Rainbow Dash had no idea what was going on. Sure she wasn't the smartest of ponies, but no one had explained anything to her. One minute she was bored out of her mind in Ponyville, the next she's suddenly a prisoner or something in Canterlot. It might have been exciting, technically, but it certainly wasn't what she'd been hoping for. “In here, Ma'am,” the guard said, breaking her out of her reverie and practically shoving her into her new quarters. They were at the top of a tower, the same ones Rarity had been in back at Twilight's birthday. “You'll need to stay here for the time being, until the princesses release you.”
She sighed and looked back at him. “Don't suppose I could at least stretch my wings a bit, could I?” she asked with a sheepish grin. The guard wasn't amused and she sighed, head sinking. “Didn't think so.” She walked to the bed, ears down flat and sighed as she flumped herself down on her back, bored again. “How do I keep ending up stuck in bed? I didn't even hurt my wing or anything. And no Daring Do to keep me company, either.” There wasn't anything left at this point but to stare out the window and hope that Twilight came to the rescue somehow.
* * *
Back in Ponyville, the purple mare of the hour was busily pacing a new ring in her newly refurbished tree house floor. Spike had given up on her a while ago and was off in the kitchen, looking for the ice cream. “It just doesn't make any sense!” she said. “Why would Princess Celestia come all the way out here with a bunch of guards and kidnap Rainbow Dash?” She paused in her circling to look over at the pile of books on the table. It was actually a fairly small pile of unicorn reference books, things that might explain really strong surges in magic. The only entry that had been helpful so far had been the one about Princess Celestia's magic and all it did was identify it. She already knew the princess was there. What she didn't know was who the other creatures were and why the princess had put up a barrier around the chariot.
“Spike!” she called, hopping out of the ring in the floor nonchalantly and trotting her writing desk. The dragon poked his head out of the kitchen, looking guilty. “Put the ice cream away and come take a letter.” She hadn't spoken to her friends yet, but she knew they'd just tell her to ask the princess. She wanted to have something real, something concrete before her friends came to bother her.
“A letter?” Spike asked, wiping his mouth with some parchment. “But a letter just came for you.”
“What! Why didn't you tell me?!” She whipped around and bore down on him with the Look.
“Well, you get letters all the time and I figured that since you were so busy pacing and all that I could get some ice-”
“Where. Is. It?” she interrupted him, pushing him into the floor with her glare.
“Ah, well, oops.” He held up the bit of parchment now smeared with an unusually large amount of ice cream.
“Ewww,” she said, levitating it with her horn. “Just, go clean up the kitchen or something.” She tried to wipe of most of the ice cream with a napkin before unrolling the scroll and reading it. Spike made a quick exit, hoping to get one last bite of ice cream in. “That's weird. Since when would the princess ask me to keep something like this secret? What could possibly be so bad? Was that what she had come here earlier for? Was the threat here?” She scanned over the letter again, subconsciously levitating several books on Equestrian history toward her. A knock on the door broke her concentration for a moment.
Twilight trotted to the door and opened to find her yellow pegasus friend waiting patiently and looking worried. “Fluttershy!” The pegasus eeped and shrank back a little. Twilight poked her head out and looked around before pulling Fluttershy in with her. “Fluttershy, did you see them? I heard the Princess landed close to your place.”
Fluttershy shook her head, mumbling and trying to hide in her hair a little and hoping Twilight would just put her down.
“What? Oh, sorry.” Twilight relaxed a little and stepped back, giving the mare some space.
“It's ok. You must be worried sick about her.”
“How'd you know?” Twilight asked, confused. She had never quite understood how expressive she made herself sometimes. Fluttershy merely pointed to the floor, however, and smiled a little. Twilight laughed a little self-consciously and trotted back to her desk, sorting out some books. “So did you see what happened?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, well, not all of it. I mean, I only saw the end. We pegasi can't sense magic so well, you know, so I didn't know anything was happening until the Princess' chariot arrived. There was a big flash of light and it spooked some of the chickens. I was coming around to see what had bothered them when I saw the Princess and the guards in the distance. I couldn't hear anything and I didn't want to get too close, but I saw Rainbow Dash there, along with those two strange creatures.”
