//------------------------------// // Luna: Smile // Story: Game of Worlds // by DualThrone //------------------------------// “What manner of creature are you, Nacht?” In the dreamscape, the black-coated alicorn with intense dragon eyes of aquamarine that Nachtmiri Mein used to represent herself looked at Luna. There was the barest hint of sadness and anger in her expression, and given how tightly she controlled shows of emotion, even the barest hints leaking through spoke volumes. “A monster, Selune,” she replied in a voice that was silky and pleasant, especially here where she could sound however she wished. “My kind are nightmares, and thus monsters. We are Evils, and thus monsters. But you know you have naught to fear from me.” “So you have said, and proven.” Luna couldn’t help herself, smiling a little at Nachtmiri’s nickname for her. “Your kind cannot be that severe of monsters if you can so comfortably work with me.” “Time, more than I can ever comprehend, has made me more gentle than the others but you are correct: nightmares are among the least vicious of Evils.” Nact smiled back, exposing gleaming carnivorous teeth that always seemed strangely unthreatening despite their visible sharpness. “Being among mortals, even as predators of them, has tempered our wickedness. Need breeds an empathy with the prey, however miniscule, and malice vanishes.” “The least vicious.” Luna paused to consider this. Having seen Nacht at work, putting down the more unruly Everfree animals with brief but extreme brutality, that Nacht was among the least vicious was chilling. “What are the most then?” Nacht closed her eyes and took a breath, a shudder of revulsion rippling over her lean form. “Beings of such depth and breadth and power that not even I speak of them. Cunning, sapient, sadistic, murdering by the thousands for pleasure. Living diseases, thinking weapons, utter abominations, formed from the blackest of souls.” “Poetic but unspecific,” Luna noted. “It is not something that will help you my friend,” the nightmare said, opening her eyes and once again meeting Luna’s with her slightly glowing irises. “And you are well aware of the important matters before us.” “Dreams are without time and they pass as quickly or as slowly as I wish,” Luna countered. “Why not step away from business and enlighten your ally?” “Selune, at the level I exist, mere knowledge is power.” Nacht sighed. “And it’s a power that can be felt to a degree, and it’s in the nature of the most vicious and wicked to seek out mortals who have this knowledge, the better to gorge themselves on the fear and pain of a being that knows them and knows their legend. I could draw the worst of them to you, and I will not.” “Do not you draw them?” Nacht snorted. “Let us just say that the creatures I will not speak of do not want to join their fellows among my trophies.” “I could easily start a collection of my own.” Luna grinned. Nacht eyed her before grinning back. “Selune, you are easily my favorite vessel in millenia. Tell you what: when the campaign is finished and you are crowned, we shall begin your collection. But for now, let us discuss our next step in winning you that crown.” “You spoke of knowing this zambet’s habits,” Luna said to Grymmilnia. “So where would it go first?” “The way the stories go, lookin’ for munchies,” the nightmare said promptly. “Loves fear and pain, an’ loves it from things that scream real loud if it can find ‘em. Just cuz it has ta head after Sparkle doesn’t mean it ain’t gonna have its fun.” “Flutters?” Dash gulped. “Too pathetic,” Grymmilnia said. “One little push an’ she’d snap. Barely a taste ta the smilin’ shit. I mean, maybe it gets somethin’ more fun outta the other two and stays, but Smiles ain’t gotten old bein’ stupid.” “You know, she’s gotten less scaredy-cat since Gilda last knew her,” Rainbow said with a touch of annoyance. Grymmilnia rolled her eyes. “Dash, it’d break you in two seconds flat and yer made of fucking steel inside. She ain’t wired for this shit; she ain’t ever gonna be. And you should be happy ‘bout it cuz Smiles ain’t gonna grab a mortal that’s so fragile she ain’t gonna be fun an’ tasty. Bein’ made of glass an’ tears is a defense against a zambet, as bucked as that sounds.” “They don’t seek out the weak first then?” Luna asked. “Naw, they pick out the strongest one they can get and have fun,” the nightmare growled. “Can’t even tell ya how many projects got bucked by that. Fucking blessing that they’re abominations, so they get the special attention of a predator that does the same thing they do.” “What, somethin’ eats ‘em?” “Naw, kills ‘em an’ makes sure everyone gets ta see it done.” She shuddered. “Relentless buckers, scarily good at it.” “Singleminded, and a little fanatic,” Luna nodded. “Spite alluded to them in passing. Said she wished she could have called upon their expertise when she saved Rainbow’s life but feared that they’d react violently in some way.” Grymmilnia snorted. “What a load of horseshit.” Luna blinked. “What?” “I said it like I mean it: it’s horseshit, Princess. Ein lives with ‘em; they ain’t any more nuts than anyone else. Fixated, yea. A bit dumb about some stuff, yeah  But getting violent cuz their friend of a buck-jillion years rung ‘em up and asked for a solid? Not even Evils that hate ‘em would buy that.” “So what yer telling us is, she lied her plot off.” Dash smirked. “Sure.” The altered griffiness smirked at her before looking at Luna. “So, you an’ Nachtmiri… buds, yeah? Friends?” “We… were,” Luna admitted, purposefully avoiding looking at Rainbow, certain that the next time they had time in private, she’d be explaining much more than the changelings. “She ever lay out for ya how knowledge works? How it’s power? How it can be felt?” Luna sighed and nodded. “So knowing the truth would have been dangerous to us?” “Hell if I know,” Grymilnnia shrugged. “If she gives a shit and she thinks so… yeah, lyin’ a bit woulda made sense. For all I know, I could be bucking ya over by tellin’ ya, but I ain’t no friend of theirs so… prolly not.” “So what yer saying is… freaks like you can feel it when someone knows something?” “Hey, give the girl some credit… she can understand Equiish.” Grym smirked at Dash before looking back to Luna. “So how could us knowing about these hunters or whatever cause a problem?” Rainbow asked before Grym could say anything to Luna. The mutate opened her muzzle to reply, stopped, and furrowed her brow thoughtfully. “It would have revealed where she was,” Luna offered. “Only one person could tell us the true nature of these predators; anyone else would tell us something like she did. Perhaps she didn’t want anyone who’s listening to know where she was until it was impossible to conceal it anymore.” “Makes sense to me,” Grymmilnia nodded. “Sorta tracks with how I hear Ein is. But anyway, back to zambet basics: can get directly into yer head from a reflection of yer face, or just does a snatch ‘n’ grab when it’s all dark out. Don’t give a fuck that everyone knows they’re there and makes sure ya never forget ‘em even if you can kick ‘em out. Big ol’ scars goin’ from mouth ta ears, cuz yanno, smile.” “Sadistic.” “By a mile and then some,” Grym agreed. “It’s what they do. Or at least what they’re reputed to do.” Luna eyed the mutate. “I’m noticing that