Chapter LXXXVI – High Emotions
Did time work the same way here?
That was, currently, Luna’s most burning question. One that couldn’t be answered, however.
She knew that she had already spent quite a while, navigating through Moonwarden’s mind, clashing with him, discussing their situation and... and hearing his confession. Actually, time itself surely had slowed down when she had been witnessing her confidant, her advisor, admitting that he truly held feelings for her or, to be precise, the one, most intricate feeling he had decided to explain in such a wonderful way.
Luna had so many question for him now. So many new matters to discuss had surfaced, though she had no idea if she could simply ask about them all before her time would run out. After all, she had asked ponies to check on her at some point, if she were not to awaken from her meditation on her own.
At least, after that, yet another pivotal moment for the both of them, she had actually managed to convince Moonwarden to return to his seat. Seeing him prostrated before her felt a little off, even after all of those dark revelations about his nature. Still, she was the guest in his mind, in his core, even if the unicorn had decided to weave her own armchair from silver strands and dark shadows much, much more grandiose. It was a seat befitting a royal and befitting somepony more, much more than just a sovereign, considering the quality.
It was a meaningful, if unspoken gesture, because the stallion seemed very reluctant to hold an actual conversation after his emotional declaration.
Luna took the initiative, instead, as she was hoping that those beautiful words hadn’t been the last ones that she would hear from Moonwarden. “So... You have held these feeling for me ever since you saw me, is that right?”
“Correct, Your Majesty,” he answered, although keen on desperately avoiding her gaze.
“You can look at me, Moonwarden. And you can call me ‘my lady’ once again, if you wish,’ she encouraged him, at least that much. “Unless you find another title more appropriate?” she even coaxed him a little, hoping it would help him find equilibrium in this, quite emotional situation.
She wouldn’t find a success of any sort, however. “No. After what I have done, it seems so… wrong. At the same time...” he wanted to clarify, with his shadow following the sentence with a no less abashed tone, as it was still lurking right behind Moonwarden’s back.
“I did allow myself, whenever I was addressing you, to use that honorific for… more reasons than just professional loyalty and my role... my lady.”
Even that confession caused the blush to try and manifest on Luna’s cheeks vividly, like a supernova’s explosion appearing abruptly from a distant side of the cosmos.
“Your lady... in more ways than one. That was your approach,” she spoke aloud, feeling a pleasant tingle passing through her at putting things like that. She hadn’t felt this way in... in forever. “I now grasp why you were always so keen and glad to use the term, even with your innate pride.”
“A... weakness of mine, I admit,” Moonwarden revealed, rubbing his temple, trying not to sound abashed, even though he was. “A chink in my armour. A pretty significant one, I would deem. And yet, come to objectively think of it… only one among the many. Too many.”
Luna wasn’t particularly pleased with the unicorn’s tone, trying to discern it in entirety. She leaned in a little, squinting, though that only caused both the stallion and his shadow to sit deeper in their seat. Thankfully, it seemed that the stallion’s core was keeping away the usual discomfort coming from the unicorn’s scars across his back.
“Explain this to me, Moonwarden, please. What do you mean?” she asked, receiving back a truly incredulous stare.
“Is it not rather obvious?” the stallion inquired in return, his shadow having something to say too.
“You do realize that I could have used a lot of opportunities, like the one when you spotted the portrait due to my carelessness. Seemed like a perfect moment...” It paused briefly, a scowl twisting the corners of its expressionless muzzle. “Yes. A perfect moment for doing something absolutely moronic.”
“Telling somepony that you love them is moronic, Moonwarden?” Luna retorted, feeling like she couldn’t grasp that logic at all.
The unicorn was keen on explaining it to her, at least. “In general? Not necessarily. I, however, still feel foolish that I have revealed myself to you. Shame on me and my weakness. Especially one found here, at the root of myself.”
“Again, why would that be—?”
She didn’t finish, met with the stallion’s tired, but piercing gaze. “It is foolish, extremely so, for me to tell you how I feel. Simply put, as clearly as it can be done,” he claimed, shaking his head. He then run his hooves across his muzzle, as if trying to rake something off of it, almost as if he could feel soil against his cheeks and lips. “You will, indubitably, ask me the ‘why’ question.”
“That’s true,” Luna admitted, earning for herself a rather derogatory smirk from the stallion opposite. And his shadow, most likely, but she couldn’t spot that.