“Strange creatures? The ones in the chariot?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I couldn't see them very well, but it looked like they stood on two legs like you-know-who. It looked like they had some type of magic and the Princess sent some of her magic at one of them. But instead of hurting it, the magic bounced off and flew into the forest.”
Twilight dropped her books along with her jaw. “The magic...bounced off!? How can that happen?”
“I don't know Twilight, you're the expert there. But after that the guards moved in and escorted them to the chariot and then you and the others showed up. I don't know where those creatures came from or how Rainbow ended up there.”
“And you couldn't hear anything they said, or get a closer look?” Twilight pleaded, desperate for more information. Bipedal creatures were very rare and if Fluttershy didn't know what they were, her books probably didn't either. Really, one of these days she had to get Fluttershy to write a book or two of her own.
“I'm sorry, Twilight. I was too far and I didn't want the Princess mad at me. I didn't know Rainbow Dash was in trouble and I feel bad for leaving her there. That's why I thought you might know what happened to her.” Fluttershy's ears had fallen and she sat down sadly.
Twilight set her books down and went to put an arm around the pegasus. “It's alright, you did your best. And you know Dash wouldn't want you to just rush in there like that. Besides, if she didn't go down fighting, it must not've been that bad, right?”
Fluttershy sniffed and nodded. “I guess so.”
“Well I know so, especially since the Princess just sent me a letter about it.” She showed Fluttershy the letter, apologizing for the ice cream stains. She waited for her friend to read it and then smiled. “See? She'll be back in 10 seconds flat.”
“I guess so, but what does she mean about a new threat?” Fluttershy was already looking around nervously.
“She must be talking about the strange creatures you saw, the ones that blocked her magic.” Twilight was already back looking through her books. In no short order the stack of useless ones had grown rather large.
“I guess so, but how could they be worse than...well, him? He was evil and they didn't do anything.”
“I don't know, but we'll find out. If she thinks she'll need us, then sooner or later she's going to have to tell us.”
“Um, ok. If you say so, Twilight. I just hope Rainbow Dash is alright and not hurt or scared or anything.”
Twilight looked up and smiled. “Rainbow Dash? Scared? That filly's never been afraid of anything. Even if she were hurt she'd probably be fighting to the very end.”
Fluttershy nodded as she turned to leave. “I know. That's what I'm worried about.” She fluttered out of the door, leaving Twilight to ponder the letter. What did the princess mean and what would she tell her friends?
* * *
Princess Luna sood out on her balcony, her horn glowing darkly. Celestia stood beside her. Across Equestria the sun set and the moon began to rise. In the west the sky went from orange to red to a rich purple as the great firey orb fell below the horizon. Luna looked away from the beautiful sunset to one of the towers. A strong aura of magic was emanating from the window and she could see the shape of the man inside. Daniel. Luna blinked and activated her mage-sight, confirming her guess. The aura was white, but it was clearly fading and setting with the sun. The emanation was filled with many different sensory spots, suggesting that he was trying to drink in the last of the sunlight. That and the fact that the aura was fading. The sensory spots were falling off like petals of a blossoming tree. It was strangely poetic and the princess found herself feeling for the human for a moment. She blinked and the mage-sight vanished, to be replaced by the warmth of her sister against her side.
“It seems our guest enjoyed your sunset, sister,” she said, still watching the tower window.
“I noticed,” Celestia said. “It seems the night bothers him.”
“It bothers you.”
Celestia nodded. “It is cold and dark. I don't like it much more than you enjoy the piercing heat of the sun.” Already the mare had wrapped herself in a fuzzy yellow glow to protect her from the chilling effects of the night. To Celestia, night was a cold mist that seeped in to chill and silence. Luna wore it like a cloak, relishing the soft, smooth feel of the night against her coat. But it was not something to fight over, it had been that way for thousands of years. She just stepped back into the palace chamber and levitated a brush to her mane.