you’re saying things like that a lot. Reputed, how the stories go, what you hear about someone. How much do you actually know about this creature?” “More than all but, like, a dozen or so in the entire Void,” Grym replied a bit defensively. “Which… um… ain’t much ta brag about. Zambets are kinda like myths, yanno? I mean, we all know they exist but they keep clear of everyone cuz we’re not prey. What I can tell ya is what everyone agrees on, but I ain’t got direct experience. Talkin’ to it, yeah, but it stays invisible.” “And who might be among that dozen or so that actually knows about zambets?” “The top dogs mainly,” Grym answered. “Most of ‘em cuz zambets ain’t good about leaving well enough alone. Actually why there’s not lots of ‘em: they stomp all over the territory of somethin’ bigger and meaner an’ that bigger and meaner stomps them.” “Like Nacht,” Luna said. “She… once mentioned collecting many trophies.” “Um, question Luna,” Dash said. Certain she knew what it’d be, Luna gave the pegasus a nod. “Why pretend Nightmare ain’t always been awesome and noble?” Rainbow asked. “For that matter, what’s with the ponypies that’re in that book of legends? I mean, she doesn’t seem like the most sweet-natured and kind sorta pony but just about everything everypony knew was a bunch of horseapples.” Luna blinked. Huh… thought she’d be more surprised. But then she dismissed the thought with a mental wave of her hoof; of course Dash would guess that the Nachtmiri Mein she’d met during the affair of the Guardian was how Nacht had always been. “It was her contingency,” she replied as the exit to the complex came into view ahead of them. “If our plans had failed, she wanted to be certain I’d be seen as the victim and be accepted home as the poor, innocent little sister who’d made a tragic mistake. From her contingency came the foal’s tale, the mythology around Nightmare Moon, and my own dear sister’s continuing belief that Nightmare is an apparition my power gave rise to, rather than the ancient being of incredible power she is.” “Bet she loved you,” Grym chuckled. “Ain’t just a cooperative vessel, but one happy ta collaborate with her.” “It was more like, she collaborated with me,” Luna said. “I had a particular goal and she offered to assist me.” She paused. “And yes, I think she did love me like a sister, at least towards the end of our partnership.” “Yeah, sorta got that from her ‘I wish we could have been sisters’ goodbye.” Rainbow sighed. “Totally uncool that we couldn’t keep her around… bet all these Evils buckers would be steering way clear if we had five princesses.” “Six actually,” Luna corrected her. “While I was… away, Tia adopted a little alicorn foal named Cadence so she’s technically a princess as well. Sweet girl, specializes in the magic of love, but she’s been studying in Bitaly for several years so not many ponies know of her.” She smiled. “Actually foalsat Twilight for most of her growing-up years, and the two were like sisters before Cadence graduated from my sister’s magic academy and went abroad.” “Alicorn foal?” Grym repeated. “Uh, ain’t ya all like either magically ascended or alicorns by blood?” Luna shrugged. “Tia only knows that Cadence was born with the mix of earth, pegasus, and unicorn magic that all alicorns share. She was being cared for by a unicorn couple who’d fostered her but neither they nor the orphanage knew where she’d come from. The couple was grateful to commit her to my sister’s care because they weren’t sure how to raise an alicorn, although Tia assures me that they were doing their absolute best. Tragically, both died during a prairie fire--they lived in the Appleloosa area--so Cadence has essentially been Tia’s for her entire life.” “How come we haven’t ever heard of her?” Rainbow asked. “I’m actually surprised Twilight hasn’t mentioned her to you… as I said, they were like sisters.” Luna reached the entrance to the laboratory and looked out over the arid dunes of the Griffin Provinces. With her moon still drifting towards its apex on its nightly dance, eerie shadows from plant and dune alike stretched before them. The bare sand glowed softly with silvery light, bright and clear enough that Luna had no need of her ordinary night vision. “Sorta a shame we don’t have lots of sand near Ponyville, Luna.” Rainbow said in an awed voice. “This is awesome.” “Yeah, great visual effects.” Grymmilnia looked out over the dunes pensively. “Ain’t gonna help us track down Smiles, though, and ain’t gonna let us see it when we find it.” Luna looked at her. “You referred to needing some manner of special sight to actually see this zambet?” “Yeah.” “What manner of sight, specifically?” Grym shrugged. “I dunno. Somethin’ only those freaky hunters have. They call it a ‘second sight’ and the legend is that they can actually see yer soul an’ figure out how much Dark an’ Light an’ Void magic ya got floatin’ around inside ya. Dunno how it works but never heard of anything that can hide from it.” “So they can see the flow of magic within a living thing…” Luna mused. “Bucked if I know, Princess,” Grym shrugged again. “I’m a thug, not an egghead.” “All I require is that you be informative.” Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes, beginning to systematically shut out her surroundings--Grymmilnia, Rainbow, the laboratory, the sand, a low pulsating hiss ahead of her, the cool breeze of an arid land at night, the scent of rare desert blooms, and other sensory distractions--and focus only on the wafting flow of magical connection between herself and her moon. Even when her moon was hidden during the day, the flow of power was still a steady river but rising to its apex during her night, that river became a raging torrent and one Luna could easily direct. At this moment, she wished that power to sink into her eyes and infuse them with an unnatural clarity that showed her not only the sight of the arid plains but what was under, over, behind and beside that sight. The dunes pulsated with thrumming power, red like blood and burning like fire. Her night was a sea of black silk through which fierce embers rippled and surged, and her moon was a sphere of utterly flawless silver over which living color writhed and pulsed. Bracing herself for the oddness that often accompanied directing the ‘Deep Sight’ over another person, Luna turned her gaze on her two companions. Rainbow appeared to the Sight as a dragon but a creature of speed and agility rather than of raw brute power. Scales so fine as to seem like sparkling skin clad a lithe, sinuous predator of lethal grace and amethyst eyes fierce with focus and a determination that shone from her expression. Her mane was as flowing flame in rainbow hues although her wings didn’t match the rest of her at all, appearing to be made of gleaming obsidian rather than living flesh and Luna could see pulsating black stitches securing them to Rainbow’s body, large and rough but nonetheless solid. Luna wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that Loyalty clad Rainbow’s form like ancient armor, plates of glowing ruby covering her as if made to fit none other. Grymmilnia took her breath away. It wasn’t that the hybrid creature Master had made was breathtakingly beautiful--although considerable attention had been given to the aesthetics of the