Lyra was trembling with excitement. It was clear she wanted to tackle Mot like all the other thestrals she had met, but Mot, who stood a few yards above them, was out of her hug range. Silverstar noted that Mot was very clever.
Meeting one of the four great thestral clans would have excited Silverstar as well. The fact that Whisper was apparently from their clan and that Silverstar had just stumbled upon what must have been a secret area meant that they might not be very friendly.
“But I searched all over the Hadrian Mountains for you,” said Lyra. “Where were you hiding? Okay, I guess you were hiding here, but what is this place? And why didn't you come out to meet me? And also, are you ninjas?”
“Is it fair to break into a pony's home and begin demanding explanations from them?” asked Mot. “My sister will speak with you of such things, but first I must insist you tell me how you got to this place.”
Lyra and Silverstar looked at each other. “We have no idea.”
“So then you did come here by accident?” asked Mot. “I suppose this wouldn't be the first time a pony has fallen into this place without meaning to, but perhaps it is too much of a coincidence that it would happen to you.”
“We didn't just fall into this place,” Silverstar explained. “We were fighting a thestral named Whisper-”
Mot waved his hoof for her to stop. “Ah! I think I understand now. Whisper tried to assassinate Lady Heartstrings, hoping to stall contact with Equestria, and during the struggle, you fell into this place. Correct?”
“Close enough,” said Silverstar. “Do you know her? Is she from the Shadow clan?”
“Whisper is a wanted criminal. She was not acting on behalf of the Shadow clan,” said Mot. “I would like to express my strongest condemnation of her action. Whisper has made similar death threats against my sister, as well as the ponies who voted for her. Ponies who resort to such tactics have little sympathy here. I will ensure that the waypoints in Canterlot are monitored, so that she will be unable to return to the city.”
Direct confirmation that he hadn't sent Whisper was a big relief. That still didn't mean the Shadow clan would be friendly, however.
“That's good,” said Lyra. “To be honest I was a bit worried you were all crazy, violent Nightmare Moon-obsessed zealots.”
“I suppose it is common to judge a group based on its most insane pony,” said Mot. “We are hardly zealots. In fact, few of us still worship Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna at all. Still, ponies like the family Whisper was from are allowed to worship Nightmare Moon or whatever goddess they choose. Religious freedom is a very important mark of civility, is it not?”
Lyra nodded eagerly, but Silverstar was a bit taken aback by that statement.
“Did you say you don't worship Luna? But Luna created us,” she protested. “How can you not-?”
Mot signaled her to stop again, with a touch of annoyance this time.
“Now is not the time to discuss theology,” said Mot. “There is something else I need to know before I take you to my sister. Were there any other ponies left behind that may have seen you vanish?”
Silverstar wondered if it would be best to lie and say there were dozens of ponies that saw what had happened and would be suspicious if they didn't come back. Lyra wasn't as sly.
“No,” said Lyra. “It was just us.”
“Excellent,” said Mot. He seemed to notice that Silverstar was less trusting. “I'd like to assure you that you have nothing to fear from us. My sister, who is the prime minister of the Shadow clan, has been planning to speak with you. You're presence here is a convenience to us.”
“And I take it I we can't leave until we've met her?”
“Yes, but it's not like what you're thinking,” said Mot. “In fact, I dare say that you may be very happy to hear what she has to say. It will be faster to travel in the other direction for a bit. If you would please move there.”
The stream of light he pointed to was a short distance to their left and a little below them. Lyra wasted no time in following the order. She fearlessly leaped off her current stream and landed on her target. Silverstar followed with more reluctance.
Soon Mot was trotting in front of them, leading them back in the direction they came from. As they walked, Lyra inched her way closer to Mot. Mot tried to avoid her, but the path wasn’t nearly wide enough for that.
“So…” Lyra began. “You live in outer space?”
“No. These stars,” Mot gestured to them, “and the moon aren’t real. They are simply illusions for the sake of decoration. Where we are is a pocket dimension.”
This made perfect sense to Lyra. At least one of them knew what a pocket dimension was.
“Or at least it is very similar. Explaining the geometry of this place would take weeks,” Mot explained. “Perhaps you’ve already noticed how strange it is. By using this place as an intermediate, we can rapidly travel through the outside world. I‘m sure Whisper used this power against you.”
