//------------------------------// // 26 - Moon Madness // Story: Black Angel // by Zobeid //------------------------------// Among the cultists were two, a pegasus and an earth pony, who wore silver armor — scanty, ceremonial armor fashioned as close replicas of that worn by Nightmare Moon, lacking only her helmet. They conversed among themselves while their black-cloaked subordinates double-checked and triple-checked the preparations. Then a third armored pony, another pegasus, swooped down to land and join the first two. The purple one who’d just landed said, “Stonewall! We’ve cleared the sky overhead and built a protective ring of storm clouds further out. They’re about as well-sorted as we’re going to get them in this crazy place. Is everything else ready? Gray Gale?” He looked to the other pegasus. “I’ve got the package, with some help from Flash Bang,” she said, and she nodded toward the edge of the clearing where the bound form of Twilight Sparkle had been dumped. She looked around the circle. “So… I don’t see Spell Nexus?” The earth pony responded, “Be calm, Gale. He’s meditating — or praying to our Lady of the Night. He’ll be here shortly.” While they waited, the pegasi couldn’t stand still, shuffling their hooves and flicking their wings. Enormous effort and treasure had been spent leading up to this fateful night, and the moment of truth was nearly at hoof. In a few minutes Spell Nexus made his appearance, coming up a forest path from the nearby pond and entering the clearing. Nobody who knew him in his daily life would recognize him now. His coat, mane and tail had been dyed black, and his eyes shone cyan-blue. His armor was a replica in full of Nightmare Moon’s, to include the helmet, and over it lay a cape of midnight blue spangled with white stars, designed to resemble her mane and tail. None of his followers were allowed to look as much like Nightmare Moon as he did. Also, none of them were unwise enough to mention that he looked somewhat ridiculous. He approached his lieutenants and looked first to the purple pegasus. “How close are we, Night Wind?” he asked. “Cloud cover is almost complete, and then the pegasi need a few minutes to get their bowls,” was the reply. “Good.” He nodded and looked next to the earth pony. “Stonewall, do you have the items?” “They have not left my sight since our departure from Canterlot, Nexus,” he replied, and with a toss of his head indicated the covered wooden bowl resting upon his back. Spell Nexus turned his gaze to the gray pegasus next. “And Gray Gale, is our special guest awake?” Gale grinned as she answered, less formally than the others, “Oh yeah, she just woke up — and boy is she scared!” Night Wind retorted, “That’s because you told her Stonewall would snap off her horn if she tried to escape.” Gale shrugged. “Hey, it kept her from trying anything.” Night Wind grumped, “She couldn’t try anything even if she wanted to, with her horn wrapped up in iron wire.” Gale started to respond, but Spell Nexus interrupted their dispute before it could grow. “You have all done well,” he said, “but now we must all take our places for the first ceremony of the night. I must call down the moon.” Gale asked, “Is that going to take long?” “A while, I expect,” he replied vaguely. Nexus looked to the other stallion. “Stonewall, take the sacred items to their place in the center of the ritual! Gray Gale, Night Wind, prepare your torches and head for the sky!” The three saluted and dispersed to carry out their tasks. Spell Nexus sauntered over the prepared ritual ground, taking care not to disturb any of the workings, until he was outside the circle and over to the edge of the clearing. There he approached Twilight Sparkle — still hog-tied with a burlap bag secured over her head, her lavender coat smudged with dirt. He gazed for a few moments, as though lost in thought, but then he ignited his magic to loosen the bag and remove it. Twilight looked up at him and flinched, her eyes and ears giving away her fear. He smirked and said, “I’m so happy you were able to join us this evening.” She struggled against the ropes that bound her legs together. Casting any spell was impossible while her horn was tightly wrapped in iron wire. Even if she hadn’t been tied up, removing the tangle of wire using only her hooves would have been a long and tiresome task. After a few moments of struggle she went limp and then, with difficulty, found her voice. “Who are you?” she asked. “What are you going to do to me?” “You’re a student of magic, yes? A prodigy, by all accounts. Think of this as a very special field trip.” His horn glowed and he lifted Twilight off the ground and floated her toward the center of the clearing, into the circle. “I doubt you’ve ever witnessed rituals of the power and sophistication we have planned