“I think the explanation is quite obvious, though maybe it needs to be divided into parts, or reasons,” he, nevertheless, began clarifying with a softer tone. “First one which comes to mind is that... well, it is me. Telling you… that I love you. You, of all the ponies,” he enunciated, as if filing a complaint to the world itself. So much so, that even the chamber they were sitting in shifted a little, as if shocked at the revelation. “You.”
There was enough emotion in that one word to cause Luna to feel simultaneously elated and despairing. “What’s… What’s wrong with the fact that it is… me?”
“There is nothing wrong with that. If anything, there is too much ‘right’ with it,” the unicorn spoke, shaking his head again at the sentence he had just used. “You are one of Equestria’s diarchs. An alicorn, one of immense power and grace. You hold in your grasp the very Moon, the night’s sky is your domain. You...” he paused, trying to find the right words.
Luna was going to give him all the time he needed. It was obvious that he was letting out something which had been weighing him down for years.
Every sentence was a burden revealed, and so a burden which could be shared and, through that, lessened.
“I shall risk sounding basic and dualistic, but you… are too good,” the stallion finally declared. “You are too good for anypony among us, especially me.”
However prepared to receive any explanations, Luna still gave Moonwarden a truly puzzled look. She could feel it in her own gaze. “You... are saying that I am ‘too good’ to express interest in, or receive attention from anypony around.”
The unicorn grimaced rather violently. “That... No, that really did make it sound very maladroit, I profusely apologize. I am treating this topic with the greatest of respects.”
He paused briefly, to rub his chin, though it was the shadow that continued afterwards. “You are, in my eyes, the perfect, unobtainable goal. You stand above what I consider belonging to this world, you are... an idea in my mind, one that could be sullied by being approachable,” the dark manifestation explained, in a warm, reverent tone that almost didn’t belong with such an entity.
Luna pondered for a moment, feeling that something of a smile was forming on her lips. Firstly, because that was also a rather pleasing declaration, all things considered. And, secondly, because it reminded her of something very, very clearly.
“You do sound like a faithful adherent to the batpony faith, Moonwarden,” she commented, finding the comparison too suitable to stay silent about it. “Can you not tell that their piety does make them similarly reluctant?”
“I... am aware of the resemblance. But I do find their adoration of you, as based on a spiritual foundation, to be purer than mine, my lady,” he commented, causing Luna’s smile to widen a little.
“You do realize, Moonwarden, that for all the image of me which you have built in your mind and heart, an image most kind and noble, I am a bit more and, perhaps, a little less than just an idea?” she asked of the unicorn, finding him almost adorably abashed at the question. “I live, my advisor. I breathe, I eat, I sleep. I stand right next to you not as a manifestation of a concept, but as a pony.”
“That thought...” the stallion replied after a moment of tense silence and avoiding eye contact. “That thought is, in all honesty, mortifying.”
“And why would that be?”
“Because... well, it leads to my second reason for secrecy, my lady,” he admitted, finally looking at her, though most reluctantly. “I am... me. I am not an alicorn, nor am I mighty. I have some means and some influence, but that is nothing in comparison. I am, as I have said – a moth. A moth that fell in love with the Moon. I am unworthy to even hold that feeling, let alone act upon it…”
“Yet nothing which I have done so far has been aimed at getting rid of this affection...” his shadow added, in a tone of shame. “And a grand part of me does not wish to be purged of it.”
That confession felt almost physically painful to Luna, so she was prompted to ask. “Do you... Do you actually wish to be freed from these clutches?”
“Does anypony want their heart torn out of their chest?” the unicorn’s shadow continued, almost poetically, though there was something decidedly mundane in that question.
“Maybe it would be for the better, sometimes,” Moonwarden himself added, chuckling sourly to himself. “It is a most... wondrous feeling. There is something mystical about it. I simply… Well, I suppose I just feel unworthy to hold it, when it is aimed at you…”
Luna took a deep breath, examining the stallion with a cold and critical eye. She did so not out of resentment or offence, but for the sake of getting to the bottom of the issue. “And who told you that you are lacking, Moonwarden?” she inquired.
She was expecting the answer, yet was curious to hear it anyway.
“My lady, I am not blind, deaf or comatose... well, I currently am, I presume, but I mean it a little metaphorically,” Moonwarden told her, causing both of them a little sting of pain, surely. “I know who I am, perfectly well. I know what I am capable of, and I know that I am not the right choice for somepony like you.”
“Could I have a say in this?” Luna asked him, almost tauntingly.