Mot asked them to hold onto him. By this point, Lyra didn’t even have to move to obey that command. Once more, everything faded to black and a new scene emerged.
Silverstar now found herself in a very large, but mostly empty room. An incredibly flat and shiny floor dominated the room. There was some circular emblem painted in the middle, but Silverstar was too close to make out what it was. She noticed a large, central staircase on one side and a desk on another, but the wall to the outside was the most unusual part of the room.
The doors, and most of the wall, leading to the outside were made completely of glass. The room was too bright and the outside too dark to see what was on the other side.
They passed a number of thestrals as Mot lead them forward. They were more colorful than Silverstar was expecting. In the brief time she had to look about, Silverstar noticed purple, green, blue and yellow eyes, and four different colors of manes. One of the thestrals, whom Silverstar briefly thought was a pegasus, even had dull, green fur. Most of them seemed concerned to see Lyra, but a simple gesture from Mot was enough to send them back to their business.
Mot lead them to what looked like a closet closed off by a mesh of bars. Lyra was very impressed by the closet.
“You have an elevator?” she exclaimed. “Those are the latest thing! I’ve only seen a couple in Manehattan; I’m impressed you have one!”
“The Shadow clan is very progressive,” said Mot, opening the barred door to the closet, “We try to implement all the latest advancements of the modern world.”
Silverstar wondered what they were going to do in the closet, but had seen enough insanity to know it was best to just go along with it and see for herself what was special about this room. There was a nice view from inside it at least.
One of the walls was made of glass, and this room was dark enough to see the city outside.
It was every bit as amazing as Canterlot. It had massive towers, and multistory build, all of them black and smooth. Unlike the Equestrian cities Silverstar had seen, these building were not all placed on the ground. Instead, all of them rested on the same blue light Silverstar had stood on moments ago. Not all of them were on the same plane, either. There were buildings both far above and far below them, some resting on a long path of blue light, others floating on their own tiny island of it.
And all of the buildings here were inhabited by thestrals. Silverstar momentarily forgot her wariness and smiled at the knowledge that thestrals had built all of this. She wished she could fly up and get a better look.
As if to grant her wish, the entire room shook briefly, and then began to rise. Silverstar stared out the window, watching as the city passed before her.
Mot tried to tell Silverstar something about spinning magnets, but quickly realized it wasn't getting through and turned back to Lyra.
“I'm always telling ponies how important electricity will be in the future,” said Mot. “We could see electricity implemented through the entire industrial world on a scale even greater than what we have now in Manehattan. Imagine electric lights and heaters in every home, electric trains, telegrams replacing letters entirely and elevators replacing stairs... Though my sister disagrees with me on that last one.”
“Wow! You guys are really sophisticated.” Lyra was almost gushing over Mot by this point. “I wasn't expecting you to be like this at all. All the other thestral clans are back in the dark ages, but you're more modern than we are. You're like the coolest ponies in the world!”
Silverstar frowned. The Crescent clan was just as good as they were. Just because they didn't have electricity or-
Silverstar snapped her attention back to the window. Was she being jealous? No. That would be stupid. She was just annoyed. There were more important things to worry about besides.
“I wouldn't say we are as advanced as Equestria,” said Mot. “Our own achievements are only due to imitating yours. Believe it or not, we have the highest respect for Equestria.”
“If that's true then why are you hiding from them?” asked Silverstar.
Mot simply tilted his head and turned his eyes up, as if he was trying to remember some unimportant name.
The elevator saved him from having to answer that question when it stopped. The door of bars slid opened, revealing a thestral mare who must have been waiting for them for some time. The mare wasted no time in greeting them.
“Greetings. I am Loa, the current leader of the Shadow clan,” she said. “Perhaps I already know you, so that may save us some time.”
Even if Silverstar hadn't already known Loa was Mot's sister, she would have been able to tell. Loa looked nearly identical to Mot, a perfect female copy of him. Silverstar got the feeling they were twins.
“But let us talk in my office, over tea and chocolate,” said Loa, gesturing further down the hall.