for tonight — and you’ll be part of it.” He brought her to a metal pedestal, upon which rested the wooden bowl that Stonewall had brought. He went on to say, “As to who we are… Well, consider us simply the loyal servants of Equestria’s true queen: Her Regal Majesty Nightmare Moon!” “Are you crazy!?” Twilight exclaimed. “Nightmare Moon is gone. How can you serve somepony who is gone?” “It is much easier than you think, Miss Sparkle. I, however, will not spoil the surprise. For the moment, all you need to know is that your… hm… contribution is appreciated.” With his magic he wrapped a cord tightly around her muzzle, clamping her jaw shut and stifling her protests. From the pedestal he levitated a gauze pad. “The first phase of tonight’s activities requires a sacrifice of blood. Let’s see if we can find some…” With his magic he lifted her tail and moved the gauze toward its base. Her eyes went wide though her pupils were no more than pinpricks, and she squirmed as much as she could within the tight bindings and whimpered through her clamped-shut muzzle. Nexus growled, “Calm yourself! I find this as distasteful as you do, I assure you.” The normally stoic Stonewall seemed equally conflicted, biting his lip and averting his gaze. “What if there isn’t any? What if it’s not her time?” “Have a little faith! At our moment of destiny what we require is provided.” Releasing Twilight’s tail he lifted the gauze and revealed a smudge of red. Stonewall frowned. “That’s it?” “It is all we need,” Nexus said, placing the gauze into the sacrificial bowl. Then he looked up to the full moon blazing overhead and intoned: “Three-faced mare! In ancient times my ancestors raised you, lowered you, guided you through the sky. As you heeded their call, now heed mine! In the name of the Dark Lady whom I serve, I fetch you, bind you! Answer my call, and do her bidding!” There was silence for several long moments. Black-cloaked ponies around the perimeter of the circle watched and waited. From where she lay on the ground, Twilight Sparkle struggled not to hyperventilate, hoping beyond hope that nothing would happen, that this ritual would fail. A shadow, as of clouds or smoke, drifted across the face of the moon, turning it red. Stonewall leaned close to Spell Nexus and whispered, “Is that supposed to happen?” He replied quietly, “The rest is up to our Lady of the Endless Night.” High upon a hilltop in The Dreaming, Nightmare Moon waited impatiently. Luna and the Nemesis had proven more resistant to the effects of dream sand than she had expected. She had to periodically give each of them another dose whenever it began to wear off, whenever they began to show some will of their own. To her relief, the supply of sand from her bag replenished itself, seemingly without limit. The night darkened. Nightmare Moon ruffled her wings and glanced upward, to the moon. It had turned blood red. “YES! The lackey has done it!” Then she spread her wings, and her horn began to glow as she cast a spell, and she called upward to the sky: “Heed me! My servant in the waking world is calling, and you shall answer!” There was silence for a few long moments. Then a deep voice echoed across the void: “We hear him. We do not answer to the likes of him.” Nightmare gritted her teeth. “Has the sacrifice not been made?” Seconds passed. Then, “It has. But we do not answer to the likes of him. We do not answer to stallions.” “The sacrifice has been made in my name, on my behalf. I am no stallion, and you will answer to me! We have walked together in the past, you and I. For a thousand years you bound me; now I bind you. We are old friends, you and I. She who dies and lives and never dies, be here for me!” More seconds passed before the voice came down from the heavens again. “YOU?” Nightmare Moon had the uncanny feeling that she was being scrutinized, as she’d been almost beneath notice until that moment, but now the moon’s full attention was focused on her. It was not a comfortable feeling. “Who are you? Who stands by your side?” rumbled the moon. “What kind of question is that? Can you not see us?” “I see the past, the present, and the future,” it responded. Nightmare frowned for a moment, pondering. “hurr… Yes! Princess Luna is the past. This nameless creature of brief life is the present. And I, Nightmare Moon, am the future — soon to be the sole ruler over Equestria.” The moon’s voice came back. “What would you with us, Nightmare? We have not been drawn down for thousands of cycles. Do you know what you are doing? Do you know what you have done?” Still gazing steadfastly at the face of the moon, Nightmare said, “I know exactly what I’ve done and why I called you. We have come together to walk your road, Moon! Open your path and transport us from this world of dreams to the living world, and