//------------------------------// // Make // Story: Luna Wants a Windigo // by Lazauya //------------------------------// “Sister, where are we going? I sincerely hope we are not going to capture a windigo again. You do remember the events of the last time, do you not? It was quite graphic.” Luna shuddered. “It’s a surprise, Luna.” “Sister, I really do not see how keeping information from me is helping in anyway at all,” Luna stated, annoyed. “Luna, it’s called espionage.” “Sister, truly, where are we going?” Celestia looked behind at her sister as they flew. “Since we’re almost there, I’ll tell you. We’re going to a very tranquil place that I learned about. It’s an abandoned monastery in the mountains in western Brushzil. All of the monks died after a plague. It’s very peaceful and serene.” “How is that peaceful or serene?! You’re surrounded by dead monks!” Luna yelled. “Well, for one, it’s quiet.” Celestia scoffed. “Unlike someone I know,” Celestia said under her breath. “Sister, what?!” “Oh, Luna, you worrywort. Afraid of some vengeful spirits?” “YES, SISTER, I AM VERY AFRAID OF VENGEFUL SPIRITS” Luna glared at her sister. “Luna, ghosts aren’t real. Thier just an old mares tale.” “Yes they are! Ghosts are real, physical things! And they can hurt you!” “Luna, it’ll be fine, I promise.” Luna sighed. “Well, were the monks peaceful, at least?” “Oh, no, they were warrior monks. Very barbaric and sadistic.” Bugs flew into Luna’s ear, and she tried flicking them away. They came back a moment later, however, biting her rear end. “Yowp!” she yelped in pain. “Sister, this is officially awful!” “Luna, stop talking in italics!” “WHAT?” Luna seethed. She had an urge to grind her teeth, but her ladiness kept her from doing so. “Luna, I know it’s bad. I thought it would be fun to walk.” “Sister, we are ponies walking through a jungle!” “I know, I know! But I thought it would be fun to have a change of scenery.” “This is literally the polar opposite of fun!” “Luna, I know! But just bare with me. We can’t fly anyway; there’s a Living Butah that sits atop the mountain protecting the lands from intruders.” “Hm? I’m not sure I follow.” “He uses a type of barrier similar to the one used by Shining Armor, but quite different at the same time. He draws upon all the magic in the ecosystem, creating an impenetrable shield. That’s one theory, at least. Another theory is that he uses his own ‘spiritual energy’; I guess it’s some sort of magic they use in the East.” “I see. Let’s kill him.” “Luna! You can’t do that! He’s a Living Butah!” “Why not? What does that have to do with anything?” “Well, he’s basically already dead.” “Dammit.” “Sister,” Luna huffed. “Please, Sister, wait,” Luna panted again, trying to catch her breath, “Up, for me.” “Come on, Luna, just a bit farther!” Celestia yelled down to her sister. “I’m, coming, Sister, just, wait, a—” Before she could finish, Luna, collapsed in the mud. “Luna, come on! Hurry up!” A vulture circled overhead. “Luna. Come. On!” Vultures circled overhead. “Ugh, Luna, you’re so melodramatic.” A bird landed near the fallen princess, and poked her with a stick it held in its tallon. Luna looked up at the bird and frowned. The princesses reached the snowy valley between the mountains. It was still, just as Celestia had stated. A gentle breeze blew snow into and across deep drifts, and the path had long since been reduced frozen soil and frosted rocks under a shallow layer of snow. The princesses looked upon the monastery and were amazed by it’s intricateness; the carvings on the wood were so detailed and precise that the sisters considered hiring warrior monks as masons. Then they realized that the monks would probably just start brawling with the Royal Guard, and then there would be pandemonium, and then everyone involved would just have a bad day. I’m lucky thier all dead! Celestia thought to herself, Or else I would have had to hire them! Sheesh. The valley sat in between two peaks that only rose a few meters above temple, one peak being slightly taller than the other. A robed pony sat atop one the of peaks; a deep blue aura surrounded him, though it was faint and the sisters mostly relied on their magic to sense it. The ponies fur appeared brown and wilted. “Sister, is that the Living Butah?” Luna whispered to her sister. “I’m not sure, let’s ask.” “Wai—” “Hey, are you the one they call the Living Butah?” Celestia called out to the monk. The monk turned his head slowly. His robe blew in the wind, eliciting flapping sounds that could be heard over the near utter silence of the mountain range. His skin was wrinkled and creased, and his neck was so thin his head looked as if it were being forcibly propped up by a plank. His head finished spinning, and the sisters could see that his eyes were closed. He held his mouth shut, and wore an indifferent face. His closed eyes stared at the sisters for a moment, looking deep into their souls. The sisters stared back, refusing to move a muscle. And then the Butah finished. His mouth crept into a large, toothy grin, and he opened his dry eyes. He his right hoof from it’s position hovering over his chest, and waved. “Oh, he’s friendly,” Celestia said. The sisters entered the wooden temple, and took in all the sights it had to offer. The pillars lining the main room were thin and the red paint looked decayed. Their capitals wore ornate designs in gold. Chimes hang silently throughout, small metal circles dangling at the ends. “Sister, it’s so… quiet. I don’t like it.” Luna frowned. “Yes, this is the silence of the monks. It’s required for the intricacy of the spell we are here to perform.” “What spell?” “It’s a type of maker magic; we can make things from our memory, and we don’t need matter to make it with. The summoning spell was a failure, but I have the utmost faith in this. I’ve never met a warrior monk I couldn’t trust.” “How many have you met?” “...Enough to