//------------------------------// // PreCommon Era Chapter Twelve/Post Lunar Rellion Chapter One: Masao’s loss // Story: Rise of The Lunar Knight // by Moonlit Novel //------------------------------// Author's Notes: Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit PreCommon Era Chapter Twelve/Post Lunar Rellion Chapter One: Masao’s loss Evening Star stood at the gates of a ruined castle, Celestia walking up to her. “Art thou sure thee hath to leave? Couldest thou stay? Surely the guards could—” asked the lonely Alicorn and Evening Star smiled slightly bitterly. “No I can not” she answered the alicorn curtly, she knew it was all Celestia’s fault that the war had happened, that Masao was now missing for three days… - - - Masao awoke, he was somewhere cold, that’s all he knew as he shivered, even if he could not die of age, he was still vulnerable to other ailments of the flesh such as freezing to death, hunger, or… His throat was dry… Thirst… Masao opened his eyes and looked around, all he saw around him was white, he had a guess as to where he was, with the cold, but he could not be sure… Closing his eyes once more he tried to portal himself to the castle when he was knocked back as he tried to go through the portal of darkness. “This isn’t good” Masao thought aloud as he pressed his hand on the open yet sealed portal. Closing the portal he reached through the darkness to find himself sometime to help him find out which direction to head, because if he was— “Ser Masao?” came a voice, it did not sound equine, but there was a flapping of… Masao looked above him and there was a snow gryphon hovering above him the crest on his leather strap symbolizing him to be part of the clan that had allied itself with Equestria, and at the discrete request of Masao, remained out of the civil war between the two princesses. “I take it you have heard of me?” he asked his teeth chattering as the snow gryphon lighted upon the snow. “Yes I have, all of my clan has, we caught wind of Princess Luna’s death, and the defeat of her forces not that long ago, we feared that we would not be able to repay the debt to thee for keeping us out of the conflict. My father has great respect for thou and any thou callest thy own.” said the gryphon which made Masao look at the mythical creature intently. “Is your father Grand Wing? I thought he was—” started Masao and the gryphon just smiled turning up the part of his mouth that was flesh and blood and not beak. “He lives, and has ordered that if thou is found alive we are to escort thou to our stronghold as to keep thou safe, consider thyself our guest.” At that Masao sighed in relief, he did not know whether Celestia had forgiven him for betraying her, and then for betraying her sister. At least that is how he believed she saw it, but he would be safe with Grand Wing and his clan, at least for a while… Grand Wing knew about Masao’s agelessness, but the rest of his clan might not. “I have a request, there is a mare, a bat pony by the name of Evening Star, I can not live without knowing if she survived the final battle, and if she did, she needs to know where I am. She and I have… Are… Were…” “Say no more! When we arrive at the stronghold, I will ensure my father sends out scouts to find thy mare, As I hath said, we owe thou a debt that must be repaid, and any thou callest thy own…” And So Masao and the gryphon started the trip to the stronghold, Masao was a little skeptical about the gryphon’s straightforwardness but he had no choice but to accept the gryphon’s word at its worth. That trust paid off as they boarded a ship at the frozen coast of the the northern part of the world, it was after this that Masao knew exactly where he had been, the greatest concentration of dark energies in Equestria… The site of the missing Crystal Empire… The trip to the Gryphon Kingdom was a rough one, and whilst Masao did not get seasick, he was almost thrown overboard when a particularly rough wave swept over the deck, only thing that kept him onboard was his hands and he clenched the railings tightly from then on. - - - The Gryphon Kingdom was far more of a Middle ages type kingdom than Equestria, which took after the Roman model more than the Saxon style. Because of that Masao just smirked, this was something he could work with, far better than he he knew how to work with the roman model, but let no one say that the roman model was inferior in anyway shape or form… - - - “Father, might I announce, ser Masao Darkheart, former knight of Equestria?” asked the gryphon with whom Masao had been traveling with for the last few months, oh how Masao hated the time needed to travel to places he had never been, but such was one limit of his power. “Ah! Welcome, ser Masao! I hath not seen thee for years! I pray that thee art well?” Masao swallowed, about to answer when traveling companion spoke up. “Father, ser Masao hath asked a boon of our clan when I found him, a mare by the name of Evening Star, he needs her found, he says he can not live without knowing—” “Ah! Evening Star! I remember her, is she still thy lover then, ser Masao? I suppose can not convince thee to take one of my daughters as thy lover instead?” joked the gryphon lord a hearty smile upon his face. “Regardless, I shall send out scouts at once, son, go fetch scout Eagle Eye, she and her scouts should be returning from the front soon, inform her that she is to report at once” said Grand Wing which made Masao clench his jaw, something which the older gryphon noticed, but said nothing until his son was out of the room. “Thou disapproves? I am surprised, I would think that thou would wantest to find your lover as soon as possible” and Masao flinched at being called out, so used to being able to get away with casual body gestures without being found out. Masao struggled to stutter out a response when Grand Wing laughed and gestured with