Lifelike paintings of ponies covered the hall that they passed through. At first, they were all of thestrals, but about halfway down, she encountered one of a pegasi. She saw two more portraits of pegasi, and one of a unicorn that she recognized from Celestia's memories- Starswirl the bearded.
Loa pushed open the door to her office and lead everypony inside.
The room was cozy, though a bit too bright, with a nice thick rug. The tea and chocolate were already set at the table, Loa and Mot taking their place on the far side of the room.
Silverstar looked around the room as she moved to her seat. There were three more portraits in this room. To the left was one of Luna, to the right, and to Silverstar's surprise, was Celestia. That was something the eastern clans would never display. The Shadow clan really did have a very different worldview.
The third, and largest, painting hung in the center of the room. It was of a thestral standing heroically on a cliff, a turbulent sea and a rising new moon behind her. She looked more like a member of the Crescent clan than of the Shadow clan, wearing the same purple armor and having the charcoal fur and blue mane Silverstar had once believed all thestral's possessed.
“That,” Said Loa, gesturing towards the large paining, “is Shadow, the matriarch and namesake of our clan. I'm afraid I'll have to mention her once more tonight. But why don't we have some tea first?”
Silverstar looked down at her tea. Tea was a sort of ritual drink the ponies in Equestria drank during formal events. It was hot and bitter, and Silverstar felt she had already drank enough of it for one lifetime. She wasn't happy that the Shadow clan did the tea thing too.
Everypony else seemed to like the tea. Lyra was cheerfully sipping from her cup.
Loa put her cheek on her hoof and looked Silverstar over by tilting her head around, frowning.
“You look so very nervous,” Loa finally concluded. Loa let out a sigh and drank some more tea before continuing. “You would think you'd be happy to see your long lost cousins.”
Being called cousin eased Silverstar's worries a bit.
“I'd consider you a sister, even,” said Silverstar. “I am glad to meet more of Princess Luna's children. It's just... Well, this place is obviously supposed to be secret and-”
“And you are worried that we are going to kill you to keep you quite?” Loa finished Silverstar's question. “Ponies occasional stumble across this place, like the mother of that poor deluded child, but we always deal with them in more civilized ways than what you are thinking. When was the last time we killed somepony to keep them quite Mot?”
“It's been over two centuries since we've killed a pony for that reason,” said Mot. “We are far more civilized than that now. Our preferred method of dealing with intruders is to convince them to marry into the Shadow clan. It is something we are very good at.”
“So you're saying I have to marry you?” Lyra asked. She didn't seem the least bit upset at the idea. “I guess I'm okay with that. If I have no choice, I mean. When's the wedding?”
Mot stared at Lyra briefly, then cleared his throat and spoke.
“You misunderstand,” he said. “We are not going to make you marry me.”
“Then do I have to marry...” Lyra slowly turned her eyes to Loa. “You? Cause I'm much less okay with that.”
“Ha!” Loa threw her head back as she gave a single laugh.
Loa calmly drank some of her tea, then tilted her head sideways and looked up with her eyes at Mot.
“Tell me, Mot. How should we keep them quite?” she asked.
“I think they will have enough gratitude towards us that they will do so willingly,” said Mot. “Did we not have good news for Silverstar? I think it had something to do with the eastern clans?”
“Ah!” Loa shot her head back upright. “Yes! You like good news don't you? Ha! I suppose if you didn't it wouldn't be good news would it.”
Loa didn't seem overly eager to say what it was, because she stopped here to take a few more casual sips of tea. This gave Silverstar time to wonder what this “good news” was.
The best possible thing she could say was that Moonlight had somehow killed Onyx and restored order. It would mean Silverstar's entire journey had been pointless, but she would be elated to hear that nonetheless.
Eventually, Lyra broke the silence.
“Well. I like good news,” she said.
“Me too. We have so much in common,” said Loa. Loa unwrapped on of the chocolates and threw it in her mouth. She didn't entirely finish it before speaking again. “Needless to say, I am aware of what has happened to the Crescent clan. You have our deepest sympathy. The Shadow clan abhors acts of wanton violence.”
Silverstar had been hearing that a lot lately. Her thanks was a reflex at this point.
