Eternal Night

by Lucaro

Chapter 2: Ghosts of the Past

Sirius shivered as he stood, his ratty sheets tangled underneath his hooves. Rain was pouring down, lightning flashing in the sky. He was soaked, cold, but he felt alive.

The bat-pony loved thunderstorms. Lightning rippled in the sky, illuminating the forest around him with stark white light. For a moment, he could see everything clearly: the verdant green of the leaves rustling in the wind, the brown of the tree bark glistening with rainwater, the bright yellow dandelions and soft white daisies peeping up from the soaked dirt.

The light flickered, and everything was plunged into darkness again. He could still see, for he was a Nightborn and had adept night vision, but it was all grayscale. No color.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, the sound a roiling cadence before rising up to a terrifying crackling that seemed to shake the very ground.

He closed his eyes. He let the wind tear at him, the rain lash his face, and he could feel the thunder reverberate within him. He wanted to howl. He wanted to take flight, to fly up into the heart of the storm and never come down.

Lightning branched out in the sky, bathing the forest landscape with light again. In the distance, Sirius could see the other hovels hidden in the lush plant life. They were all makeshift residences much like their own, their tattered clotheslines swaying, and broken shutters flapping about.

It had a certain charm to it. They were at the edge of civilization. Nopony knew what lay beyond their little village. Unchartered territory, the forest stretching out as far as the eye could see. Sirius looked out as far as he could. There was a tremendous lightning flash, the whole sky turned white, and Sirius gasped. On the horizon, like tiny teeth, he saw the silhouettes of mountains in the farthest reaches of the forest.

The world was plunged into darkness again. Sirius folded his legs and sat, his eyes full of wonder. He had lived here for his entire life, unaware of the range of stone behemoths in the distance.

Their world was a vast and enigmatic one. He was thrilled by what the storm had revealed to him.

It was strange how such a tumultuous upheaval of nature could reveal the world’s true beauty. He would rather it be this stormy and rough all the time, if it were to provide him with these discoveries. He was tired of the enslaving complacency that came with the calm dark.

He looked around at his belongings at his hooves, the hovel behind him, and the awning that provided him with almost no shelter. He wanted to leave it all someday. Fly out into the great unknown, soar above those mountains, explore….

He sat down and wrapped his blankets around him, shivering again. As the darkness wore on, the lightning became more sporadic, and he began to fall asleep. He felt like he was falling, and the dreamscape opened up before him.

His body was asleep, but some part of him was awake. He was Dreamwalking.

It was said that when a pony dreams, his soul is bare to the night and all those around him. Sirius saw a spectral version of himself standing above his sleeping body. This was a form of astral projection, and he could observe, or even enter other people’s dreams.

It was a gift unique to the Nightborn.

He blinked. Every living thing exuded an aura, an ethereal radiance that enveloped them. Sirius looked behind him, to the hovel. He could feel the active minds of the three ponies inside.

His dream-self drifted over to the window, and inside, he saw Cepheus, Persei, and Mother sprawled on the floor. Tiny beads of blue light rose from their bodies, rising a few feet into the air before fading away.

All beings with well-developed forebrains emitted such sparks of light when they slept. It was an expression of the imagination, an imprint of a sentient being.

It was beautiful to see them sleeping like this, cocooned in steam and light, like a nebula star-nursery in the depths of space.

Mother’s mind wasn’t emitting light. It was always closed off for some reason. She never dreamed.

So, Sirius peered into Cepheus’ dream….he blushed.

His brother’s burgeoning sexuality failed to dampen his curiosity. Moving on.

Sirius probed at Persei’s sleeping mind, her REM cycle starting. Her dream was at the beginning of its manifestation. She was dreaming about Mother. Persei’s brain was solving a puzzle that she had been thinking about before she had fallen asleep. What is Sirius’ relationship to all of us? Who is he and where did he come from? Sirius immediately drew away, retreating to his own body.

It had been a question that had haunted him a long time, and he had always wanted to know, but once he had found out, ignorance was preferable by far.

That was the thing about ignorance, or complacency, it was comfortable. But knowing the truth of his becoming, it made him realize that he would never belong in this family.

Mother hated him, even before he was born…the memory manifested in his own dream, turning it into a nightmare.

Sirius had been a little foal, and he had been so cold. It had been a very harsh winter, and he had been outside while the other three ponies slept within the hovel. He had been scared.

The wind had teeth that night. It was howling in his ears, gnawing at his exposed skin, the frigid gales searing him. He had curled up into a ball, his tiny wings covering his head to preserve warmth.

