Moonlight Promenade

by Valorousspectre

Chapter 16

Gild's reports were wrong.

Very wrong.

In fact, they were so off in timescale, because Luna had planned it that way. She took Midnight's report, and altered a copy of it to submit to Blossom's superiors. Whilst technically she was circumventing important procedure and rules, Luna got away with it because of her name, and her ability to simply silence whomever tried to get the truth out. Besides, it wasn't like it was a huge issue. Septimus just arrived about eight hours before Gild had received word that he was due. Fun times, except he was being kept under guard at the barracks, not in a cell or Luna's room, like he'd been in before. So, in a bunk, surrounded by Thestral warriors who were more than wide awake, he sat, rather terrified.

There were two familiar faces, however, that brought him comfort. The old, scarred Thestral guard and his trainee, though he couldn't be called that now. He hadn't gotten their names during any of their 'fetchings' of him, and he learned them now. The elder Thestral, Rend, had been a soldier for most of his life, but served mostly in Screech, the Nox capitol. The younger, Echo, had been a rookie fresh from the academy when he'd been transferred here, and so was paired with Rend for training purposes. They spent the majority of the time telling him all about their people, and their world.

"It's perpetual darkness," Rend told him blithely, "We live mostly in caves and tunnel networks in the mountains and underground. Make the finest hidden doors you've ever not seen."

Echo had a laugh at the lame joke, which lightened Rend's face. He forgave Sep for not laughing, given his situation. Echo was more interested in talking about his people as a people, not where they lived.

"There's more to the Nox than just us thestrals," He told Septimus animatedly, "We're just the most common, so we're the first sent here, transferred once the Goddess returned. There's also Magians, who're like your unicorns, and Salters, who're like the earth ponies. We're just like you guys, came from the same ancestors, but our races are like brother and sister, or cousins."

A couple of times, he caught glimpses of the mare who'd brought him here, but mostly she sat in front of the fire, before finally going to bed. She was much more intimidating in her armour, with the thin, sharp looking crescent moon upon the top of her helmet. Rend explained that too.

"It's a ranking thing," He explained, "Midnight's the Princess' favorite, no doubt. She's honest, and gives her what she needs. That's the moon, symbol of Luna's favorite. Only reason we use it for that rather than it's normal use here? We don't have any real ranks here. Gild's a hardass, doesn't trust us. So, we're kept in reserve most times. We see better in the dark than anyone, but we're reserves. Stupid, stupid stallion, to not take advantage of that. Mark my words kid, by the time he realises how useful we are, he'll be out of office."

"What about that guy?"

The pair looked at where Sep was pointing, at a stranger in this barracks of Thestrals. A pegasus, dressed in their gear. Rend shrugged.

"That? S'name is Nomad. Reckon our Illustrious captain stuck him with us to keep an eye, but he hardly does anything. He's nocturnal though, and that means he can run with us if he wants."

Echo piped up then, "There's another pegasus who looks after us, but he's not really part of our core. His name's Cloud Skipper, but we just call him 'Skippy'. Blossom came up with it. I'm not sure he likes it though."

"Can't imagine why," Septimus muttered. It was scary, in a room full of predatory Thestrals, especially once Echo and Rend explained their dietary needs. Not the best way to build trust, being told that they drank the blood of others to sustain themselves. They began to go into the in depth explanation, when Septimus was finally dragged away, this time by a severe looking Thestral who didn't speak.

And where else was he dragged?

Surprisingly, not to Luna's room, as he'd expected. No, he was marched to the Throne Room, where Luna sat on her sister's throne, clad in a stunning dress that sparkled like her night sky, delicate silver crown upon her brow, silver choker on, and a silver ring with the same thin moon as on Spring's helmet on it. Septimus recognised the significance immediately.

She's the Princess' favorite.

"We bring forth the defendant, Septimus, to be judged as Our Lady of the Moon sees fit."

"The throne recognises Septimus, and this trial will commence henceforth. Septimus, you are charged with the following crimes."

Luna reached down, and was handed a piece of paper, which she looked at.

"Assault on an officer, Assault on a civilian, and petty theft. You get a defence for each offence. Do tell."

Septimus just stared, overwhelmed. Luna looked back at him, almost smugly.

"We'll start with Assault on an Officer. How do you defend yourself?"

"It... was an accident?" he said vaguely, "I was... showing you stuff and he opened the door I was running up?"

Luna nodded.

"Fair enough. Charge dropped. Second Charge, Assault on Civilian, has already been pardoned. Last, petty theft. How do you plead?"

"Uh... guilty? For survival!"

"You had other choices," She replied sternly, "Turning yourself in to the guard would have resulted in three square meals per day, a bed in which to sleep and a roof over your head, for example. Seeking shelter with other ponies is another possible course of action favourable to thievery. You had options, you simply didn't consider them."

"I was running away from you, remember?" He asked acidly, "You threw me across the room!"

"Not without reason, and you know it. That's a personal issue, that you and I will discuss in private away from the courtroom."

She looked down at the scribe, a thestral teen who was taking his job very seriously, but had paused, unsure.

"Write that down too, for the sake of correct archiving," She told him gently. He nodded seriously, and went back to writing rapidly, "For future reference dear, write down everything you hear."
He nodded seriously again, but didn't respond. She turned back to Septimus.

"Septimus. For the crimes of petty theft, and assault against an officer of the law," She began, "Whose name will be redacted to preserve his dignity, you are to serve two months community service. I will state for the sake of the court that this sentence has indeed been lessened in severity due to the circumstances of the second charge mentioned. These months of service start tomorrow, to be discussed and decided upon tomorrow morning with a single witness of my choosing. This session is now adjourned, guard take him to his bunk in the Barracks, I will collect him in my own time to discuss his form of community service."

And before he knew it, it was over, and he was being escorted out and back to his little bunk in the Barracks, surrounded by guards again.

Still reeling from what he'd just been told.

That was hours ago. Septimus looked miserably at the clock next to the bunk he'd been supplied. Nope, almost a day. That meant they'd ignored his 'official' hearing time. He hadn't been called. It had to be soon that he'd be called to Luna's side to discuss his sentence, incredibly light though it was. Seriously, Public Service? For all those crimes? Well, in his defence...

"Septimus. Luna's calling for you."

Sep sighed.

Here we go again.

Comments

[SilentMech]

Well, to his credit, he got to be bored by a lecture instead of being bored by just sitting around, doing nothing. Also, Sep had to see this coming a mile away when he realized his night time rendezvous was with "the lonely princess of the night" after he told her about his manic depressive states.

[Axis]

Is there gonna be anymore?

[Valorousspectre]

6497049 Yes! My apologies, I've been so focused on other things >.< Utopia being one of them, but I've also been trying to work around stuttering internet, and my job in a restaurant, which does demand a lot of my time, I do apologise, I will work on a chapter as soon as possible >.<

[BATCAN]

I'm really sad that this story has stopped getting updates because it was really good and left off at a big cliff hanger but if you ever plan on continuing the story please message me or notify me in some way so I can be sure to read the next bit ASAP.