The little demon had growled at everything. Literally everything, for days now. It had pounced and growled and hissed at the slightest movement in the woods.
She would have called it’s suicidal bravery admirable. If it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly just some animal insisting, after all as Luna had often been told by the alchemists of her day, griffons were naturally predisposed to fight anything and everything, like bulls or Scottish ponies on Saturday nights after the bar had closed. It wasn’t their fault, it was just an instinct like breathing.
But still if it had not been for that, perhaps she would have said the cub reminded her very much of herself at that age.
She had been told she had the heart of a lion, the black princess she had been called on later campaigns against the dreaded evil Baron Von Kind Heart the Charitable and his wicked reign of tyranny. Even from the tender infantile age of twenty five she had been told she would tackle the biggest of teddy bears and send unwitting butlers diving for cover. An infant alcorn despite its cuteness was still akin to fluffy dynamite on four hooves.
But there had to be a limit to bravery and paranoid stupidity and to Luna this cub had reached her limit about two nights ago.
“Will you shut up,” she hissed at the cub bringing muzzle to beak. The cub squirmed, moving her head back towards the rock.
“Four days, four whole Tatarus damned days you have been a thorn in my behind, courting danger, jumping at beasts and animals alike well that ends this second.” She walked up towards the rock watching as the infant's eyes widened. It watched with a weary glare as Luna marched up to the stone, “watch and educate thyself,” Luna said knocking the rock, the sound of a soft *thud thud* emanated from deep within.
She glared at the cub who was still looking at the rock. “Do you see now, nothing, no predator, no monster, just cold hard…” she paused, looked back at the rock and thudded it again. That was strange, stones did not make a *thudding* noise. Normally, they made a sort of *dink-dink* noise.
Come to think of it, stones didn’t often feel warm to the touch. Or grin down at you.
Luna stepped backwards as water spilling out from each end of a crack as the ‘stone’ began to slowly inexorably rise up from the little pond. A horizontal crack formed in the middle and opened into a fleshy maw, inside of that sat a row of very sharp stalactites which Luna was starting to unfortunately realise were very large teeth.
Two more cracks in the stone opened to reveal emerald eyes, reptilian slits glanced down at her. She might not have been afraid of rocks but she reckoned she had about three seconds to learn how to be.
“Do, not, move.” Luna whispered slowly, mostly to herself, her bloodshot eyes were now open wide and very painfully awake. The rock turned slowly revealing a reptilian maw, almost crocodilian in nature, as a giant slit like iris focused on where Luna was standing.
As if Luna's words were a challenge. The cub wriggled from Luna's grasp, let out a growl and lunged at the behemoth, talons first. The cub latched on with a barely audible *thunk.* Luna watched, in equip parts horror and if she was being honest with herself awe as the cub began pecking at the monster.
Unfortunately it did little more than confuse the being as It took a moment to collectively comprehend what was happening. After all normally to its mind, prey ran, prey didn’t willingly jump towards its mouth save in dreams. But then when its ancient reptilian brain understood what was happening, it let out an almighty earth shaking roar.
Luna didn't wait; she sprang up. Instinct taking over from rational thought. The roar of the beast threw the cub upwards into the air. Luna dived, grabbed ahold of the cub just as the massive jaws clamped down on both of them.
The rockodile jaws snapped shut with a sound like a tree cracking in half, then silence. It stood there, prey eaten, with a satisfied grin. It had been a good day as far as a twenty ton lizard could comprehend the ideas of ‘days’ or ‘good’ for that matter.
The others at the spawning pool had laughed at it when it had gone out to look for prey. They had said that a real Rockadile never went looking for prey, they stayed waiting for days, weeks, months until either prey came to them, or in some unfortunate cases a giant herd of stampeding elephants did. Which happened often enough it was basically considered death by natural causes.
But this Rockadile was a pioneer of its kind. The problem was, when you're the first of your kind, that often means you’re usually the first to find out the unique problems that nobody tells you about.
Such as prey that fights back.
It was only when it began to move that it noticed a pain in its stomach. It glanced around nervously, a Rockodile usually lived on a steady diet of limestone, granite and meat. As such its digestive tract had a lot in common with a volcano, nothing ever came out once it went in. The idea of a stomach ache wasn’t something it was evolutionarily equipped to deal with.
It let out a guttural wheeze, eyes widening and tried to swallow. Then to its horror, a hoof latched onto the top of its lip and then another one at the bottom. The Rockodile tried to bite down but despite having jaws strong enough to crack diamonds, found to its even greater horror that its jaw was slowly being prised open anyway.
Luna roared as she lifted the maw of the beast up over her head. Slick with slime and other things she would rather not focus on at that moment. Her muscles strained as she moved the jaws of the creature further apart with all her might. The cub still hissed even nestled in her wing. Luna gave one final growl, flung the jaws up over her head and diving forwards, just as they snapped shut again.
The two of them rolled on the dirt, coating her night blue fur and the little ones brown and white ones in dust and mud. She shot up, tried to run but stumbled. Her exhausted legs tangled together like a newborn doe but Adrenaline and terror made up for a lack of coordination.
She didn’t have to look back to tell that the beast was following her, the shaking of the ground, the monstrous roar and trunks of trees raining down around her like confetti gave her a good impression already of how close the monster still was.
Even in mortal peril she could hardly keep her eyes open, the world seemed like a blur, images dividing in front of her. She had gone weeks without sleep before, but that was with Alicorn magic. Now as a (almost) normal pony it was like drunk driving a wagon through a festival grounds.
She narrowly ducked up a gnarled root about the size of a fire hydrant and heard the crunching of it under the beast's claws a second later. It was gaining on her. She felt the cub climbing up her back onto her flank, hissing at the monster all the way.
Other strange alien creatures skirted past her into bits of boggy water or fluttering into the air. She grimaced at her tired wings, but there was nothing else for it, she turned grabbed ahold of the infuriating little lioness and lifted herself off the ground just as the Rockadile dived for her.
It crashed into the venerable giant tree a second later, sending leaves in their hundreds falling down around Luna in the air as she winced with each flailing flap of her wings.
Watching with satisfaction as the beast shook its head in pain and stared left and right wondering where its food had gone.
“Huzzah!” She gave a breathless laugh more from adrenaline than good humor, “foolish creature, have you not heard, no one eats the moon princess and gets away with it!” Luna chided then grimaced. Her whole body was in agony. But at least up here she was safe.
“Huzz.” Came a small voice of the cub behind her punctuated by a foal-like giggle. “Huzz!”
Why had she not simply flown away, the thought nagged at her. Seemed an obvious one now that she was up in the air, had she not tried this before? She was safe up here, safe and, oh she forgot how relaxing the wind was against her fur, she felt her eyes growing heavy, she just needed to rest them for a moment that was all, rest and...
She felt something tug at her mane and winced.
“Will you stop that!” Luna barked, tried to at least, she got about halfway through her sentence and then realised something was blocking out the sun behind her.