The blizzard raged on. Snow, wet and heavy, began to envelop him. He had been buried several times, but the fear of suffocation forced him to break out of his snowy tomb.

Soon, the burning sensation in his limbs had faded away, and he had actually felt warmth inside his chest. His hooves and wings had turned gray with frostbite, and the ice was travelling inwards towards his heart. He was dying.

He had pressed himself against the hovel, the walls warm from the stove burning inside. But the storm intensified. He looked inside, seeing the warm light of the fire within, and the three ponies snuggled around it.

He remembered timidly knocking on the hovel door.

No answer.

He had forced the door open and had tumbled inside, shivering and sneezing. He closed the door behind him, and as he stumbled to the stove, his knees had buckled and he had fallen on top of his mother.

She immediately awoke, and she reeked of something sharp and abrasive, and he later would recognize that scent as alcohol.

Her eyes had been red and puffy from crying, and she stared at him with terror. He could no longer move his limbs, and she had been so warm. Some foal survival instinct had kicked in, and he had hugged her, wanting her warmth and security.

She was breathing heavily, and she began to thrash her hooves out. “Please…please….” She begged. He hugged her tighter, trying to console her. Tears streaked down her eyes as she looked at him, her barrel heaving with each sob. “I’m just a poor mare down on her luck. Please no…no…NO! STOP!”

Mother had begun to buck wildly, as if Sirius was doing something terrible to her. Her hooves struck him in the gut. He was sent flying through the air, his back slamming against the wall. He crumpled there, preparing himself for whatever punishment she had in mind.

But she just stood there, heaving, staring at him.

Sirius had just wanted to disappear, pain bursting in his stomach.

“You,” she spat. “You look just like your father. You bastard, you…” she spluttered, “you half-breed aberration born of rape.”

Sirius had no idea what a “bastard” or what “rape” was, but he knew they were terrible things.

She continued hissing, her eyes filled with a maniacal hysteria. “Your father killed my husband, so I wanted to return the favor by killing his son.” She snorted angrily, stamping her hooves. “I tried killing you so many times, but you…just…wouldn’t…die.” She lunged towards him, and Sirius whimpered as she hung above him, stomping on him. “You touch me again, and I’ll cut your throat!”

She had tossed him out in then, and he had bled out into the snow.

He awoke with a start, Cepheus shaking him. “Were you having a nightmare?” his half-brother said, genuinely concerned.

Sirius stared at him for a moment. His siblings could never know the truth of his becoming. It would alienate him from the only two ponies who treated him well.

Sirius nodded, wiping the perspiration off his brow. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Persei stepped out of the hovel, her medicine saddlebags strapped on her back. “We’re delivering medicine to the village folk. You watch the house and Mother while we make the circuit.”

Sirius shuddered at the thought of being alone with his mother after dreaming about that incident. “Can I come with you guys?” he asked anxiously.

Cepheus’ eyes went wide with mock surprise, grinning lopsidedly. “Are you sirius?”

“I see what you did there,” Sirius said, brohoofing his brother.

Persei raised her hoof. “Wait, are you sure you want to come? The village folk hate the Nightborn, after all, everypony here are exiles from Nightmare Moon’s realm.”

Sirius sighed. He could barely remember the last time he had walked into town. Not because of how long it had been, but because of all the concussions he had received. “Yes, I’m sure. I feel adventurous today.”

“Me too,” Cepheus beamed.

Yeah, you’re definitely feeling adventurous. But not as much as last night Sirius thought. He was tempted to ask him about the beige mare he had been so vigorously rutting with.

Persei and Cepheus began trotting away and Sirius followed closely behind.

The full moon was shining brightly, its soft light bathing the landscape. His hooves squished in the mud from last night’s storm, and he felt a nervous anticipation as they drew closer to the main cluster of residences.

Sirius saw tiny lanterns hanging from the trees, the smoke from the flames within mixing in with the scent of wet earth and wildflowers. Tiny fireflies flitted about, their incandescent posteriors blinking a yellow light.

The hovels they were passing began to become more numerous, some of their windows illuminated with light. Sirius pressed himself closer to his brother and sister. He saw a mare putting up laundry on a clothesline, and his heart fluttered nervously. She didn’t appear to be holding any rocks.

Sirius sighed in relief. A small parade of romping foals sprinted by, and Cepheus cheered. He pounded hooves with each of the foals, greeting them all by name.

The foals worshipped Cepheus. They all knew the tales of his legendary shenanigans. The elders whispered about it. Like the one time the colt Cepheus had replaced all the candles in the lanterns with firecrackers. Or the time….

