//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Moon and the Caterpiller // by Dreyaz Laartii //------------------------------// Day 6 New Moon The forest was quiet. Deep in the Everfree’s endless expanse, upon the very top of an extinct volcano the changlings made their nest, a queen rose above her subjects on mighty wings of bone and green flame, covered now in armor of the same bones that gave her flight. Now easily thrice her previous height, her minions stared in awe at their transfigured queen, basking in the immense power flowing from her like jade sun. Green flames covered the queen, and licked at the ground. Her eyes glowed white with the magic pouring out of her, and still changing her from within. She alighted upon the high peak overlooking the caldera that she had used in the past to address her subjects as a whole. The moon was absent, and the stars were her backdrop. “MY CHILDREN!” her voice said, as it boomed out across the mountain slope and beyond. “YOUR QUEEN HAS BEEN GIVEN A NEW GIFT, A NEW LIFE FROM THE LUNAR DEMON! BY OUR POWERS COMBINED, WE NEED NO LONGER HIDE IN THE SHADOWS, NOR FEAR THE DECAYING POWERS OF A RAGGED, DYING HOUSE OF USURPERS!” A cheer erupted briefly, and she continued. “ON THIS NIGHT, WE MARCH ON CANTERLOT, NOT AS PARASITES, NOT AS HUNTERS, BUT AS FREE PEOPLE! AT LONG LAST HAS YOUR QUEEN’S HUNGER BEEN SATED, AND FROM HER WILL SHALL COME THE MEANS OF OUR SALVATION! AND OUR DELIVERENCE FROM THIS EXILE!!!” Another massive roar of the crowd erupted, as before her tens of thousands stood zealously before their queen, as opposed to the handful that had comprised the failed covert invasion force. “OUR TIME HAS COME AT LONG LAST, AFTER THESE HUNDREDS OF GENERATIONS SPURNED BY THOSE WHO WOULD CALL US OUR BETTERS! AT THIS TIME, AT THIS PLACE, I CALL UPON US TO RISE UP FOR GLORIOUS WAR! FOR UPON THIS NIGHT THE MOON AND SUN WILL FALL, AND THE RIVERS SHALL RUN RED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE ENEMY! WE NEED HIDE NO LONGER, FOR WE. ARE. FREEEE!!!” A sound not unlike the fiercest of storms blasted forth into the night as the whole of her kingdom roared with elation and fury, and with her signal, they flew up and off into the night. It was at this point that Eagle Eye, Royal Scout of the Equestrian Paramilitary devision, had the spell of the Queen’s galvanizing speech broken, as he saw all the changelings…all of them…covered in full battle armor, magic enhancing runes, and wielding very sharp looking weapons. Feeling a pressure release in his hindquarters as he just realized he had voided his bowels, he set off on very shaky legs to write his report and send it directly through the princesses. He did not expect they would be pleased with the new intelligence he had gleaned. Celestia heard a familiar pop above her head, and it was with some dread that she recognized the seal as that of the Royal Scouts, not that of her beloved student. Unfurling the scroll, she her eyes widened, and she fell over promptly on her behind. After dropping the scroll, she took a moment to process the enormity of the problem. Equestria didn’t have anywhere near the number of active military personnel combat such an…overwhelming invading force. They had all assumed that Chrysalis’s army had consisted entirely of the contingent that had been more than sufficient to subdue the castle after a short battle. Had it not been for Cadence’s timely intervention, all would have been lost. But this… She raced downstairs, sensing her sister nearby several floors down. She was looking at the window in the throne room that had been dedicated to Cadance and Shining Armor’s defeat of Chrysalis. “Sister.” Luna turned towards her, snapping out of whatever reverie she had been in. “This situation is more dire than we could have imagined. Come to the vaults downstairs with me, there is something that must be uncovered. Luna gulped nervously, and nodded. “Lead the way, Tia.” The vaults were where numerous magical artifacts, the national treasury, and ancient tomes and totems of such age and unknown power that they were sealed away for safe-keeping, and were only able to be opened at the direct behest of the princesses, with one of them present at all times. It was also where creatures too powerful to be put down or banished were held prisoner, including the final resting place of Discord’s statue. Luna’s wing held onto her sister, as she was terrified of this place. Massive vaulted ceilings of metals whose creation were now lost to ponykind held up the entire weight of the castle almost effortlessly, without the aid of magic. Massive doors covered the walls to their left and right, and Celestia passed them all, each more menacing than the last. Then, on the ninth door to the end, she turned, and inserted her horn to open the lock. Luna could not read the strange lettering above any of the doors, and she believed that the same was true for her sister, although she knew what lay behind each of the doors. A deep groan echoed through the vast underbelly of the castle as the huge door’s locks turned, fell open, and the double doors opened before them. A long hallway lay out before them, and purple magical flames lit upon the torches that lined the path before them. “Follow me, Luna. The lock at the end was made to be opened only by our father; I know the spell key, as it was given to me by Mother prior to her departure. But the power it requires is far more than what I alone can being to bear, and I will need you for this.” Luna nodded, and followed her down the passageway. Sagittarius narrowed his eyes. He had received the scout’s report and a forward by Celestia, detailing the severity of how badly outnumbered they were, and the necessity of what ultimately had to follow. If he still had his magic, it would have been