//------------------------------// // Butterflies // Story: Lessons in the Moonlight // by Harmony Split //------------------------------// Chapter eight: Butterflies Once again I woke up in the small room flooded by moonlight. This time, something was wrong. As I looked down, I noticed immediately that my stomach was bandaged and the sheets had dark stains in some areas. I had no idea what it was, but I had to assume it was blood. My blood. Being only the watcher as always, I stood up and went to the closet, opening it and retrieving the armour from it. It looked bright and shiny as always, but several spots seemed to show recent repair, and some of the straps were frayed and stressed. I had no idea how I could recognize what was wrong with the armor. With the armor on, I inspected myself in the mirror. The scar under my eye was still there, but now there were some additions. Bruises and smaller cuts over my whole body and a blood-stained bandage around my belly, only partially covered by the armor. Even despite my condition, my reflection smiled, disrupting the soiled bandage wrapped tightly around my forehead. I turned and left the room, once again walking down the long hallway with the doors, heading for the one that lead into the mess hall. Opening it, I took a glance around. I remembered those ponies in there, the same as the last time. Two were missing, most of the rest were in even worse shape than me. They all wore grim and determined looks as I entered. They all greeted me, but this time there was no cheering, no applause, no smiles. I simply turned to my place at the top end of the furthest table and sat down. They were all hurt and broken in some way, and I hadn't raised my voice this time, silently reaching for my goblet. From my position at the head of the room, I could point out almost every wound on the bodies of the ponies in front of me, and it was enough to break my fragile mental spirit. Before I could even sip at the goblet, the door behind me smashed open in a rush, revealing the familiar, blinding light. This time, however, I could see the pony walking through. Or, better yet, the goddess that walked through. Though I had never seen this alicorn in my life, I could recognize her from some part of my hidden memories. Tall, graceful, elegant and terrifying. Her coat and feathers were blacker than a moonless night and possessed a subtle sheen, not a single section of her was marred by wounds or imperfections. The pale blue armor that covered most of her body reflected the shifting mass of her ethereal mane and tail, like a gaseous presence of the stars wavering around her in an eternal breeze. The alicorn walked up to the table, standing immediately next to me and fixing her slit-pupil gaze on me for a moment before giving a subtle nod and turning her attention forward again. Her muzzle pulled back into a grim sneer, revealing sickeningly sharp teeth that looked unnatural on anything but a wolf or an equally predatorial beast. As much as she was terrifying, her presence seemed to boost the confidence of the ponies around the room. “You have all been fighting as hard as you can to disrupt the Solar forces. You strike from the shadows, you kill all witnesses, and then you disappear as swiftly as a shooting star in the night sky. The Solar forces do not yet suspect our actions, and yet, we are still forced to crawl around these hidden passages like rats to avoid detection,” she spoke, her voice starting out as a low growl and increasing to a normal speaking voice. “We say no more! We are tired of suffering casualties within the walls of our own castle, we are tired of having to crawl in the shadows to reclaim what is rightly ours!” she exclaimed, slamming a hoof down on the table as she turned her attention forward to the rest of the room. “My little stars, we are tired of fighting and dying for those who pay us no love. We are tired of acting in the body of a weak and pathetic little mare! We cannot continue fighting in the shadows when what is rightly ours is in the light. We must strike now, as swift as shadow and as lethal as the void!” the alicorn exclaimed in anger, baring her teeth in a show of her unbridled rage. “We shall strike tomorrow! The Lunar Guard shall be lead by Centurion Night Glider, and you shall all gather the remainders of the night forces and strike at the heart of the castle. We shall engage the tyrant herself, and ensure that she does not have the power to stop your advance!” she reached the apex of her speech, ears folded back against her head and her wings flared backwards in a display of aggression. Despite the gloom that oppressed the room, the alicorn’s speech was met with a round of thunderous applause and cheers. A wave that I found myself joining in by clapping my hooves against the table in agreeance. It seemed to have the