//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Contention // Story: The Unbinding // by awesomesauce4 //------------------------------// Samson followed Princess Luna down a corridor he had been down a few times before, the morning light glimmering and hurting his still-sleepy eyes. This passage led to the royal armory, where Samson had once spent a solid two hours teaching the guards how to craft makeshift weapons, after one had complained about lugging around his sword. Samson grinned at the memory, causing a nearby Royal Guard to twitch nervously in the middle of saluting the Princess. Luna, for the most part, was giving off her usual regal and stoic demeanor, though every now and then she’d sneak a glance at Samson. “Something up?” Samson inquired after the fourth repetition of this, and Luna stiffened. “Nay,” she carefully answered. She levitated open the door to the royal armory, and ushered him inside, quickly closing the door behind him. Samson looked around – it looked the exact same as last time. There were a few different doors, lockers, and such dedicated to various aspects of the Royal Guard. A mare with a clipboard saluted the instant she saw the Princess of the Night. “What may I do for you, Princess Luna?” she asked, and Princess Luna smartly nodded at her. “We wish to peruse our own armory,” she informed the mare, who led them to an unassuming door, fumbling with a set of keys in her hoof. Once the mare had unlocked the door, she bowed and dismissed herself. Samson gazed upon Luna’s personal armaments – now this was more like it. Piles of blades were stashed in a corner, some of which looked like they were meant to be fitted on wingtips. Various necklaces, hoofbands, and rings were in another corner, and Samson guessed that these were magically enchanted. Finally, there was a coatrack, featuring various cloaks and regalia in a surprisingly organized fashion compared to the rest of the room. “Now, where is it…” Luna muttered to herself as she trotted down the row of cloaks, before selecting an unobtrusive black one. Samson watched as she put it on, and disappeared from view. He scanned the room, focusing on hearing and even smell to attempt to find her. She phased into view right in front of him, and Samson jerked back for a moment before smiling. “Perfect,” he complimented, grinning. Luna smiled, and took off the garment, holding it up in the air with her magic. “My very own Cloak of Night,” she explained as she levitated the cloak to Samson. “We used to use it in the olden days against… demons.” Luna trailed off, unfortunately reminded of Azazel. Samson nodded smartly. “Good thing there are a lot of demons down there,” he muttered. “Now, about that rope. I was thinking we use something that’s so damn out-of-place, the Basement won’t know what to do with it and won’t affect it. Thoughts?” Samson asked, and Luna considered this. “Our plan was to have Isaac draw it up as an official Item, and describe its use appropriately. However, if what he hath been telling me about “item charging” is correct, this may prove problematic – we shall try your idea.” Moments later, she had acquired a piece of steel cable, enchanted to be bright blue in coloration. “These are used to build our modern trebuchets, as well as in a variety of construction equipment. It is strong, thick, and should be easily visible if what Isaac described of the Basement is correct.” Samson nodded, taking the heavy coil of steel cable from her. “Alright. So, I’ll just have to find the Body, and report back as soon as possible. Let’s do this,” Samson muttered under his breath. “Good luck, Samson. May Faust guide you,” Luna called after him as Samson exited the room. Samson fairly sprinted down the dark corridors, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. Along the way, he couldn’t hide his nervous facial expression – he was going back. To the Basement. Of all the Children, Samson was the most bloodthirsty – but the prospect of being stuck for eternity wasn’t a thrilling one. He reached the room with the Chest, startling the guard in front of it. “Hi, need to get through here. Luna’s orders,” Samson explained, and wrenched open the steel door guarding the chest. “That was locked-!” the guard began, but a glare from Samson silenced him. “Do I look like I have time for your bullshit? I’m busy saving your ass from eternal damnation, be grateful,” Samson answered, bending the length of steel coil like it was cooked spaghetti and tying it to a bar on the once-locked steel door. Flinging open the Chest, Samson dropped the rest of the rope down. “Ow!” a voice yelled, and Samson looked down in some surprise. “Who’s down there?” he called warily. “Eve and Maggy, you dipshit! What the hell is this thing?” Eve called back, her cadence unmistakable. “It’s okay, you’ll be fine,” Maggy could be heard soothing. “Anyway, it’s important, but I can’t use it if you idiots are holding the door open on Mega Satan’s place. Here, climb up,” Samson called, and there was the sound of shuffling and struggling. The two girls spilled out, and Eve picked herself up off the floor before slapping Samson across the face. “That was for my face, bitch,” Eve informed him, rubbing a rectangular mark on her forehead. “Yeah, whatever. Move,” Samson ordered, having coiled up the steel cable. Eve ushered Maggy out the door, looking around at the new world she had just found herself in, and