Sworn to Moonlight

by Corwin Freiss

To claim the praise

I always appreciated how organized our coven is. When ponies need to work together, the success doesn’t depend only on their ability to help each other, but also on how well they stay out of each other’s ways. The members of the coven form three specialized units, each of them following their specific duties and demanding the other two to do so as well.

The first unit is formed of guards. As expected, they ensure our safety, while we perform the rituals, and keep nosy ponies away from our headquarters. Apart from few veterans, they were all hoofpicked by their current lieutenant, Fire Caller. Of forty-five current members of the guard twenty-four are earth ponies with the rest being pegasi. We know that unicorns can hold their ground in battle too, but they can serve us better in other units.

Before anypony joins the active duty of our guard, they have to pass both physically and mentally straining training lead by Sabre Sharp, veteran of Royal Guard. I tend to think that those resolved enough to pass all tests he has prepared believe in our thing so firmly they would protect us till their last breath.

Sabre Sharp’s decision to join our coven meant much good for us at the time because not only were he already well versed in fight, he also lectured us on the workings of the Royal Guard investigations. As a trainer he is entitled to carry the rank of lieutenant, but his orders are obligatory only for trainees, and he still answers to unit lieutenant.

Scientists belong to the second unit. Their goal is easy to state but hard to fulfill - they examine genetic code of ponies, manipulate it to erase imperfections, and design spells allowing us to implement these changes into living body via rituals. Right after her promotion, Frost Blossom, the lieutenant of scientists, assured me that she is capable enough to train her recruits alone. The scientists learn permanently with their work progressing and theories changing daily, even more so with twenty dedicated members of the team, so it is understandable that formal training would actually hinder any newcomer.

The last but not least unit is the one of casters. Counting twenty-five unicorns, they bring scientists’ ideas to life and suggest new projects to initiate. In fact, the casters often offer their direct help to the scientists when these struggle with creating of new spells. Knowledge of magical theory is valuable, but expertise gained in years everyday use of particular kind of magic is priceless.

The trainer-lieutenant of casters unit doesn’t get to enjoy the luxury of our headquarters too often, yet I have never heard her complain. Whisper Charm is dedicated to locating promising young unicorns and bringing them to us before official organisations can claim those prodigies for themselves. We don’t take foals from their parents, and I wonder how this nasty rumor even appeared. Some inattentive parents probably let their foals play in dangerous places, and when the inevitable harm befell them, the parents chose to fabricate a tale about kidnappers rather than accept rightful punishment. Of course, the old saying that a rule without exceptions isn't a rule at all applies on my statements too. We have taken some foals against their will, only if they are already lost to normal life.

The rest of the potential trainees have the capacity to choose their path. I admit, Charm can be very persuasive and seductive, so most of the candidates actually join our ranks willingly. For the others there are memory spells.

The post of caster lieutenant doesn’t mean just leading the casters, it comes with the title of Grandmaster, leader of the whole coven. He coordinates the actions of all three units and leads the negotiations with our customers. For the last ten years these titles have belonged to me, and I believe I have done well so far.

There is one task in which the members of all three units participate: acquiring supplies. After we relocated our headquarters to Colton, we decided to change the routines. Only the trustworthy members take turns in shopping and supplying now. Nightwind Song proved to be skillful organiser, so there were no objections to promoting him to the position of lieutenant for supplying.

I always appreciated our system, but in the last two weeks my feelings intensified to the point of adoration. If the Grandmaster were to order everypony directly, the coven would collapse now. But since the units operate on their own, my current complete indisposition doesn’t pose the slightest threat. The casters don’t need their lieutenant now anyway, there are no rituals for them to perform until the time for mind transfer comes.

As I am slowly drifting back to consciousness, I can’t stop myself from shuddering in dread. My presence has been already retracted from my limbs, and step by step I lose feeling in my torso. What’s worse, Frost forbid me from using magic. She said it would reverse the retraction. No matter how hard I trained the meditational separation of body and mind, I can’t get used to being crippled in this way. I lie here completely defenseless, reliant on others.

Frost prepared this room shortly before our revenge mission. It is located next to the laboratories, so she doesn’t have to carry needed reagents too far away. She was never one for unnecessary decorations, but her practical self outdid itself here. Everything in this room is pure white. The walls, the floor, the table with medical supplies in the left corner, bed sheets and my metal-frame bed, simply everything. I didn’t mind it at first, but during my third waking time here - thanks to the lack of windows, I can’t say whether it is day or night - I decided I would send Frost Blossom into polar regions for a holiday, once this ordeal would be over.