desired effect, as the alicorn slowly dropped her aggressive stance and calmed down. Lowering her voice to just over a whisper, she spoke again, “We shall all share the same fate, my little stars. If we succeed tomorrow, we shall bask in an eternal night. And if we should fail, we shall all pay for our actions together,” she said, concluding her speech by sitting down in the spot next to me with a heavy sigh. As the others continued to drink and chat, she turned to me, showing me a small smile, “We don’t know how to thank you enough for your actions. Two hundred years isn’t long for us, but surely they are for you. Thank you for staying at our side all this time.” “Anything for you, my lovely queen,” I said, returning the smile. Seeing her happy made me happy. I had no idea why, but I felt connected to her. As her hoof touched me, it seemed like a shock ran through my body and everything turned black. *** I woke up, startled and breathing heavily. The dream was a shock, but it answered as many questions as it raised. Quickly looking to my side, I sighed as I noticed that Twilight was still sleeping. What shocked me a bit, however, was that she somehow had started to cuddle into my coat during her sleep with her arms wrapped around my midsection and her head snuggled into my neck. I couldn’t help but simply smile. She looked so cute and peaceful. It was heartwarming. Without thinking, I leaned back against Twilight, softly cuddling my muzzle along hers. I was happy, despite the terrifying nature of the dream I had. It was nice to wake up next to another pony in the morning, especially in her arms, it felt like I belonged. Even though I was just a guest, and it was in no way my own, it felt like at that moment, I was home. The light of dawn was beginning to seep through one of the high windows of the library, casting the crystalline structure into shades of orange as the sun crested the horizon. It was beautiful in its own way, the dark crystals caught the shades of light at different angles and reflected them into a plethora of different shades and shimmering patterns. However, as beautiful as the sight was, my own gaze couldn’t stop turning towards the mare that was in my grasp. If every morning could be like that, then I would be able to die happy and not want for anything else in my life ever again. Twilight, pressed up against my side with her head on my shoulder and her breath as steady as a metronome, the feeling of her ribs expanding and collapsing with each breath tickling the fur on my barrel very subtly. If her fur tickling against mine wasn’t a reminder enough of the sweet mare I had fallen asleep with, the slight tightness of her grasp that was constantly around me was more than enough to keep me from forgetting. Of course, that brought with it the fear of her finally waking. I hadn’t the slightest idea as to what she would say when she woke, or what she would think about our current position. However, whatever her reaction might be, I had no doubt that I wouldn’t be forgetting that morning for many years to come. In that exact moment, I was happy, and I was more than content to just lay there with Twilight until the sun died out and the land was casted into eternal darkness. The world could end, and I’d be happy. As with all moments of such enjoyment, it had to come to an end. And sadly, that end was brought on by the sudden rumbling of my stomach, which caused me to jump slightly in surprise and further disturb Twilight. She grumbled slightly against my shoulder, muttering something incomprehensible as her eyes fluttered awake slowly. Though she was awake, in her still half-asleep state, her grip tightened around me as a massive yawn wracked her, the cute sound breaking the monotonous silence that had plagued the library since the night before. The world-shattering yawn persisted for almost a solid minute, a fact that had me resisting a laugh as Twilight finally closed her muzzle and blinked a few times in delirious surprise. After a moment of glancing around, Twilight lifted her head and took a tired look around the library, and I could almost see the gears turning in her head as she put the pieces together and realized she wasn’t in her bedroom. Her search of the library ended when her gaze turned towards me, and a look of realization crossed her features as I felt her grip tighten for the briefest moment. “Oh! Uh… Morning, Night Glider,” Twilight said sleepily, giving a bleary smile as she took another glance around the library, “I’m sorry, did I pass out on you?” she asked, sounding more than a little embarrassed at that prospect. I let the chuckle I had been holding in escape my muzzle as I replied, “Heh, morning Twilight. Yeah, you kinda did,” I replied with a little nod and a reassuring smile. Waking up with another pony pressed up against me was very, very