Garden of Shadows

by Night_Shine

4. Defy Authority

The day fell in silence as Starlight trotted through the black stone archway into the Council chamber, her hoofsteps echoing on the polished black floor.

Within a dark painted stain on the ceiling above her a silver-blue eye glared down unblinking, guarded by four-pointed stars to its left, top, and bottom. The words “NOCTURNA LOREM” had been carved with fire out of the ceiling above and below, written in shadows. The Council sat beneath the Eye as it always had, hiding behind its walls of black stone, concealing those cruel but necessary decisions that they made behind a mask of shadow, freeing the innocent minds of the Nocturnian populace from all of their worries.

Beneath the Eye, Starlight took her seat beside a gray-blue mare whose wings sat neatly folded against her back. The mare paid Starlight no attention.

“Starlight, Moon Beam, Silver Comet, and Storm Shadow, Guards under the authority and direction of the Nocturna Lorem Council, we have summoned you to this meeting to brief you on your task through the Daylight Hours.” Lord Duskfall’s voice roared through the chamber, vibrating the stone beneath Starlight’s hooves as she tried to stifle a yawn. Duskfall made a habit to rant at his guards before sending them to their posts, despite the routine monotony of their occupations. Perhaps it helped to have something to be annoyed about while trying not to fall asleep…

“As military leader on the Council, I must remind you of the crucial necessity of your occupation. You are our only line of defense between the creatures that lurk in the shadows of daylight—the timberwolves and manticores and the cave-rats, of course, but worse, the Diurn-Equestrians, the Sunloving freaks who dared to cast out our One True Queen! If they should learn of our presence—if they should seek to finish their work started one thousand years ago—then we must be ready. You must remain constantly alert, for if one pony enters and the corruption of the Sunlovers seeps into the Citadel, it will spread like the virus it is and the purity of our society will be compromised.”

Starlight suddenly frowned. Thinking for a moment, she leaned towards Moon Beam and whispered, “Does the Council not know about the two Sunlovers we captured last night?”

Beam gave the slightest shake of his thick square muzzle. “That is Lord Silent’s business. The Council does not have to know.”

The angry monotone of Duskfall’s voice faded to a dull thrum in Starlight’s ears as she tried her best not to stare in disbelief. “Silent does not have authority over the military; that is the domain of the Council! He does not possess the right to secrecy on that level.”

Moon Beam waited for a moment before replying, collecting the thoughts in his head and checking to make sure none of the Council had noticed their conversation. “Do you have any idea how much panic it would cause if the Council knew that we captured two Sunlovers—the first living hostages in over two centuries? They would stage a trial and execution immediately, and try to get rid of them as quickly as they could. Lord Silent is much wiser. He plans to extract as much information as possible before disposing of them.”

Starlight opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly a thought slipped into her head and the fur on the back of her neck prickled: The Council is watching…would it be wise to make a scene right now? She turned back and tried to concentrate on the end of Lord Duskfall’s speech.

“…to uphold the high standard of Purity that our community embodies, free from the corruption of the Sunlovers. With that, I shall assign you all to your posts. Moon Beam—North Entrance. Storm Shadow—Moonlit Tower. Silver Comet—South Entrance. Starlight—Shaded Tower.”

Starlight groaned. Of course, it was not enough that she had to stay up all day for this shift, but now she had to spend all day at the Shaded Tower? That-

Suddenly Moon Beam interrupted the directing Lord of the Council: “Lord Duskfall, I would like to request to switch positions with Starlight.”

“To what end?” asked the high reedy voice of an elderly stallion at the Council podium to Duskfall’s right, sitting with his nose buried in a scroll.

Moon Beam’s eyes narrowed. “I am better suited to guard the Shaded Tower. As Starlight herself will admit, she is far from comfortable guarding that location and would prefer a different post.”