Waking up means only one thing - Frost is coming. She will either help me cut myself from another part of my body, or order some more mental exercises. More pain and exertion is waiting for me in either case. Again. The door open noiselessly, but the small gust of wind ruins the moment of surprise. The senses really sharpen when you are cut from distracting feelings from inside of your body.

The sound of her steps is getting closer and then vanishes. I can feel her hoof stroking my cheek - under normal circumstances she wouldn’t do something so personal, even though we are close friends, but patting my foreleg has no effect since that memorable moment few weeks ago when I lost all sense in my appendages.

“Are you awake, Chant?” she asks softly. I open my eyes to humor her. “Good morning, have you slept well?” she continues with a smile.

“How would I know? Your potion-induced sleep doesn’t bring dreams, and there isn’t much of me in need of rest left. So I think it’s me who should ask, if I slept well.” I would cross my forelegs on my chest, but alas.

“Grumpy again, I see,” Frost says in a colder tone and frowns slightly.

“Wouldn’t you be in my situation? In my state I have no reason to be in a good mood. Stripped of the body and magic, I’m confined in this Celestia damned white room. And the prospect that I might die in few weeks isn’t exactly exhilarating!” I retort, releasing all the pent up anger originating from losing control of my life.

Frost is obviously taken aback by the sudden outburst. She sits down next to the bed and hesitantly raises her right foreleg before saying “But at least I keep you sleeping most of the time…”

“You know, I don’t think the “they will behead me, but they could have chosen incineration instead, so I shouldn’t complain” kind of arguments hold any water.” She dejectedly rests her chin on her chest, and I catch few sparks of light reflecting from the quickly moistening fur right under her eyes..

If I could move, I would slap myself. Of course, my situation is entirely Frost’s fault, but she means well, and I agreed to go through with this. She is the last pony I would want to make cry. What in Tartarus got into me!? She tries hard, and all I do is yell at her. Fix it, quick! I order myself.

I sigh and muster my best apologetic face. “I’m sorry, Frost. I.. I didn’t mean to shout at you, I just snapped. I’m constantly on the edge. It’s just so much for me to take…” She lifts her head. I chuckle at my self-pity but it is a hollow sound, so I choose to continue speaking to drown it: “You have it just as bad with all the preparations you have to do, and I’m such a nuisance that I think only about myself.”

She smiles at me kindly and strokes my cheek. Now that I think about it, she has been doing that more often during last few sessions.

“It’s alright. I am rather snappy lately myself, so I understand where that came from. Others try to avoid me whenever possible. Good thing that Fire can’t be deterred by something so petty like a harsh word. He’s sending his regards by the way. He asked me to tell you that everything is going well, he makes sure everypony does their job, and you are to enjoy your beauty sleep.” Now she is giggling like a schoolfilly. I swear she is bipolar.

I smirk “Next time you see him, tell him that in his case the beauty sleep wouldn’t be enough. Not even black magic can make his face look pretty.”

“Don’t be mean. I had to silence all of my compassion before I made myself to force your looks on our artificial pony,” she says, tilting her head to the right, and with few more giggles she gets up. She walks around the bed to the medical intravenous stand and unplugs me from it.

“Anyway,” she continues, “today we are going to withdraw your presence from your neck. Do you want me to give you the medication, or are you confident enough to pass into meditation on your own?”

“I’ll do it without the potion this time. To my eternal grief I still have taste buds…” She glares at me, but I can tell she is feigning it this time.

“Very well then, let me know when you finish separating,” she says with mock disdain and trots to the cushion next to the medical table.

Entering the state of separation doesn’t pose challenge for me anymore. If I couldn’t do it on my own, we wouldn’t enter this phase of mind transfer preparation at all. It doesn’t take as much time as it used to either because now I have to withdraw from much smaller portion of my body. Frost offers me the medication smoothing the process and removing the disturbing feeling of vulnerability while separated every time we perform this, but knowing the side-effects from experience I always refuse. The medication would cloud my mind slightly, and therefore the return to my body could contain complications. I swear that the horrible taste is really only secondary reason for my decision.

I calm myself down completely and mimic the techniques used to self-induce sleep, but unlike with those I keep my mind fully focused. This would normally lead to lucid dreaming, but I refuse to enter the realm of dreams. I stay somehow on the half-way. My senses are gone, but the magic flows directly through me, allowing me to contact Frost with pulling on the leylines which I also promptly do.