creation--but it was instantly apparent that the tortured monstrous chobbath Grym had thrown against them when they first met her was the product of Master’s sadism rather than his effort. The forms of griffin and Void dragon had been melded artfully, each feature melting into the next, each form looking totally natural and organic. The stitching, what Luna took as a visual metaphor for the act of splicing, was miniscule, tight, professional, almost impossible to see. The only dissonance was in the eyes: the right eye, clearly representing Grymmilnia moved and blinked noticeably out of synch with a very griffin left eye. Gilda Grimfeathers’ eye held a look of helplessness, but there was no despair or surrender, but boiling rage at being a captive within Grymmilnia’s melded form. Luna felt herself smile a little; the prospect of being able to tell Rainbow that her friend was very much within the mutated griffin and was not broken by any stretch of the imagination cheered her slightly. “Seein’ anything, yer Majesty?” Grymmilnia asked. “Quite a bit, but none of it putting us on the trail of this zambet,” Luna said with a light sigh. “It’s vexing to have no trace of my…” She stopped as a sound she’d heard before changed, the pulsating hiss ever so slightly louder than it had been moments before, when she’d shut it out. “...my prey,” she continued after a moment, studiously keeping her head still and ears forward so that the source of the hiss wouldn’t suspect she’d heard it. “Even under the deep sight, which I believe to be the same manner of vision the hunters you speak of use.” “Well, it ain’t supposed ta be a trackin’ thing so… guess ya can’t really expect much different. So whatcha gonna do now?” “I say we go find Flutters,” Rainbow said. “I know, I know, she’s too weak to make it interested but I don’t feel like just hopin’ you’re right.” “I agree,” Luna said, noting the increase in volume of the hissing as if whatever was making it had gotten closer. “Now that we know this… beast is out there, we should ensure Kindness’ safety.” Grym blinked. “Ya mean Fluttershy, right?” “They’re synonymous,” Luna said. “So ya brought two of the Elements north with ya along with Ein.” Grym smirked. “Super, now we know where Smiley’s goin’.” Rainbow looked sharply at her. “Thought ya said…” “Well, I didn’t know she was carryin’ one of the Elements, now did I?” Grym’s smirk became a grimace. “That kinda raw power is like tyin’ a steak ta a pony an’ throwin’ ‘em at sharks. Takin’ down one of the Elements, eatin’ the Bearer, would be a big deal ta the smilin’ shit. Worse, if it eats it, it’ll have it and I don’t wanna know what Smiley’d do with that kinda juice.” “Hopefully, we shan’t need to find out,” Luna said. “The light of my moon illuminates all things and shortly, it will illuminate my prey.” While Grymmilina had been explaining that bearing an Element would likely draw the zambet to Fluttershy, Luna had been mentally keeping track of the pulsating hiss and heard its direction shift downwards even as an oily, repulsive magical radiance oozed passed her, brushing against the heels of her rear hooves. This meant that the creature, which Luna was certain was this zambet, had now drawn close enough and she visualized the exact position and angle that her shadow-blade would need to be in for a first strike. The next action took place at the speed of thought and well-honed instinct, the product of thousands of hours pressing body and mind into the service of a single terrible blow to start a fight: the blade jumped into existence, just as Luna twisted around towards where she heard the sound, just as the blade whipped forward, just as an unnaturally sharp edge parted sand--and then equally unnatural flesh. Luna wasn’t sure how the creature that came boiling out of the sand had evaded her deep sight but whatever concealment it had before seemed to have been dissipated when it was struck. It seemed to have no set form, black and oily and flowing over the sand like watery tar as it tried to create distance between her and itself. Luna leapt after it, materializing her second blade and slashing down across the creature and drawing a bubbling line across it before the wounded flesh sank into the creature’s liquid mass. Although it had no features, Luna had a sense that the mass had turned to look at her and a breath later, the liquid mass was gone and in its place was a unicorn, a shockingly familiar one. If the zambet had attempted to imitate Twilight as an alicorn, the deception might have surprised Luna long enough for one of the creature’s thread-thin appendages to strike her; as it was, Luna flared her wings and threw herself out of its grasp before it could as the error registered in her mind. The zambet narrowed its eyes as she reacted and the pretense vanished: ordinary amethyst eyes became glowing violet holes in a head suddenly made narrower, sharper, and stretched into a predatory and impossible grin. “Skin” clung to bone starkly and tentacles with smaller appendages slinking off of them flowed out of the thing’s back. It sidestepped left, watching Luna intently, the tiny threads of Void energy snaking forward again. Luna watched the zambet back, looking directly at the glowing holes that were its eyes, before she casually gathered energy from her moon and sent it towards the oncoming threads in a subtle wave of magic. The attack may have been subtle but the results were anything but: the zambet’s pulsating hiss of a voice spiked sharply and it recoiled as the threads of Void energy vaporized with an ominous sizzle. Luna gave the grinning creature a small malicious smile of her own as she gathered more power and sent it at the beast in the same kind of subtle wave. It backpedaled and then leapt above the wave, the tentacles on its back twitching and writhing and seeming to serve the same function as wings. To Luna’s surprise, it actually charged at her, rictus grin opening into a mouth filled with a double-row of sharp teeth and the pulsating hiss turning into something that sounded disturbingly like a death rattle. With deft, long-practiced motions, she released her sword constructs and wove what Nacht had liked to call her “kill wires”, ropes of deadly razor energy that let her cut and grasp as necessary. With unconscious ease, she sent the constructs whipping at the oncoming zambet, neatly severing its tentacles and causing it to tumble face-first into the sand. This is the terrifying and fearsome zambet? Luna snorted as she strolled towards the fallen creature, struggling to its feet and spitting out sand. A simple beast easily toyed with? Her eyes narrowed. Something is wrong. And just like that, between one blink and the next, she was looking into glowing holes in a skeletal head and the oily repulsive presence was caressing over her face and coiling around her head to keep it still. “Impressive,” the zambet said in a voice that could easily have been mistaken for Twilight’s, but for the death-rattle noise in between each spoken word. “Disbelief in mere minutes, and more than that certain disbelief. Such rapidity that the delusion had not even the time to form or even to settle into the mind, and what a delusion I would have made it.” Luna tried to pull away from the menacingly sharp teeth but found that the zambet