“Now answer me this,” said Loa, leaning forward. “Perhaps you've noticed our ability to move rapidly through the shadows, yes?”
Loa was clearing expecting a reaction from that. For a second Silverstar thought that this was the good news.
“Um, yes?” Silverstar asked.
Loa sighed and rolled her eyes.
“And is this not something that could be used to solve a certain problem the eastern clans are having?” she asked. “One that involves hostages?”
Silverstar's eyes widened as she realized what Loa meant.
“You mean-”
“Yes!” said Loa. “We could use this ability to free all the hostages taken by your invaders. If done properly, we could have the entire cave system evacuated within a few hours. They would have no time to react, and would be left without their greatest advantages.”
Mot continued for her. “Without anypony to use the poison gas on and without enough force to make any direct attacks, the invaders would have no offensive options. Their defeat would only be a matter of time at that point.”
“That's amazing!” Lyra leaped halfway onto the table before turning back to Silverstar. “Isn't that great?! Now we can save your clan and everything else will fall into place. This is it!”
Silverstar was breathless. Was this really it?
“R-really?” she asked. “And... and you're going to help us?”
“Do you think I'm playing a cruel trick on you?” asked Loa. “I am quite certain that we are going to come to your aid.”
Silverstar's heart was beating hard, she was on the verge of sharing Lyra's enthusiasm, but something was restraining her from doing so. She was frozen. Maybe she was becoming jaded, but she expected there to be some sort of catch.
“And what do you want in return?” Silverstar asked.
“Hm?” Loa casually turned her head towards Mot. “Was there something we wanted in return, Mot?”
“I don't believe there was,” said Mot.
“Are we not family?” asked Loa. “Is it not a good thing to help your fellow ponies? To save those who are suffering? To free the enslaved? To bring justice where it is needed? Are these things not noble enough that they are worth doing in their own right? I certainly believe so. We will do these things because they are noble and worth doing.”
“You see?” Lyra said. “These guys are awesome! All our problems are solved.”
Maybe Silverstar was being too jaded; maybe she really could trust the Shadow clan. She felt a smile coming to her face and tears to her eyes. Silverstar was thinking of the best way to get to the other side of the table to hug Loa when she noticed something that stopped her. Loa frowned the moment Silverstar smiled.
“There is a catch, isn't there?” Silverstar asked.
“Well,” Loa said, and stopped immediately.
Loa leaned back and looked around the room with a sigh. She leaned forward again, drank some tea and sighed once more.
“We are not asking anything in return for our help,” said Loa, “but it is possible that there may be certain circumstances preventing us from doing so at the moment.”
“And what is it, exactly?”
“Our ability to teleport is not unlimited,” said Loa. “We have a certain artifact that allows us to do so, but we can only travel to certain waypoints and the artifact has a limited range. At the moment, the farthest east we can travel is a short distance past Canterlot.”
“We could still reach your caves by physically moving the artifact east, however,” said Mot.
“My brother is correct,” said Loa. “But even then we would have to create the waypoints to your home. We can do this from a distance, but it has to be from a particular spot.”
“We've already done the calculations, and that spot is an Equestrian village,” Mot said. “To complete this project, it would take one thousand thestrals working all night for about a week. This is not something we can do with stealth.”
“So you see,” Loa said, “To rescue your clan we would have to reveal our existence to the outside world.”
“And that's a problem?” asked Lyra. “I thought you liked the outside world.”
Loa gestured back to the heroic painting of Shadow.
“Centuries ago,” she began, “before anypony here was born, Shadow broke into Celestia's castle in hopes of stealing treasure for our clan.”
“It was a very thrilling adventure,” said Mot. “She uncovered a hidden passage into the abandoned chambers of Starswirl the Bearded and vanquished a vicious hydra.”
“One of the objects she stole may have been the very artifact that we use to move between the waypoints,” Loa explained. “Actually she also stole the one that generates this pocket dimensions, as well as a few others. Our survival has become dependent on these. They were not forgotten to time, either. Were I to name them, you could easily find writings about their mysterious disappearances, and ponies still search for them to this day. If Celestia knew that it was us who had stolen them, she would likely demand their return, which would be disastrous for us.”