There was another pause, during which the room shook in its foundations a little. It was somewhat troubling to Luna, but she hoped it was merely due to Moonwarden processing her question. She hoped that he could arrive at the right conclusions, but that hadn’t been obvious so far, due to his convoluted, reluctant approach.
“I feel a sudden urge to remind you that you did pick me as your advisor,” the unicorn told her first and foremost. “I do counsel and make choices that I feel will, ultimately, benefit you,” he remarked, then conjoined his hooves before his vest, like a patient psychiatrist, almost. “In a normal relationship, yes, of course, without a doubt, it would be a joint, dual effort. But this is... This…” He paused to point at her and himself. “This is a fantasy, nothing more. An unthinkable dream.”
“I know a thing or two about dreams, Moonwarden,” she rebuked him, but gently enough. “I have seen impossible nightly visions, imaginations running wild, creating spaces and scenarios that even I found difficult of comprehend. These, as fleeting and sometimes forgotten right afterwards, also have a place in life, let me tell you.” She gave her declaration a moment, to let it resonate, but also to drive home her next point. “But I have witnessed hidden wishes and longings aplenty, as well. I can tell the difference between what is unthinkable, and what is merely convoluted, intricate and a little harder to successfully implement. Yet achievable.”
That very sentence appeared to have scared the stallion to no end. So much so, that, for the briefest of moments, the naturally graying mane he brandished turned stark white before returning to its regular hues.
“No... No, no. As much as I appreciate your, quite biting, sense of humor here and now, since otherwise my coma would certainly be boring, I... I would rather not read into sentences like that too deeply. Lest I arrive at conclusions that might freeze the blood in my veins,” the stallion explained, shaking his head. “That would surely render all the wonderful work of my doctors obsolete, which would be an unkind action from me,” he added in something of a jest of his own, though it was told in a quite panic-stricken tone. “This, this feeling, was never meant to be and I... I accepted that, pretty much since its conception.”
Luna kept an understanding smile on her lips, however worried she was for the stallion’s current state, in and out of this meeting. “You’re lying, Moonwarden,” she accused him in the warmest of tones she could muster.
He accepted the chastisement and didn’t even try to hide from it. “I know, I know it well. But… that is the only way I can cling to my sanity right now. I have been doing so for quite some time, actually,” he admitted, grimacing to himself, his gaze becoming unfocused for a brief moment as he bore an expression from the brink of madness. “All of those times that this affection, this affliction, did almost cause me to do something incredibly stupid. I withstood it all, of course, I would be a pretty infirm stallion if I were to cave in and yield to some of my… strange thoughts and desires. And no pliant pony should ever possess a talent in magic like mine. That is a recipe for disaster.”
He muttered this to himself, nodding. Followed by his shadow who also wanted to add something to this stance.
“No, I never agreed to how things are. But I knew this scenario to be for the better. If anything, this love is exactly what made me such a good advisor, and one that would never turn against you. My lady,” he used the expression with clear intent this time, to make the point stronger, “I could not betray your trust, nor could I scheme against you, for you are on that one, pure, clear pedestal in my heart. You are untouchable.”
“Am I a museum piece?” Luna felt like jesting out of a sudden, following this further praise.
“You are so much more,” the unicorn assured her once again. Then, finally, something resembling a surge of actual humor crossed his silver gaze. “I would never allow you to be put under glass. I would have to undertake the world’s most daring burglary...”
She giggled, surprised just how much light came to the room once she did. It was as if Moonwarden’s very mind lit up from hearing her laugh. It was, all things considered, adorable to learn and experience, and put many of their previous talks into perspective.
“Oh, Moonwarden. I have to present this inquiry – why haven’t you told me all of this much sooner?”
She asked that of him once more, hoping that there was still more to learn of his reasoning. Perhaps it would give her further insight into his character, after all, and maybe… It maybe could open up a possibility that was much better than letting their feelings run parallel, but never together.
Moonwarden sighed. “I already told you of some of it, indeed, but... Well, there are other reasons. For example…”
He wanted to point something out, leaning forward, and the sound of sudden... stretching permeated the chamber. Unfortunately causing Luna to grimace hard and banishing her merriment, but that was to be expected. This wasn’t the sound of wood creaking and breaking, after all, but rather that of expanding and tearing flesh. She wouldn’t expect that to have been a deliberate choice by Moonwarden, but it served as a reference after all.
“You would feel extremely bad about allowing me to take up certain tasks,” he explained after a few more seconds of the agonizing echo. “Even with it being unreciprocated, the knowledge of the very feeling would create clashes in your mind. My effectiveness comes also from my misplaced affection, yet I figured out that you would be reluctant to put me in danger after learning of it.”