had somehow immobilized her head. In fact, as she thought about it, she realized she couldn’t feel anything below her neck, and her eyes darted downwards involuntarily. “Amazing the useful things you learn from crazed former primes with scientific fixations,” the zambet remarked idly. “Especially in the science of anatomy and related disciplines. But at this moment, I care far less about how your body is put together. Let’s see how this beautiful, powerful, delectable mind is formed.” “...’delectable’?” Luna repeated. With its face largely frozen into the impossible sharp grin, it was hard to discern expressions but the zambet seemed amused at this. “That I find minds delicious is what you pick out of that,” it remarked. “What a strange predilection, to derive that from a series of remarks, and have no fear for what it entails.” It paused and the glowing holes narrowed. “No fear, in fact, is abnormal. Abnormal to an extreme, an inexplicable extreme, a possibly hazardous extreme, a dangerously inexplicable extreme, dangerous for its inexplicability rather than extremity. Why would this one have no fear for its mind, which is its soul, for there is no soul when there is no mind? Yet you are not fearful.” Inexplicably, Luna could feel the zambet’s touch sinking into her mind as a physical sensation, a light chill that seemed to setting in behind her eyes even though her logical mind knew that it wasn’t possible. The zambet tilted its head back and forth, its gaze drifting away from Luna’s eyes and darting about as if reading something that she couldn’t see. “You were… a vessel,” it said in a very strange tone. “But who?” Luna stayed silent until her head was tilted upwards and the zambet stared into her eyes. “Who entwined with you? Speak its name.” “Nachtmiri Mein,” Luna replied promptly, and to her own great surprise. How did…? “Fine manipulation of the various motor neurons to vibrate the vocal cords and move the mouth, lips, and tongue in proper coordination to produce sounds,” the zambet said to her unasked question. “Memory is mere electrical impulse and I was vigorously educated in the intricacies thereof through the most unpleasant of means. But the name you speak has no meaning to me, clearly a chosen name rather than a true one. So we must probe deeper…” She didn’t feel any additional sensation but as if the zambet had flipped some sort of switch, she was in a dark space with no ground but a sea of stars in every direction. My dreamscape… but… why would this creature wish to see…? She pushed her curiosity aside and tried to move out of her native realm… but found that she couldn’t. There was a strong sensation of a barrier in her thoughts, a presence pressing in on her mind from all sides but lightly, almost cradling. Having exercised the light touch often enough for a pony mind to help relieve them of their nightmares and given them rest, Luna readily recognized that whatever else this zambet creature was, it was highly skilled in the craft of mind magic. Deciding that there was no point to pushing against the influence, at least not while the zambet could concentrate solely on keeping its hold, Luna resolved to wait until the creature’s attention was drawn elsewhere before trying to break its grip, and relaxed, mildly curious as to what the zambet was trying to accomplish by taking her to her own realm. “Selune?” came a pleasant, melodious voice, husky and almost purring the words. It was a voice Luna knew all too well, along with the affectionate nickname Nacht had bestowed upon her. She felt herself turning her head and looking upon the tall and graceful visage Nacht always preferred in their face-to-face conversations. “We have told thee to call us Luna,” she replied to the nightmare listlessly. “And thou agreed to leave us be, save when we call upon thee or give thee explicit leave before.” “I am an amoral creature, Selune, but there are certain things that are the right things, and being present right now is a right thing,” Nacht said gently. “You are in pain and the only one of your kind that lives cannot help you.” Luna felt herself looking steadily at Nacht before looking away. A memory then, she realized, and one that I remember all too well. “Tia cast them out,” she said. “All of them, to the last. Worse, she was so dedicated to it that she descended into utter recklessness. Amaryss is a shy soul and absolutely overflowing with goodwill but she is the Maternis Queen, very nearly as powerful as I or Tia. If her despair or anger was greater... “ “I know that you are sincere about your fears, Selune, but that is not why you are in pain,” Nacht observed, her presence within the dream-realm drawing near. “If you doubted that my word binds me unbreakably, you would never permit me even this. Speak your pain to me; it will only ever be between us.” Also between you and one who can see into your past, ‘Selune’, the not-Twilight voice of the zambet said in her mental ear as the memory seemed to move through molasses. This visage, it is Nachtmiri Mein? Silence, Luna responded instantly. You wish to learn about Nacht? Keep your tongue behind your teeth and watch. Oh a spicy one, the zambet smirked as the memory returned to its former state. “...all looked at one another and then began to follow her out,” memory-Luna told Nacht, who had come closer and was tentatively draping a consoling wing over her. “Tia actually had to ask them why! They’ve been the Royal Guard for centuries, and Tia had no idea why they’d leave their posts when she banished all changelings. The only one who cared turned as he was leaving and said ‘I need to tell my children that we have to leave the home that’s been in my family for four generations’.” Nacht was silent at this for a long moment. “That hurt you.” Dream-Luna turned and looked at her fiercely. “It would hurt anyone. Even… well, whatever manner of creature you are.” Nacht looked steadily at her a moment, then away. “Your pain is mine, Selune, so long as I have your leave to be in your presence.” She turned and gave Luna another steady look. “What would you do about this pain then? Pain is a prod to action in anything that lives; I am not alive in the way you are, but even I know this.” Memory-Luna started to reply and then stopped, suddenly uncertain. “I… am unsure.” “I cannot blame you deeply for that, not when your wounds still bleed.” Nacht edged closer, her soft wing now a blanket over Luna’s barrel. “To help you, I’ll ask it this way then: If you could have anything, Princess Luna, what would it be?” And so the bait is set and dangled, the zambet chuckled. She is ancient indeed; her presentation is flawless. This is where she solicits your terms so she might offer you her own. It’s how a bargain is struck, Luna snorted. What of it? A bargain, you say...  the zambet trailed off thoughtfully. Are you quite certain? She offered something and asked for something, Luna said. What else would it be?” But why that word specifically? There are so many synonyms: deal, contract, negotiation… why the word ‘bargain’? If Luna could have stared at the creature, she would. You’re wasting my time asking about her choice of… Her choice, you say. Luna had the feeling that she’d somehow revealed something far more important than she could fully appreciate based on the tone