“Sister,” Luna said from the balcony.
Celestia looked back up. “Hmm? Changed your mind about the sun?”
Luna stuck out her tongue at her sister and came back in. “I am just thinking about the humans.”
“This was your plan, remember. I was just going to toss them in the dungeons.”
“Because something's not right with this.”
“They are human,” Celestia said, “what do you expect?”
“I expect them to try and kill us.”
“Exactly.”
“So why haven't they?” Luna asked.
“They're just biding their time,” Celestia said. She looked down at the white gem that now adorned her chestpiece. “Of course, without these they will have a much harder time of it.”
“You said they surrendered when you met them near Ponyville.”
“They were out-matched,” the white alicorn reasoned.
“The dark one was, but she was not alone. Daniel was able to deflect your magic.”
“Yes. Isn't that why you suggested this arrangement?”
Luna nodded. “It will keep them weak and make sure we have the advantage, assuming whatever secrets they have are not enough to make up for it. But that is also what makes me think. If Daniel were able to match you, Savannah could have easily dispatched the guards. Then you would have been in trouble.”
“Only until the elements showed up. It didn't take Twilight Sparkle and her friends to appear without a fight. They would have come much sooner with one.” Celestia put the brush down and walked over to Luna, nuzzling her. “Relax, sister, I wasn't in any more danger than we've ever been in. And with this arrangement, we can learn about the humans is safety.”
Luna nodded and put on a smile for her sister. “I suppose you are right. Sleep well, Celestia, I will handle Daniel for the evening.”
“You are sure you can handle him and the night court?” Celestia asked.
Luna poked her sister lightly with a hoof. “Of course I can. I'm a better administrator than you are and you know it. I can handle one more courtier.”
Celestia smiled and relaxed. “Very well, good luck, sister. I will see you in the morning, on the stone as agreed.”
Luna nodded, thinking ahead to that. They hadn't needed the sacred stone in a long while. It would be the first time she stood on it since she returned from the moon. Probably about time, it would be good to restore her connection to the land. She gave her sister a last hug for the night and flew out toward the other tower, planning her night. For starters, she needed to test out this new gem she obtained from Savannah.
Hovering outside the tower she opened her magic and examined the stone. It was deep and filled to the brim with power. Such power she had felt before, it was similar to herself and Celestia, but she had never felt that sensation of depth before, especially not in such a small package. Not only that, but it felt so pure, as if an alchemist had distilled the entire winter solstice night in the deepest and darkest caverns beneath the mountains. Dipping a metaphorical hoof into the gem, Luna was filled with power. She slipped into a shadow behind the tower and immediately her body melded into it. No fog effects this time, she moved from shadow to shadow as easily as gliding through the sky. She flowed into a shadow of one of the guards and re-materialized next to the poor pony. Fortunately they were somewhat used to this, but the guardspony still jumped a bit when he saw the princess appear so suddenly.
“Apologies, sir. You are relieved,” she said, bowing her head slightly in respect.
“Y-yes, your majesty!” The guards saluted, knowing better than to ask questions. They trotted down the hall.
Luna took a moment to compose herself, letting the power go. Then she lifted a hoof and knocked rather politely. The door was opened a moment later revealing Daniel in a simple white tunic and pants, looking almost ready for bed. “Princess Luna?”
The blue alicorn only looked up at him. She was a few inches shorter than he was, close to Savannah's size. “We hope thou enjoyed our sister's sunset, Daniel. We never exert ourselves so early in the night, though your choices are your own.”
“What?”
“We rule the night. As our royal sister sets the sun, we raise the moon and the stars, casting a grand tapestry for all to view and to rest under. The soft light guides the hoofsteps of those who walk our night while the darkness allows the other ponies a chance to rest and recover for tomorrow.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Thou does not understand. Then let us make clear the conditions of thine stay with us.” She stepped into the room, examining the state of the bed, which clearly had not been used yet.