Luna had to bite her tongue hard when he had uttered the word ‘unreciprocated’. She was surprised that he was not aware at this point that it wasn’t the case. However, like in the case of the pocket portrait still in Luna’s grasp, she imagined that his core was rejecting the very possibility of her carrying feelings for him.
Moonwarden’s shadow continued, showing conviction expected of an Equestrian operative and more. “The threat of perishing is pretty common in certain lines of work. My bedridden, near-death state serving as the case in point,” it accentuated, pointing at itself, following or maybe prompting the corporeal unicorn’s own motion. “I have served as an agent for years, I know it is much harder to send somepony showing emotional attachment into hazardous places and between dangerous ponies... and creatures,” it added, stretching its dark back once again, thankfully without an auditory hint.
“You claim me having this... more nuanced outlook on life, but I suppose I would have serious qualms about bargaining with your life, yes,” Luna admitted, causing Moonwarden to nod profoundly.
“Exactly why I think I have made a certain mistake, admitting to my feelings,” the unicorn told her, with a sad smile. “Also, were I to die without that reveal, well... You wouldn’t feel the loss stronger than necessary. Causing you pain of any sort is an unthinkable sin in my mind, a sin which I have already committed.”
“That is quite the selfless thinking, Moonwarden,” Luna pointed out, much to the stallion’s brief amusement.
“Please, do not tell anypony. I have a reputation to uphold,” he instructed her.
With his shadow agreeing. “Nopony would believe you, anyway.”
Luna shook her head, feeling that incredible surge of warmth coming from her core. This was the same pony who had a plan of bringing half of Canterlot to its knees, if it would be necessary. The same stallion that saw others as puppets-to-be. The very same unicorn who could, with a spell or two, turn others into willing slaves of his magic and will.
Looking like an abashed, humble colt, trying to explain himself and his ‘silly’ affection.
Ponies were complex creatures, yes.
“You know, Moonwarden... You have told me that you are a convoluted stallion, indeed. Would you be willing to believe that I am, also, a nuanced pony?”
“Without a shred of doubt, my lady. You are a beautiful mystery, one that would be wonderful to uncover, but also one that is sanctified in its secrecy, which forbids one from prying...”
To think that Luna had never considered what a proper cleric would Moonwarden make. “Would you be actually willing to accept that I am, other than an idea, a pony? One that can hold her own thoughts and preferences, and make certain choices?”
“These sound to me like loaded questions...” the stallion pointed out, fear manifesting in his silvery gaze again. “I… think I would prefer to have you as somepony that cannot be understood and looked through.”
Luna almost laughed, though she wanted to treat his view with respect. “Would I lose my value in your eyes and your heart?”
“You would still be priceless, I just…” He paused, his expression turning vacant briefly. “I would be worried that I could be prone to certain, silly actions, otherwise.”
“Perhaps… I want you to make mistakes?” Luna asked of the stallion. “Perhaps I want both of us to be hopelessly vacuous?”
The chamber shook again, and twice, in the strange rhythm like that of a heart, suddenly thrashing in one’s chest. She would welcome such a manifestation, were it not for the fact that Moonwarden clutched his chest and leaned forward just enough to almost slip off his seat, an action mimicked without a fault by his shadow.
Luna almost sprang up from her own armchair, grasped by horror but ready to help in whatever way possible. However, the stallion stopped her with a gesture, letting her know that nothing terrible had happened.
His words, however, carried gravity that fit the sudden, localized earthquake of emotions. “Do not play with me like this,” he told her, breathing heavy, but at a calm pace. “It is enough for me that I have carried this within myself for all this time, but, for both our sakes, do not tease me about this feeling. I will not take that well, I already know.”
Luna pouted. She hadn’t expected such a reaction. She wanted to see joy manifest in Moonwarden, not something that could only be described as utter and debilitating horror.
“Answer me then, please.”
“Yes?”
“Wouldn’t you… Wouldn’t you want this to happen? To be possible?” she inquired, trying to sound hopeful, attempting to instill it in the stallion opposite. “Would you not embrace a chance at your pain to be alleviated? Not by destroying the feeling, but… fulfilling it?”
The stallion stopped breathing for a second, which was a terrifying vision. Not that taking in air was absolutely necessary in this space, but the stillness which manifested in Moonwarden was the one that Luna currently dreaded the most. Thankfully, it was but thoughtfulness which caused it.