She had just enough time to dodge as two giant claws grabbed at the air she had just been occupying. She turned towards it, horn raised, then she felt pain shooting from the tip into her spine.
She gasped, her wings stiffened and she began to plummet. The eagle, a two headed creature about the size of a wagon, gave a shrek and divided after her.
“Chip?” The cub whimpered, head pressed against Luna mane. Luna groaned, eyes blinking the world going from a kaleidoscopic view to a more reasonable double vision. She gasped, using all her back strength and flung out her wings again. Had she really relied on her magic that much?
Luna let out a long low growl of pain as the wind bent her powerful wings almost backwards but she recovered just in time to collide with a branch. She landed hard, chest first, gasping as the Cub slipped from her back. Luna gasping, scrambling to get ahold of the Cub as she flew forwards.
Luna watched in those three seconds to her horror as a coiling plant turned, its circular face crowned with thorns like a bear trap turned and lunged towards the airborne cub. It’s pettiness, razor sharp and ready to snap her up in mid air.
Was everything in this forest a death trap?
Luna gasped hooves just barely grasping the very tip of the paintbrush tail of the little lioness and pulled back right as the flower snapped shut with a deathly crack. The cub snapped backwards like a rubber band and knocked into Luna flinging the two of them backwards from the branch and towards the forest floor.
The upside was that just as before something broke Lunas fell. The downside was that there were about sixteen branches.
Still clutching the cub to her wing she collided with the final one and then like a rock being thrown into a puddle she landed face first into a puddle of mud with an almost anticlimactic splat. Stars danced across her head as she felt the cub scramble onto her back.
“Well… at least tis all over.” She groaned weakly, before collapsing face first back into the mud.
Else are in the cosmos.
“Well…at least tis all over.”
“Oh yeah, just you wait I-“
“Karma!” A voice across the heavenly clouds rang out, “what are you doing, are you messing with those pony things again?!”
Karma flinched, nearly flinging his headset off into the effervescent nothingness of the celestial heavens. “No, Darma, I’m just, you know, checking that the omnipresent orb is working.” It said, clunking the great orb for effect.
“Do I have to get Nirvana on the phone? There are six trillion other planes of existence that you’re ignoring right now and you're behind on your quota, the boss wants them on his desk by Monday Karma, Monday!”
Karma messaged a hundred of its eyes groaning while it did so. “Okay, fine whatever, easy for you.” It muttered.
“What was that!”
“Nothing nothing.” Karma quickly answered, quickly putting the headset back on.
Sulkily Karma stared into the inter dimensional vortex right as the dark blue pony lifted her head back up long enough to groan out, “at least, it cannot get any worse.” Before once again collapsing back into the mud.
Karmas felt one of its many eyes twitching as a clandestine tendril moved slowly towards the orb.
“Don't even think about it!” Darmas' voice echoed through the ethereal plains as Karmas flung his arms away from the orb.
Karma folded its many arms and sighed, “I hate this place.”
Elsewhere a alicorn of the night lay face first in a puddle of mud. The only indication that it was even still conscious was the bubbles of water emanating from around its muzzle which let out pockets of a deep and tired groan. “Ohh we art getting too old for this, oxen manure.” She muttered lifting her head up and wiping caking mud from her eyes.
She turned over onto her back. Unable to move or even think, her forelegs fell to her sides as she allowed herself to simply lay there on the mud. Numb, cold and very very soon when her body caught up to her in a lot of pain.
Had she really been such a helpless creature without her magic. That would have to change. She would have to go back to her martial training, eating raw eggs, building death trap obstacle courses and of course legalising great melee tournaments again.
“Bah, forget it, try and convince sister to make room for the death trap obstacles, she would cry about the moral conundrums again, oh what if someone hurts themselves. That’s the bloody point...literally!”
The hatchling crawled onto her chest looking down at her, then a noise came out from its beak “Hu, zaah.” she said with a giggle.
“Bless you.” Luna said offhandedly, still staring up at the sky, “probably can’t even get a real death trap specialist these days anyway, modern pony’s probably don’t even know what a good spike pit even is, waste of time.”
“Huz.” The cub said again and then giggled.
“Do you have indigestion or something?” She asked, staring up at the cub.
The cub looked at her with a glare that made Luna think she was actually thinking hard. Despite herself Luna waited, breathlessly for a moment, then the cub sneezed on to Luna's chest, wiping her beak on her fur, giggled and began to softly purr.
“Yes I thought as much.” Luna said, too tired to even bring up the normal level of disgust she was sure she should be feeling at this moment.
“Laying around in the mud, youth of today aye?” A voice above her said. Luna paled, jackknifing upwards hoof raised to strike.
The figure was gone. She blinked thinking it was her imagination when she heard it again.
“Over here lady.”
Slowly she turned behind her and lowered her forelegs as she spotted a pony standing just behind her. An old wizened stallion, somewhere between seventy or seven thousand given the amount of wrinkles, liferspots and general disdain and distrust of anything younger than than sixty five in his eyes.
His mane outstretched like lightning had struck it and his wiry bread looked so thick enough to lose a hoof in, but what caught Luna's gaze was the mismatched eyes, mismatched, discoloured and burning with a youthful energy that his body belied.
“What, never seen a pony with heterochromia before?” The old pony said, pointing to his green and the blue eye “Rude to stare, lady.”
Luna lifted a brow, “We did not ask about your sexuality.”
The old stallion gave a throaty laugh, “Haha good one.”
“Good what?” Luna asked but no answer was forthcoming. “Who are thou, what are you doing here?”
“Could ask you the same question?”
“We asked firs-“ Before she could finish she heard a little cry of excitement and saw the cub running towards the old stallion. Luna caught her by the scruff of the neck before she could go shooting off again and lifted up to eye level. “Hasn’t thou caused enough trouble today by lunging at things?” She said to the dangling griffon who was still making lunging motions towards the old pony.
“That looked like a mighty bad crash lady, didn’t think any pony would be stupid enough to fly in this forest, but I guess I was mistaken.” He said, rubbing his head and pulling his tangled hoof away with some difficulty. “You get lost on the way to the kiddy park, miss?”
Luna lifted herself to her hooves, anger forming at the mockery of this stallion towards her royal person. “We did not choose to come here, knave.”
“Names Bucky actually,” he said indifferently.
Luna rolled her tired bloodshot eyes, “Well Bucky, you are in luck, for you gaze upon the princess of the night and are thus charged to escort our royal person from this accursed land and back to our place in Canterlot.”
“Never heard of it.” He said, “Sounds made up, what kind of name is Canterlot anyway?”
Luna gasped indignantly. “How have you not heard of it? The seat of ponykind, the epicentre of Eques, jewel of the modern world, also perchance sometimes blows up every few months through the fault of some recurring villains.” She added the last part in a mutter. After all, it was only fair to be honest about one's home.