Starlight jumped to her hooves and shot a furious look at Moon Beam, her ash-gray cheeks glowing red with embarrassment. Before she could stop herself, her mouth burst open and she exclaimed “What are you talking about?! I am perfectly capable of guarding the Shaded Tower! I…” She faltered, remembering the eerie glow of moonlight seeping out from beneath the door. It would probably be better to let Beam take the post anyway, even for a stupid reason like that. “…I apologize. I did not think before I spoke…I can confirm what Moon Beam has said, and I support his request.” Her face still hot with embarrassment, Starlight sat down, unconsciously shuffling her wings.

Unperturbed, the light-grey stallion nodded into his papers. “Logically sound despite its triviality. You may switch posts.”

Duskfall cleared his throat in a raspy snarl that made everyone in the room wince. “If we are done discussing these logical trivialities, I motion to dismiss the Guards so that the Council may proceed with further decisions.”

“Upheld,” interjected the motionless stallion right as Duskfall finished speaking.

“Upheld,” echoed the murmuring voice of an earth pony to Duskfall’s left, hidden in the shadow of her outspoken cohorts.

“Then you are dismissed.”

The four ponies swiveled around and trotted out of the room with their thoughts close, to share only out of the hearing range of their ruling Council. The Eye of the Nocturna Lorem watched them trot out of its domain and into the shadows of the caves where it could not see any further.

---

Exactly two seconds after Moon Beam trotted out of the Council meeting room Starlight ran up to him and whispered fiercely in his ear, “What was that about?!”

A silent voice slithered into his mind. She is too rebellious. It was unwise to trust her with the full extent of my plans. Maybe if you fed her a lie like I told you, she would not cause a problem…

Yes, Lord Silent. I am sorry, Lord Silent. Moon Beam’s own voice echoed in a dull monotone, even within the comfort of his own mind.

Now she will attempt to interfere with our plans. If you can escort her to the Shaded Tower, maybe I could undo your failure…

The indignant mare sat still, waiting for his response with anger glowing in her golden eyes. Beam took a deep breath and said, “Starlight, I need to tell you something—in private.”

She frowned, but followed him into one of the Council side-rooms. Clearing her throat, the mare asked, “So why are we keeping this a secret from the Council? I thought that-”

The mare’s golden eyes flew open in shock as his hoof flew towards her face.

---

Starlight ducked instinctively, crouching down and shoving her hooves off of the cave wall, using her momentum to slide under Moon Beam while he was still leaning forward. Pushing back against the cold stone floor, she kicked upwards with all of her might right as Moon Beam whirled around with a look of panic etched across his face.

A sickening THUMP echoed across the room as Moon Beam slammed into the wall and rolled onto the floor with one wing hanging limp at his side, struggling to regain his breath. Her heart pumping in her ears, Starlight watched Beam recover as she asked, “Why are you doing this? The Council is the only thing holding our military together!”

She saw Moon Beam grit his teeth as he wheezed, “The Council…will fall…to the Sunlovers…without the Silent Voice…”

“What are you talking about?!” She watched carefully for his imminent counterattack; thoughts whirled around her heard like a nest of angry hornets.

“Lord Silent knows…he has foreseen it…” Moon Beam retched and stood up to his hooves, his dizzy eyes trying to focus on the enemy in front of him.

Starlight took an unconscious step backwards, fear radiating from her shining eyes.

Suddenly Beam leapt forwards again, the dim light glinting off of his armored hooves as they stretched towards her. Starlight immediately sprung into the air, clenching her teeth as she collided with the ceiling and an electric jolt of pain shot through her body. Waiting the second that stretched into an eternity for Moon Beam to look up at her, she kicked off of the ceiling and threw the full force of her body weight into her fall, tensing every muscle in her body for the impact.

One fraction of an instant seared the look of horror in Beam’s eyes onto her vision as she crashed into him, feeling her jaw rattle and the blunt ache of his bony shoulders. Both Nocturnian Guards collapsed to the floor, their limbs splayed against the cold stone.

