//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: Fading Lilies 
// by Nirtha 
//------------------------------//

I had no idea how I got where I was, but I had a strange feeling that I knew where I might be. I was lying on my side, my legs stretched out in front of me. The tiles beneath me were cold and the air was chilled. It was dark; I could just barely make out the patterns of the stones on the walls. Large white rocks were built into the black brick walls. Each wall had a circle of five stones in the center, and each stone of the circle was engraved with a different mark, only one of which I recognized. It was the one at the top. I had seen it on somepony before, years ago. By years ago, I mean a much longer time ago then you are likely assuming.
The mark was in the shape of a teardrop, but it did not represent tears or water. Within that teardrop was an eye. The other marks were foreign to me. I was able to conclude who they might belong to, not specifically who, but the kind of ponies that they were. I knew what role they played in this. I wondered if I should be worried, but I felt strangely content. For the first time in awhile, I felt strong. I had no burning, no hunger, no dizziness or need to feed. The realization that I must have recently fed had me worried. I had no memory of it, so I had no idea as to how it happened. It was all to likely that I was here because I lost control and did something I shouldn’t have. Not only that, but I must have been seen. 
I rolled over and stood up. I found a door behind me and walked over to it. To my surprise, it turned out to be unlocked. I wasn’t sure why. It was possible that somepony just forgot to lock me in, in which case, walking out would likely make it seem that I was trying to escape. Running away wasn’t the best plan of action. These ponies would find me and running could upset them. My best bet was finding the one pony that I knew I could reason with. If I could explain to her what happened, she might let me go. 
I decided to wait. I took a seat on the ground in the back corner of the room, as far from the door as I could get. There weren’t going to be many options for me when somepony showed up, but keeping the distance would help me feel a bit safer. It was a long wait.
When the door finally opened, a hooded pony stepped in. In a coarse voice, he spoke. 
“They’re waiting for you.” 
Without asking who they were, I stood and made my way to the door silently. I could have asked the stallion if he could explain the situation, but if my assumptions were correct, silence was most certainly golden. He led me away from my chamber and down the stone corridor. The air was chilled to he point that my coat was standing on end. Or, perhaps I was really more nervous than I would ever like to admit. 
The chamber ended at an open spiraling staircase made up of the same gray stones found in both the walls and the floor. I followed the cloaked stallion up the spiraling stairs, careful not to tread to close to him. He could likely sense any uncontrolled emotion that I may have been experiencing. Above the staircase was a much grander room. It was very large, open, and somewhat intimidating. The floor was covered in granite slabs, the walls were painted a rich green, and chandeliers hung down from multiple points of the ceiling. Each chandelier consisted of crystals beaded along hanging strings that curved from the outside into the center. Candles lined the outer circles, and a massive orbs glowed in the centers. 
The stallion did not give me a chance to take in any of the intricate decorations, but instead, kept trotting. He lead me across the enormous room and to the double doors in the center of the furthest wall. The doors were much too high to be considered necessary. The dark wood stood out boldly against the green walls and the golden door knobs shimmered. The stallion opened the doors, and inside I saw nothing at all. It was very dark, but my eyes quickly adjusted. Even so, I could only make out a single silhouette. The silhouette gave me very little to work with. It was only a single hooded pony nearing the doorway. 
“It’s been a long time, sister,” the familiar voice spoke. 
I became both elated and distressed at the very same instant. It must have shown on my face, because the mare seemed to respond to my thoughts. 
“You need not worry,” she said in a hushed tone. 
The stallion beside me shifted, uncomfortable. The cloaked mare sent him off with a tilt of her head. He rushed off with a quick, “Goodnight, my lady.” I was slightly alarmed by the show of respect. I never would have thought that my old friend would reach any sort of status. But to see her cutie mark among those of the Pure Divines proved that she had made her way up in life.
“It has indeed been a long time, Evening Drop,” I agreed. 