The old stallion shrugged, “nope don’t ring a bell,”
“Well… surely you have heard of the great royal sisters. We art Luna, an alicorn, princess of the moon and stars, we raise the very Celestia bloodies in the heav-“
“-don't care much for celebrities or celestial bodies.” He finished with a dismissive wave, “don’t know no princess, don’t want one and as far as I’m concerned the moon's just a big night light made of cheese.”
Luna sucked in a shocked breath felt her right eye twitching, “How dare you insult my-“
The stallion turned, glanced up at the setting sun. “You gonna stand there all day yapping, I got things to do.” He said turning, “dangerous place to take your kid out for a walk, you never know what kind of weirdos are in these woods.”
Luna frowned, yes she was beginning to understand that part, “She is not my heir!”
He blinked then looked up at the cub who was peeking up from the top of Luna's mane. “Huzz!”
Bucky gave a chuckle it had the same sound as a coffin being cracked open and the same amount of dust, “You said it kid,” he turned on creaking joints, walked forwards then turned back as if wondering why they weren’t just blindly following, “come on, your kids hungry, there’s grub in the old shato de la grotte.”
“To insult us is one thing, but to insult my moon,” Luna said, still stuck a few sentences before, “to our face no less, I am heir apparent to the throne, come back here and apologise this instance.” Luna growled.
“Or what lady.”
“Or, we shall…” but he was already moving away, she stood there shaking from both exhaustion and rampant indignation then felt her horn sparkle and then fizzled out and grimaced. “know that your swift and painful retribution will come someday!” She yelled, then a long and low noise emanated from her stomach and she looked down, “after breaking fast perhaps.”
She slumped her shoulders defeated. Hearing the Forest come to life in eerie sounds as the sunlight drifted ever downwards. It was the choice of following a madman or endless danger. The only two choices there ever seemed to be for her.
Map making had never been a precise art in Equestria. Ponies tended to start off with good intentions, and then get so side-tracked with drawing all the sea monsters and hulking fish with terrifying faces that they forgot to put in the boring parts like mountains and rivers.
At least that was how it had been the last time Luna had looked at a map, which to be fair, had been about oh, one thousand years ago give or take?
It had not helped that borders had changed like two ponies playing a tug of war with land masses. So much had changed that despite her Sisters insistence Luna still refused to acknowledge that there was now a “New Mexicolt.”
But this was not a setback as it might have been for others. After all she had learned from the master of navigations himself, her grandfather who only ever had to go one place once to know how to get back there.
He had told her of his genius skill and how to harness it. He would simply go to a place once and then when he needed to go back again he would simply command his staff to take him back there.
He had gotten so good at it he was often baffled at why ponies needed maps at all. Which now that Luna thought about it, might have explained why the maps in her time were so bad.
But all this to say that despite her grandfather's skill, she had absolutely, positively no idea where she was or where she was going. She had been everywhere and yet it was as though her mind had drawn a blank on this place. Like it had been trying to keep her from remembering. The base of her horn throbbed, not from the lack of magic, but something like a migraine.
“Hey, youngin, you gonna hang around moping all day?” Bucky called back from a few yards away, “these kids today are so lazy.”
“We art more than two millennia older than you are!” She yelled catching back up with the strangely nimble ancient stallion.
“Huh.. oh yeah then I’m a monkey's uncle.” He said slowly turning to the cub on Luna’s back and mimed a circle motion around his head.
“That would explain thy smell.” Luna shot back, but Bucky only laughed and continued on.
They continued moving through the undergrowth seemingly at random. The stallion would stop for a moment, turn a leaf over or sniff at the mud, then continue on without comment.
Finally after a moment of watching Bucky stare at a rock for five minutes straight Luna asked. “How much further to thy abode?”
“Who’s-a-what-now?” The stallion said half listening. Luna watched as he knocked against the rock.
“Where is your home?” She said slowly, “I see no structures around us, just trees and rocks.”
“Ohhh why didn’t you say so, you young people and your damn lingo, let me just check.” He leaned down to a rock and much to Luna's consternation, began to pick the moss on top of it.
“What are you doing?” She asked not for the first time.
“Ain’t it obvious?” he said, swishing his mouth as though the moss was a fine wine. “Yep, I knew it, we’re here.”
Luna looked around. Again seeing nothing but giant tree trunks and rock faces. This time making sure none of them had teeth attached to them. Bucky walked forwards towards what looked like sheer rocks, then she spotted a tiny sliver of a crack about as wide as a plank of wood and the horrible realisation dawned on her.
“You call a cave your home?” She said almost jokingly, praying that he was just playing ‘the prank.’ On her as sister would do.
“Mine? Nah!” He said as Luna let out a sigh of relief, it was quickly squashed when he added, “I don’t own the cave, I’m just renting it, you think I can afford a cave of my own in this economy?”
“Who in Tatarus do you rent a cave from?” Luna asked, unable to help herself.
“Oh Mrs Sternpaw, don’t let the name fool you as landlords go, she's pretty sweet, she even lets me use it when she’s hibernating.”
“Hibernating…Wait, your renting it from a bea-“
“-Come on, no time to dally, got things to do. Sky don’t revolve around you, lady.” He said moving into the slither of rock.
Luna glanced around the edges of the cave, from one rock mouth to another she thought bitterly, “Fields above protect me.” She said, then moved into it. Luna just barely squeezed into the gap, her wings pressed tightly to her sides as the gap seemed to envelop her like a hungry mouth. She felt the cub's claws tighten on her mane and for once felt a pang of empathy for it. Neither of them seemed to like where this was going.
“Hello, where art thou?” Luna asked, she could not see Bucky anymore, only the oppressive darkness in the cave. The stallion had gone sauntering inside and she could hear nothing save the dripping of the water from stalactites and the soft clipping of her hooves.
“Hail Bucky,” she said, “where art thou. We swear if thou doth not answer then we shall-.”
There was a moment of utter silence as Luna seriously considered turning back when finally she heard a voice echoing off the walls.
“The light.”
“W-What?” She said voices all around her,
“The light, find the light.”
Luna tried to back away but felt her flank pressing against only rocks. “What light, what light!”
“The light, the light, the light.”
Luna back hit the wall she grabbed at the cub pulling her towards her chest and stared at the utter darkness until finally another voice sounded almost next to her ear.
“You deaf I said the light!”
Luna didn’t scream, she was not a screamer and of course she never would be. But she supposed that if anyone were to hear her at that moment at that exact time, what they would have heard coming from her mouth could, possibly given a thousand monkeys and a thousand typewriters and if the stars themselves aligned could have been interpreted as something close to a girlish wail.
But obviously she would deny that until her dying breath.
“Geez,” Bucky grimaced hoof to his ears. “You make it a habit of yelling every time you get lured into a cave by a total stranger.” Luna, who was catching her breath (for no reason in particular) rounded on the old stallion, but he was already back into the darkness, his voice echoing off the cave walls, “just hit the light will you.”
“You want us to hit… light?” Clearly the stallion was more insane than she had thought.