have a sufficient sample.” “...Alright. So how does this spell work? Why would silence be required?” “Good question, Luna!” Luna rolled her eyes. “I’m not a foal.” “Oh, you’re so cute when I patronize you!” Luna sighed. “But truly, how does the spell work?” “Well, the silence is needed because we have to be very concentrated on the picture we wish to create; obviously, our memories alone won’t be able to create something… well, stable. So I brought along a windigo hair.” “Sister, I hope that I am not dooming us for failure—” “Ponies just say ‘jinx’ now, Luna.” “Okay. I hope that I am not dooming us for jinx, but I think this may actually work.” Luna smiled. “Thank you for trying so hard for my sake, Sister. It means a lot.” “It’s no issue, Luna. I know that I’ve neglected you for so long, and I wanted to make it up to you.” Luna nodded, still simpering. “You have neglected me, Sister.” Celestia started to smile, but instead glanced around the room, blinking. She looked down at the floor, contemplating. She quickly shook off her bemusement. “Alright, Luna, let’s get started.” “How so?” “The monks wrote the matrix down in Horsdi, so it should be readable for the most part.” “Why did they use Western Magic Notation? I thought that wasn’t popularized in the eastern nations until recently. Weren’t they from the East?” “Yes, but this magic was inspired by, well, your magic, Luna. So they used a combination of Eastern Notation and Western Notation.” “Oh.” Luna looked flustered. “Really?” “Mhm. They were very inspired by you, Luna.” “Oh?” Luna asked again, feinting mild interest. She was actually very interested. “Yep. Infact, after you were banished to the moon, they went out and raided seventeen villages in one night in your name. Over fourteen hundred ponies and griffons died.” The parchment which the spell was written on was so worn it had to be held together in Celestia’s magic. She carried it out slowly, making sure to grab every piece of it. “Alright, we’ll need to add onto this matrix. The monks used solely their memory, but they only created small objects, usually of only a single substance. We’ll need to add another layer for the biological molding.” “That should be simple enough,” Luna replied with eager eyes. “I can do it, if you wish.” “Oh, it’s fine. My hoofwriting’s better, anyway.” Luna scoffed. “Whatever.” “I think I have it!” Celestia exclaimed. Her shout was amplified tenfold due to the complete silence of the the chapel. “Ow.” Luna winced from the loud noise. “I’ll check it for errors.” “Alright, sister, do you have the hair?” “Yes, there’s a mane hair from the windigo sitting on the red plate in the center of the room.” “Okay. Should we start?” “I suppose so.” “Okay. Sister, do you want to cast the spell? After all, you did the additions.” “Yes, good idea. If you would, cast a dampening spell on you. I need silence.” Luna’s horn blazed with her blue aura for a moment, and her body was shrouded in a thin coat of white. Her mouth moved as if she was saying something, and Celestia nodded to Luna. Luna nodded back. Celestia closed her eyes in concentration. She focussed on her memories of windigos, and slowly a golden light from her forehead spread out through the room. The light blue hair in the middle of room glowed with a faint eminence as well, though it was barely noticeable.   The room was lit up to an incredibly bright level, but that was mostly due to Celestia's unreasonably garish Day Magic. It took sometime for the sister’s eyes to adjust. Celestia blinked away the blinding light, and let the minor burns on her retinas dissipate. She stood up off of her haunches, and rubbed her sockets with her fetlock. Luna did similarly. “Luna, stop copying me.” “What?” “What?” “You just—nevermind.” Celestia made a sudden movement as if to approach the creature laying before the two. “Wait! You forgot something” “Yes?” Celestia quickly swiveled her head to look at her sister, her hoof pausing in the air. “Be careful.” “Good call, Luna.” Celestia hesitantly trotted up the small creature; she remembered the past attempts at retrieving a windigo. They did not end well. Celestia shut her eyes tight in preparation for what lay in front of her. She opened them wide in preparation. In the middle of the ornate rose circle lied a monster. A horrible, disgusting, creature, it was. Trixie Lulamoon. Celestia was glad the creature was not alive to suffer. Celestia’s breathing became uneasy, and she looked over to Luna. “L-Luna, don’t look.” Luna looked crestfallen. “I won’t….” “I’m sorry, Luna, I—I must have grabbed the wrong hair. I don’t know how this happened….” “Sister, don’t worry about it…” Luna said through a sad tone. “I… I’ll try again. I won’t let you down.” Celestia, however noble of her not wanting her sister to see the beast, only wanted to protect herself, and deep down, she knew it. The little ethereal equine quite enjoyed riding on the warm updrafts from the jungle. It had sure never seen a jungle, too, which was an added bonus. The windigo again watched as the two alicorns played their game, and found merriment in their squabbles. Innocently, the windigo thought it was cute. “Squawk?” Philomena asked as Celestia trotted into the room. Celestia sighed. “No, it didn’t. I don’t know what we were doing wrong!” “Squawk?” “We tried seven times…. I hope that friendly monk wasn’t disturbed.” “Squawk. Squawk.” “I know it was a failure, you don’t have to rub it in. “But…. Ugh… What to do?!” The Sun Princess sat on her bed in deep thought. “Maybe…. No, that’s silly,” Celestia thought out loud. Noticing her friend struggling, Philomena made a suggestion. “Squawk,” she offered. “Squawk?” She raised her wings in a shrug. “Squawk.” “Philomena, you’re a genius. I think you deserve a present….” “Caw!” “Oh, oh, but later!” Celestia squinted hard and bit her bottom lip, holding back her urges. “I’ll get started on it right away!”