“Conditions? You hold us prisoner and now explain that there are conditions for being a prisoner?” Daniel turned to watch her as she walked. Behind him, the guards edged closer at his tone.
“Indeed. Thou may rest in comfort here in the palace. Thou will be provided three full meals each night, vegetarian of course. Thou will have an opportunity to peruse and borrow books from the palace library as would any guest. Thou will be safe from any harm should an enemy of Equestria attack or should some pony try and hurt thee. In return, thou will stay the nights with me, personally.” She stared into his eyes intensely, doubling the effect of the singular pronoun. “Thou shalt tell us of thine powers, thine family, travels, and intentions. Perhaps we shall even ask thy advice during court. But at all times during the night thou shalt stay with us or with the Night Guard. Thy companion, Savannah, shall keep my sister company during the day.”
Daniel was silent.
“Dost thou agree?”
“It is a generous offer, Your Majesty, certainly more than most humans on Earth would give. May I ask why this arrangement? Surely Savannah would make a better companion for you.”
“Surely you have heard that opposites attract?” Luna said innocently.
“I have heard that when opposites meet, the stronger wins and this arrangement gives you all the cards.”
“Of course.” She sat in the doorway, looking smug. He rolled his eyes.
“Then before I decide whether to accompany you, what will the jail be like if I refuse?”
“Darkness,” she said softly, looking away to avoid his eyes. “And for Savannah, only burning Light.”
“Very well then, Your Majesty. I would love to see the night-time court of Equestria.”
Luna smiled again, “Then follow us and we shall acquaint you with the business of the night.” Daniel followed as she trotted out. Luna led the way through the halls, making small talk. She pointed out the various important areas, such as the library, armory, gardens, kitchens, etc. Daniel was quite silent and even though she continued her tour she wondered what he was thinking. Humans back in the old days had never liked being prisoners, understandably perhaps, but they were a crafty bunch. If tales from that time still existed, the tales of their escapes and infiltrations would be quite popular.
“Here is where we shall hold court, from the Throne of Stars.” They had finally arrived at Luna's throne room. It was smaller than Celestia's, which they had seen earlier, but it felt more comfortable and fitting for the smaller alicorn. “As guardians and protectors of this land and our little ponies, my sister and I hold court to hear their complaints and needs. Should they need a little more light in Manehattan, or should there be a dispute in Fillydelphia which they cannot handle, they come to us. We are also their protectors from the creatures who would otherwise prey on them. Creatures such as dragons and parasprites. Many times the ponies can handle themselves, but many times they cannot. Our sister's student and her friends have been unusually adept at it, or so we have been told.”
“Beg your pardon, your highness, but it doesn't seem like you would need such an elaborate court for something so simple. And protecting your people would require you to be elsewhere. What else do you take care of here?”
“We also review various administrative decisions, mostly fiscal in nature. Princess Celestia handles the military, diplomacy, public works, and education, while I handle arts and sciences, magical research, and intelligence. Here we listen to proposals and presentations and pontificate on how to provide peace and prosperity through perspicacious application of pounds earned by prevailing ponies.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I thought your currency was bits, not pounds?”
“It is,” the princess nodded, unperturbed, “but we wished to continue the alliteration.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and looked around the throne room. “Well then, it's almost time for alliterative alicorns to alight upon their throne and alternatively allow allusions to allegories and allegations regarding all altruistic intentions to become as alcohol lest the almighty be aloof and alone.” Luna's mouth dropped open and she stared at him at a loss for words. He smiled and bowed, very politely. “And where shall I stand, your majesty?”
She shook her head to clear it of his impressive poetic display. “To the left of the throne, by the wall.”
“Aren't you worried about your petitioners seeing me?”
She shook her head and her horn glowed. A dark blue aura settled around him for a moment, and he was dismayed to see the same aura emanating from the Gem of Darkness around her neck. “That is a spell of illusion. The ponies entering will only see a scribe and will think nothing of it.” Daniel was quiet and in a moment the vision of a human was replaced by a white unicorn stallion with neat brown hair. His cutie mark was a lens refracting light. Luna walked around him, taking the measure of the illusion. “Very well, it will do. Should it come up, your name is Lux. Now find a place and wait; the court begins.” She took her place on the throne and signaled the guards.