“Just put your hoof on the left wall, No not there, to your left, stage left, starboard. No my left, a little, no down.”
“We have hit all of the wall, what do you want-“ Her hoof clicked against some piece of stone, she gasped as fire exploded into life across the stones, lighting the cave.
Dozens of braziers roared into life, engulfing the cave in a sea of warm orange lighting. Luna gasped as she realised she had stepped into an enormous honeycomb cavin, going up and curving into little alcoves, giving the cave an almost chiselled dome effect. It was huge, perhaps even bigger than her throne room. What was more amazing though was that it had all the furnishings of a home.
Luna spotted a kitchen, bedrooms, balconies, there was even a slide going around the dome ending right by her hooves.
“What is this place?” She said, staring in wonder at it all.
“My cave, duh.” He said dismissively. “Now, were you raised in a barn? You had better have wiped your hooves before you came in, lady.” Bucky trotted towards what looked like a table made from stone that could have fit at least twenty ponies. On it sat a candelabra, table cloth and cutlery and dishes all also made from stone.
Luna strode forwards mouth open as she surveyed a room that despite being made entirely of stone wouldn’t have looked out of place in the palace. “Did you make all this?”
“You see anyone else?” He said, then looked around the hall, “seriously, I can’t find him, Socks old buddy, you here?”
Luna blinked then also began looking around. She hadn’t detected anyone else since she had stepped into the cavern. She needed no magic for that, detecting enemies in the darkened corner of a room was a royal sixth sense; those it hadn’t passed down to usually didn’t last too long. She took a step back towards the entrance just in case, horn aimed like a spear.
“Thou do not live in this cave alone?” She said with suspicion.
“What, no of course not, I’d go mad,” he said with a grin no sane pony could produce. “Just me and Seriously Socks.”
Luna stopped backing away just long enough to go, “thou shelters with some pony called Seriously Socks?”
“What, no. His name is Cotton Socks. But every time I say his name for some reason everypony says, Seriously soc-“
“-So thou has been trying to ambush me all along then” she yelled looking around the cavern, “Cometh then Socks show thine self, we shall have no clandestine spies around our person.” Luna felt something knock against her back hoof. She spun round and spotted what looked like a coconut with a potted plant sticking out from it. It rolled over revealing a crudely painted smiling face on one side
“Ahh, Socks, there you are, stop being rude.” The stallion said, scooping the coconut up. “Sorry lady, he's shy like that. Hard to trust, bad break up you see.” He whispered away from the coconut.
Luna rubbed her tired bloodshot eyes, really she should have seen something like this coming. This stallion was truly mad. “Well, this has been most fascinating and all, but now we really must be going.” She said, quickly realising that the horrors of the forest were nothing compared to the strangeness before her.
“What, at night in your condition. You’ll be minced meat.” He bulked.
“We shall be fine,” Luna scoffed, she turned “our hooves are far stronger than gah.” Luna felt something tap her leg and she buckled under, nearly going head first into the floor. She turned teeth bared and saw Bucky holding a cane where her front hooves had been. “You were saying?”
“How dare you assult our royal person, we shall.”
“Can it lady!” Bucky said his cane an inch from Luna's nose, “You can leave, but I can’t be letting little cubs out in the woods at night with crazy young single mothers. I’d never hear the end of it from Socks.” He said, indicating to the coconut which slouched disapprovingly. “Now hurry up food’s getting cold.”
“We are not a single mother!” Luna protested, “we are just playing the part of a legal guardian, too keep up with my sister and her PR hair brained facade. Was that not obvious?”
“What’s a P.R?” Bucky said.
Luna paused hoof half up then lowered it, “Ehh, P-poison… Tester obviously.”
“Isn’t that P.T?”
“Of course you would think that.” Luna said, pointing her nose to the air. Hoping against hope he didn’t elaborate further.
They walked towards the table. Luna watched wearily as Bucky opened up an ice box, carved out of stone no less and leant in almost bodily.
“Now let’s see, something edible something edible…hmm, mouldy banana, no, huh when did I get milk? Ahh, no, no, ohh so that’s where my horseshoe went!”
Luna grimaced at the sight of ‘breakfast’ and drew the cub down from her back, “if we are slain by poison or toxins, I reluctantly bestow upon you legal citizenship to Equestria, as such tis your moral duty, under pain of death to seek swift revenge on our poisoner, doth thou understand?” She whispered to the cub.
“Hazz!” Luna watched as she giggled, pulled her tail between her legs and began chewing on the paintbrush fur on the end.
“…We shall take that as a solemn oath.” Luna said, placing her on the table and then laying her own heavy head on it. Her eyes sagging to half mast. She lazily glanced over at the cub who spat out her tail and was now playing with the stone spoons. Eyes filled with foal like curiosity. She had almost forgotten she was a griffon at points. They acted just like real foals. Playful and innocent.
It was rather… cute.
Luna rubbed her eyes, and slapped her cheeks for good measure. Fields above she was tired and that tiredness was making her think like a fool. Talking to a griffon, thinking it was the same as a pony!
She knew better than that, grandfather had taught her better, the battle at the Hightop mountains had taught her better than that. They were not cute, they were savages. Ungovernable, selfish barbarians. They could no more change their ways than a leopard could change its spots, or the day could be night.
Or a nightmare could be without her beloved Luna?
Luna opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. The room had gone dark again, no… this wasn’t like before. This wasn’t natural darkness. This was the darkness of a dream, the absence of nothingness. This was the empty space the dreaming mind didn’t fill with memories. This is the empty space where nightmares crept in.
“I knew thou were behind this, it reeks of thine theatrics, has thou run out of tainted memories to inflict on us. What doth thou want now, slave to darkness.” Luna growled at the cold void. Wondering how and when she had fallen asleep.
“Slave? Oh Luna, my beloved, you were always so dramatic, really I wasn’t born from anything except from you my dear. I am as much a part of you as a child is to their mother. As a daughter to her grandfather. I am all you needed me to be, after all the apple does not fall far from the tree.
Luna's head snapped upwards at the sound of the voice and spotted Nightmare sitting in a throne over her, suspended in the air.
“My point stands, shadow, what doth thou want?”
I am only a shadow of you, my Luna.
Luna blinked and the figure was gone. She spun round behind her and spotted the reptilian eyes staring right at her not even an inch from her face.
She leaned back, as slowly as she could, careful not to show the fear creeping into her mind. Predators fed on that.
I really have missed you.
A dark tendril curled almost playfully around Luna's cheek, she batted it away.
Oh what’s wrong, has that neurotic, despicable, tyrant mare corrupted your mind again?
“Do not speak of Twilight that way!” Luna snapped.
Nightmares fog like figure stayed there with a deadpan expression.
I was talking about Celestia.
“Oh…right.” Luna said, flushing slightly. “Get her from thine mouth as well.”
Nightmare form morphed into shadows then reformed only a few inches from Luna's muzzle, a razor sharp row of teeth gleamed into a serpent smile too big for her muzzle.