“Were I to be daring and imagine the scenario…” Moonwarden spoke after a moment, his voice most unsure. “I mean… Who would not want to reach their promised land? Who would rob themselves of ultimately achieving their deepest desire?”
The shadow continued, much in the same tone. “But even considering such dreams, allowing oneself to explore them before the mind’s eyes, it…”
“… it makes the return to the cold reality all the more painful,” the corporeal stallion finished the thought wistfully.
“Would you try entertaining the thought anyway?” Luna presented her request. “For me?”
Moonwarden looked at her with concerned curiosity and took a deep breath, once more regaining the semblance of life and awareness. “I can, of course, if you so desire. It might…”
The chamber shifted and… crumpled. That was the best way Luna could describe it, as cracks and bends appeared all around the room, making the walls look like paper decorations which were subjected to the hooves of an overeager foal. The grey stallion looked around, surprised at that just like she was, but they both arrived at a similar conclusion. As much as he tried to keep the place pristine and coherent, especially her portrait over the fireplace, this wasn’t a location to persist indefinitely, even for such an important meeting.
“I suppose your order requires a lot of effort from my mind… and I am afraid that our time might be running out, as well,” the unicorn deemed, sighing deeply. “Do you think that dawn is approaching? I feel like it is both my core growing tired and your meditation faltering…”
“Time surely works differently in dreams, and even more unpredictably here, I imagine,” Luna replied, forlorn that their conversation had to end soon. “I hope that you will keep your promise and… consider the scenario.”
“It is a most unusual request, but… For you, I shall do it,” he assured her, with a calm smile. “Anything I could help you with before we need to part ways?”
A shiver ran through Luna at the question, but Moonwarden’s shadow quickly addressed it. “I meant that for the current moment, my lady. You have my word that I will do my best to return. Let the doctors do their part, I will do mine.”
That did bring a smile to her lips. “You have already done remarkably so far,” she revealed, hoping it would inspire him. “Doctor Silver Scalpel claimed that you refusal to perish on the operating table was very helpful.”
“Oh?” Moonwarden cocked an eyebrow. “First of all – I am glad that he was given my ‘case’. Quite a brilliant surgeon, if obsessed with his strange ideas of the ‘h’ variant, and I do not mean but ‘heredity’ by that,” the stallion pointed out. “He owed me quite the debt for my help, I am certain that motivated him to no end…”
Luna, herself, smirked, again hearing that healthily opportunistic tone from her servant.
“But also,” the shadow behind the pony spoke now, with no shortage of pride, “damn me if I allow myself to die from an assassin’s blade.”
“Is it spite that I hear? Is that the source of your unnatural resilience?” Luna almost jested, though Moonwarden, being the calculating pony he was, used this opportunity to make her blush profusely.
“To some degree, but I could not just… leave your side, my lady,” he told her, using the honorific clearly and with intent once again. “I gave you a very particular promise – that I will be there for you. I am taking that very seriously, and doing what I can do make it so. Death has no power over this feeling for you I carry.”
The strength with which he had just said that made Moonwarden veritably immortal in Luna’s mind, and she wasn’t feeling bad about entertaining that thought.
However, if time was running out, she needed to tackle one more matter. One that was painful to both of them, but especially to her, since it meant she couldn’t continue exploring the depth of their mutual affection, especially with one side believing it being unrequited.
“I still need to ask you about something, something vital. Forgive me that I need to.”
“Nothing to forgive, we have delved quite deeply already,” Moonwarden pointed out with a little shrug. “This cannot get any more intrusive,” he told her in a tone that teetered between comedy and seriousness.
“We’re investigating the situation that placed you at death’s door,” Luna quickly tried to explain the absolutely necessary parts. “We’re piecing together the events, but we are still missing the crucial part – the culprit. What do you recall, Moonwarden? Could you share anything about the assailant?”
The unicorn took her request with utmost seriousness, that much was certain. Both him and his shadow straightened up in their seat, one with the expression of utter focus, the other with a dark, but clear intent which permeated from it.
“I… initially thought that it was a beggar, but that was simply a pony dressed like one. They moved… with intention and skill, one that would hardly be found in just a random vagrant,” Moonwarden began, visibly trying to search for memories, piece together the last moments he could recall. “I was… walking down a side alley, and he asked me for alms. And he called me… a ‘fella’. I thought it peculiar. I am no mere ‘fella’, after all.”