“That doesn't sound like a very big problem,” said Lyra. “Just explain to Celestia that you need it to survive and offer to pay her for them or something. I'm sure she'd understand.”
“Perhaps you are right,” said Loa. “But it is entirely possible that the Shadow clan stole a few other things as well.”
Silverstar stared at them for a moment. She didn't like where this was going. After a moment, she forced herself to ask the question.
“What else did you steal?”
Loa made a show of remembering it, rolling her head and eyes all over the room. Finally, she shrugged, took a sip of tea and casually turned to Mot.
“What was it we stole again, Mot?” Loa asked.
“On an annual basis,” Mot began, “we steal fifteen thousand tons of food, thirty thousand gallons of water, five tons of salt, one hundred tons of metal and about 70 million bits worth of miscellaneous goods.”
“There are also a few other treasures we've taken throughout history,” said Loa. “The lost treasure of Greyhoof, for example, is not lost to us.”
“A large portion of the things we own were stolen by our ancestors. This kettle, for example.”
“The rug in the hallway outside.”
“This table.”
“That painting.”
Silverstar and Lyra had listened to this list with awed horror. Lyra reached her tipping point first, when Loa gestured to the stolen painting of Celestia.
“What?!” Lyra slammed her hooves onto the table counter. “Why the hay did you steal the painting?! Stealing food I can almost understand, but paintings and tables?”
“Technically, it was my great grandfather who stole that painting,” Loa said.
“That doesn't-” Lyra was too frustrated to finish that sentence. Instead, she put a hoof to her forehead and let out a groan of frustration. “I thought you were the coolest ponies ever, but it turns out you're all just a bunch of kleptomaniacs!”
“Please do not think we are proud of this,” said Loa. “This is the greatest shame of the Shadow clan. We are aware that this is an uncivilized thing to do.”
“Then stop!” Lyra implored them.
“'Stop' she says,” said Loa. “Why didn't we think of doing that Mot?”
“I believe we did,” said Mot. “But it turned out that the matter was not so simple.”
“Yes, I remember now,” Loa said, nodding to herself. “There is no sun or rain or soil in this place. It is impossible to survive without taking food and materials from the outside. We try to use the waypoints to forage, but it is simply not efficient enough to sustain our population. Stealing has always been the only way for us to gather enough.”
“Our less civilized ancestors had no problem with stealing,” said Mot. “But by doing so they made us ever more dependent on it. It is a crime that we inherit from our parents, and that we are forced to pass onto our foals. The only way we could end the cycle would be to reveal ourselves to the world, but doing so would mean losing our means of survival and facing retribution.”
“But we do not wish to live like this any longer,” said Loa. “Tell them Mot! Was not my election a sweeping victory?”
“Indeed,” said Mot. “It was the most one sided election in our history. My sister beat the isolationist candidate by a margin of eleven to one.”
“And in the fifty moons I've been in power I have done everything I can to reduce the amount we steal,” said Loa. “What we take now is the absolute bare minimum we need to survive. So much so that I have had to impose harsh food rations as a result. Even still, the ponies endure it with little dissent. They put up with it because we truly wish to abandon this lifestyle.”
Lyra's indignation had cooled off quite a bit by this point. She still glaring daggers at Loa, but was now leaning back with her forelegs crossed, rather than pushing her face an inch from Loa's.
“Well, you could at least return the paintings and gold and stuff,” muttered Lyra.
“We intend to!” Loa assured her. “We intend to return everything we've stolen and pay for whatever cannot be returned, but we need to secure a new source of food before we can do that.”
Silverstar was still trying to wrap her head around how the Shadow clan could have stolen so much over such a long period without being caught. Unlike Lyra, Silverstar was conflicted about how to feel. She hardly condoned the stealing, but did understand it. Were she born into the Shadow clan, Silverstar undoubtedly would have had to do the same thing.
Besides all that, it was hard to judge the ponies who were going to rescue her clan.
“And you want the land over the eastern clans, right?” asked Silverstar.
Loa's face light up at that. She hit Mot on the shoulder and pointed to Silverstar.