I just came to check on you, I wanted to see if my other half was okay, without my guidance, I have watched you flounder in troubled waters, I can see now that you sorely need my help.
“We need nothing nor do we want anything from you, save for you to leave our presence and ner return.” She said turning away. She gasped as a tendril wrapped around her muzzle and brought her once more face to face with Nightmare.
You don’t mean that.
The voice came out in a purr but the tone was as sharp as a razor against her ear. Nightmare slid around Luna like a snake coiling around a mouse.
Look at you. she said dismissively, flicking a lock of white mane of hair. No magic, banished from Canterlot and stuck with a little rat catcher as a daughter no less.” She shook her head, “I knew the sun wench was vindictive, but it seems there is no end to her hatred of you, to humiliate us like this.”
“There is no us!” Luna growled through clenched teeth, “She has not, she, ahh, this has nothing to do with her!” Luna snapped, but there was not the same conviction she had wanted because, well in many ways this was what her sister had done to her and she hated that Nightmare could see that.
Nightmare frowned and for a moment it looked to Luna's eyes almost genuine, I’m so sorry I’ve not been there for you. But we’re back now, and read our lips Luna, right now has never been a better chance to get our revenge, we’re sitting on a golden opportunity we’ve been waiting for.
Luna opened her eyes to deny her, but the tendrils of darkness wrapped more firmly around her muzzle, Luna, my dear sweet Luna, listen to me, we have only you in our thoughts.
“Lies,” Luna tried to mutter, she had never thought about her, she couldn’t love, she had not been made to do that. She had been made with self pity and obsession and delusion and most of a hatred. Such sickening and intoxicating hatred that it made Luna nauseous and lightheaded just to be around again.
You will listen to us, because we are doing this for you. Nightmare said, stroking her cheek, We promise to get you everything you wanted, because we want to see you happy.
Luna tried to struggle free but without her magic she was no more than a pawn in her shadows hooves. You're going to make me angry Luna. She warned, I'm doing this for you and you're being UNGRATEFUL.
Luna flinched, that voice, that voice in her mind again, so like her grandfather in its own way, it was almost identical, “You’re going to be a good mare, a dutiful mare and listen to-“
She paused as a blob of something hit Nightmare's nose, Nightmare looked up, they both did. She took the droplet and sniffed, What is… is that…foal food?
Another droplet hit the ground then again until it was almost raining the sticky brown goo. What is going on, the fool is doing this again, isn’t it?
Luna watched the sky, the darkness parting slightly. She didn’t know what this fool was, but something about it told her this wasn’t it’s doing. But something far more familiar, before she could guess exactly what or who was doing it. The answer hit her directly in the face.
Literally.
Luna blinked, looking up from the floor, she grimaced clutching the back of her head. A sticky sensation dropped down her muzzle she put her hoof to it and brown fruity smelling slime.
“You ain’t dead is ya?” A voice above her called.
She lifted herself up off the floor, just in time to duck as another ball of brown slime flew across the table, missing her white mane by centimetres.
She turned from the stain and back to the offender. The cub was sitting in a high chair made out of stone. Surrounded and covered almost head to tail in the same brown substance.
“Okay” Bucky said, turning back towards the cub. “One more time now, here comes the amusing metal aerodynamic winged bird, come to dock in the little beaky.” He said, making a sound like the buzzing of a rather angry hive as he moved the spoon down to the cub's beak.
“Huzz!” The cub said looking at Luna just as Bucky got the spoon into her mouth. “Ahh, yes, one to me, one thousand to you, eat that.” He said with a cheer as the cub swallowed and clapped her claws together happily.
“What is going on?” Luna groaned.
“Huh?” Bucky said, barely glancing up as he got another spoonful of the slime from the tiny jar. “Oh good, Thought you were dead, you fell asleep right on the table, then you fell over, thought I was going to perform CPR again.”
“Again,” Luna said, palling as she brought a hoof to her mouth. “You didn’t…”
“Me, no I’m not the one with a first aid licence. That’s Sock's job.” He said, flicking a goopy spoon in the direction of the coconut that slumped sideways suggestively.
“What is this substance?” Luna said, only just noticing the goo splattered across her muzzle.
“Don’t know,” he said reading the jar, “My Little Hatchlings first feed,” he narrowed his eyes, “contains all the perfect vitamins, minerals and cricket legs for a growing young hatchling.”
Luna's eyes widened as she glanced at the goo and deleted the last few words from her mind for the sake of her sanity.
Bucky grinned at Luna's expression, “it’s not so bad…is it?” he said as he gingerly licked the spoon, “see it’s, oh the after taste isn’t… wow that really…” His eyes began to water as he gagged, “oh my days, it’s poison!” He gave a dry heave and began to scrape his tongue. “Oh hell, that was, never again, I can’t… actually.”
He glanced sideways at the spoon and gingerly licked it again, “…actually if you get past the awful taste, it’s kind of moorish.”
Luna ignored the grisly spectacle in front of her and instead turned to the giggling cub who was now more goo than feathers. “And what happened to her?” Luna asked.
“Huzz,” the ball of goo giggled.
“I was feeding her, obviously.” Bucky said credulous, “you can thank me anytime now, I take a single deadbeat mother into my cave and feed her cub and this is the thanks I get.”
“We are not her mother, and will thou stop going on about us being without a mate we have plenty of potential suitors, too many to pick from” She lied.
“Please, yeah right, you give off too much single mother energy, you practically scream I don’t need no partner, I’m a strong independent mare.” Bucky said with a sagely nod, “isn’t that right?” He said, turning to the goo in the high chair.
“Chirp.” The little hatchling said, sucking on the baby food around her paint tip tail.
“Ha, I couldn't have put it better myself.” Bucky chucked.
“For the final time, We are not her mother!”
“Father then, look I don’t judge these days.” He said dismissively.
“Oh forget thee.” Luna spat, too tired to argue. “Where did you even get this food from?”
“Where do you think, From the river of course, washes up all sorts of things, food, sticks with points on the ends, armour and swords.”
“Armour and what?” Luna said, sitting up, “from where?”
“Don’t know, didn’t ask.” He said with all seriousness, “Buut if you are asking me, I’d say the river comes from the mountains.”
“There’s a village up in the mountains?” Luna asked.
“Someone’s up there, whole lot of someone’s.”
“And you never went to look?”
“Why,” Bucky laughed, “I’m living the bachelor's dream, don’t need someone cramping my style ain’t that right Socks?”
Luna's eyes flickered in thought. If that was the case, if things came from upriver, then that meant civilization, that meant finding ponies and a way out of this stinking Tatarus infused jungle.
Luna grabbed onto Bucky's shoulders, snapping him from his talk with the coconut. “Take me there.” She demanded.
“Wow, are you crazy,” said the pony with the coconut companion, “you can’t go outside now, you’re covered in food and it’s dark, you wouldn’t last five minutes.”
“Nonsense.” Luna said, “I’m as fit as a fiddle.”
“You just passed out on my table.”