Luna felt like chastising him for paying attention to such a small and silly thing, not to mention expressing exasperation at a mere term like that. However, her attention was sooner caught by the fact that the grand portrait above them began shifting. Gone was Luna’s visage, as other matters came to the forefront of Moonwarden’s subconscious. The painting wasn’t showing anything in particular at that moment, but when the unicorn continued focusing, strange, blurred shapes began manifesting in it, trying to form a coherent scene.
“He… was much faster than me. Not that it is such a great achievement, but…” the stallion continued, potent strain appearing on his muzzle. “I… tried to fight him off. A couple of spells to deter. Still, I was already wounded at this point. And yet…?”
Luna’s focus was shifting constantly between the painting and the pony before. Not only since she didn’t want to occupy herself merely with Moonwarden’s returning memories when the stallion was facing her, thinking so hard.
For some reason, the manifestation above the fireplace lacked… something. This looked definitely like a projection of thoughts, shifting, changing, switching, morphing, weaving pictures that tried to encompass rapidly moving memories. But every time it would make sense for the assassin to appear, something else took their place, or obscured their looks. It was almost like an empty spot, a deliberate missing piece of this criminal puzzle. It made Luna worry that the trauma which had been caused to her servant had pushed out of his memory the very pony who had attempted to end his life.
“Please, Moonwarden, if only you could remember something…” she encouraged the stallion, who was clearly doing his best. “Anything might be the answer we are looking for.”
He was definitely trying to give her that missing piece. So much so, that the strain began showing not only about the chamber, but on his very projection. The shadow behind the unicorn lost some if its shapely silhouette, like an ice sculpture melting under the rising Sun. And Moonwarden’s monocle, the symbol of his power and ego both, began showing small, but most terrifying cracks.
“I… I know… the pony…” the stallion suddenly spoke, in a strange, stunned tone, one that startled Luna as well. “No… Not the pony, but… pony. Yet…”
The shadow’s voice was no less confused and uncertain. “I… For some… reason… I want to… keep it. Hide it.”
“Moonwarden?” Luna called his name and attention, as she finally stood up from her seat to approach him.
It wasn’t an easy task. The moment her weight shifted firmly to the floor below, she felt her hooves sinking into the carpet, with the sound of creaking wood below it. She stepped forward gently and gingerly, keeping one eye on her beloved and the other on the shifting portrait. Again, the silhouette of the pony was absent, even if it made perfect sense it was supposed to be there.
Somepony had jumped on Moonwarden. Somepony had drove their blade into his chest. Somepony had been blasted by his argent magic.
There was just nopony there.
“Nothing.”
Luna blinked, as it sounded like the grey unicorn had just corrected her thinking.
“Nothing…” the stallion repeated, shaking his head. “Not ‘nopony’… Nothing. There… There was nothing…”
She didn’t understand. Thankfully, she made it close to Moonwarden’s armchair and leaned in, but was afraid to even touch the stallion’s form, worrying it could crack and disperse like an illusion, evaporate like a drop of dew as the morning passed.
“What do you mean…?” she asked in a worried, gentle tone, as if the breath of her voice would dispel the unicorn’s countenance.
“That… That is what warned me. Nothing,” he explained, though Luna wasn’t sure if he wasn’t telling that to himself, rather than her. “I reached out and found… I found nothing.”
In a flash of movement, Moonwarden’s muzzle turned towards the painting, as if in horror, with Luna following a split second later.
A dark alley. A beggar’s cloak. A stumbling trot. The shine of the grey unicorn’s magic, bringing cold, domineering color of silver to the shadowy moment, wishing the grab the pony opposite with its charm, for whatever reason.
A flash of movement. A blade’s hissing advent. The grinding sound against silver and bone.
But that wasn’t what Luna’s gaze locked on, not what her attention registered first and foremost. Other details finally emerged, ones that couldn’t be ignored in any way.
Like a flap of wings. Like the forelock of mane. Like the amber eyes.
For the wings were webbed. For the mane was gray. For the irises were slit.
And there were fangs. Fangs showed in a vicious sneer of the cloaked assassin, wishing to take Moonwarden’s life.
Luna’s heart stopped, as if she were the one who had been stabbed through the chest. From the depths of the gray unicorn’s memory came forth the scenario which she had worried about the most. One that made a certain, dark sense, but also one that she had wanted so desperately to avoid, hoping that, for all of their plights, her children would not cross any lines in the sand like this.