Within minutes the real advisers came in and the heralds sounded the beginning of the Night Court. One by one petitioners came forward to address the princess. Most of them looked very nervous before the princess, but none of them argued with her regardless of her resolutions.
Most of the petitioners were seeking resolutions to disputes or asking about some help in fixing odd problems here and there. The disputes were either settled there in court after briefly hearing both sides or they were given to the guards to settle through some predetermined methods. One such case involved two farmers from some place called Appleloosa who were arguing over land. Luna's solution was to have a guard stand on one side and fire an arrow into the air. Where the arrow came down was where the new boundary would be drawn.
The first interesting petitioner came from the Manehattan Symphony Orchestra. The musicians and the management had been involved in a labor dispute for a few weeks. Attendance at the concerts had been down, and as a result the management had to lower the salaries for next year. The musicians were protesting, arguing that by not offering competitive wages, the MSO would be losing talented players. The management couldn't really disagree but didn't have much of an alternative. Fortunately the musicians weren't asking for an increase in pay, even they saw the reality of the situation. At this point, Luna took a real interest in the situation. Her advisers presented her with a summary of the information they had obtained of the MSO's finances earlier. She reviewed them, questioning the management on why they needed a certain amount of money here or why there was a deficit over there. Then she questioned the musicians, asking about their lifestyles and if they needed to eat out at fancy restaurants every night, or why the first chair violinist was paid significantly more than the first chair cellist.
Both representatives were looking a bit flustered by the end of her probing and she outlined a few cutbacks both sides could make to preserve the budget before assigning the rest of the details to be worked out with one of her secretaries. The representatives bowed and walked out stiffly to be met by the assigned secretary. Luna sighed a little, wishing that they could have loosened up a bit. Even her advisers were very formal and, dare she say, uptight. Many petitioners were outright nervous. While she could understand if they were nervous because they didn't know how she handled court compared to her sister, she could tell it was more than that. But that was a problem of trust and issues of trust had to be worked on and took time. One night wasn't going to solve it, Luna reminded herself as she settled in for the next petitioners.
There was another discussion over land, this one solved by reminding the ponies that both their lands had originally been owned by the same pony and it would revert to his family if they didn't work something out. Then there was a request for more rain in Las Pegasus, a request to help a sick family member, some pony claiming he had invented a cure-all and was trying to peddle it to the princess, and so on. As the court went on Luna thought more and more about the issue of trust and this human here and began to get an idea. Not only would it let her gain some insight into his personality, but it would throw him off his guard.
The next petitioners to come in were two farmers with another dispute over their land. Unlike many other ponies, Luna recognized these two straight away. They had come to ask for assistance in resolving their conflicts several times before: there was simply no harmony to be found amongst these two. When they finished presenting their case, Luna made a show of looking quite pensive and then looked to her side at the quiet Lux. It was not uncommon for the princesses to ask for some advice from the various advisers, but this was likely to toss the court into some confusion.
“This is a difficult problem. Both of thee have such good arguments that we cannot decide on our own. Our newest assistant, Lux, shall provide some advice for us.” She looked straight at Lux, as did the rest of the court and they waited for the pony to say something. He was very quiet though, absorbed in a piece of parchment. Some of the advisers near him coughed and one gave him a little jab with a hoof.
Daniel looked up with a start to see the entire court looking at him and gave a quick bow to Luna. “I humbly beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I was working on the...local...wine sales figures from...” he scrambled to remember names of the places he had heard, “the Fillydelphia area! It seems their reported revenues are 8% higher than production expected.”
Luna raised an eyebrow and some of the advisers murmured among each other. “Really? How unusual, especially for a scribe working in the research division, Lux.”
“It's a new algorithm the economists asked us to try out. Since my uncle owns a vineyard, I've always had a passing interest.”