Starlight stood up on her hooves after a long minute, coughing as she hobbled out of the room.

You should not have done that.

I do not care. I need to find those Sunlovers.

---

“You sure about this, Spike? Applejack woulda told the family if she was goin’ spelunking in some cave overnight.” The cold wind bit at Apple Bloom’s coat as it swept through the open door.

“Yeah, exactly! Twilight didn’t even tell me when she left—she just left me a note saying that she was going to explore a cave on Sweet Apple Acres and would be back before morning. Since she’s not back…”

“D’ya think something happened to them?” Apple Bloom’s wide eyes shimmered as she stared at Spike, fear spreading through her veins with every throb of her heartbeat.

Spike laid a reassuring claw on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we can find them. All we have to do is find the cave they were exploring and follow the trail.”

“But…what if something happens to us?”

The dragon placed a finger against his chin, thinking. “Hm…I dunno. Tell you what—I’ll write a letter to the Princess right now, and if anything happens, I can send it so they will know what’s happened. Still, unless something really bad happens, do you think anypony would let us go find them on our own?”

Apple Bloom thought for a moment, imagining Granny Smith’s reaction if she found out what they were planning. “I suppose that makes sense…but still, why can’t anypony else come along, like Rainbow Dash?”

Spike sighed impatiently. “We don’t have time to go around recruiting a bunch of ponies for this—Twilight and Applejack are probably lost, and we need to find them before it’s too late!”

“Alright. I guess we’ll go alone, then…”

“So…do you know where the cave is?”

An unpleasant feeling crawled down her spine, but she took a deep breath and ignored it. C’mon now, you can do this…be a brave pony! “Yeah, I do. Follow me this way; it’s a little ways out on Sweet Apple Acres.” Apple Bloom felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of her stomach as she pushed the door slowly shut behind them. Stepping down onto the cold moist grass, she trotted out into the night, headed straight for the heart of the earth.

---

Within the grasp of a fear-stained nightmare, Twilight awoke to meet a room consumed by darkness.

Upon an icy throne in the center of the room sat a stallion, seemingly asleep, certainly dreaming. His glossy jet-black coat shone with the pale milky hues of moonlight, and a pure white mane sprouted from his neck, reaching up to wrap around his pointed unicorn horn. Four black stars dotted his flank, within a circle of pulsing indigo light.

Filly of the stars, you do not yet know me. We are one and the same, you and I…opposite reflections in the looking glass. They raised you by sunlight, to learn of the harmonic reality above the earth, and I by moonlight, to learn of the dreamlike surreality below. Your world and mine are twin children grown apart by one thousand years of separation.

And yet these worlds have grown up to become wholly different. Your culture tells of a world built upon the solid foundations of a simple life, and mine tells of a world woven from the fabric of dreams. These worlds should never have met. The blame lies with you alone.

I have known of our two worlds and their separation for many years, and have gently pulled my world of dreams out from beneath the iron hoof of your so-called “reality” as much as my powers allow. Under the presumption of harmony you would bring my world to collide with your own…and yet you cannot synthesize dreams with reality, at least if you expect those dreams to live on.

And that, my dear friend, is why I must kill you.

Sleep well in your final hours of daylight. You are in for a rude awakening…

---

The familiar body of the bright-purple mare shot up from the cold stone ground, wide awake. Her breaths came quick and shallow as she looked frantically around to find the one who had awoken her. Two violet eyes narrowed as they met their reflection in shining gold.

Starlight fidgeted on her hooves as she waited for the captive to speak.

“Where am I?”

“Prison.” The single word cut like a knife through the silence. Starlight’s eyes watered as she stared into the eyes of the prisoner, trying not to betray any of the feelings of guilt festering within.