“Please, come in,” she ushered. “It’s dark, but you’ll adjust quickly enough, I’m sure. The Divines prefer to avoid light as often as possible.” 
“That’s understandable,” I thought aloud. “I could only wish that I could hide away from the light at all parts of the day. I would keep my own home bare of light sources, but that would give a strange impression.” 
I stepped into the dark room. 
“Do you receive many guests?” Evening Drop asked me. Her tone was curious, but also a tad disbelieving. 
I was a little put off by the question. My confusion was immediately distracted by the creak of the doors closing behind me.  
“You were never one to mingle among a crowd, sister,” Evening Drop went on. 
It was true, but there were many matters that pulled me far from my own comfort. It was a part of my life now. I had to make a living in a new world, and I had to do so through the expectations of the new age. I could not hide away and simply do as I pleased. I needed to keep busy, and I never did like a living that did not make a mark. I wanted to do something for other ponies, whether they knew of it or not. I needed to make amends for the sins I still made, and still cannot hide from. 
“Not many guests,” I explained. “Most visitations are strictly work related.” 
“Most?” 
“Well, I cannot hide from the world at all times.” 
“That is a truth I cannot deny,” Evening Drop admitted. 
After that, she turned around and began trotting to the other side of the room. I followed her. My vision began to sharpen. I could see, at the very end of the room, five chairs, four of them seating cloaked figures. The empty chair, Evening Drops, was at the right hand side of that in the center. I was not sure if I should feel price or concern. I could not imagine it possible for somepony who started with next to nothing gaining a spot at the right hand side of the Divine’s leader. 
“What keeps you, Evening?” the pony in the center seat asked. His voice was enchanting, powerful. 
“She is a friend,” Evening Drop explained. 
“A friend I don’t know of?” the stallion asked. 
“I knew her as a filly,” Evening Drop told the stallion. 
“I cannot recall you ever bringing up a Lily to me before,” the stallion went on. “It is quite a simple name for somepony of our own nature.” 
I flinched at the thought of his comment. Somepony of our nature—of his nature. I didn’t like the reminder that I was the same as him. I knew that it was a truth that I couldn’t deny, but I had spent much of my life avoiding what I was. Lying to myself. Containing myself. Even starving myself. He, on the other hoof, was one of the Pure Divines. Nopony  accepted their true nature as fully as the Pure Divines. They reveled in their own monstrosity. 
“Her true name is Fading Lilies,” Evening told the others.
My heart clenched at the sound of my own name. I haven’t gone by my full name in years. Few knew it. Evening Drop was one of those few, but I was surprised to hear her speak it. She knew full well that I was not fond of it, and that I never wanted to be known by that name. A few years before our separation I had decided to shorten my name to a what it was known as today, and that I never wanted to be known as Fading Lilies again. It was to representational of my deepest hatred for myself and was a symbol for death.
“Well now,” the hooded stranger went on again. “That is more appropriate.” 
I cringed. 
He clearly took notice. “Are you feeling ill?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then what has you concerned?”
“I’m just wondering why it is that I am here,” Lily answered. 
The hooded stranger chuckled and leaned forward. “We sent somepony over to your home for some simple questioning, but when he found you, you were unconscious.”
“You should consider yourself lucky you were found by us and not somepony else,” Evening Drop stated. 
“I see,”Lily said under her breath. 
“Which brings us to a new concern,” the pony at the center brought up. “We sent someone out under the impression that something was going on. We assumed that everything we heard was nothing but rumor. Your district has been quiet for many years now. The thought that you were overindulging or even careless did not strike us as a likely case, but when our pony returned, he brought more than just you. He brought back news that something was definitely amiss down in Ponyville.”
“I assure you that I have everyth-”
“Quiet!” a mare from the strangers left spoke.
Lily continued, “Do you really think that I-”
“No,” Evening Drop answered before Lily could finish. “We know that couldn’t be the case.” 
The stranger spoke again. “You seem to have a competitor in your district, Fading Lilies.”