Luna did not look amused by this, but at least some of the rest of the court relaxed at that, it was a sensible explanation to most of them who had no idea what the research division really did. “Then let us repeat the question. These two have another dispute over their land.”
“This makes the...6th such dispute tonight?”
“Yes, but it's only their 4th,” Luna said, annoyed at the interruptions. “We need a solution that will solve the problem permanently. Since thy uncle owned a vineyard and thou has had experience in the field of mediation, perhaps thou has some insight into the problem?”
Lux nodded and stepped forward into clear view. “There are several such solutions, Your Majesty,” he said, addressing the two disputers. “If this were simply a case of disputed boundaries, the arrow solution would work the best. If this were a case of ambiguous purchase then asking them to work it out might be the best. However these two ponies have been unable to work out their differences for four times now and each of those times they have felt that the problem was so great that they had to come see one of the rulers just so they could get along, so none of the earlier solutions are fitting. Now, may I see a map of their land?”
An adviser passed a folder to Lux. He began skimming the documents, identifying the map and the summary of the previous cases quickly. He took a minute, mumbling to himself. “Very well, here is my solution.” Using what little power he had, he projected an illusion of the map up for the court to see and outlined a section of the border. Several of the ponies gasped at this magic, apparently surprised.
“It is his special talent,” Luna said behind him. “Lux is assisting in the research of the reflection and refraction of light. He will be spending the next few nights with me, learning of the magic of the moon.” The court relaxed at that and Lunda nodded, “Please continue, Lux.”
The illusory pony nodded. “This area of land will be sown with leafy trees. Since these ponies can not stand the sight of the others' land and since they cannot work out their differences, they should not have to bear the sight of the other. A thick treeline will serve effectively; I recommend evergreens. Should any tree be removed or harmed, both farmers will bear the responsibility of replacing it lest they blame one another for it.”
Luna nodded, it was a very good idea. “If it will please the court, why trees and not a wall?”
“They look much better with holiday lights than a wall, Your Majesty.” The court laughed at this and the two farmers grumbled and looked up to the princess, hoping to appeal, but the princess was smiling as well.
“Very well then, make it so. Since thou farmers cannot abide even the sight of each other's land, a tree line shall be planted in the exact dimensions specified before this court. It shall consist of various evergreens and mistletoe so that even in the dead of winter thou mayest look out upon a scene of harmony. Oak Leaf will see to the details, thou may speak with him afterwards.” The two farmers grumbled a little and left to meet with the large red-green stallion Luna had indicated. As they left the herald stepped forth to announce the end of the night. It seemed the petitioners had finally finished.
The crowd of advisers, nobles, and scribes began to break up. It hadn't been a large crowd to begin with, and as they left several of them told Lux good job. Many of them had seen these two farmers once or twice before and they all knew how odd it was for the princess to give the decision to a new pony like that. Of course, several others left feeling quite suspicious of the sudden addition to the research department.
Well, that was enlightening,” Daniel said, once they were alone. “I take it I was a young stallion of sorts?”
Luna nodded. “We thought about a mare, but no pony would be in Canterlot with the name Loosey Fur.”
Daniel nodded. “Indeed. One way or another, that pony would not be in Canterlot. Now I suppose we retire for lunch and I divulge all my secrets?” Again the princess nodded, leading the way. “Well, then I'll begin as all teachers do and ask what you've learned from the gem, now that you've been using it for a while?”
Luna was quiet for a while, considering. “The gem is a silent vessel. It gives us more power than we had before, yet it reveals nothing. Only our strength has been increased, not the range or variety of our powers.”
“That sounds about right. The gems take some imagination to be used well. Any human, or pony I suppose, with magical talent can use the gem. Since most humans have a small level of magical ability, we don't really know what would happen to someone with none, but I think that having the gem would give them a magical sense.”
“So thy portal magic does not come from these gems of power?”