“Ah!” said Loa. “You see that? She is finally starting to catch on. Yes, you are correct. Perhaps you've realized by now that somepony is going to be living above you, yes? Certainly you would prefer it to be your fellow thestrals.”
“It would be of no inconvenience, I assure you,” said Mot. “If you decide to remain underground you would be free to ignore us, and the surface has more than enough room for every thestral in the world to live comfortably in.”
“Our original plan was to simply wait until the eastern clan's territory was made habitable,” said Loa. “But perhaps we have to resort to other means, now. The wait may be too long and there may not be much of the Crescent clan left by the time this is finished. However, we are the best option Equestria has of ridding themselves of this threat and we can use this as leverage.”
“Rest assured we'll be returning as much as we can and we will offer to pay a debt of some twenty billion bits,” said Mot. “We wish only to negotiate that no further retribution be taken against us.”
“And you'll stop stealing once this is over?” Lyra asked wearily.
“Certainly.”
Lyra thought and grumbled about this for a while.
“Well, I guess if you're doing everything to stop...” Lyra muttered reluctantly. “I just don't want you ruining the reputation of the other thestrals, ya know?”
“I'm glad you support our course of action,” said Loa with a short bow. Loa leaned back and took a few casual sips of tea. Silverstar knew what that meant by this point. “Though there is a favor I have to ask from each of you.”
All the work in calming Lyra down as lost in a second.
“But you said you weren't going to ask anything-!”
“-Of the eastern clans, yes.” Loa shrugged. “But perhaps we need the assistance of the noble and generous Lady Heartstrings.”
Lyra looked about ready to snap at them. Silverstar herself wasn't sure how many more twists she could take
“Please, Lyra.”
Lyra glanced at Silverstar and settled back.
“Fine. What is it?” Lyra asked.
Loa took a victorious sip of tea before continuing.
“It is simple really,” said Loa. “The land won't yield food immediately, yes? There will be a period of a few months where we cannot get food from stealing or more honorable means.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
“Unless there are way fewer of you than I think I don't know if I'll be able to afford that,” she said.
“But don't you have a charity that has food stockpiled for hungry thestrals?” asked Loa.
“That's for the northern clans,” said Lyra. “I can't just-”
Loa stopped her there.
“We aren't demanding this of you,” said Loa. “I am merely asking you to do what you can as far as this is concerned. We will help the Crescent clan and find a way to feed ourselves regardless. I would like to stress that giving this aid to us would also be in the best interest of the Aurora clan, though. It would allow us to more quickly establish our new home, where they will be welcome to flee.”
“Either way, we will repay any assistance given to us,” said Mot.
Lyra thought for some time, and then agreed to see what she could do.
With that settled, Loa turned her attention to Silverstar.
“As for you, Silverstar,” Loa said. “I wish for you to help us create a map of your cave system. Obviously the more information about the area we have the easier the rescue will be.”
Silverstar agreed in a heartbeat.
“If you're going to save the Starlight clan, then I'll do anything you ask of me,” said Silverstar.
“Excellent!” said Loa. She and Mot both raised their cups in the air. Silverstar repeated the gesture. Lyra let out a “humph”.
Mot moved over to one of the drawers and took out a roll of paper.
“As a show of trust between us, I will give you a list of all the waypoints in Canterlot,” said Loa. Mot handed the paper to Loa, who handed it to Silverstar. A quick glance over it revealed a map of Canterlot with spots marked as waypoints, as well as a few other notes. “If you need to speak with us again before the full moon, simply go to one of the places marked on the map and wait. One of us will come for you eventually.”
“When do we go?” asked Silverstar.
“There is some political nonsense I must take care of first,” said Loa. She waved her hoof around as if trying to dismiss some bad stench. “One of the drawbacks of democracy. However, rest assured that this matter will be settled by the next full moon, when I will reveal myself to Celestia. Until then I'm afraid you must remain silent about us.”
“We will,” Silverstar promised. “And thank-”
“Ah! Save your thanks for later,” said Loa. “You will have plenty of time to thank me when you're back with your family. For now let us drink to the restored alliance of the Shadow and Crescent clans!”
Loa drank from her mug much more deeply now, and Silverstar took her first sip of her own tea.
By now, the tea was cool. It wasn't too bitter either.