The rain is what finally woke Luna.
She had murky memories of being shaken and shoved out of bed and shuffled across the freezing floor. But having freezing water driven directly into her face was enough to shock her mind out of the clutches of sleep.
She winced and tried to shrink back but she felt the firm nudge of a wing pressing into her back.
“Come now Luna,” Mama’s voice came from over her shoulder. “Keep up.”
Luna blinked and glanced back to see her mother with a still nodding Cadence on her back, balanced carefully between her wings. Mama’s horn flared and a gleaming shield appeared above their heads and about them, the rain instantly cut off and becoming nothing but a steady drumming against the walls of the shield.
Luna shook the rainwater out of her eyes and now realized Celestia and Sunset were flanking either side of her.
“How far do we go, Mama?” Celestia asked, her voice enhanced by the magical cocoon.
“Just until I say stop,” Mama said. Her voice calm as usual but Luna heard a funny strain in it, like a lopsided singsong tone, the kind she used when Grandpapa was about to break into a fury and she was calling the girls to come out of the room.
“What is this, Mama?” Sunset demanded. “It’s in the middle of the night and it’s storming like a fiend.”
“A fire caught somewhere in the castle and we need to stay outside until it’s put out, just to be safe.”
“Where in the castle?” Luna asked. The castle was an immense structure with countless rooms carved into five stories of stones maintained by a legion of servants, where could a fire catch where it wouldn’t be put out immediately before it posed any kind of threat?
“Hurry along, Luna, we’ll speak more when we’re a safe distance,” Mama said.
A safe distance was apparently outside of the palace gates, where they were met by a gaggle of servants and a few guards, who all looked bedraggled and bemused. They immediately surrounded Mama and the fillies, the guards setting themselves in a perimeter around the royals while the rest inquired as to their safety and the exact state of emergency.
While Mama tried calming the servants the fillies stood to the side, warming themselves with their magic.
"It must be some sort of magical flame to cause such a threat," Celestia said, her horn glimmering as she used it to dry out and re-curl her hair.
“That the guards could not put out?” Luna said skeptically. "We have unicorn guards for the very purpose of such a possible assault."
Celestia shrugged. “Maybe no one caught it until it was too great.”
“That’s not possible."
“Well do you have a better idea?” Sunset snapped from beside her, her magic spitting fiery flecks causing Luna to wince. “You’re always acting so dour and distant as if you were all-knowing. Just because you bury your nose in ancient tomes all day doesn’t make you a sage.”
“Why are you savaging her so? She was only speaking her opinion," Celestia said.
"I was speaking to Luna not you!"
Luna quickly ducked out from between the two as they lunged at one another, their magic clashing in a hissing and snarling collision of red and gold.
Luna tried to distract herself from her sisters' shameful display and the glances from the servants by turning towards the palace. She was astonished to see plumes of smoke pouring upwards into the sky, pillar upon pillar, creating a heavy cloud that fell like a curtain over the walls and spires of the palace. She couldn't see any flames from where she stood but it had to be massive to produce such an amount of smoke.
For the first time since she woke Luna began to feel pangs of anxiety. Where is Papa? Why was Mama the one to lead us outside by herself without a single guard? Where is Grandpapa, as the All-Father should he have not been brought out first? His rooms are not far from ours, why isn't he with us?
As if in response to her thoughts, Luna caught sight of a figure coming towards them from the palace. She squinted through the rain and saw the outline of a horn and a pair of wings.
"Papa?" She called, but the rain and the wind drowned her voice out. But there were no other alicorns left besides Grandpapa and he would not be wandering about without a host of guards.
After quickly casting a magical shield about her body, Luna started walking towards her father, having some trouble wading through the grass which was so tall it tickled her muzzle against the wind and rain. She was about halfway to the palace gate where Mama had lead them through, when she heard a faint voice behind her:
"Highness!"
Luna glanced over her shoulder and saw a young gray unicorn colt with a black mane coming towards her. He must have been with the group servants.
"What is it?" She asked as he came up to her, his horn glowing dimly to light his way. His magic clearly wasn't skilled enough to offer any better protection from the elements.
The colt dropped a quick bow. “Highness, if you will forgive me, but I do not believe it is prudent for you to be so far from the company given the circumstance.”
“You are here,” she said distractedly. She turned back around and frowned. She was certain she had seen Papa heading directly this way but now she couldn't see him anymore.
"Papa?" She shouted but the only response was the whine of the wind.
"Is the Prince out here?" The colt asked.
"I thought I saw him coming this way."
"I saw nothing, my lady. Perhaps the smoke and rain is playing tricks."
Luna shook her head. "No, I saw him. He was right this way..."