low on my list of concerns. A small blush crossed Twilight’s features as she turned her head back to me, her ears folding back in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, I was just so comfortable. You could have woken me up, you didn’t have to stay here all night,” she stammered, trying to regain herself from the flustered state she was currently in. However, I couldn’t help but notice that despite her worries, she still had her hooves securely around my barrel. Keeping the reassuring smile on my muzzle, I shook my head quickly, “Twilight, don’t worry about it. It’s okay, I didn’t mind spending the night. And I didn’t want to wake you up. You, of all ponies, deserve your sleep,” I replied, giving her a gentle squeeze with the wing that was still securely wrapped around her. A small smile crossed Twilight’s features at my reassurance, and she gave a silent nod in response. After a few moments of silence, and one more gargantuan yawn, Twilight lowered her head back onto my shoulder and let out a sigh, “At least I didn’t knock you onto the floor. You might have changed your tune if I did that,” she said, ending with a small laugh of her own. The fact that Twilight didn’t get back up immediately was a little bit of a shock to me, but I wasn’t about to complain. It meant that I got a few more moments with my wonderful mentor clutching onto me, and a few more moments of the warmth that resulted from that act. The smile on my muzzle slowly crawled into a wider grin, despite the blush I could feel that burnt on my cheeks the entire time. Lowering my own head onto Twilight’s, I gave a lighthearted chuckle in response, “Well, it’d be a good way to get back at me for hitting you with the door last night,” I replied, grinning practically ear to ear as Twilight laughed in response, each laugh causing her ribs to push up against my side and tickle the fur there. “It would only be payback if you hit your head, too. But then I’d feel bad,” Twilight responded against my shoulder, though I could feel her muzzle peeled back into a smile as she responded. “Well, I can’t let my teacher feel bad, so let’s just skip the whole payback thing, yeah?” I teased, pushing the top of her head with my chin in a gentle prodding manner, as much to emphasize my words as to revel in the feeling of her mane against my chin. Twilight chuckled in response, “That sounds like a good idea,” she replied with a long-winded sigh of contentment. We stayed laying in that position for a few more minutes, enjoying the silence as we both found our morning winds. I could have laid there all morning with Twilight, if it wasn’t for the sound of my stomach growling in complaint that penetrated the silence and shattered all hopes of lying around. A little laugh came from the area around my shoulder before Twilight sat up, pulling away from my shoulder and escaping the clutch of my chin, “I guess we should probably go get breakfast,” she said, looking up at me from under a spectacularly messy gathering of purple and lavender mane. I nodded in response, a blush burning brightly across my cheeks in embarrassment from my stomach’s irritating timing, “Right, probably a good idea,” I replied, despite my desires to stay right there. Twilight untangled herself from my body, the feeling of emptiness that replaced the area where she had been touching me felt all-oppressive and cold, a feeling I immediately decided I didn’t like. I lifted my wing away from her, giving her the freedom to stand and escape our little pillow fort, which she did after stumbling a bit on unsteady hooves. Following in her motions, I stood up off of our pile of pillows and steadied myself on hooves that hadn’t been moved in several hours. Once I was sure I wasn’t about to fall over, I shook my head, arched my back and stretched for all I was worth, which earned me several bones popping back into place and a sigh of contentment to escape my muzzle. A similar groan came from next to me, where Twilight was stretching her wings after having had them cramped up against her side all night. The sound of a few of her bones popping echoed after mine, and she seemed to be content after leaving her wings extended for a few moments. With both of us limbered up and the sleep rapidly draining from us, I followed Twilight through the door and out into the hall, making our way towards the kitchen that I had only ever been in once before. Considering the fact that the last time I was there, I had been clobbered over the head by a baby dragon, I had high hopes that this visit would be slightly more pleasant. Twilight entered the kitchen first and paused in the center of the room, looking around as she seemed to consider what she wanted for breakfast. By the time that I had entered after her, she had come to a decision and rushed off to one of the cabinets, searching