to the place that my servant therein has prepared for me!” The moon rumbled, “Transport you out from the realm of dreams? It is not our realm. Why should we meddle in the affairs of the Dream King?” Nightmare stamped a hoof and answered firmly, “Because you can! Because I order you to! Because I was born into this! Just as I pulled you down from the heavens, you are mine to dispose of, mine to command.” Long seconds passed, as a chill breeze rustled through the grass upon the hilltop. Then the moon’s voice filtered down once more. “Perhaps.” Its face turned darker. “Where others ask timorously, you commanded, directed, ordered. It galled us. But the others are dust now, and less than dust. And one day you, in your turn, will face a reckoning.” Nightmare snorted. “Your words ring hollow. My servant you’ll be for all time.” Storm Chaser was having bad dreams. The pegasus tossed and turned, and he mumbled in his sleep. Then he fell out of bed, landing with a thump on the hard fog-crete floor of his bedroom. He groaned, started to get up, but then he felt it: a gradual lift and then drop, like a boat riding over a wave. But he wasn’t in a boat. He was in his apartment. He stumbled out of his bedroom, through his small home to the open balcony. Before he’d even reached it, the sounds of tumult were reaching his ears. Ponies were yelling in the distance, and there were crashing sounds, and creaking sounds, and occasional sharp crack. As he reached the vantage point his balcony offered, his eyes went wide. There were more lights on and more ponies flying about than there ever should have been at this time of night. Most distressing, however, was the moon. It was a giant, at least four times the size he’d ever seen before, flooding the night with silvery light. He wondered for a moment if it was going to come crashing down onto the city. The floor rolled under his hooves again, and he knew he had to act. He launched himself from the balcony and winged his way toward the weather control office. As he flew, gusts of wind whirled through Cloudsdale, threatening to send him spinning into a building. He gritted his teeth and recovered — he’d seen worse in his job as a weather pony, but this kind of turbulence most certainly didn’t belong in the city. Below, in the brilliant moonlight, he could see the waves undulating through the city streets and buildings, like an earthquake in the sky. He was startled to see a distillation tower break loose from the weather factory. Such wind! Cloudsdale was never made to withstand a wind storm like this. He glanced toward the horizon, past the edge of the city, and then did a double take as he saw how the ground was moving relative to the city. This freak storm was carrying Cloudsdale away to heaven-knows-where. He approached the plaza outside the Weather Office. It seemed that every trained weather pony in the city had responded in the same way, by coming here. They were being quickly assembled into ad-hoc squadrons, given brief instructions and sent flying. A pony called to him, “Storm Chaser, over here!” and waved him down. Storm swooped down to a landing, and blinked. “Pencil Pusher? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside the office before.” Pencil Pusher’s face was grim. “It’s all hooves on deck for this one. No pony knows where this freak wind came from, but we’ve got to keep it from ripping up the city.” Storm tossed his head in a vigorous nod. “Okay, what’s the plan?” “We’re going to ride it out. Let the wind carry Cloudsdale wherever it’s going until it runs out of steam. We can worry about where we end up when we get there. That means we need all our weather ponies out there right now fighting this turbulence and taming the gusts. We’ve just got to minimize the damage, right?” “And hope we don’t hit a mountain?” Pencil Pusher shrugged. “We’ll just have to deal with that when we come to it.” “Okay then… Who am I working with?” “Look around and pick out who you want from the weather ponies here. Whoever you see is what we’ve got to work with.” Storm Chaser nodded again. “Fair enough!” Then he cast a glance upward. “Uhh… What about this moon?” Pencil Pusher shook his head. “I don’t know what it means either. I just hope there’s somepony who does.” It’s a common saying that Manehattan is the city that never sleeps. As he watched waves lapping over the seawall at the point of lower Manehatten, and felt the salt spray pelt his jacket, and spat grit out of his mouth, Fire Captain Stablemaker had a feeling nobody would be getting much rest tonight. Lieutenant Trotter came through the spray and nudged Stablemaker to get his attention, then reported, “Captain, it’s worse than we thought! This high tide is already way above anything we’ve seen before, and the storm surge is pushing water into