But they had done so. One of them, yes, but she was certain it wasn’t a whim, a maddened flight of fancy of that individual. That this was something greater, something more terrible, something connected to what had been uncovered about the batpony plot, one that held in its grasp Maretonia, Shades’ Hollow, Twilight Sparkle, and now tried to strangle Luna’s beloved pony.
If that was their choice, after all?
They would pay for it.
She was going to respond in kind, in her very own kind. She knew it would be a repayment fueled, nurtured, driven by disappointment, by righteous anger and by just revenge. Methodical, but inescapable.
The chamber shook once more, though Luna wasn’t sure if she didn’t cause that particular tremor, as she could feel the surge of rage coursing through her. It was a feeling with an almost familiar intensity, reaching back into a much darker, much hated time of her life. Oh, the stirring thorn, lodged deep in her being, the scar she carried, it wanted to wake, expecting sustenance aplenty. This time, however, shadow and darkness would not overtake her. No, she wouldn’t grant them fodder, she wouldn’t embrace the corrupting force that wished to arrive once again, to take her will away.
This? This was going to be pure. This was going to be her choice, her very own and justified choice, and she embraced it. She held onto this building, burning feeling, hoping to forge from this flame a righteous blade, one to meet the assassin’s weapon one night, melt it away and strike at the pony wielding it!
Moonwarden’s voice reached her, just as the room around began fading, melting and dispersing into blackness, a process sped by the intensity of her outrage, almost setting the place on fire.
“My lady… Please…”
Luna’s eyes immediately found the unicorn, as he paused ever so briefly.
“Do not be reckless. I will… I will return…”
She wanted to reply, she needed to, but the last thing she could muster as the space folded upon itself, and as her own vision began to fail, was to hold gazes with her servant and her beloved, and offer a promise, an encouragement and the hope for the future.
That one, fateful second meant eternity to them both.
But right afterwards? Luna could only tell that she was falling.
Moonwarden was gone. The whole place dispersed, the connection between her and the stallion’s core severed like a cloth violently tearing. It left Luna reeling, for that brief moment of not recognizing where she was, where she could possibly be. Her head pounded with one of the worst migraines she could ever remember. Her whole body felt heavy and sluggish, her joints ached with strange tension which she must have been holding all this time, and she couldn’t even tell whether it was her true self, back in the waking world, or simply her mind protesting in such a corporeal way after her dangerous and long journey.
One thing that counteracted all of that was a warm embrace, awaiting her and cradling her close.
“Luna? Lulu, can you hear me?”
A distant voice, yet one growing warmer by the second, called for her. She wanted to answer, but her lips were limp and useless, not yet recognizing that her consciousness was returning.
Luna did, however, knew the melody of that voice. She would call out her sister’s name already if only she could.
“Lulu, it’s me… It’s morning, open your eyes… Please…”
Luna did so, though realizing that she could barely lift her eyelids at first. But her sister’s concerned visage was the first thing she spotted, which meant that she was back to the waking world. Celestia’s eyes carried with themselves worry and loving care, one that could scarcely be matched, even among the dreams.
It was, indeed, morning. Even the heavy curtains around the meditation chamber couldn’t stop the assault of bright morning sunlight coming from behind. Luna blinked several times, realizing that even the smallest amount of light aggravated her headache. That pain, and Celestia’s concerned expression, Tia’s very presence in this place, must have meant that the allocated time for Luna’s journey had to have passed some time ago.
And that her sister was trying to wake her up for a good while.
“Tia…” Luna whispered when her body finally began responding to her intentions a little better. “I… I’m sorry… It took longer… than I thought it would.”
“Oh, Lulu… I’ve gotten so worried. You aren’t hurt, are you? Are you alright?” Celestia kept asking, her hold not loosening at all so far.
“Y-yes… Just tired…” Luna let her know, trying to smile, though it didn’t end up a convincing expression, even if there were reasons for it. “I… I found him… We spoke… He told me…”
“Shhh…” Celestia only cooed, leaning in a little to gently nuzzle her, a gesture that was to help them both, clearly. “You will tell me everything later. In details or without, if you wish.”
“But…”
“You must rest now, Lulu. This took a lot from you. I’m happy you reached him, but you must regain your strength first, before anything else.”
Luna, indeed, didn’t even have the strength to argue. For all of the anger she could recall, the desire to mete out justice, she still couldn’t muster enough drive to fight against the tiredness. All of her body was begging her to rest and sleep, even if her journey had felt like a dream in itself.
There was, however, one thing that Luna absolutely had to share, regardless of the fatigue rapidly setting in.