his talons to let it go. “I am sorry, I should not presume—” “Thou should not worry, I did not intend to send the scouts out as soon as they returned, that would hurt the search far more than if they rested.” Masao almost laughed, of course a predator would understand that! He had to drill that into the scouts’ heads when he was in charge of the forces of Luna’s— Masao sighed heavily. “Something weighs heavily on thy mind, care to share with an old bird?” asked Grand Wing and Masao looked to the tall ceiling refusing to look at the kind gryphon, the gold in his feathers and fur long gone before he had ever met him. “I knew the revolt was doomed to fail from the start, part of me knew that I was damning myself by aiding it…” “Then why wouldst thou help a failed cause?” asked the gryphon in a supportive voice and Masao blinked rapidly to rid himself of tears. “Because I swore to serve Princess Luna, because she was a friend” Masao replied quietly and the old gryphon scoffed. “So thou committed treason to remain loyal?” “I never swore to Equestria, only to her. I owed her, she saved me from death, and in the end I betrayed her, and yet I didn’t” “Oh? So a life debt demanded thou betray Celestia?” asked Grand Wing as his son walked into the great hall once more. “No, I—” “Hush now, ser Masao, thou art not under scrutiny. How can I judge thee, when thou savest my clan from as thou said, a pointless war?” - - - For three weeks Masao mourned the loss of Luna, and the raise, for however temporary, of Nightmare Moon. at the end of the third week however he was called to the main hall of Grand Wing’s stronghold when he arrived he froze at the door, as standing in front of the throne, not looking in his direction as she argued with Grand Wing, was Evening Star, her body seemed more lean, but not in a bad way, almost as if she had been personally searching for him. - - - “But thy alliance with Equestria demands that thee aids us!” argued Evening and Grand Wing frowned at the mare. “I see no official call for aid from Princess Celestia, oh yes we have heard about what had happened. A civil war between the two alicorns! A damned power struggle! That aside, I owe Ser Masao for keeping us out of it! If I knew where he was I would not turn him in to Equestria’s ‘authorities’ as they would sooner see him dead!” snapped Grand Wing and Evening Star fell to the ground on her stomach as tears rolled down her face. “Please I beg thee, not for Equestria, but for a mare whose lover is missing, please, I beg thee, tell me where Masao is. I love him, I need him...” Masao quietly walked up behind her, knelt down and placed a hand on her back between her wings. “Oh Evening Star, I am here.” At the sound of his voice Evening Star leaped up and turned around before tackling the poor human, as she peppered him with kisses and tears as she cried and laughed at the same time. So fearful that Masao was banished as well, and so relieved to find those thoughts foundless. - - - And so the pair remained in the Gryphon Kingdom, Masao adding his knowledge to theirs helping them forward their technology, which barely kept in pace with Equestria’s sudden boom in science and magic. Sure Masao knew very little on why something works, but he knew how to make things that work. Soon he swore himself to the service of Grand Wing, stating that his service would end when one of them died, Grand Wing took it rather well. Even when it became clear that Masao would outlive the old gryphon, however the old gryphon made it clear that for so long as Masao lived, he was welcome within the halls of the Razor Talon Clan. Something his son followed through when he took control of the clan upon his father’s death. - - - As the years past Evening Star grew older, soon she was unable to fly anymore and was confined to the stronghold, while Masao continued to aid the gryphons and many bat ponies that had managed to escape from an angry populous of Equestria, much to Celestia’s disapproval as these ponies chasing the bat ponies out only saw the soldiers that fought against Celestia. Despite the princess pardoning them, the general populous believed they knew what their princess wanted far more than the princess herself and there were raids against bat pony homes and communities, it had gotten so bad that Celestia had personally overseen the escape of these unfortunate ponies. One day Masao returned to the stronghold and froze when he saw Evening Star give him a weak smile, all the hair in her mane and tail had long since turn grey, and some had long since fallen out, and Masao knew, Evening Star was dying, and there was nothing he could do… - - - “Yeah, Luna, where are you now that I need my friend? Where are you now that my light has died and left me alone?” said Masao scornfully as he took a long draft of the scotch in front of him. “I see that thou art mourning Evening Star, art thou not, Ser Masao?” asked Golden Wing, though now his feathers and fur were peppered with grey, never the less, heaven help the fool that challenged him thinking he was no longer as strong as he was in his prime. “Thank you for pointing that out, Gold’, no way I would have figured that out on my own” snapped Masao only for Golden Wing to chuckle at Masao’s outburst. “Thou need not hold in the pain. Thou art not the only one who lost someone today, Evening Star was a good friend to me and my wife. and our children enjoyed spending time with that old mare” Masao looked at the gryphon with scorn which quickly gave way to a look of sadness. “Do you know, she was one of the first ponies I had met when I first got to Equis all those years ago? Some of her first words to me was that she would lay with me should I wish it. I was so pissed…” And so Masao and Golden Wing stayed up that night mourning the loss of the Light in Masao’s life, as well as recounting the memories gained with her…