“We are royal, we pass out where we please, tis part of our charm.” She said dismissively, “Our uncle twice removed was famous for passing out in every tavern he ever visited.”
Bucky and Socks shared a look, “Well, you might be alright, but what about her?” He said looking at the cub who was falling asleep, tail still in her beak. “She could do with a bath at least.”
“We have no time, we must make contact and look for our companions. We cannot wait around and… wait did you say bath, you have a bath?”
“Course I do, how do you think I maintain this careful level of grooming?” Luna glanced at the encrusted dirt around his hooves and flank and then at the spider that scurried back up into his beard.
“One can only wonder…”
“Come on, you ain’t doing no one any harm, little one needs a good night's sleep.”
Luna pursed her lips, it was true she was practically blind in the dark without her powers and she really did not want to carry a cricket covered cub all the way up a mountain. Her pride could only take so much.
She also couldn’t risk blacking out again, not in the forest, and also she was beginning to suspect that that woeful smell assaulting her nostrils was coming from somewhere on her own person.
She pursed her lips as she saw the little chick slumping over on her side, eyes half shut. “Fine, we suppose she is only little, lead the way.”
Luna followed the stallion towards the back of the cave, holding the cub at arms length as bits of baby food dripped from every part of the cub onto the floor. She looked back at the old madman hoping for a distraction from the sensation of cricket that was seeping into her fur.
“So Mr Bucky, just how long have you lived alone in this-“
“I ain’t alone,” he said looking up at the coconut on his back.
“Oh of course…how silly of us.” Luna said with an uneasy smile, “how long have you and ehh, Mr Socks been in this cave.”
This caused the old stallion some consternation. “Hmm let’s see now I had a Callander somewhere.” He looked over at a cave wall, there was a tally of scratches on it. Actually it was all scratches. Every single inch of the wall was covered in white lines to the point that it was almost impossible to see which part wasn’t white.
“Now we’re these marks for days or weeks?” He asked, rubbing his beard with a hoof.
“Chirp?”
“Ha, you're welcome to try little one.” He said back.
Luna flicked her gaze from the cub to the old stallion, “You understand her?” She asked incredulously.
“You don’t?” He said with equal surprise. “Infants are easy to understand, they don’t lie, they just tell it how it is.”
Luna doubted that logic was sound but still felt curious to ask, “So, what is she saying?”
“Well, right now, she’s happy,” he glanced at the cub and added, “but…”
“Oh…well good for her we suppose…what do you mean but?”
Bucky's beard formed a deep frown as he said, “Oh her stomach feels funny.”
Luna blinked, looking down at the cub in her hooves. A strange faint flutter of panic danced in her chest as she examined her, “What, did that awful food have-“
Before Luna could finish the little cub let out a burp that reverberated through the very halls, bouncing off the walls until it was almost an orchestra unto itself. It grew louder and louder until the sound flung out from the cave itself sending a flock of startled bats flapping into the night.
“Cheep.” The cub said a moment later after the noise finally died away. Tail swaying happily.
“And now she’s back to being just happy again.” Bucky said with a grin. “See, infants are simple.”
Luna sighed and continued on.
It didn’t take long for Luna's mind to ruminate onto other matters. She was still playing catch up with the information presented to her. Nightmare was free and she wanted something from her. Nothing strange in that department. But she said something about a golden opportunity. What had she meant by that, also how had she managed to stay free after she had been purged from her.
This was a dangerous situation, regardless of what she was planning, Luna wasn’t able to access the dreamscape which meant that Nightmare had control of it. Nothing good could come from such a spiteful malicious form having that much power.
Luna gasped as she bumped into the back of Bucky. Blinking, she stared puzzled at a set of rock carved doors. “Why have we stopped?” She asked then watched him open the doors to reveal one of the most beautiful moon pools she had ever seen in her life.
cracks of pale moon light danced naked across the ripping blue surface. Gentle wisps of smoke drew up hauntingly across the room promising heat and comfort with their beckoning spectral strands.
Luna's gaze drew from the mosaic floor to the gentle waterfall flowing in the corner all the while she tried and failed to collect her jaw off of the floor.
“Well,” Bucky said, “ain’t much I know, but anyway, hot taps on the left, cold taps on the right, don’t touch the three seashells, no idea what they do and I don’t plan on finding out.”
“Hang on a moment, where did you, how did you, how is there a heated pool here?”
“What, you think? Just because I live in a cave in the middle of a death forest, I can’t have a heated pool, with bubbles and soap.”
Luna gave him a deadpan glare. “Well… yes?”
“Oh right because you're saying I can’t afford it, caveism at its finest ladies and gentleman, can you believe this, Serious Socks?” The coconut on his back slumped disapprovingly.
“Nevermind.” She sighed.
“Big government bourgeoisie noble lady come to bully the little people. Next you're going to tell me I can’t have massage chairs, loot things from other ponies or I need planning permission to build my summer cave.”
Luna watched the muttering stallion as he left, glad to see him go. Finally she was alone, alone with her thoughts and free to relax. Then she felt something climb off her back and brush her back hoof. She glanced down to see the cub clutching her leg and waving at the stallion.
Oh right, of course she wasn’t alone. Also when had she learned to wave? Well, it was a foal, in a way, she supposed even they had to learn.
Still it would be much easier now, wash off this stink from both of them and then have a nice long relaxing bath.
Twenty minutes later
“Come on, you little pheasant, I thought you birds loved baths.” She said as she tried to once again lower the cub into the water. The cub gave a squawking protest and scurried up Lunas neck, quivering as she hissed at the water.
It was no use, it was like trying to wrestle a snake, one moment she was solid then when Luna tried to put her near the water she would become almost jelly in her hooves. She really was a cat.
“Do not be silly.” Luna grunted as she tried to fish the shaking cub off her head. “You are getting in the bath, I will not travel with a mangy beast covered in foal mush, now get in!” She snapped, grabbing behind her for the little griffon.
She made one final grab for the cub but was too slow, the hatchling launched herself off, flapping her tiny wings as she landed in a run and dived underneath a rock carved table.
“Fine, stay under there, see if we care!” She yelled,
Turning her nose up at the whole situation, “should have known, your kind would not actually care for baths, no wonder you all have that beastial smell about you.”
She turned back towards the gently rippling water, ridding the cub from her mind. She forced a smile onto her face which became quickly genuine as the warm lapping water tickled her fur. A comforting sense of normality flooded her mind as she let out an audible sigh.
She strode in almost at a march, relishing the heat undoing all the ache, pains and grime as they slipped away from her mind and body, literally in some cases.
“Oh tis just what we needed.” She moaned. She let herself float in the pool, forelegs extended in a starfish like shape.
She let minutes go by as she let the water soak into her tired bones then glanced back at the table. She could see the amber eyes of the cub looking at her curiously, head half cocked.
Luna looked back up at the ceiling. It didn’t matter to her, let her lick herself clean for all she cared. But then again, was she not only an infant, she wondered if she might get sick. It would not do to have to care for the creature whilst she was perhaps the only one with it.