of the beast’s ‘voice’. Mmm… well, let us continue on then. While she and the zambet had conversed, the memory had become hazy and indistinct, possibly because the zambet couldn’t focus on both it and sparring with her. When it went silent, the memory came back into focus with Nacht leaned down to her so their eyes met, her expression serious and yet gentle. “I can do this for you Luna,” she was saying. “We can do this for you.” Luna held that dragon-eyed gaze for a moment before shifting her eyes away from the intensity in those turquoise irises. “And your price?” “Mere living space in your mind and soul, Princess,” Nacht replied diffidently, as if this was a minor thing to ask. “I have no flesh of my own, and so must borrow yours to help you do this.” Luna’s gaze went back to Nacht’s and she felt her eyes widen momentarily before narrowing again suspiciously. “Who are you that you promise me a crown and a throne, the crown and throne of my sister?” “I am Nachtmiri Mein..” And so I see my opponent in this. The memory stopped moving, and the visage of the zambet faded into it, circling the form Nacht used to represent herself in the dreamscape, looking over her curiously. But who are you, interloper? I should think that’s obvious, Luna snorted. She just said who she is. She said what she is called, the name she has taken for your benefit, the zambet corrected her, somehow managing to capture the slightly peevish scholarly air Twilight occasionally affected with eerie precision despite the ever-present death rattle. I must know who she is. You must know? Luna looked steadily at the zambet flitting around dream-Nacht’s still form, thinking. Nacht left some manner of mark on me, didn't she? Something that stops you from pushing deeper. Does it matter? The zambet’s grin changed subtly, enough to suggest a smirk. Whether I can invade your mind fully or not, you are still trapped in a box of my devising and can do naught but what I would have you do, and can see naught but what I would have you see. So long as I flit through your memories, the strongest warrior in all the Provinces is helpless and can neither aid the griffins nor shift her power against other threats in other places. The zambet strolled over and the glowing holes filled Luna’s vision. Have you considered, Princess Luna, that Celestia’s whelp was to be my box of sweets, a reward for work well-done? That Vorka had a deeper plan for his.. the zambet chuckled ...pet zambet? That you were meant to raise your moon and then seek for me with vigor, sacrificing caution for speed? Yes, I should like to press deeper and yes, I find it highly disagreeable to consort and spar with a mortal and yes, I am as trapped in this cycle as you. But unlike you, there is no need for me to break free and be about my business. My only matter of urgency was to stop you from harming my niece Luna informed the zambet with her own smirk. So long as you are in my memories, wasting away the time, you can do nothing to her. The zambet’s eyes narrowed marginally. Yes, that is true. However, just because you have stopped me from harming this Twilight Sparkle does not mean you can stop me from getting my meal. You mean to torment me by talking at me then? Oh no, nothing like that. The zambet’s grin widened. You are ancient, Princess Luna, and a long life has a great deal of painful memory. Shall we? Shall we idle away your time traveling through hardships that I have met, overcome, and survived? Shall you remind me of the troubles I’ve seen, and lived through, and have been made better by? Luna found herself smiling a little. Yes, let’s. The zambet gave her a look of curiosity before visibly shrugging, seeming to accept this, and fading out of view. With its fading, the scene shifted abruptly and Luna found herself standing beside and behind Celestia, herself in her memory feeling ill at ease. It wasn’t hard to figure out what memories the zambet had chosen to start with; she’d as much as told it about the memory mere minutes ago. And in that moment, Luna realized something about the zambet: while Nacht had always conveyed the sense of understanding mortals and what it was like to be mortal, while Grymmilnia showed all the affectations of being alive and being able to convincingly imitate a mortal, the zambet might feed on mortals but didn’t understand them. That it selected a very old memory, an ancient wound that time and distance had healed, instead of a much newer pain that might still be raw pretty much proved it. No matter how healed it was, though, Luna still felt a pang of sadness as the Royal Guard drew the doors to the throne room open and bowed deeply as Maternis Queen Amaryss walked through. It had been over a thousand years since she’d last seen a changeling but in their natural shapes, they were impossible to mistake for anything else. While all of them had a somewhat exotic look because of their chitinous coats, insect wings, and unusual horn shapes, Amaryss was unusually striking. Long violet hair streaked liberally with aquamarine, the double set of delicate dragonfly wings inherited through the royal line, and a slim carriage with a stature just barely shorter than Celestia’s made her stand out even among very attractive mares of her race. And she could have easily stood in for Fluttershy, a shy and soft-spoken mare with the same habit of partly hiding her face behind her long mane when she grew nervous. There was no chance of such a thing this time, however: the Amaryss striding up the violet-trimmed golden carpet that led to the thrones walked with a purpose, green-streaked amethyst eyes visibly smoldering with power. “What is this that I hear of an exile, Celestia?” She demanded before either sister could formally greet and acknowledge her; memory-Luna and Luna herself both gave a small shiver at the  dangerous tightness of her lightly vibrato voice. “We did not grant Thee permission to speak as Our equal, Maternis Queen, nor did We grant thee audience” Celestia replied, the same dangerous tightness in her tone with an undertone of boiling fury. “I need no such thing, Princess,” Amaryss snarled. “Thou and thy sister are even the rulers of my people, but have neither traditional nor proper cause to demand obsequiousness of me. Answer me, Celestia.” “Thou art aware of the crimes which thy people hath committed against Our people?” Amaryss eyes narrowed very slightly and the smoldering brightened slightly. “I am aware of the evils the other races have committed against mine, Celestia. I am also aware of the evils my race has committed against the others. But I am most certainly aware that the criminals are but a handful and that most are innocent. What is this I hear of exile?” “We have decided that it must be done Queen Amaryss,” Celestia told her  “Thou and thy kind shall leave Equestria and travel to the lands beyond the eastern Everfree.” Amaryss gaped at her. “You… you would banish my kind to the badlands? To an empty, waterless, arid waste?” Luna felt her memory-self recoil and stare at Celestia, and within herself, she shook her head in dismay. Oh, Tia… she sighed. Celestia ignored the look from her sister, her eyes remaining fixed on Amaryss. “There is no other place not traversed by others, nor claimed by them. And Our royal surveyors have told Us that