“Why am I in prison? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Council’s orders,” she replied too quickly. “They gave us orders to bring in any Sunlovers we found, and take them to the Shaded Tower for further questioning. But right now…uh…” Starlight struggled to maintain a stoic appearance. “The Council wants me to transfer you to a different prison.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but did not object. She stood up to her hooves, almost bumping her head on the ceiling before trotting out after Starlight. Leading the prisoner out onto the balcony of the Shaded Tower, Starlight was struck by a sudden realization. Is there anywhere to take her? Silent’s agents will find her if she hides any place where the Eye of the Nocturna Lorem can see her.

Starlight frowned staring down at the fortified Citadel beneath her…but suddenly grinned as she looked over her shoulder at a thick obsidian door. Turning around and walking swiftly to the black door, Starlight did not notice as the Sunlover hesitated for a moment.

“Where are we going?”

“Well…we are going to take this staircase down into the heart of the Citadel, and then I will take you to a prison on the lowest level. Try not to attract too much attention—”

An invisible force slammed into Starlight from behind and she fell against the freezing rock, letting out a gasp of surprise as Twilight advanced towards her. The mare’s eyes glowed as bright as the moonset. “Why should I just go along with you and be a prisoner? Can I at least know why I am a prisoner in the first place? Don’t I at least get a trial or something?!”

Starlight’s eyes darted nervously to the empty halls around them, and she coughed once before replying. “Well…um…I kind of lied. Sorry. That room back there was your prison cell, and I am breaking you out, because…” Starlight hesitated. “The reason is very complicated.”

Twilight glared. “I don’t believe you.”

A sigh of defeat escaped Starlight’s lips. “Alright, fine. Lord Silent owns the prison in the Shaded Tower here, and he is operating without the Council’s permission, which he does not have the authority to do. I need to take you to the Council without his knowledge.” An impossible feat, that…you know full well that Silent knows all. Starlight ignored the annoying voice as it prodded at the back of her mind.

The mare’s eyes suddenly widened as she looked at something behind Starlight, hidden in the shadows. “Okay, I believe you…let’s go!” The black door slammed open and Twilight sprinted through, practically flying down the staircase.

Starlight blinked once in disbelief. She turned around, staring down the hall…and immediately raced after Twilight, down, down, down into darkness.

Trotting up to the open door with all of the time in the world, a jet-black stallion closed the door gently behind them. Do not worry…the time of your capture has not yet arrived. A lazy smile crossed his face.

His eyelids rested gently over their milky golden orbs, and his horn shimmered with a translucent skin of pure indigo as he stared through the veils of flesh and stone beneath him. My stars shall not bow to the dawning sun. I will not let them.

---

After ten minutes of sprinting down the stairs, Twilight’s hooves felt like bricks of lead as she stopped and leaned against the cold stone wall. Starlight, who had taken to flying through the narrow channel of air above the stairs, paused and looked back with a frown across her muzzle.

“Could you hurry? We must reach the main city before Lord Silent realizes…” the mare’s impatient voice faltered as she looked back up at the door and saw that Silent had shut the door behind them.

“Can…can we take a break?” panted Twilight, still leaning against the wall.

“I guess,” said Starlight as she alighted on the stair below. Silence filled the gap between the two mares as they stared at one another, each wondering what the other would say next.

“Do you know where my friend Applejack is?” Twilight asked suddenly. Where could she possibly be? Did Starlight take her to the same prison? If she did, why would she not rescue Applejack too?

The mare shifted uncomfortably on the cold stone ground. “I could not find her in her cell. Lord Silent must have taken her to the Shadow Garden.”

An ice-cold shiver raced down Twilight’s back. “What’s the Shadow Garden?”

For some reason, Starlight took a deep breath and hesitated before responding, as if to steady her nerves. “It is very difficult to understand…” the mare glanced back at Twilight, whose curious expression would not be refused. “But then again, you seem to be a pony very skilled in magic, so you may understand much better than I can. Do you have the ability to read minds, or to enter the dreams of others?”