She had been helpful, without her magic, she had been unable to detect the creatures. But the cub had seen all of them. She had heard that the eyes of the griffons were amazing things, all animals had their skills, from whales to beatles, even bar musicians, though nobody could quite work out what it was. Certainly not music, even alcohol could not make that listenable.
She would give it another few minutes, just another couple and then she would try again, just… a… few
Finally it’s rude to keep us waiting you know!
Luna opened her eyes, she was in the pool. But now she was floating on top of it. She glanced down at her reflection she saw herself, but instead with the razor sharp teeth beaming back at her in a crocodile grin. If nightmare was looking for a reaction. This time Luna was not about to give her one. “Thou must be proud of thyself for that lazy metaphor.”
We work with the tools we have.
The reflection of Nightmare shrugged and the water morphed itself upwards and into the shape of her. Luna watched with barely veiled contempt. “We grow tired of this charade Nightmare.”
Oh Luna, you used to love our inventiveness.
“Vindictiveness thou mean?”
Tomato, tomato. But we also appreciate that you have never been one to wait. Your impatience was what got you into a lot of trouble the last time Lulu
“Do not call us that!” Luna snapped, feeling sickened by the creature's use of the intimate nickname her sister had given her. She regretted showing the emotion almost instantly as she watched the creature's smile grew more smug. Nightmare bowed mockingly.
We shall be frank then, have you considered our offer?
“What offer, like always you promised us everything as you often do, lying about victories that you cannot achieve. You are a busted flush, a braggart.”
Do not forget who made you!
Luna smirked as Nightmare drew back her jagged snarl forcing itself into an almost painful looking smirk.
Listen…my Luna, I know we have had our hardships, but let us not let hot tempers stifle what we want now, let us not forget the pain of what we lost.
Luna folded her forelegs against her chest. “Perhaps there was a time when I felt sorrow for having wasted all that energy on nothing more than petty vanity. But unlike you I learned tis pointless to lament what one should have done, tis like waiting for presents one did not receive last heartwarming, tis what one does in the present that matters.”
Very well then, if for now you won’t listen to what I can offer. Perhaps let us run down your present predicament, shall we?
“We would rather you didn’t, but you’re going to anyway aren-“
-You’re alone, you're without your power, you're stuck in a foreign land where everything including the plants are trying to kill you.”
Luna wanted to argue, but then she remembered that venus flytrap that took the tip of her tail off just a few nights ago and decided to keep her muzzle shut.
Your companions are nowhere to be found, and we both know the hour glass on their lives runs thin. None of them could survive even a fifth of what you’ve been through.
Again Luna was silent. She agreed with Nightmare but it never paid to let one's enemies know that.
But worst of all, you're stuck with a burden you can’t get rid of can you?
“We govern an entire country-“
-Your sister does.
“We govern an entire country, what makes you think babysitting some overgrown little hen for a few days is something I would consider even the slightest of burdens.”
Because, you're not governing her for a few days. You're going to shoulder her burden for the rest of your life.
Luna scoffed, but the words where hard to shake
off. Deep down she knew what Nightmare was talking about. That creature was her daughter by law. That ment that her children and her children’s children would be her own princes and princesses of Equestria. Even if the line ended there would be a branch connecting Luna to those creatures for all time.
Her name was already in the mud, could she really take anymore of this? Could she really be a hypocrite? What would her grandfather think of her when she finally went to the Great Plains above?
I see you have already considered it yourself.
“What of it,” Luna snapped, “we have weathered worse, if we could weather what you have done to us, we shall weather this as well.”
What we did, are you saying you had no part in our grand plan?
Luna bared her teeth, but hesitated, sickened by it that she was, again Nightmare was right, she had fostered that hate. She was every bit as guilty. Nightmare slithered forwards her hoof grazing Luna's cheek.
Don’t fret, child, my little Luna. Why must you always have to suffer for others, under your grandfather's shadow and your sister's stifling ambition. You created us in your time of need. Your desperation, your longing.
Her hatred, her vanity, her self obsession. Luna added mentally. Moving her face away from the hoof.
We have an idea, something that will get you out of this mess, we know a way home but better than that. We know a way to get this creature gone for good.
This time Luna stepped forward, a snarl of her own, “Do not take my dislike of them as something vile. If you think we would do harm to an infant, just because they are a griffon then-“
As always you think too small, of course we wouldn’t do harm to a child, we LOVE Children.
Luna's skin crawled at the words, Nightmare loved nobody but herself.
Besides it wouldn’t work, if the child went missing, that would just look, well… bad. But if the child came home with you, maybe in a few years when the cub grew into a lioness and perhaps caused a scandal too ugly to be ignored and had to be cut from your lineage. Then you wouldn’t be at fault would you, if anything you would be vindicated in our belief that they were mindless savages?
Again another shiver went down Luna's spine. “What are you saying?”
Simple, let me mentor her as I did you, let me mould her, guide her. Let me do for her what I did for you so many years ago and as a reward, I will ensure that you will not be burdened with her forever. You will be free.
Luna's eyes widened, the idea of the hate and aching loneliness she had felt on her moon given freely to another creature, griffon or not made her sick. “thou art insane.”
We art practical, we art realistic. Would you like to live forever with this shame hanging over our household, letting you sister trample over the last vestiges of your good name you have left? Have you lost what is left of your pride by all the green in the field's! Think clearly Luna, stand up for yourself for Tatrus’s sake!
Luna felt the words like a shot. Her brow furrowed in deep concentration. It sounded almost like her grandfather at the end there. “And what will you do with this freedom?” The smile that answered was almost wider than her face.
Isn’t it obvious…nothing. We will go on our way, we will guide this cub, teach her, we are a helpful sort like that. Perhaps we will carve a little kingdom of our own in the griffon empire, who knows? After all, there are many ways to achieve the victory we want. But if you say yes, then we won’t have to be so creative. We can win the war you wanted all those years ago, right now.
Luna's eyes widened, “What do you mean win the war?”
We shall let you figure it out, when you do, we will be there to guide you as we always have, think carefully about our deal. But not too long, we won’t ask so kindly again after this.
Nightmare looked up over Luna's shoulder and then down at Luna and frowned.
Ahh, again? It seems someone wishes to butt into our little heart to heart. Well, we have said all you will willingly hear so we shall see you very soon my little Luna.
Luna blinked, then turned to where Nightmare was staring. Luna turned back just in time to hear the wicked cackling of Nightmare then a shadow passed over her and a giant wave came crashing down towards her and engulfed her entirely.
Luna coughed as water splashed across her face. She flailed until she was standing upright, peeling her soaking wet Snow White mane draped across her face as she lifted herself upright and glared around the pool.
“*cough* -what, who dares- *cough*?”
She glanced around and spotted nothing. No one was in the room but her. The cub was gone, she wasn’t behind the bench and she wasn’t by the water. She glanced around then saw a little claw sink below the water.