Through them I can also view the world in its immaterial form. I sense magical traces and all things connected to the leylines and the bounds between them, gaining deeper understanding of the events for a short while. It used to fascinate me, but everything fades into mundanity when it repeats frequently.

I “see” Frost getting up from her cushion. She walks toward where my body should be. It is now devoid of life in the metaphysical sense, so it remains invisible for me. Frost draws magic in and releases it in small amounts, which means she started filling another part of my body with inert imitation of mind presence. It will keep my mind from reentering that part.

As the pulses of Frost’s magic vanish, she nudges me through the leylines signaling me to end the separation. Returning to the body really resembles waking up. Once I feel that substance surrounds my mind, I extend myself to regain control.

Something is wrong. I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. Muscles in my face don’t react either. What’s going on!? Did I mess up? I panic more and more. I feel like hyperventilating, but there is neither the air to draw in, nor any organ capable of doing so! I’m dying! To Tartarus with it, not like this, not now...!

“Calm down! You aren’t dying, you just need to calm down!” Frost’s voice comes from all sides at once. It resonates through me and breaks me out of my hysteric outburst.

Frost? So at least I can hear. If I could at least talk as well...

“You can’t hear. Only way to communicate is telepathy now. Just think, and I will respond directly in your mind.”

What went wrong? Why can’t I connect with my senses? The remnants of shock slowly drift away. If I’m not dying, the mess I am in can be undone.

“That’s simple. You don’t have any senses anymore. During your separation I removed your body and replaced it with a flawless diamond. It is shiny and about the size of your head.” The amusement drips from her words. I consider dropping myself on her head now.

But you said I would just withdraw from my neck today!

“I had to lie. If you knew what was coming, your mind would subconsciously lock up, and you would return to your body no matter where it would be. Sorry I tricked you, but it was the only way.” she explains, but she doesn’t sound the least bit apologetic.

That phrase fits on everything related to these preparations… I grumble. Or try to. Articulating all emotions without my voice will require lots of attempts.

“Look at the bright side of this. You can now telepathically contact anypony here. And I will take you up to the manson. How does it sound?”

Well at least some change. Let’s go then I give up with a sigh.

“That’s the good jewel. If you behave, I’ll get you a nice holder.” she chirps sweetly.

How do I block telepathy?! Frost obviously decided to provide me enough opportunities to train expressing despair and anger via thoughts.

---

I would never imagine that there could be a situation in which I would yearn the days of second phase of the preparation, but the life proved me wrong. Existing as a mind in a crystal is proving to be far worse. Only now I appreciate, how merciful it was from Frost to keep me asleep before. She can’t do that anymore - crystals can’t drink potions.

If the legend tells the truth and that statue in the Royal Palace garden is in fact the petrified Discord, the god of chaos gained the first pony to mourn him in me. Being stuck like this for longer than a few weeks would inevitably lead to complete madness for me. Being able to “talk” to others, the luxury he lacks, wouldn’t save me for long either. I started to doubt the value of this blessing very soon.

I sense Fire entering the room. It is probably time for my final relocation.

“So, your big day has finally come. It must have been really hard being a diamond for over a month,” he says instead of a greeting. Fire is actually the reason for my apprehension toward telepathy - this was one of his milder puns.

Nice to see you too. Is everything ready? I choose not to react to his joke. He would only come up with another one, even more mind-damaging than the first one was.

“Yes, they are waiting in the garden. It feels strange that we are going to do this right in the headquarters. It could give us away,” Fire complains, his voice betraying real worries.

Moving all those body parts and material into the forest and then bringing me back here would be much more dangerous. We could encounter any amount of ponies, and you can’t very well justify carrying chopped pony into the forest, you know that. Our hiding spells are powerful enough, and the town folk will be in the fields celebrating Solstice anyway. I reassure him, although the worries plague me as well.

The location isn’t that much of a problem, our garden is large and the wall around it provides enough privacy. Only pegasi can see past the six-foot-tall barrier. The chance somepony finds out about our activities here is actually smaller than in the forest clearings we normally use. It’s the Solstice that weights my mind; the shortest night of the year and we have no other option than to perform extremely time-consuming spell.

Lifting the crystal, Fire is walking out of the room and through the corridors. I refuse to accept the crystal as my physical manifestation - when filled with apple juice the barrel doesn’t become physical manifestation of apples either - so I never identify it with my being.

