Moonlight Promenade

by Valorousspectre

Chapter 11

The house Septimus found himself in was not his own. In fact, nopony lived there anymore. And for good reason. The house was dilapidated, and was verging on collapse. Burned into the door was a bright red 'X' mark. The mark of a family killed by a curse.

A warning for others not to enter, or face the curse in all its dark glory.

A warning that fell on deaf ears for Septimus. Figuring his life couldn't get any worse, he'd entered anyway. Nothing had happened to him yet, so he figured the curse had failed a long time ago. A pity, really. He almost wished it were there, to hold him in its dark arms and hasten his road to stressless oblivion. His arm hurt, his feet hurt, and his clothes were ruffled and torn. His food was running out, and getting fresh water without being seen was a pain. At this rate, he was almost afraid he'd die of starvation or infection, though it was only a mild concern. Nothing major right?

It's just death. Comes for everypony. That'll teach her.

He sighed to himself, wriggling his toes as he looked at them, back to the headboard of a long unused bed, until recently anyway. Even in bad a shape as it was, it was better than his at home, which wasn't a difficult feat to be honest. His mattress was pretty horrendous. The blanket covering his shoulders was not his own, which he missed terribly, but a ratty one from within the house he now sat within. The shirt he had on was also not his. He'd stolen it from a street vendor, and it was a size or two too big for him. He'd felt bad for taking the shirt, and had vowed to pay the vendor back, but didn't have the bits to do so yet. He figured he probably never would, but it made him feel better to say he would. To pretend like he had a future now.

Dimly, he heard the sounds of guard armour clinking on the street below his floor, and to his left. He shifted, disinterested. They wouldn't enter. They couldn't. Guard policy or something. He'd heard it the first day he'd found the house. It was one of the main reasons he chose this as his little hideout, rather than elsewhere. Even the sewers weren't as safe as this house. Nopony braved a curse. Nopony, it seems, except for Septimus.

It was night. Again. Every time he'd turned around it seemed to be night, he mused wryly. Typical really, that something he once found so beautiful now only served to remind him of the princess who turned her back on him. He'd felt, for the first time in a long time, like he'd meant something to somepony. Felt like he belonged. And then, like everypony else, she'd ripped his heart out of his chest and shoved it down his throat.

Well, almost everypony. Not all ponies were like that, and Septimus knew that, but honestly it felt like they all were. With a hollow laugh, he realised this was how those 'feminist' mares must feel, always preaching that all stallions wanted was sex, and how mares were nothing but objects. Celestia, upon hearing the demands of the 'official organisation', had scoffed at their faces and reminded them of several undeniable facts.

1) Mares outnumbered stallions almost 5 to 1
2) All of their suggestions were about superiority, not equality
and of course, that the things happening to mares also happened to stallions.

Septimus smirked to himself, fiddling with the hem of his new blanket. That was an amusing day. The new bartender at the time where he'd worked had told him that she sort of understood the mare's point, and Septimus had laughed at her, warning her not to tell the boss, lest he lose his temper. She'd laughed in reply, and told him she knew what he meant.

His smirk faded as he also remembered that he'd turned down a dinner she'd offered him, all because he got scared, and convinced himself he wasn't good enough. Another memory soured by his own psyche. Never a good sign.

Ugh... Like things could get much worse than this, right?

He laughed. A humourless, mirthless laugh. It left him feeling empty, bereft of emotion, or thought. With a sigh, he settled into the bed he was commandeering from the now long dead family.

He awoke hours later with the sun shining on his eyes, burning his retinas when he slid his eyelids up to glare at the boarded up window. Apparently, they didn't seem to care how badly they'd boarded the old home up, because there was light enough in just the right spot to fall on his eyes whilst his head was at the headboard.

Perfect. Thanks Celestia, you smarmy bitch.

With a groan, he sat up, rubbing the gunk out of his eyes. He had to find something to eat, and soon. Then a thought occurred to him.

Why would I bother? It's not like it's going to make a difference, right?

The grumble in his stomach, however, changed his mind. His instinct to survive was stronger than his depression at the moment. So, he dragged himself out of the bed.

Welp, first things first. Food.

Exiting the house, with a check first to make sure there weren't any guards around to see him, he made his way down to the market, the best place to find undefended food. Undefended because he didn't have any money to buy any of it with, and thus had to resort to thievery.

again.

Finding a food stall that didn't have an eagle eyed owner, however, turned out to be harder than he thought. Almost every vendor was , understandably, wary of everypony, and everything that looked suspicious. He also wasn't sure how to go about it. He wasn't a thief, and hadn't stolen anything from anypony in his life, save for the few things he managed to take earlier. Despite this, he managed to spirit away something, though not much. A peach, and three bananas were all he managed to scrounge up, and even then, it'd taken him almost two hours to take that, and he'd headed back after, sick of it already.

But not before he was spotted. Golden eyes watched him leave the market, fruit in tow. Those eyes narrowed, and left quickly, to report to their superiors.

~*~

Luna wasn't terribly fond of the day, though not because her sister brought it around. Despite popular belief, Luna did love her sister. She did very often get annoyed at her sister, and very frequently angry at her as well. No, her dislike of the day came from the inability to sleep through it very well, without the sun seeming to find the perfect cracks in her curtains to bleed light directly onto her eyes.

But today, she wasn't asleep, and the Night Guard that dropped into her room was expected.

"Midnight Blossom," She said passively, "What'd you find out?"

Midnight Blossom, a younger thestral with light armour, stormcloud grey fur that tufted at the tips of her ears and a mane that matched her shoes' violet, was one of Luna's favourites, and often faced flak for it from the rest of the core. Luna often sent her out on stealthier missions. The playful mare was a bit more serious when working, and was quick, clean and efficient. She bowed before speaking.

"I saw your boyfriend," She replied with a smirk, "He was at the market. Stealing himself some food, in fact."

Luna's eyes, unseen by Midnight, narrowed.

"Did you follow him?"

"Tried to," She admitted, flushing hotly, "Turns out, he's more slippery than I gave him credit. I lost him before too long, somewhere in the older districts."

At this, Luna did smile.

"Well, he may not be terribly clever," Luna admitted, "But, he does have his moments I suppose. You're dismissed. Go have something to drink."

Midnight nodded, an eager smile and twinkle to her eye as she turned to leave.

"Oh, and Blossom?"

She paused and looked back. Luna's back was still to her.

"Don't ever call him that again."

She grinned and bowed, a bit mockingly.

"Whatever you say Princess."

Author's Note:

Midnight Blossom, and the upcoming Cloud Skipper, do not belong to me. Both ponies belong to Equestria Prevails, whom I'm not certain is on this site. I hope I'm not being too presumptuous by using them. Go check 'em out on his Deviantart here: http://equestria-prevails.deviantart.com/

Thanks for being so patient guys.

Comments

[Moongaze14]

If I hasn't already, I would have faved this story for adding Midnight Blossom in it.

[communistman]

Good new chapter. Keep it up.