subway tunnels all the way up to Griffintown. And this sand is blowing through Midtown, too. It’s like… It’s like some kind of sandy super-storm!” “Where the hay are all the weather ponies?” the Captain growled. The Lieutenant shook his head. “It’s no use, they’re all grounded. They can’t even fly in something like this. All the bridges are closed too, even the Hooflyn Bridge. We’re cut off!” “Dang! Let’s get back to the station.” When they arrived back at the fire station, another fire pony came running out to meet them. “Captain! We just got a box call from the Harness District! Multiple buildings already involved; it sound bad!” The Captain stamped a hoof. “All right then, let’s saddle up! It looks like we’ve got a long night ahead.” Princess Celestia had cleared her schedule and insisted on spending every possible moment close by her sister, who was still locked in slumber despite the best efforts of Canterlot’s savants. Time and bad news had taken its toll on Celestia. Slumped across a couch, naked without her accustomed regalia, her mane and tail had gone back to their rarely-seen natural pink, limp and disheveled, and she’d rarely looked less royal than she did now. Her ladies-in-waiting were agitated to see her in such a state. She’d been so sleep-deprived, though, that none of them had the heart to wake her to try to get her into a proper bed. Without warning a shudder ran through the castle. Celestia was jolted awake and clutched at the couch with her legs in blind reflex. Panicked yells and crashes echoed through the castle as it continued to shake for a very long twenty seconds or so. As soon as the shaking stopped and Celestia was able to stand, she checked on her sister and found her still locked into sleep. The ladies-in-waiting caught up with Celestia only moments later. “Princess, are you all right?” one asked. “I am,” she assured. “But please, stay here with my sister while I go and assess the damage!” She hastily donned her regalia and slipped into the role of leadership again. It didn’t take long for reports to reach her. The quake had caused minor damage in the castle and beyond, but few injuries. Even as she was receiving one of these reports from an aide, the castle shuddered with another, milder temblor. The urgent question then became: what if these were merely foreshocks of a bigger quake to come? The castle, with its soaring spires and its base hanging partially over the side of the Canterhorn, was the last place anyone wanted to be when the earth started shaking, and Celestia ordered an evacuation. Staff, guards and guests were systematically guided out of the castle. Those staff who could be readily dismissed were sent home, while others were gathered in the plaza outside the castle’s front entrance, or in the training fields of the royal guards — who began pulling tents out of storage. An orderly placed Luna upon a cot and magically carried her out from the castle’s infirmary while Celestia followed closely. When they exited the castle, Celestia came to a stop, almost in mid-stride, and she looked upward, gawping in a most un-princess-like manner. Amid the reports about earthquake damage no one had bothered to mention the moon: far larger than normal, blazing in the sky, flooding the landscape with silvery light. Having stopped when she did, the orderly asked, “Princess, are you all right?” She didn’t look at him. Still staring upward she said, “This is what caused the earthquakes. Somepony has drawn down the moon. But who would be so…” She bit back the word she’d been thinking of, and glanced at the cot where her sister was still laying unconscious. “Luna, have you done this in your sleep? Or has another stolen the moon from you?” The orderly said, “Ma’am? Can you do something about it? Can you fix it?” Celestia answered by way of staring upward at the face of the moon once more, her lips pressed together, brow furrowed with determination. Her lengthy horn was enveloped in golden scintillation as she cast a spell — but after several seconds she released it and lowered her head. “No… As I feared, the moon isn’t responding to me anymore.” A silvery splash of light stretched across the black void, slithering through nowhere, spanning the uncreated waste that lies between places. Upon the strip of light, three dark figures walked. Identity blurs on the moon’s road. I am Princess Luna. I am Nightmare Moon. I am the Nemesis. I am the hero. I am the villain. I am Princess Celestia’s sister. I am the daughter of the night. I am the rightful ruler of Equestria. I am… I… In the pale light of the moon, I play the game of you. Whoever I am. Whoever you are. All sense of where I am, of who I am and where I’m going has been swallowed by the dark. And I walk through the stars and sky… A trinity of dreams beneath the moon.