I watch the magical traces in the building until they pale in comparison to the streams emanating from the direction we are moving in. It seems that entire coven gathered in the garden to witness our greatest achievement. Or greatest failure, but I shouldn’t think like that. As we get closer, I realize that the magic comes from two different places. Soon the sources are clear.

All the members really are present but they keep a good distance from a circle drawn on the ground. From the pulsation of its lines I can tell that whoever created it made absolutely no mistake. The circle is so powerful that even without casters it could change ponies. And the pulses intensify the closer to the centre I focus my attention.

There are three ponies around the circle. Only three are needed because the spell requires precision instead of brutal force. By the magical signatures of these ponies I recognize them as Frost Blossom, Whisper Charm and Forest Twist. Whisper’s presence is no surprise, she is a lieutenant for a reason, and Frost’s might is indisputable, even though she never attends the rituals. But I can’t but wonder how Forest managed to impress Frost enough to gain the third spot. Not that I doubt him, the salamander spell showed me just how much potential that pony has.

I perceive more than see the ring of shielding crystals. We seldom use ones that hide themselves so well, but the circumstances force us to seek the best protection there is.

As Fire deposits me in the centre of the circle, the daytime leyline configuration shifts into the night one. Frost has everything planned to the last second, it seems. As Fire leaves the circle and the space protected by the crystals, the casters are taking their positions and start the ritual without delay.

No action is expected from me, I am only another component in the puzzle of our artificial pony, so I occupy my mind with watching the leylines and deciphering the time flow from them.

---

It is around midnight. Everything has gone smoothly up to this point. It doesn’t anymore - the leylines are getting crazy now. They are writhing and constantly changing their intensity. What’s even more alarming, there seems to be some foreign magical nexus dragging the energy toward it. Casters are struggling to maintain the ritual, but the fight is slowing down the progress and the ritual is trying to tear out of control!

I can sense the pain this fight is causing to the three casters. Instead of constant peaceful flow of magic powered by moonlight, they experience slams and shocks of enraged magical surges. The smallest lapse in concentration could kill them with ease. And if something doesn’t happen soon, that development is inevitable.

Nopony can face this onslaught alone. They need help from outside, but nopony seems to consider providing it. The confusion and horror of the casters’ unit pulses in the leylines like a malicious fog. Certainly they won’t act on their own. I try to contact them telepathically, but they are too frightened to notice. Only one way remains, the way I hoped I would never use. I brace my soul, kill my morals and dominate the minds of my friends. For the greater good! And for my own survival...

I reach into the chaos that has become of the leylines and draw as much magical energy as I can. Then I send it crashing against the confused minds. The results are ranging from immediate, complete submission to fierce subconscious defense. But being withdrawn from my body and imbuing myself with raw magic I quickly erase any defense. The reality of what I am currently doing to them sickens me. The pain I cause by entering their minds and the despair of helplessness are something I would never wish upon them. Once this is over, I will apologize to them all profusely, but I’m afraid they won’t forgive me. I can live with that as long as I survive this moment!

Thirty-one unicorns march as one pony toward the ring of crystals and spread around it. Magical leashes leading from their heads meet in the crystal housing my mind. On my command they all start casting and create forcefield dome above the circle. Leylines entering the dome are immediately straightening and the rage inside of the circle subsides.

It probably won’t matter anyway, the damage is done. The three main casters spent too much power just to stay conscious, and the ritual lapsed far behind the schedule. But at least they are alive and can try to salvage our efforts. It is up to me to ensure them this chance. My hold of the unicorns’ minds mustn’t drop.

---

The hour of dawn is approaching, but we aren’t done yet. We are all weary, our progress is slowing with every passing minute. Frost and the others are still trying with all their might, but I think they know it is in vain. Since the beginning of the ritual my mind is connected with the spell. Once the sun rises, the circle will be destroyed and my mind with it. At least I’m dying with style - who else can say that they controlled thirty-one unicorns and forced them to cast for several hours?

The tremor of the leylines readying to shift becomes a prominent feeling of the moment. Well, goodbye everypony, I really enjoyed working with you. And Frost, please plan your experiments for winter next time, thank you. I send my final thought to the three casters as the tremor turns into buzzing. It is coming. I prepare for pain of burning in the sunlight…

But it never comes. The sun doesn’t rise! I feel the confusion of the casters. They even stop the ritual from the shock!

Cast now, ask later! I yell in their heads. I don’t care what happened with the sun. If some beast from Tartarus ate it, I will personally go and thank it as long as I survive this ritual!