Suddenly, there was a sound like a mountain being cleaved in half and blast of light that turned the whole world white. Luna felt a blow of heat drive into her like a giant fist, knocking her entire body to the ground. For a moment she lay there, stunned, blind and deaf.
Her sight was the first thing to return, fuzzy and unclear, and Luna perceived a face leaning over hers. The ringing in her ears subsided next and she could hear the voice of the colt crying frantically:
"Are you alright, my lady?"
"Y-yes, I believe so," Luna said shakily.
She heard an audible sigh of relief. "Let me help up, my lady. Take my hoof."
Luna's body felt numb but she was able to lift her hoof and the colt took it, pulling her to her hooves. It took her a moment to regain her balance with her head swimming and her ears were still ringing from the explosion. She could smell burning and feel heat of flames but when she tried to look towards them the light was so fierce she had to turn her face away.
"Can you walk my lady?" The colt asked.
"I think."
"Come, let us get back to your mother then."
Luna took two steps and nearly fell over, only saved by the colt catching her just in time.
"Lean against me, my lady," the colt said and Luna thankfully did so. This meant the going was now much slower and since the explosion the storm had only increased in ferocity, with thunder and lightning now striking overhead.
"Did you see what happened?" She asked.
"There was a great light and the palace was set afire," he said. "It looked like a magical discharge but I could not tell."
Just then the colt stumbled and they both nearly tumbled over each other.
"Apologies my lady," the colt said. Luna could hear his breathing coming in labored gasps.
"Let's rest a moment," she said.
"No I am well I just-" the colt insisted, despite even though the rainfall Luna could see the strain in his face.
"I'm tired, I need a moment." To highlight her words she sat down in the grass and motioned for him to join her. He looked unwillingly but obeyed. Luna's head was throbbing now and she was worried she might not be able to stand up again when a strange movement caused her to turn around.
Papa?
The light from the burning palace cast a hellish glow from over Luna's shoulder and lit up the expanse of grassland that surrounded the palace. Against the inky backdrop of the grass below and the thunderheads above, she once again saw the outline of a alicorn. But now she could see the color of the coat and realized it was not Papa.
"Grandpapa?" She gasped.
The colt must have heard her because he stood up and took a step forward. "Is that--?"
Luna stumbled to her hooves, her head whirling from the sudden change in altitude. Grandpapa was not looking at them, he was slinking through the grass as if he were stalking someone.
"Grandpapa!" Luna cried and this time his head snapped around towards her.
The words she had intended to call out to him were blasted away like sand before the tide and Luna felt as if her jaw locked, gaping speechlessly in the air. Grandpapa's eyes were suspended like fiery spheres over the thrashing grass and smoky mist, to her they seemed to cast a sulfuric glow on the raindrops drizzling before them.
His gaze felt as if were scorching her, burning through her with it's raw and hematic expression. Luna told herself to look away but her every muscle seemed completely seized by it, as if they were all twisted and tangled in cramps.
"Majesty!" The colt cried out and Grandpapa's eyes darted towards him. Released from his gaze, Luna's senses snapped back like a taut rope being cut.
Grandpapa suddenly reared his head back, his eyes flashing like sulfur, and let out a sound like a laugh and a scream that tore through the wail of the wind and the roar of the rain like a blade. Then he spun around and galloped into the shadows of the grass and storm.
There was silence for a long moment except for the snarling of the storm as Luna and the colt stared where the All-Father had stood. Suddenly the colt began walking after Grandpapa, causing Luna to jump and grab hold of him.
“Where are you going?” She cried.
“After the king!” he exclaimed, then remembered himself and added: “My lady.”
Luna felt as if suddenly the moors about them were expanding like a serpent's maw about to swallow her. “No, you cannot leave me here alone!” she cried, forgetting how unlady-like it was to raise your voice. "He can care for himself, his guards cannot be so far behind him."
The colt did not look convinced so Luna drew herself up and said with as much authority as she could muster, "I command you to remain with me."
The colt looked very reticent but he did not move to leave. "Should we start back to your mother then, my lady?"
"Yes."
So they began walking again, this time with some space between them. The rain had finally relaxed from a deluge to a easy shower and the wind now was more of a brisk breeze than a violent lashing.
Luna kept her eyes trained ahead, no for fear of misstep but rather trying to distract herself from the memory of Grandpapa's eyes. No matter how many times she pushed the image way she could feel his gaze burning at the edges of her mind, scorching and smoking.
“They were like will-’o-the-wisps," she breathed. She hadn't meant to say it aloud but the colt caught her words and gave her a queer look.
“Pardon, my lady?” He said.
Luna felt warmth creeping into her face and quickly stuttered, “N-nothing, just a foolishness I read in a tome.”