“Oh, hello!” a mare greeted them cheerfully. Sirius looked over Persei and beheld the beige mare. Hilarity began to bubble up within him when he recognized her. So this was the lovely mare in Cepheus’ dream.

Sirius remembered her supine figure, her legs spread with his brother’s muzzle buried in her marehood….

Sirius giggled. Cepheus stammered, placing his front hooves together to hide the increasingly turgid mass between his hind legs. “Hey, Candle Glimmer,” he said nervously.

Sirius made a feminine moaning sound, and Cepheus blushed. Candle seemed to enjoy the stallion’s unease, stroking her raven mane and advancing on him. “I see your delivering medicine,” she said, gesturing to Persei’s medicine bag. “It’s a great thing your mother does for our village.”

Persei nodded, somewhat uncomfortable after noticing her brother’s arousal. “Yes, our mother is very talented,” she sighed, staring at the dumbstruck Cepheus. “Candle, would you like to come over for dinner sometime?”

Cepheus blanched, but Candle didn’t seem to notice. “Of course,” she said, winking at Cepheus. “I would love to. I’m free tomorrow night.”

Persei nodded, and Candle trotted past them. Cepheus and Sirius watched her leave. Sirius was grinning, and knocked his hoof against Cepheus’ playfully. “She’s got a nice flank, brother.”

Persei stamped her hoof in frustration and towed her brother away. Sirius giggled and followed. They arrived at their destination, a small hovel which apparently housed an old stallion who was sick with hay fever.

Persei knocked on the door, the two green lanterns rattling at her impatience. There was a delay, and she faced Cepheus. “Brother, we must do something about Mother’s drug addiction.”

Cepheus’ eyes went wide, looking at the door. “I don’t think this is a good time to discuss this.”

“Hey,” she said. “I got you a date tomorrow night. You owe me one.”

Cepheus waved his hoof in acquiescence. “Fine, fine. What should we do?”

“We need to hide her pills, they prevent her from sleeping properly.” Persei sighed. “She’s exhausted all the time, and the alcohol just makes it worse.”

Cepheus nodded, responding to his sister’s urgency. “Yes, I understand. We should confront her as soon as we get home.”

She shook her head. “No confrontation, we just steal the pills when she’s not looking.”

“Got it,” Cepheus said, and quickly turned around to face Sirius. “You do it.”

“What? Me?” Sirius said alarmed, suddenly saddled with this dangerous task.

He was about to protest further when the door finally opened. The wrinkled gray stallion was trembling, grinding his teeth together. “Oh, sorry about that,” he said in a nasal voice. “It just takes a while for me to get to the door.” The aged stallion beckoned them inside. “Come on in.”

Persei muttered as they walked in. “This is why I hate dealing with old people. We’re going to be stuck here for an hour now.”

Cepheus shrugged. “I hope he tells us a story.”

The old stallion laughed. “Oh, it’s been such a long time since I had company,” he said, sitting down on his recliner in the middle of the dusty living room. “It reminds me of my father, and the time he first brought me here. Back in the day, about seventeen years ago, the Empress Nightmare Moon suddenly became very aggressive against us Dayborns….Even more so than usual.”

Persei’s frustration was palpable, but Cepheus was listening attentively to the old stallion’s tale. Sirius withdrew slightly, aware of the hate between the two species.

They all gathered around, as he told his account of the past. “It all began with Nightmare Moon’s discovery of the secret religion….”

Author's Note:

Ahh, the elderly. So full of tales and wisdom.

Comments/Discussion is encouraged below, like always

Don't hesitate to point out any typos/errors

Comments

[Sunny]

Speculation is that Persei is Celestia reincarnated, but that doesn't explain the other two's relationship to her.

Mm...do the Mane 6 exist in this universe? I suppose if Nightmare attempted genocide, they likely don't.

[Harmonic Scrible]

Very good job on this chapter. A little more back story on Sirius and the bat ponies/nightborn was good. I like the details on Sirius' kind (greyscale night vision, and dreamwalking) much like most nocturnal creatures and in the case of dreamwalking like Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon.

I couldn't find many details to pick at this chapter but I did find one that nagged me while I was reading. Persei seems to have little appreciation for Sirius, and it seemed like he could sense that in her dream.

I'd like to know if the dreamwalking ability could help to sense one's emotions while engaged in thier dream? Maybe that was the way I precieved it as I was reading and I could very well be wrong, but if you could clarify on that I would be appreciative.

[QPaysTaxes]

The old stallion is just like my grandpa. I walked into his room to ask if he knew where the TV remote was and he sat me down on his knee and launched into a story about how he'd lost his best friend in the Vietnam War.

Well, the stallion probably isn't as depressing.