there are places of refuge to be found.” Amaryss stared at her a moment longer before her expression became hard. “What you require is unjust beyond anything I’ve ever heard. Exiling us to the east is just the same as killing us. And for what, Celestia? Because my race has done evil by the others? Because the others have done evil by us?” “We believe there will be no peace for Our little ponies until there is a separation,” Celestia said. Amaryss looked at her for a moment before looking right into Luna’s eyes. “And you, Princess Luna, diarch of Equestria? Is this your wish as well?” Memory-Luna stepped back a half-step, surprised at being addressed directly, before clearing her throat. “We stand with our sister in this.” Amaryss looked steadily at her long enough for memory-Luna and Luna herself to feel uncomfortable before a brief look of pity passed over the changeling queen’s features before she looked back at Celestia. “Thy and thy sister are ever our princesses, Celestia. My people will do as you will and when a time comes when Equestria is endangered and her most devoted servant are lost to her, you will weep bitterly for what you might have kept and chose to throw away.” Amaryss bowed deeply and elegantly before turning and beginning to walk back to the doors; without hesitation, the Royal Guard fell into line behind her, two trotting up beside her and having the queen’s delicate wings lay gently on their backs. “Guard, there is no need to escort Queen Amaryss,” Celestia said. Memory-Luna took a sharp breath inwards as the Guard and Queen both turned back to her. The Guards made no attempt to hide aghast expressions before one of the ones that had been standing beside the thrones took a step towards her. “Your Majesty, we’re not escorting our queen, we’re leaving with her. Your orders are that all changelings leave your lands, and we will obey our princess’ orders.” He took a breath inwards and turned away again, voice heavy with sadness. “I need to tell my children that we have to leave the home that’s been in my family for four generations.” Amaryss patted him on the shoulder before looking back at Celestia. “I trust that you have no issue with my people taking their families?” she asked in a tone of voice that made it very clear that it would be dangerous to say ‘no’. “No need for peace would justify destroying families, Amaryss,” Celestia replied in an affronted tone. “Good.” Amaryss turned and disappeared with the Royal Guard through the door, an aura of greenish magic pulling them shut behind her. This… does not hurt you, the zambet remarked in a puzzled voice. It did at the time. Luna mentally smirked at the zambet. You consume mortal minds, or so you say, and yet you don’t understand that the pain of memory fades with time and distance? Once again, the memory grew still and the zambet’s form flowed into being in front of her. The degree of your good fortune is beyond your capacity to understand, it said sourly. Of all the nightmares that had to seduce you, it had to be one that was sentimental and churlishly thorough. You… Precisely what the zambet meant to say about her was lost because abruptly, she was back in the real world with the feeling of the creature sinking its tentacles into her mind starkly absent. As was the violet holes burning into hers, and Luna blinked as she looked around. The zambet lay stunned on the arid sand, limbs and tentacles switching spasmodically with Rainbow fluidly flipping over in midair to charge back into the fray. The wings that had been broken barely an hour prior were fully healed and more than that, no longer awkwardly straddled the line between the delicate wings of a pegasus and the leathery sails of a dragon. Just before Rainbow pivoted in midair and smashed the zambet’s face with a double-hoof haymaker, Luna clearly saw a pair of full dragon wings of rich cyan to match their owner. The zambet stumbled away from the blow, braced itself, then sent its tentacles rocketing at the pegasus. Rainbow twisted, tucking her wings in to dodge the blows, then swept one of them across the zambet’s face as a prelude to a back hoof buck. The zambet stumbled back again then six more of the tentacles shot forth out of its assumed form and zipped towards Rainbow… ...only for the zambet to be grabbed by the back of the head, its smaller skull fitting comfortably into the palm of one of Grymmilnia’s forepaws, and wrenched backwards and away from Rainbow. “Can ya hear me now, ya smilin’ shit?” she growled at it before throwing it to a side. The zambet hit the sand, rolled once, then regained its feet. Immediately, six tentacles turned into twelve and the creature charged Rainbow again, tentacles zipping towards her from twelve different directions… then splitting again to cut off any escape. Dash stiffened her other wing and took a cross step to sweep the wing in a full circle around her to bat aside the oncoming extremities. The zambet made contact with practically all of the tentacles at once. There was a flash of ruby red and the tentacles vaporized into oily mist and ash, accompanied by the zambet howling with surprise and pain. Before it could recover, Grymmilnia had bull-rushed it and thrown it off its feet; moments later, Dash tackled it over and began pummeling it with forehooves, each one causing a flash of magical fire as the Element of Loyalty, as much a part of Rainbow Dash as her wings, lashed out at the Void predator. The zambet screeched and writhed under the assault, trying to lash out at Dash with more tentacles and having them vaporized by Loyalty for its trouble. Luna even saw some of the tentacles try to strike out at Grymmilnia, but they slid around the nightmare-infused griffin as if she was covered by an invisible barrier of glass. After a minute, the zambet stopped struggling and a moment later, came apart like a balloon bursting and its essence flowed into the ground like water. Luna quickly reached for her deep sight and saw that the creature was indeed fleeing, the writhing blackness in the ground fading into the distance but traveling further downwards and then back towards the crumbling structure that was Master’s laboratory. “Are you certain that it’s a prisoner, Grymmilinia?” she asked, keeping her eyes and her sight fixed on the zambet’s location. “The room ya broke into was its cage so… yeah, pretty sure,” Grymmilnia said. “Or, ta be lots more precise, Master called the room its cage. Coulda been lyin’ ta me, dumpin’ a load a shit on me for fun. Ain’t outta his wheelhouse ta toy with minions by throwing around all sortsa stories that ain’t even slightly true. Still, that room means somethin’ to it or it wouldn’t hang there.” “Indeed…” Luna released the magical lens of the deep sight and turned to look at Rainbow. “Your wings appear to have healed well.” “Yeah.” Out of the fight, the cyan pegasus seemed suddenly shy, folding her wings against her nervously. “I know I shoulda kept the splints on just to be sure and all but the thing grabbed you and Grym here was freaking out so I was like ‘buck this’ and just sorta… yanno, went for it. Didn’t even realize the splints broke off til they were off and now I’ve got… um, these.” She unfurled a wing and brought it forward. “It’s, like, really really cool and all but I sorta thought that whatever