“May I inquire what it was?" He said politely. “As we have nothing better to occupy our time and it might be a pleasant distraction.”
Luna didn’t think so but he was looking at her so affably and it felt pleasant to have a distraction, so she said it anyways:
“They’re the lights that appear in the marshes at night between the earth and the heavens and dance about as if they are indicating for you to follow."
"Oh you mean hobby lanterns!" The colt exclaimed, his voice losing it's formal tone and becoming bright and genial. "They say they mark where Flutter Pony treasure is buried! But you need a magic charm to unbury it."
"That's not what I read," Luna said. "My tome said they are the souls of the unbaptized or stillborn foals leading travelers to the water so they might help them to be baptized. But of course the souls unwittingly lead them into the bogholes and quicksand so they perish.”
The colt looked first shocked and then disquieted. Luna felt the heat in her face increase and she berated herself silently for spoiling his good mood with such a tale.
“May I ask you a rather forward question, my lady?” The colt asked, and his voice sounded suddenly very pensive.
“Certainly."
“Why would a princess trouble herself with such horrid things?”
“Royalty is closely associated with horrid things. It is our place to defend our subjects from them. So we must know it well, if we are to combat it.”
The colt was silent for a moment, the rain pelting his face making his unblinking gaze into the inky field ahead even more fixating. “I must confess I never thought of it thusly.”
Luna frowned. All she had been told since her memory serviced her was that she had been placed in this world to serve Asgard. Her whole life, the lessons she was taught, the duties she would perform, the stallion she would marry, would all be implemented for the best outcome for the kingdom.
"How then did you think of us?” she asked. “What would our purpose be if not to service our subjects? We would only have to sit in gilded cages and preen.”
“I was always told our purpose as your subjects was to serve you by keep you from the horrid things.”
“Who told you that?” Luna asked dubiously.
“Splinter Hoof," he said. "He is one of the other servants I work--"
“Luna!”
Luna and the colt's heads snapped up.
"Papa!" Luna cried.
The prince of the realm came striding towards them with his horn blazing and flanked by several guards. Luna threw herself at her father, her throat filling with tears. Papa pushed her away almost immediately though, demanding severely, "Your mother is worried sick. Why did you leave her side?"
Luna felt herself shrinking under her father's harsh gaze. "I mistook Grandpapa for you."
Father's eyes widened. "Where did the All-Father go?” he said sharply.
“That way, Papa,” Luna said, pointing in the direction Grandpapa had vanished.
Papa followed her hoof and Luna thought he suddenly did not look concerned or anxious but rather very weary. When he spoke, his voice was firm but resigned:
“Take my daughter to her mother.”
The colt bowed deeply but Papa had already started walking with his guards following behind. The two young ponies began their walk back towards the flaming house. Though he was technically leading her the colt walked close besides Luna.
“Don’t worry, my lady, I’m certain his Highness will find the King,” he said.
“Of course he will,” Luna said automatically. “He could not have gotten very far.”
Luna thought of Grandpapa’s eyes again and she suppressed a shudder. To distract herself she said to the colt: "You never told me your name."
"Apologies my lady. It's Sombra."
***
Note from Luna Odinmaden: The author and name of this poem were unsalvageable but given it’s placement in the “Second Volume of Somber Verses” I assume it was written before the reign of All-Mother Aferdita. This poem is in reference to the old folktale of the souls of foals who either by being stillborn or perishing before their baptism day being condemned to wander between both earth and heaven, since being unsanctified they were not known by the Maker. Such miserable thought was the firm belief of the populace until the age of the Holy Seer Aliaksei who with his realm-wide circuit of lectures did much to lead the subjects away from such unhappy ignorance.
I was brought forth cold and blue to my bone
Even my heart lay in me still like a stone
So they shut me up beneath the ground
The earth’s pillars pressing me all around
(See me, good stranger)
Come to the water and put my head under
Until the ripples close over my crown
(See me, good stranger)
Let my airy fetters at last be sundered
So the host in heaven will know my name
When the moon lifts and her misty veil unspins
Then from my grave I am at once unpinned
And may walk to and fro between the winds
To the fathomless pool where black water brims
(See me, good stranger)
Come to the water and put my head under
Until the ripples close over my crown
(See me, good stranger)
Let my airy fetters at last be sundered
So the host in heaven will know my name
Every night I see the heavenly stairs unfurl
Up the gilded steps the blessed ones whirl
I mayn’t touch the last where the clouds swirl
For without water none enter the gates of pearl
(See me, good stranger)
Come to the water and put my head under
Until the ripples close over my crown
(See me, good stranger)
Let my airy fetters at last be sundered
So the host in heaven will know my name