Frost and the others snap back to attention quickly enough and resume their work at heightened tempo. The pulsing of the circle quickens its pace, and soon I feel myself being hauled down by magical tentacles wrapped around my mind.

The familiar sensation of waking up from separation is soothing me into sense of safety for a short while. But as the moment when I would open my eyes strikes, millions of nerve cells come to life. The agony! The first act of my throat is to scream itself into oblivion. The vision of ardent blades ripping me apart is all that fills my tortured thoughts. Then out of nowhere a black cloud of strong magic encases my horn and muffles everything.

---

“Go get some rest. You have been sitting here since we brought him in!”

“No! I want to be here when he wakes up! If something went wrong, the sooner I find out about it, the better.”

I groan weakly. The hushed voices pierce my eardrums like a roar of a manticore. I think that even the sound of a pin dropped on the ground would torture me now.

“You won’t fix anything, if you collapse on him. Besides, with that ritual behind you, you don’t have much power left.”

“You have no idea how much power I have left!”

It doesn’t seem they are going to stop their bickering anytime soon, so I have to act to preserve whatever part of my mind doesn’t hurt. “Whoever you are, just shut up!” I grumble as loudly as I dare, so i don’t make things worse for myself. Which isn’t too loud.

“He is awake!” both voices simultaneously cry out, and the throbbing in my head intensifies tenfold. I obviously decided for a wrong course of action. But my next one is well chosen. I contort my face and howl like a wolf. This gets the message through. I feel a spell enter my body and the pain subsides rapidly.

“Thank you. You have my eternal gratitude for that spell,” I say slightly louder than before, sighing in relief.

“I told you I am still strong enough to help!” one of the voices proclaims with pride and satisfaction imminent in the tone. Now that I can actually concentrate on something else than staying conscious through the pain, I recognise it immediately. I open my eyes and see Frost standing next to the left side of my bed, smiling smugly at Fire standing on the opposite side, facehoofing and sighing. They both look like they could use a good-night sleep, but Frost is definitely worse to wear. The bags under her eyes and disheveled mane are rare occurrences for this perfectionist mare.

“If you have so much energy felt, would you levitate that glass of water to me?” Fire asks mischievously.

“No. Fetch it yourself,” she retorts and points her muzzle up.

“You can’t, admit it!” he demands, his irritation clear..

I cough to get their attention.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I feel rather neglected…” Good, they finally remember that I’m actually here.

“I’m so sorry, Chant, I got carried away. Fire just won’t stop putting his nose into things that aren’t his business, and I grow tired of that,” Frost smiles sheepishly.

“He is right, you know. You should have rested instead of fretting over me,” I answer with concern. “It was one difficult ritual, and that mess around midnight must have taken its toll on you as well.”

“Don’t worry about me, I have been through worse. Besides, that spell you conducted helped immensely,” Frost says and waves her hoof dismissively.

I shudder at being reminded of my actions from last night. “I hope they don’t hate me too fiercely…”

“No,” Fire butts in, “when they learned what actually happened, they were quite shocked but more by the fact you managed to pull this off. Few are a bit angry, but they understand. And then there is a small group currently plotting how to perform such synchronized casting again. They say it was a great experience.

“I need to apologize anyway., I react dejectedly. “By the way, do we know what actually happened? I mean, what threw the leylines off balance like this and why didn’t the sun rise?”

“From the ponies who arrived today by train we know that it happened all over Equestria. But that’s all.” answers Frost worriedly. “The sun rose about two hours after we finished, but the strange nexus is still there. It feels similar to Celestia, but the energy differs. We will know soon enough, something like this can’t go unnoticed. The news just travel slowly.”

She rests her face in hooves tiredly. She is probably fighting a headache of her own. After a moment she continues.

“But let’s concentrate on more pressing matter. How do you feel?”

“The pain went away after your spell. I think I can use my magic and I have rule over my head and neck, but the rest of the body doesn’t respond.”

She opens her mouth, but I glare at her before she gets a single word out.

“And I refuse any rehabilitation until you get at least ten hours of sleep.” She wants to protest but I continue, “Fire, assign two of the guards to Frost’s room. She is forbidden to leave it until tomorrow morning.”

“Yessir!” Fire salutes with a grin, walks over to Frost, drops one wing over her back and leads her out. She is so sleepy at the moment that she doesn’t even protest.

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[Eater-of-Worlds Smooze]

The plot thickens...