Spite did was over.” “You and me both Rainbow,” Luna said as she walked over, still feeling a little unsteady on her hooves, and looking closer at the wing. It was the color of Dash’s coat and in the moonlight, she could see that it actually was coated in the same light fur as its owner with streaks of slightly darker fur that made it appear that the dragon wing was covered in feathers. The upper tip had the same hooked spur of bone that dragon wings had and the very strong bone crest common to both dragon and griffin. “I suppose that what Gilda taught you about fighting will be even more applicable now that your wings are more like hers.” This brought a grin to Rainbow’s face. “Yeah, that zambet thing never saw it comin’. Seemed pretty fixed on trying to do whatever it was trying to do so I was like, pow” Rainbow mimed a punch with her front hoof “and it flew way the hay off. Couldn’t even touch me.” “Speaking of such,” Luna looked at Grymmilnia. “Its tentacles slid around you as if you were shielded from them somehow. With Rainbow the Element of Loyalty struck out at the creature and destroyed it substance but with you, it attempted to touch you but couldn’t.” “One of the bennies of Master doin’ his needlework,” Grym grinned. “He was all like ‘I shall not permit some uncouth creature of the Void to damage my masterful work’ and came up with whatever the hell he did.” She stretched. “OK, zambet thrashed, niece all good, Dashie’s got new wings. I’m out.” Luna quirked a brow at her. “Just like that?” Grymmilinia shrugged. “Said I’d do this. I did it. Said I’d work with ya to make this happen. I did. Said we were white-flag till it was over. We are. Do any more, and I ain’t keeping ta what I said I’d do. Hate ta make this end all unpleasant-like when I’ve been straight with ya.” Luna eyed her and then chuckled. “I’ll bet you and Nacht would get along wonderfully if you ever met her. She was very fastidious about fulfilling agreements too, although she was quite happy to do more than she’d said if she felt the need.” Grymmilnia grinned widely as she turned to walk back towards the structure. “When the only empress you’ve ever known is as larger-than-life as Nachtmiri Mein, and the only empress you’ve ever known is absurdly good at gaining power, gaining vessels, and surviving without so much as a singed strand of mane, you learn to emulate--or you die,” she said as she walked, abruptly speaking in a voice bearing more than a hint of cultured refinement, a voice Luna suspected to be much more natural to her than the imitation of Gilda Grimfeathers. “Even a bad egg learns some things if she doesn’t want to get her head mounted on some jei’s mantle, and the first rule of getting old and strong is: do what you say you’ll do. There’s one serious downside though.” “You start listening when the prisoner in your head yells long enough,” Luna said. Grym snorted as she reached the entrance and turned so that only her left eye was showing, a very noticeably griffin left eye. “Yes,” she said, a tone of deep disgust in her voice. “And you find that they start to make sense, and you begin to lose your grip and shortly, you find yourself helping the frail mortals instead of crushing them underfoot.” She turned away again and started walking. “And worst of all, you’re actually pleased with yourself. Pathetic.” For a moment, Rainbow actually looked like she was going to go after the mutate but Luna caught her eye and shook her head. “I think she really means it, Rainbow,” she said as the pegasus settled back on her hooves. “A curious creature… screaming at me one minute, prepared to murder your friend another minute, all cocksure and nasty yet another minute, and then she’s helpful… only to call it all off and go back to her first mode.” She looked at Dash. “How much time has passed?” Rainbow looked at her oddly. “Um… it grabbed ya only a few seconds before we gave it a beat-down. Why?” “It was several minutes for me,” Luna told her. “At first it pretended that I’d caught it out and fought it, but I disbelieved its illusion and it gave up all pretense. It first badly wished to know who Nacht was and tried to find out through my memories of her, then lost its temper and attempted to torment me with one of my memories, and that is when you struck it.” “OK, so who is she?” Luna shrugged. “Other than a creature of the same type that Grymmilinia is, I do not know. I gather that she is ancient beyond comprehension, but otherwise only know that from the moment she revealed herself to me, she was a good of ally, of friend, and even of sister as I’ve ever had. Ruthless and coldly pragmatic, but always genuinely kind to me. It was very unpleasant having to pretend otherwise, quietly going along with the myth of a faithful ally as the evil and corrupting monster that made me into the villain of a child’s story, but I could never muster a better argument than Nacht about it.” “So what’d she help ya do?” Rainbow nodded towards the structure and Luna gave her a quick nod of agreement, that it seemed like a good place to shelter for the moment despite the zambet’s presence. “I mean, if she’s powerful like Grym there, and yer already really powerful, what’d you need her for?” Luna smiled wryly. “Would you believe, to turn the diarchy into a monarchy with me as the only princess?” Rainbow blinked and stopped to look at her. “Seriously? You were trying to kick your sister off the throne totally?” “Tia has not always been the mare you and modern Equestrians know,” Luna told her, taking a few steps inward and waiting for Rainbow to follow before continuing. “It was a different time, Rainbow, a harder, and more violent, and more difficult time, and Tia was extremely well-adapted to what the times required of her.  Neither of us are flawless, Rainbow Dash, as much as we like to keep up that appearance. We have both stumbled but her role was far harder than mine, and the times she stumbled were far more momentous. One of Tia’s most serious stumbles was how she dealt with the changelings.” “Changelings?” Rainbow blinked. “Like, shapeshifters that drag ponies off into the night and steal the love of their family? Suck all the life and love out of ponies? Those changelings?” Luna couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yes, those were certainly some of the more entertaining stories about them. Entertaining for how silly they were; less so for how seriously they were taken.” She sighed. “They are no more wicked than any other ponies, but have an unusual appearance and unusual powers and the unusual frightens ordinary ponies. There had always been unease around them and the changelings tended to be tolerant of it. but their tolerance was a product of wise and good leadership and when the Maternis Queen, the head of the ruling council of the changelings, turned out to be a hateful and intolerant racist…” “Got bad, huh?” “It grew terrible,” Luna said quietly. “There was no side of it that was more evil than the other; no one’s hooves were clean. Granted, the ponies doing evil to one another were a small part of each people, but that small part caused fear and stirred hate far out of proportion to their numbers. Tia saw our little ponies hurting terribly, and she resolved to act no matter what, deciding that exiling the entirely of the