himself tasked with the responsibility of leading the nation into war, something he himself would have approached very differently than what Celestia had planned. Tinkering with super-weapons like the Mask of Velae or the Singularity were foalhardy, and it was terrifying to even consider what would happen if things got out of their control. He had been responsible with locking away many totems of dark arcana, and had not understood what their grandfather, Emperor Orion, who had united the country under a single banner, decided not to destroy ever last one of the vile things. Celestia had chosen to utilize the Adderhenge, one of the few remaining things left from the world before this one. As best he understood it, it was an altar of sorts his grandfather had actually built the vaults around, and laid the foundations of what would become Canterlot upon. The Adderhenge was a stone circle of megaliths stacked around a strange altar, which held a bottomless well into which offerings were dropped. The stones were carved intricately with a huge variety of magical inscriptions and arrays. But the alter itself was covered transmudae so miniscule, they could only barely be seen with the naked eye. It was impossible that such detail could be carved so delicately into metal by magic or technology of any known means, so it had remained a mystery for quite some time until the day Orion and his son, Taranis, laid the blood offering of the remains of Taranis’s stillborn daughter into the well. Nopony knew what would happen, but in an instant, every rune on the entire structure had activated, glowing fiercely with an orange glow. The court wizards had come to watch what would transpire, and they were astonished at what they now saw. Instead of either of them, one who called himself Aven-Sol now stood in their place. The two had seamlessly merged into a single creature of almost infinite power, and was far more than the sum of his parts. Orion controlled the heavens, the power of gravity and realm of dreams and chaos. Taranis controlled the skies and the weather, lightning and magic, which had been the sole domain of the alicorns. Unicorns had telekinetic control over their environment, and it was Aven-Sol who recognized that the entire race was capable of the same magic he and his alicorn kind commanded. While he no longer bore physical traits of either one, he had the memories of both, and seemed to have been crafted from the better aspects of both of them. He bore his children, Celestia and Luna without any problem from his wife, and they had been powerful enough to take full control of the sun and the moon at a very early age. The Adderhenge also had borne over the years such strange things as the Cord of the Elements, the Malediction of Croisis, and…the Nightmare. While a few artifacts or nothing at all were given back from the well, more often than not when the runes activated whatever foolish pony or warlord that had tossed in tribute without any kind of blood had simply been obliterated by the magic of the place. The Nightmare…had emerged from the well when his crazed mother tossed in the murdered bodies of a half-dozen court mages and nobles, all alicorns, and leaving none but theirs and Aven-Sol’s bloodline as part of their race. What could Celestia and Luna possibly offer as sacrifice to that wretched place? Luna gasped and fell over. She and her sister had been trying to undo the lock that had been placed on the door at the end of the hallway they had entered to no avail. The lock was exceptionally complex, and was covered in innumerable gems and intricate spell webs and formations connecting them. In the center, three round holes surrounded a fourth, large one in the center, forming an upside-down “Y” shape. Luna and Celestia had placed their horns in the lower two slots. “It’s no use, sister; we’re simply not strong enough to open this lock. Is there not anything else in these vast dungeons that can yield us our victory?” Celestia caught her breath, and shook her head in a negative. “Alas Luna, there is not something that I can…reliably predict the outcome of using. We must try harder.” Again the two sisters poured all their formidable magic into the two slots, lighting up the gems and arcane circles on the door, and falling down again under the effort, watching hopelessly as the lights dimmed again. “It is no use. We simply are nowhere near as powerful as Father, nor can we-” “Nor can we afford to fail!” Her sister piped up angrily. “Luna, if we do not breach this last barrier, everything we have ever known and ever love will fall and burn to that…maniac! I could not stop her the last time; do you have any idea how terrified I am now that she’s possessed by that…thing?” Luna shuddered. “Celly…I think it’s time I…I told you something.” Celestia looked up at her sister, confused. “That…horrid prophecy that I had. The night-terror. I think…I think you should hear it...see it...as it bears direct connection to the…dire straits we find outselves in.” Celestia looked uneasy. “Are you certain of this? It was…quite distressing just to watch you wake up from it.” Luna closed her eyes momentarily, and opened them at her sister with fierce determination. “As much as I loathe sharing such a vile memory with you…it’s important you understand my reticence with addressing the future in regards to our aunt.” Celestia sighed, and nodded. “I can’t fault you for being afraid of sharing something like…that. But it’s absolutely necessary now. Show me.” Luna looked up at her with the same pleading face she held so long ago, and so fresh in Celestia’s mind from her dream. “It’s…really bad. But…you do need to understand it. I’ll start the memory spell.” Luna began, and Celestia right away decided that she probably would have been better off not hearing it…