//------------------------------// // The Origin: Part 6 // Story: Between Worlds // by Vohira //------------------------------// The Origin: Part 6 The castle’s library was in Somber’s opinion a bit disappointing. It was a high circular room with two levels, if he had to guess it was similar in size to the Gryffindor common room. It was smaller than he expected it to be. Although he had to admit, that the lush dark green carpet, the many pillows on which one could sit or lay and the large fireplace across from the double doors, did make it feel cosy. “I can see you're disappointed Blackmane, not exactly what you expected?” The older white unicorn said smirking slightly, as he moved to sit on one of the pillows near the fireplace. “I thought it will be… larger.” Somber admitted as he made himself comfortable on one of the many a pillows.   “Yes, many think so. But The Princesses have written only so many books through their lives…” Stronghoof said with a smile, watching as the knowledge that every book in this room was written by the princesses sank in. “Now then lets talk about more important things, like where are you going to live while you train.” The Grand Master’s words brought Somber out of his stupor. The dark gray unicorn blinked a few times before he was able to respond. “Well for now I’m staying in the Temple of the Night, as I don’t have my own place to stay in the city.” Somber sa the small scowl that formed on the older’s unicorn muzzle when he mentioned where he was staying. “That will not do.” Stronghoof said with a frown. “One of my knights will not be seen living in that… temple. You will go there today for anything you have left there, and I will arrange a room for you in our quarters.” “Sir, in about two weeks my marefriend is going to join me here in the city… I was wondering…” A tired sigh interrupted Somber, he looked at the white coated unicorn as he in turn looked at him in exasperation. “Only members of our Order can live in properties owned by the Solar Knights. If you want to live together with her, you better get a move and start searching something on your own. But I can tell you right away that buying a house is far too expensive for you right now. And nopony will rent you a room, that is why most of the newcomers just build their homes in the outer circle of the city.” “But building a house is also costly…” Somber almost pouted as he said that. If he didn’t know better he would probably think, that the older unicorn was purposely making things harder for him and Wind Dancer. “Be that as it may, we still can still give you one room for you, and you alone.” Stronghoof said with a small scowl, ending that part of the discussion. “Now, let us talk about your magic. I’ve been told by our Princess  that you managed to power and hold a large shield for an extended period of time, and against a chaos storm of all things.” The white unicorn looked around, and then settled his piercing gaze on Somber. “Shielding an entire village for hours against that kind of force is… an astounding feat. However even the Princess can be fooled.” The dark gray unicorn felt anger swell in him. For the first time in this new life of his, somepony called him a cheater. And it should go without saying that such insinuations brought forth rather unpleasant memories. “You’re calling me a cheater, a liar?!” Somber hissed with barely restrained anger in his voice, as he glared at the older unicorn. “Now, I didn’t call you anything. I’m merely voicing my concern.” Stronghoof said still scowling slightly. “Such power is, more often than not nowadays, a result of dabbling into Dark Magic. I would hate to allow some dark sorcerer to be called a Solar Knight.” His horn glowed with magenta aura for a few seconds before the aura disappeared. Meanwhile Somber stood up and tensed waiting for whatever magic was cast to take effect. There was a brief knocking on the doors, before a servant earth pony mare brought in a small wooden box, she put it down before the two stallions, and opened the lid revealing a crystal shard of some kind. She bowed and then left without a word. “What’s that supposed to be?” The dark gray unicorn said looking at the shard with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “That is a Resonance Crystal. They’re hard to come by, especially this variety that reacts to even miniscule traces of dark magic in a unicorn’s aura.” Now it was Stronghoof that stood up, he took on a more defensive stance. “And you want me to do what exactly?” Somber asked eyeing the older stallion cautiously, he really was beginning to dislike the white coated unicorn. “Levitate it. And then we will