changeling race was the only solution.” “So she was… wrong?” “She was right,” Luna said. “Her decision was just given the circumstances under which she made it.” Rainbow eyed her. “But didn’t you just call it one of her most serious errors?” “Tia’s error wasn’t her original decision,” Luna said. “Her error was remaining devoted to her decision after the circumstances changed and the original solution was no longer just. What changed was who the Maternis Queen was. The racist was actually the younger sister of the rightful queen, but Amaryss suffered from social anxiety so crippling that she was unable to act publicly and so used her sister Malyss…” Rainbow smirked. “Wait, did you say her sister’s name was ‘malice’?” Luna grinned slightly in return. “Yes. Technically, the proper pronunciation is ‘mall-ees’ not ‘mal-iss’ but after she showed what sort of pony she was, no one used the correct pronunciation. Anyway, Amaryss used her younger sister as her mouthpiece and like most, was blind to the wickedness in the sister she loved. When it became too obvious to ignore, she put her sister in chains and decreed that those changelings who’d done wrongly would be subjected to whatever punishment a court saw fit to inflict. Tia chose to continue the course she’d decided on and…” “..exiled ‘em all?” “Yes.” Luna shook her head. “It was a terrible injustice and terribly foolish as well. The changelings were the majority of the Royal Guard and the Equestrian armies. Their queens tended to be very powerful and the Maternis Queen an even match for Tia or I. In a single gesture, we lost our Guard, our armies, the only ponies in Equestria who could possibly run our government if needs be. Nacht was always of the opinion that the events that culminated in the exile was a clever scheme by the Guardian, and it’s difficult to dispute her.” “Huh.” Rainbow mulled this over as they reached a tee in the halls, one branch going back where they came from, the other looking as if it went deeper. “OK, they ain’t soul-eating parasites. So why’d ponies not like ‘em?” “They look unusual,” Luna said, veering down the branch they hadn’t seen before. “Their horns have unusual shapes, their wings are insectoid, they have carapaces instead of ordinary coats, and the carapaces are pitted and irregular. They also have…” “Wait… horns, wings, and natural armor?” Rainbow gaped. “They’re all like you?” Luna grinned. “Not quite, but close enough. Most changelings have only the most basic use of their horn magic but along with their other gifts, it’s more than enough. But in addition to their appearance, there is the fact that they can be anypony they wish, and this too caused ponies to be nervous around them. But the thing that made others most nervous was that changelings require love to remain healthy.” “They need love…?” “More specifically, the subtle energy that comes of positive emotion, which they can eat,” Luna clarified. “It is entirely harmless; in my entire life, I’ve never heard of a single case where a pony was harmed by a changeling eating of their love. And yet the very concept of the strange insect-ponies eating their love frightened the other races.” “I’ll bet.” Dash looked ahead of them as the passage began to widen and plain walls began to be replaced with more elaborate and ornate masonry, and the tiles became patterned and colored. “Yanno, I don’t think we ever asked anyone what the hay this place is supposed to be. I mean, did ‘Master’ build it or did he just take it over or somethin’?” “I’m beginning to think he may have taken it over,” Luna said. “I can’t see him bothering with frills like masonry and tiling. I’d almost suspect this is some sort of official structure or a temple or something of that nature. In fact…” “‘Allo?” Luna and Rainbow both jumped a little at the female voice. “Is anyone ‘ere?” Dash looked back at Luna, her brow furrowed, before looking back down the hall. “Yeah?” “Well, about bloody time!” There was the sound of hoofsteps, joined quickly by the sounds of metal-shod hoofsteps. Exchanging a look with Rainbow, Luna started channeling through her horn to raise a barrier as the pegasus retreated to stand beside her. The hoofsteps grew closer and closer until their owners rounded the bend. It took a quick moment of startled recognition before Luna ground her teeth and manifested her blades. “Lashaal.” The aforenamed mare stopped abruptly upon seeing Luna, sapphire blue eyes widening and her jaw dropping. “An’ whot th’ bloody ‘ell is this?” she demanded. “Whotcha doin’ this far north, Princess?” The very not Lashaal accent made Luna lower her blades, looking hard at her. “What are you playing at?” “Playing at?” The mare looked hard at her. “Are you taking the piss? I just arrived with my escort after a lengthy trek from th’ coast. I’m not ‘playing at’ anything.” Luna dismissed the blades. “Escort?” “Shore ‘nuff.” The mare smiled in a way that Luna had never seen from the false unicorn. “C’mon around ya lot… time ta say ‘ello to the Night Eternal.” She stepped closer to look up at Luna. “I have ta say, Princess… smashing to see you in the flesh. An’ an equal joy to meet Loyalty’s bearer as well. Thought I’d just about made my entire life encounterin’ Kindness at the city but two of the bearers and the Princess of the Night and Moon as well? Top honors, right up to the top.” Luna was prevented from returning the astonishingly earnest greeting by the appearance of five unicorns in Royal Guard armor. Or, at least, Luna mistook it for Royal Guard armor until she realized that the ponies in the armor were staring at her with undisguised awe, a lapse of discipline she’d never seen in the actual Royal Guard. “A-ten-shun!” The stallion voice brought the astonished soldiers instantly to attention as a tall and somewhat lanky stallion, bearing the epaulets of a colonel, came around the corner. He bowed briefly in Luna’s direction before turning to the soldiers. “Present arms.” he commanded, and in perfect coordination, all five gripped the pommels of swords they had sheathed at their shoulder and drew them, bringing the polished sabers to attention. “Render honors!” The colonel drew his own blade, a slightly longer weapon with an elaborate handle and planted the tip on the tile. The other five imitated his gesture precisely and as one, all six bowed deeply and went down on one knee. “Your Majesty, an honor and pleasure,” he finished with his head still bowed deeply. Noticeably, during the brief ceremony, the mare hadn’t moved at all, not even to lower her head. After a moment, she bowed her head to Luna briefly. “Your Majesty, an honor and pleasure,” she said before raising her head, turning slightly to face Rainbow Dash, and bowing again. “Milady Rainbow Dash, also an honor and pleasure.” Luna couldn’t help but stare at the mare. I can’t remember any of our subjects being this formal, she thought as she looked the mare, a spitting image of Lashaal, over. In fact, a perfect copy of Lashaal. She stopped and took the thought one step further. Or the other way around. “Miss,” she said, suspecting she knew the answer, “who are you?” The mare raised her head and gave Luna a pleasant smile. “Lily Shell, your Majesty.” She glanced to one side and then the other. “And if I might ask, wot is this place… an’ why’re you ‘ere?”