Samson shut the Chest before opening it. Looking down, Samson smiled as he saw the Basement floor hundreds of feet below. “Awesome. You two, go find the blue pony with wings and a horn. She’ll set you up, she’s our new Mom, and she’s decent,” Samson quickly explained before jumping down. Eve and Magdalene looked at each other, shrugged, and looked at the guard who was still in the room, eyes wide in shock. “Any idea on where to find this blue pony with wings and a horn?” Eve asked dryly. The guard pointed a hoof, and the two girls sauntered off. Maggy was the first to spot Princess Luna, admiring a painting down an unused corridor a different guard had directed them to. “Hello?” she called out, and Luna looked over in surprise. “Oh! You must be Magdalene and Eve,” she noted. “I am Princess Luna, and I have been… looking after your siblings. Come, Lazarus, Cain and Azazel should be still awake.” Princess Luna trotted off, and Eve and Maggy hesitantly followed. The usual explanations were made along the way – Princess Luna had practically rehearsed the speech by now, and Maggy and Eve weren’t paying much attention anyway. Instead, they gazed out the window, making comments such as “That’s the moon!” and “This looks like the Cathedral, but more colorful”. Luna wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying either – her mind was focused on Samson, and whether he’d be okay. True, she’d seen him rip apart steel with his bare hands, demolish the pride of the Royal Guard in less than a day, and lift objects many times his bodily weight, but part of Luna still worried about him getting hurt. She was unaccustomed to such a feeling, as normally her rational side won out in these kinds of debates. Then again, she’d never had children before – they had always struck her as too innocent. Too like she had been, before the Fall. Lazarus and Azazel were playing cards when Luna entered their rooms, and from the looks of things, Lazarus was winning. This surprised Luna – wasn’t Lazarus supposed to be the unlucky one? True, he had the clover he’d gotten from Pinkie Pie on him at all times, but it didn’t seem to fully counteract his bad luck – he still tripped often, got cuts which had to be treated quickly before his anemia caused him to lose too much blood, and was generally the source of most breaks and mishaps around the castle. However, Cain had assured her many times that this was not nearly the full extent of Lazarus’ negative luck, and the four-leafed clover seemed to be successfully counterbalancing most of it. Returning her attention to the four children in front of her, Luna noticed that Eve and Maggy had already introduced themselves while she was lost in reverie. “Where is Isaac?” she asked, after an appropriate pause in the conversation had been reached. Azazel pointed outside, and Luna crossed to the window to behold Isaac and Cain, barely visible in the courtyard below. Cain appeared to be training Isaac, the two shooting tears at one another in a furious war of attrition. Luna nodded smartly, recalling Samson’s lectures, and turned back to find Eve and Maggy staring at her. “So, didst thee bring any items when thou escaped the Basement?” Luna asked, and both girls nodded. “Yum Heart, Dead Bird, and Whore of Babylon,” Eve recounted, sounding bored. Luna grimaced, and Eve raised an eyebrow at her. “What, you don’t like it when I say ‘whore’?” she asked, and Luna hesitantly nodded. “Tis’ not a very… polite word,” Luna admonished, feeling oddly out of place. Eve rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just don’t go all Lilith on me,” she responded, and Luna raised both eyebrows. Who was ‘Lilith’? None of the Basement Children had ever mentioned a ‘Lilith’. “Do you always talk like Isaac does?” Maggy asked, and Luna suppressed a giggle. “Nay, we art not supposed to. But it is our preferred method of speech. We may stop, if thou wouldst like…?” Luna asked, and Eve stared at her. “You’re… asking us for permission?” the raven-haired child asked skeptically. Luna nodded, and Eve turned to Lazarus. “Is this normal?” she whispered, despite Luna being mere feet away from her. Lazarus nodded. “Nothing like the old Mom,” he replied, and Eve pondered this for a moment before shrugging. “O…kay… sure, you can keep your speech quirk,” Eve answered, and Luna brightened. “Excellent! At any rate, dinner is at seven o’clock, and we beseech that you girls join us!” Eve turned to Azazel inquiringly, who put down his cards and smiled. “Do it, girl. After the Basement food, you’ll be loving this.” Lazarus, meanwhile, was staring at Azazel’s cards. “Hey… you’ve changed your cards all to ones and twos!” he accused, and Azazel stiffened. “Um… yes?” he answered. Luna examined the game they were playing. It was popular among young colts and fillies, and victory relied on the highest card numbers in the deck. Azazel was cheating… to lose? Maggy laughed, and punched Azazel in the shoulder. “Do you ever stop trying to make others feel better?” she asked, and Azazel ducked his head under a leathery wing, blushing and grinning. Luna suddenly recalled Samson telling her that each Child represented a part of Isaac’s total personality, and in that moment she knew exactly what part Azazel represented. She’d seen such behavior before, in a certain yellow pegasus. Azazel was Isaac’s kindness. She gave the small demon a warm smile, and Azazel gave her one in return, two