“Oh by the fields!” Luna yelled, without even thinking she dived into the water, a moment later she resurfaced, cub clutched to her chest as she swam to shallow water. Instinctively she began patting the cubs back until she heard coaching against her ear.
“What in Tartarus is wrong with you, do you know how dangerous that was!” She yelled, panic taking over any anger she felt. “Are thou a fool!”
The cub looked at her eyes wide, matted with water, tail curled between her legs and began to whimper, then began to cry. Lina watched the shivering cub in her hooves, her heart beating in her eardrums. Anger melted into Guilt at the sight of the infant in her hooves who was clearly just scared.
A flash of something flickered in her mind. A memory almost two thousand five hundred years old of herself crying, merely an infant, and a figure smelling of a cold winter night picking her up and holding her against his chest. Her father, night black fur and soft golden eyes.
The memory made her swallow hard and again almost without thought as she had done for days now. She held the cub close to her chest like he had done. This time her patting was replaced with a soft cooing.
“We are sorry, that was…that was wrong of us to yell.” She said as the crying cub slowly began to sniffle out. Luna felt the cub clutching onto her fur and despite the claws and the snot, which she chose to ignore she felt relieved more than anything.
She pulled her away from her inspecting her little shaking body and in a softer chiding voice she said. “We cannot leave thee be for nay, five minutes without mortal peril it seems, what is it they say about curiosity and cats?” She manoeuvred a fallen feather from the cub's eyes and frowned.
“Cheep.” The cub said, clutching onto one of her white locks.
“Yes, we have heard that one before.” Luna said sardonically. Unlike Bucky, she could not understand the cub. But based on the water marks at the side of the pool edge which had otherwise been dry before she had fallen asleep, she could deduce what had happened.
Why that cub was so obsessed with her or her mane was anyone’s guess. No she knew the answer she had seen in her dreams had she not. A spinning mobile of stars.
They were perhaps more similar than she had thought, both it seemed had only a hoof full of memory of their patients and neither of them were particularly fond memories.
She glanced down at the cub in her hooves. What had they said, only a year old? Without a home or a family. So young, too young. What had taken her parents so viciously. To attack a village like that. That would have been tantamount to a war crime even back in her time.
To do something now, well it took a level of hatred that Luna was sadly familiar with.
Luna sighed, watching as the cub made a mewing grabbing motion, Luna rolled her eyes and brought the cub back towards her chest. She might not have liked griffons at all. But she wasn’t cruel enough to let some little child go without comfort after something so traumatising.
Not when she knew what that had felt like.
She leaned back against the pool edge as her own heart rate slowed, she heard splashing noises and glanced down at the cub who was watching the water with a suspicious glare. Her little claw moved through the water before moving away.
“Doth thou fear the water?” She asked.
“Huzz.” The cub responded, holding onto her chest like a life raft. Luna winced at the feeling of the nails, her skin instinctively crawling at the touch. But she let herself calm down with a long slow breath. Another memory flashing to the forefront of her mind.
“Tis funny,” she said, glancing towards the rippling water, “we too had a similar fear when we were a foal.” She glanced down at the cub who was buried in her fur, “We had feared the lake by our castle, we heard stories from a noble stallions foal of a great kraken that made its dwelling at the bottom.” Which was true, his name was Jeffrey but that was a story for a different time.
“We would dare ourselves to move closer towards it, but we would never step into the water. It became a game to the foals and I. But unlike them, I began to truly fear, we knew of the boundless depth of the dreamscape even then and unused to our powers the water seemed like a living manifestation of it. A depth of monsters and the unknown right by our own hooves.” She held the dripping water in her hoof towards the cub who watched it with fearful childlike curiosity. “It came to a head one day when, in play one of the older foals pushed us into the water.” She said splashing the pool for effect.
The cub flinched but looked back instantly, eyes feverishly watching her. Which brought a more sincere smile to her lips. “T’would Have been a most uncomfortable experience in itself, if I could swim…I could not.”
She sighed, “twas grandfather and father that lifted me from the water. I began to weep and father brought me to his bosom, like you now.” She said, giving the cub a playful squeeze eliciting a startled giggle.
“My first memory of my grandfather was of that moment,” she said with a smile, “he had just come back from the war with the zebras and had witnessed my cowardice. I remember him taking us to the edge of the lake and do you know what he said, “no kin of mine shall live in fear, tis better face than to live with the fear of it.” She said in a voice aping her grandfather, “And then to the shock of all, Grandfather, still in his full regalia, he put me on his back and dived into the water with us.”
As she said this she slowly submerged herself into the water, with the cub still at her chest until both were at shoulder height, the cub began shaking and scurried towards her but Luna gently but firmly held her still. “Shh,” she said as placating As she could. “You are not in danger, tis all in your mind.” She said parroting what her grandfather had told her all those years ago.
She held the cub up in the water by her little stomach, instinctively the cub kicked and thrashed, but slowly, slowly her movements began to normalise, her thrashing turned to strokes in the water.
“There, you see, fear is only of the mind.” She said with a gentle laugh, “that is exactly what we did as well,” she smiled at the memory. Grandfather had been a lot less strict back when she was that small. Back when her father, his son had still been around.
Luna caught herself frowning trapped in her brooding thoughts. So much so she didn't even notice when her hoof felt suddenly lighter. She gasped looking down and saw that the cub was gone. She turned, heart in her throat she spun again at the sound of giggling and caught sight of the little hatchling doggy paddling around behind her.
“How did…” she said astonished, “thou art truly a fast learner.”
“Huzz.” She said swimming towards Luna who caught her in her hooves.
“Wait… are you trying to say Huzzah?”
“Huzz.”
Luna sputtered into a laugh, “not like that, one must say it with gusto. Like…Huzzah!”
“Huzz-ah.” The cub said slowly, her yellow eyes looking up at her.
“Yes, like that, but more feeling, like the feeling one gets when they charge into the front rank of an enemy or fools a rival into total submission. Like this, HUZZAH!” She shouted up at the rooftops.
“Huz- Huz-”
“Yes-yes.”
“Huzz-Huzzah!”
“Yes, again,”
“Huzzah.” The cub gave an infantile giggle, claws clapping.
“Good, good, that’s more like it, from the chest now.”
“Huzzah.” She said again, still giggling.
Luna lifted her up into the air, “yes, Huzzah indeed, thou has mastered it.” She laughed long and loudly, then as her eyes opened and she paused. Something in her peripherals made her stop, not a monster or a nightmare, but a reflection in the water, she caught herself in the water. The sight of it made her breath catch.
For a moment she saw her grandfather holding her in the air, smiling at her. Then she blinked and saw a night blue Alicorn holding a little griffon in the air, the same smile on her face as he had. A teacher and a pupil, a daughter and her guardian.
The sight of that reflection for that greatest of moments before the water rippled and the image was gone sent a wave of excitement and terror as she simply stood there in the cave submerged in a pool of lapping water.