see…” “That won’t be necessary Count Blueblood.” A commanding mare’s voice sounded from above them. Both stallions looked up at the second level balcony. Behind the railing stood a dark blue coated alicorn. With the hood of her black cloak lowered, her star filled mane flowed gently around her head. The sharp and cold gaze of her cyan colored eyes was directed at both of them. Her muzzle was a stone mask, that showed no emotions. Princess Luna stood in the library. Stronghoof was opening his mouth to speak… “We said, that the test won’t be necessary. The word of two Princesses in not enough for you, my dear subject?” Luna’s words made the older unicorn scowl, but he refrained from answering. Somber in the meantime was just gazing at the Princess that saved his life a few nights ago. He followed her with his gaze, when she spread her wings and glided down  from the balcony. In flight her cloak revealed a black armor with silver designs on it. Now that he had a look at it he could see that where Celestia’s armor was heavy and designed for maximum protection, Luna’s was meant to be light and not restrict her movements in any way. The black armor had even pads on the armored horseshoes to muffle the Night’s Princess steps. When the dark alicorn landed silently on the floor, she shot one gaze at Stronghoof. “Leave, we desire to speak with this young stallion, alone.” While the dark gray unicorn looked surprised, his superior looked just a bit miffed. But Stronghoof knew his place and decided to leave without saying another word. When the library’s doors closed behind him, Luna moved. She slowly started to walk around Somber, with a small frown on her muzzle. Somber suddenly felt like he was trapped with a predator and he was the prey, which made him shuffle his legs. “We have to admit, while we don’t blame you for your choice, we are slightly… dissapointed.” Her voice and what she said caused Somber some distress. He knew of what she was speaking, it caught him by surprise and he, even if reluctantly,  jumped on the occasion to elevate his status a bit…   “We see you understand.” Luna was by his hindquarters by now, and while he followed her with his gaze, he had to say something at last or he felt he would crack, under the unexplainable tension that was building between them. “Why did you stop Stronghoof’s test Princess?” Somehow his words came out more aggressively than he intended. Corners of Luan’s mouth twitched. “He’s a paranoid one, and most of the time he is wrong…” She took her time, circling him until they stood side by side. He could feel her cloak against his side. “However…” She leaned forward, so she could whisper into his ears, her hot breath made his right ear twitch a bit. “You have so much potential, a darkness that no matter how deeply it is hidden, can not be hidden from us. And from that infernal crystal… with the way you are now.” As she finished whispering into his ear with that silent, almost seductive voice, she stepped forward, brushing lightly the tip of her star filled tail against his cutie mark, and lower belly… coming too close to his privates for his comfort. Somber couldn’t hide the small blush that showed on his muzzle. But he fought through his embarrassment, that disappeared as quickly as it appeared as he processed the Princess's words. “I don’t know what you are talking about… I have no ‘hidden darkness’ in me.” Somber replied with indignation. “Oh, but you do... And you have been touched by the most vile dark magic we have ever felt.” Luna was now facing him again, she was smirking. “With your potential, and origins… You are the most interesting thing that happened to this kingdom in over a hundred years… Harry Potter.” He gaped at the dark alicorn in shock. He tried saying something a few times, but no sound left his mouth. For months now, he had been just Somber Blackmane… “How do you know?” The dark gray unicorn asked silently, with his head now lowered, waiting for whatever the Night’s Princess had planned for him. “We are the Ruler of the Night, Avatar of the Moon and Stars, Guardian of Dreams…” Luna said  stepping closer to him, and she willed her star filled mane to raise his head. He flinched at the last title, that explained a lot. The ex-human found it odd that the mane felt so solid… and cold. Their gazes locked. “But your secret is safe with me… for a price.” The dark alicorn’s voice gained a bit of warmth as she said that, a glint of mischief could easily be seen in he now half lidded, cyan eyes.   “What do you want?” Somber sighed, sounding resigned. Inside he was however truly afraid of what she would ask of him. “A lovers kiss.” His jaw dropped from the ridiculousness of her request. “You… You’re kidding, right? Right?” For a moment the unicorn stallion forgot with whom he was speaking. He pulled his head back, just now noticing how close they have been for a while. “No, I’m waiting.” Luna said with a slight smirk. Somber took a few deep breaths. One kiss was not the end of the world… Almost a quarter of an hour later, Somber walked out of the castle’s library. For the most part his thoughts were in turmoil. But one thing he was certain of, what… happened between him and the Princess of the Night would not be quickly forgotten. It made him that much more ashamed when his thoughts betrayed him. He knew that he would not dump Wind Dancer, but he also knew he would now always compare the two… a pegasus and an alicorn. One of them had the unfair advantage of being almost perfect on top of being experienced, if the last quarter of an hour was anything to go by. In his sulking he missed the form of Stronghoof, apparently waiting for him. “Blackmane!” His name being shouted, made him jump and look around. When he saw the white unicorn his mood worsened. By some twisted logic, Somber’s mind instantly declared all of his heartache to be his superior’s fault. Not that he was going to tell him that… “Yes, sir?” Even if the noble pony heard the heavy sarcasm in Somber’s voice he didn't comment on it. He just smiled grimly. “Well, what did Princess Luna want?” When he heard the question, the dark gray unicorn just stared at the older one. “With all due respect… That is a private matter, sir.” A bit of anger slipped into Somber’s voice, Stronghoof couldn’t know, he just couldn’t! “Hmmm…” Stronghoof grunted and scowled. “I will let this slide this time. Come then, let me show you to your new room.” The older unicorn started slowly walking, but after a few steps he realized that he was walking alone. He turned his head to send a glare at the still standing younger unicorn. “Not coming Blackmane?” “Not if it means leaving my marefriend to fend for herself.” Somber answered with determination in his voice. At least he would try to appease his conscience this way, and try to forget about Luna. Stronghoof’s scowl just deepened and he stormed off, down the corridor they were standing in, leaving the dark gray coated unicorn alone with his thoughts. A few hours later, and after getting himself quite familiar with the castle, Somber once again stood in the throne room. This time however Princess Celestia stood by one of the windows overlooking the city, and he was standing right by her side. He had made his case known to the Princess and now he was waiting for an answer. “We do not normally grant favour to one of our Knights, to not be seen as playing favorites. But I was not aware you had a marefriend… We should have foreseen that possibility.” The white alicorn said quietly while looking through the window at the city, basked in the late afternoon light. “However as we have a great interest in you, we will help you. It would do nopony good if you were to blame us or your superior for losing your marefriend.” Somber grimaced internally, special treatment was the last thing he wanted, but when it came to Wind Dancer... he would gladly use every opportunity to save what he has with her so far. “I am most grateful your highness.” He said sincerely and ended with a low bow. “Do not thank us yet.” Celestia sighed as she said those words quietly. She was sadly aware that even if she helped the young stallion now, in the future his assignments may take him away from the capital for weeks, even months. Rarely romantic relationships survived such things. The white alicorn turned towards the doors, her flowing, white dress shimmering. “We must admit, we don’t know that much about you… And as we will help you, so we may as well indulge in our curiosity. Come join us at supper, and tell us more about yourself.” She kept her pace slower, so that the shorter pony could easily walk by her side. Somber didn’t hesitate and marched up to the white alicorn’s side. “Well, a few months ago I woke up after a magical incident in a forest…” As the two walked through the castle in the setting sun’s light, two figures watched them. Stronghoof couldn't help himself but feel a bit of pity towards the young stallion, he had entered a world of politics, customs and alliances he didn’t understand after all.. The second shadowy figure smiled thinly. For now she would keep her distance. Sooner or later Somber Blackmane would come to her, asking for knowledge her sister couldn’t give him… Princess Luna smiled a bit wider, before she seemingly melted into the shadows and disappeared.