stubby fangs poking out from his upper lip. Once again, Luna was reminded of Fluttershy, recalling a picnic she had been on with the timid yellow pegasus some time ago. Apparently, picnics were a very friendship-oriented activity, and Luna felt she needed to ‘break the ice’, as Celestia would have said, with some sort of friendly gesture to the three newest Children. “We were thinking…” Luna began, and all four children turned to her. “Perhaps we could have a picnic later today? It has been some time since we have left the castle, and a small break in pace would be nice.” She neglected to add that she was beginning to lose track of all the children she was supposed to be watching, and a picnic would be a nice chance to get most of them in one place. “Oh wow, a picnic. Have we ever been on a picnic, Eve?” Maggy asked, and Eve tapped her chin in thought. “Hmm… I can only remember one, and it was that awful Christian one. There was more praying than eating, and the pastor kept yelling at us for drawing while he was talking.” Luna looked at them askance – Eve and Maggy hadn’t existed before the Basement, had they? How could they remember a picnic? Seeing her confused stare, Eve smiled. “We used to all be one person, remember? Each of us got some of his memories. Isaac got the least, because of that weird plan we’re all supposed to be doing, but the rest of us got a smattering.” Luna nodded in comprehension. “Very well. How about… how about we schedule the picnic for noon, out in the castle grounds?” she asked, and three of the four children chorused their agreement. Azazel, however, looked up inquisitively. “Don’t you have to sleep soon?” he asked, and Luna smiled. “We can stay up for months at a time if necessary. We’ll be fine,” she soothed, and Azazel reluctantly accepted this. With that, Luna stood up and trotted out of the room, running over her planned arrangements in her head. She walked into the throne room, to find her sister deep in conversation with a noble. “Oh? What brings you here at such a late hour, Luna?” Princess Celestia asked, and Luna smiled. “We – that is, I am planning to take the children on a picnic later today. Have you seen the castle chef?” she asked, and Celestia nodded. “I was just conversing with him about the excellent casserole he prepared last night – one of the rare few vegetarian griffon recipes, apparently. He’s in the downstairs kitchen, sister.” Luna nodded, and inwardly grinned. The only reason the head chef would visit the downstairs kitchen was if Celestia were indulging her sweet tooth again, as it had a dumbwaiter that delivered directly to the throne room. Just an hour later, they were all ready for the picnic. Luna and two guards led the children out into the grounds, choosing a particularly sunny spot – she seemed to remember picnics worked best in sunny places. Cain and Lazarus were laughing about something, while Maggy fussed over a cut Eve had somehow gotten. Azazel was talking to Isaac, the former looking as nervous and shy as ever. Finally, Luna sat down and spread the tarp out, before opening the picnic basket the royal chefs had cooked and selecting a plate. “Everyone gather round, I shall distribute the sandwiches,” she announced. Lazarus immediately rushed over, followed by Cain, Isaac, Azazel, and finally Eve and Magdalene. They each took a sandwich, and began sitting down and hungrily consuming the contents. Eve and Magdalene were instantly lost in the bliss of non-Basement food, and the other three giggled as the two girls scarfed down the sandwiches in the space of seconds. Luna, on the other hoof, was distinctly worried by the children’s ravenous appetites – she had not expected them to eat so quickly. From there, this turned to thoughts of a Sin she had not yet seen – Gluttony. According to the Bible, it was “consumption to excess,” usually involving but not limited to food. “Perhaps we should slow down a bit,” Luna commented out loud, unsure if she was coming across as rude or not. To her relief, the children simply giggled, and obediently took more time with their food, the two girls having already acquired more sandwiches. Luna internally breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to her original train of thought. It was becoming more and more obvious to her that she had no idea how to take care of children – she had simply jumped into this whole ‘adoption’ thing with nary a regard to the consequences. It was most unlike her – Luna prided herself on being a very rational, calculating princess. She supposed she had simply been moved by Isaac’s plight and similarities to her own problems, but something nagged at her all the same. And in that moment, Luna realized what it was. It was regret. She regretted taking on the responsibilities of such children, and regretted not learning about rearing foals and how to treat them, and not learning more about humanity. But most of all, she regretted that she even felt this way, that she should think of these human children as less individuals and more a collective responsibility on her part. Did this make her a poor mother? Luna snapped out of her self-pity to find that Eve was tugging at her withers. “What is it, Eve?” she asked, coming back to her senses. “Um. Have you seen Azazel?” Eve asked nervously. Luna looked around, and did a quick head count. Isaac, Maggy, Cain, Lazarus, Eden (when had they shown up?)… Where was Azazel?