“That is correct. We had to learn and invent all the spells we use, but we'll save the history for later. Our powers are known as Elements. There are 13 of them, 14 if you count Healing. Each element resonates with a certain force of nature, a certain type or structure of matter, or a certain type of energy. My element is Light and my magic resonates most strongly with electromagnetic radiation. Savannah's element is Darkness and her magic resonates most strongly with the vacuum and the void. It is a hard burden for her.”
“We can empathize with her.”
“Perhaps you can fill me in later on the history there. From what I saw in the court this night, it seems there is something important.”
“Continue.”
Daniel hesitated, “Well, I said earlier that most humans have a small level of magical ability. The royal family is made of people whose magical ability is incredibly powerful. In our world, magic tends to focus itself on one of the elements, so everyone has a certain elemental affinity. Some people have two or three, and every once in a very long while there's someone who has an affinity for all of them. What distinguishes us is the level of potential and it was because of our potential that we gained custody of the gems.”
“Yet without thy gems thou are less powerful than either my sister or I. With them thou can only equal us. That does not seem very special.”
“Perhaps, but surely there are ponies with much more magical talent and ability than others, right?”
“Twilight Sparkle, my sister's prized student, is one such filly. A long time ago there was another, Star Swirl the Bearded, who was my student and equally as strong.”
“Then think of us as being like those two. A star is bright next to a nebula, but dim beside the sun and moon.”
Luna smiled, appreciating the metaphor. “So thou are the star-folk of your world and have found these gems, giving thee the power of the gods.”
“In a manner of speaking, though we are certainly not gods.”
“But with these gems, thou hast the power of a demi-god. We would know.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment, pondering that. “Perhaps, but that is not something we dwell on, though I suspect we will need to address it sooner or later. People will be quite jealous of us and if we expect to establish any sort of democratic society the people will likely demand we give up the gems.”
“Will not thine powers be diminished should thou do that? Will not thou lose the control over the day and night?” Luna asked, a little perplexed at the idea of giving up that power.
“Our own power still resonates with our element, hence why I could make the illusion and why I was able to diffuse my senses into the sunset. Even without her gem, Savannah will still be able to sense the shadows and move them and hide in them as she wishes.”
“Canst thou hide in the light?”
Daniel nodded and walked toward a torch. He held up his hand and the torch began to glow brighter and brighter until he seemed to fade into the light.
“So that is the nature of thy power, yet it is merely a cheap trick. Thou hast merely turned thyself invisible.”
“Indeed,” he said, as he stepped out. “The brighter it is, the more truly invisible I am. Were you to snuff out the light, I would return to visibility, just as Savannah would return should you illuminate the shadow.”
“I see.” Luna continued down the corridor, going up a gentle flight of stairs. “Are there other aspects to thy powers?”
“As far as the elements are concerned? A few. The first is that there exists a type of general magic not affiliated with any particular element. Portals use that kind of magic, as does simple levitation. Many magical weapons are also considered general. Any general magic may be tinted or flavored with an element and after that it may only be wielded by the strongest or most crafty mage of that element. Anyone may deflect a ball of magic, but only Light mages may deflect one of mine.”
“And the second aspect?”
“The second aspect pertains only to Savannah and myself. Our elements have a metaphorical application as well as the physical ones. Mine inspires hope and courage and can peel away secrets. Hers can hide things and grant rest and rejuvenation.”
“Ah, we know what thou speak of. These powers are the ones that my sister and I also use. I control the idea of the night and all that is represents as my sister does the day. Hence her powers are weaker now while mine were weaker then. It is a curious strength, as well as a crippling weakness.”
Daniel nodded and the two moved onwards in silence, each thinking about the conversation. Fortunately for them it was lunch and they had arrived at their destination: a very large dining table in a large hall with a fireplace. Two places had been set and cushions were ready for them at either end of the table. Luna was relieved to finally get a chance to eat. Celestia preferred to have her court in the afternoon instead of the morning, but Luna always wanted to get it out of the way that much faster. It was usually smaller and made the lunch that much more appealing. She imagined Daniel was anticipating it as well and hoped he would eat enough to keep him awake. Although the main course of the evening was over for him, she would not permit him to doze off. It was going to be a long night.