for the ingredients that would be required. She moved like a little lavender whirlwind as her magic lit up and searched through the cabinets, levitating out a series of ingredients that included sugar, flour and milk. I hesitated for a moment, eyeing the stools that were seated by the counter in the center of the room before deciding against it. I turned and trotted over to the cabinet that Spike had gone through before, and opened it up, going off of memory as I searched. I wasn’t sure how exactly I had noticed it before when I had only seen the inside of the cabinet for a couple of moments, and I hadn’t even actually searched through it myself. But, after sticking my wing into the shelves for a moment, they came out with the prize I sought; a can of coffee grounds. Holding the can in one wing, I used the other to close the cabinet before I walked over to the counter Twilight was working on and set to making coffee for the both of us. Twilight seemed to notice, and the pleased smile that crossed her features was enough to fill my barrel with butterflies and warmth as I set to my work. I had done something that made her happy without her asking me to, it filled me with an oddly placed pride. The coffee didn’t take long, and it took even less time to find the mugs without asking Twilight. Of course, if I had asked her, I would have found them sooner. But I figured I’d let her focus on the task she had at hoof. I set the two mugs full of coffee down on the counter on the side where there were stools, then turned to look over my shoulder, “How do you take your coffee?” I asked, breaking the sounds of food preparation. In response, the milk and the sugar floated over from the counter and landed next to the mugs, “A little bit of milk and a tablespoon of sugar,” came the reply as Twilight mixed the batter with her magic. It really was impressive to watch her use so much magic on so many different tasks at once. I gave a quick nod and turned to prepare her coffee the way she wanted, putting in just a little bit of milk and the tablespoon of sugar that she liked. With hers prepared, I turned to mine and added more milk and more sugar than hers. Most ponies pinned me for a black coffee type of mare, but I honestly could never stand the stuff just straight. Lots of sugar and lots of milk made it easier to go down. Finally taking a seat with my mug, I turned my head up to watch Twilight making pancakes. I admired my teacher, in a lot more ways than I would ever care to admit. The beautiful, elegant mare could do more with her magic at once than I’d seen any other magic used do, and she did every task with the concentration most unicorns would give a single item. There wasn’t the slightest waver in the objects she manipulated, nothing looked unstable and her aura never fluctuated. It was incredible, to say the least. Before long, Twilight had finished cooking, and two plates with stacks of pancakes on them were set with two hungry mares in front of them. Looking at my plate for a few moments and admiring the almost perfectly shaped pancakes, I gave Twilight a grin, “Thanks for breakfast, Twilight!” I exclaimed contently before lifting my utensils and digging in. Twilight gave a little chuckle in response, “Don’t mention it. And thank you for the coffee,” she said, lifting her coffee in her magic and giving a mock salute with the mug before taking a contented sip. The breakfast was incredible, as was expected. We both dug into our plates with the enthusiasm of ponies who hadn’t eaten for months, and the pancakes were devoured without much of a second thought. No words were passed between us as we ate, save for the occasional compliment about the pancakes. When we were both sufficiently full and our plates cleaned off, Twilight turned towards me with a smile, “I’m going to go upstairs and take a shower, and hopefully make my mane presentable again. If you need one, too, you can use the guest bathroom upstairs. It’s a few doors down from my bedroom, on the side opposite the bathroom you used last time,” she said as she walked towards the stairs with me in tow. I nodded in response, “Probably a good idea. I smell like books and sweat,” I said with a laugh. My words caused a blush to appear on Twilight’s cheeks, though I wasn’t sure what I said that could have been embarrassing. Twilight stopped at the bottom of the stairs, covering her blush with a little smile, “When we’re done, we can go out or go back to reading, if you want. We still have more lessons to cover,” she said, a look of anticipation and expectation flashing in her eyes. Even if I had something else I wanted to do, I wouldn’t have been able to say no to that look. Giving a confident smile, I nodded, “I can’t wait,” came my reply. The look of joy I got in response was more than enough to make my heart crawl into my throat.