Twilight blanched. What? “No…only Princess Luna knows tha—”

“Princess Luna?!” The mare’s face lit up and her eyes doubled in size. “Has she returned? How do you know her? Why did you not call her Nightmare Moon?”

Oh dear. Maybe saying that was a bad idea. Twilight chose her words carefully as she responded, “Well...yes, she returned about three months ago. I know her because—”

“Holy mother of Luna! She is back! I need to tell everyone!” With a huge grin across her face, Starlight almost tripped over her own hooves as she turned around to rush down the stairway. The grin turned quickly into a pouting frown as Twilight yanked the mare back up by the tail.

“Wait! She's back, but now is not the time to rush off and tell everyone! We have to find Applejack, and…”

“But…” Starlight raised her hoof to object, but then lowered it and grimaced again. “Fine.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. “As I was trying to say, Luna is the only pony I know that can enter another pony’s dreams. She would never read or invade another pony’s mind, even though she technically is powerful enough to do that. Why did you ask?”

“You are right; she would never read or invade another pony’s mind…unless she happened to be consumed by jealousy and attempting to overthrow Equestria.”

Twilight frowned.

“She was called ‘Nightmare’ by many for a reason…and she was not the only one. Many among her supporters learned the darkest arts of magic from their Queen of the Night before she was banished to the moon, and those supporters taught them to their descendants after they fled to the caves. However, these high-and-mighty magicians did not want anyone but their own children to know the dark arts, so now nopony knows how to use that twisted magic of the mind…except for one stallion that hides in his high tower, a tower that all others fear to enter.”

“Lord Silent?” whispered Twilight.

Yes.

Starlight nodded in confirmation. “He spent the entirety of his life learning how to manipulate the minds of others with his magic, and though nopony knows the full extent of his powers, I know for sure that he can read and speak to the conscious mind of anypony within his sphere of magical control, as well as craft nightmares.”

“How do you know?” asked Twilight, still processing the disturbing implications of the mare’s story. Why so disturbed? If Silent could read anypony’s mind this whole time, then it is already too late…

“Let’s just say that I used to be a lot less obedient before my first visit to the Shadow Garden.”

Twilight gave the statement a reverent pause before continuing. “So…what happened to you in the Shadow Garden?”

“I do not remember much of it, though this is due not to Silent’s tampering but to the fact that I was only a filly at the time—I do not think Lord Silent yet has the power to access the memories of his victims. Still…I can remember a room with dancing shadows, and staring at the beautiful shadows for hours on end, utterly mesmerized. When I slept, Silent tortured me with nightmares until I finally agreed to his terms.”

“What were his terms?”

“Not to share what I had learned about him when I grew too curious about his Tower, and not to question or defy him again.” Starlight has broken both terms just now… “The Shadow Garden is a realm where Lord Silent has more control over your mind than you do yourself. His power is limited by proximity, so if he is that close to you…” she gave an involuntary shudder.

Twilight decided not to press the matter further, so she switched back to her original topic: “Could we rescue Applejack from the Shadow Garden?”

“No.” The response came immediately. “Doing so will only surrender your mind to Lord Silent’s control.” Starlight suddenly looked back up the hallway. “We must continue into the city now…we have wasted too much time already.”

Her mind whirling with new thoughts, not all of them hers, Twilight followed the ashen-gray mare down through darkness into the heart of the Nocturnian Citadel.

Author's Note:

Sorry about posting it later than I implied in the Author's Note last chapter...I ended up making this one a lot longer than usual. The next chapter, "Order", will also be pretty long, so I'll try and stick to the monthly schedule again.

Comments

[Changeling-Drone]

I can't complain I've got a story that hasn't updated for a YEAR in my favs

[Blue Streak]

i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh476/SiaFel/Avatars/coolstory.gif
I'll wait for the next update eagerly.

[Violet Runner]

“Could we rescue Applejack from the Shadow Garden?”

“No.” The response came immediately. “Doing so will only surrender your mind to Lord Silent’s control.”

You can't but Luna can.