“Tia… He loves me… He told me…” she whispered, feeling that this confession definitely made her lips shudder in a smile.
And that was the last thing she remembered, before exhaustion claimed her.
Twilight had really tried her best to appear stately and calm after departing from the ice sculpture exhibition. Especially since she had already made the mistake of looking frazzled and troubled exiting one gallery at the Mountain of Crescent. Doing so again would have spawned a lot of unnecessary attention.
Yes, she had decided to blame the cold temperature for the blush on her cheeks, but that had been an explanation which could have held only for so long. But had it been her fault that Ebony Crescent’s words, the very memory of them, had been causing constant surges of warmth to travel through her body? She had forced herself to fight those all the way back to the spire!
She really hadn’t been, even in her wildest dreams, expecting to receive this sort of attention. Not that Twilight didn’t think herself a pretty, worthwhile mare, at least to certain, modest standards, but to have, first, an elite warrior and now a noble Count make her feel so… attractive and desirable? That was new, unexplored territory… even considering the ‘ground’ she had already covered with Midnight Wind, in regards to the topic.
And that was the gentlest way of expressing the experience.
Said stallion had been observing her through the journey back to the palace, with intensity that had been making her both more and less likely to look like an abashed filly.
Honestly, Twilight was again having a hard time figuring out her ‘options’ in this situation. That, perhaps, was not the most proper word to use, but the bath time, with wonderfully warm water surrounding her, was making her more and less eloquent at the same time.
She still carried hurt in herself, regarding the warrior’s lies and omissions, and yet, at the same time, she was beginning to feel that… that things could once again improve, if only certain steps were to be taken.
It was that warmth again, wasn’t it? Not the one of the water around her, but the one in her chest. That feeling which had returned alongside the phenomena in the shrine, one that was causing her to rethink a lot of matters from a new, more hopeful perspective. Hope, she would call it, but why was it ebbing and flowing like that, why did it seem both provided from an unknown, divine recipient and yet so mundanely simple…?
Why did it feel connected with the fate of Twilight and Midnight both?
Well, the former just rinsed her mane once more, shaking her head. The two things didn’t go well together, actually, but the little stinging from pulling on her hair actually helped Twilight concentrate.
There was the matter of the Count Brother… Well, Ebony Crescent was clearly infatuated with her, especially strongly since he had made it perfectly clear that he was paying much attention to her. However, aside from the fact that he was so charming and handsome, Twilight didn’t really feel any deeper connection with him. Especially not one to decide to…
She exhaled strongly. She wasn’t one to judge anypony else for certain choices, but she wasn’t comfortable liberally making the same ones herself. The stallion was ‘interested’, that was as clear as day even from his intense gaze alone, not to mention the words and the predisposition and all, but… well, Twilight wasn’t. She would need to experience more from the stallion, learn of him, to even consider being truly intrigued in that way, sudden, natural urges aside.
She needed something like… Like a nice, secluded cavern with a hot spring. And a pony already meaning a lot to her.
Such thoughts accompanied her the whole morning, actually, up to when she was already lying in bed, rethinking everything about her current situation.
For all of the righteous anger which she was holding, for all the hurt she was entitled to, she had to come clear to herself with one matter – that she still, despite it all, lo—
Did… Did somepony just knock on the window?
Twilight scrambled from underneath the sheets in record time, grabbing her dressing gown and quickly putting it on. Whether it had been her imagination or not, she wasn’t going to risk feeling immodest in the same way as the last time she could have sworn that somepony had been observing her, right in this spire.
Was that the same pony, trying to gain access in such a straightforward way this time around? It definitely wasn’t just Twilight hearing things, for the sound repeated itself, but a little louder.
She wasted no time to trot down the stairs to the chamber’s floor proper, then approached the right window, securing the gown and steeling herself for whomever that was. It… actually seemed prudent to simply ask, as the pony trying to enter wasn’t doing so in a clandestine way. Other than not using the door and appearing at quite the late hour, of course.
“Who is it…?” Twilight presented the question in a cautious manner and volume, hoping it could be heard through the glass.
“A nosy guest!” a female voice, and one that Twilight recognized, replied. “I hope it’s not too late, still?”
“N-no! One moment, I’ll just—”
“No need for anything, Honored Princess,” came the assurance, backed by conviction. “This isn’t a formal call.”
So did Ivory Crescent claim, though Twilight wanted to at least make sure that she was looking decent enough in her haphazardly-put-on gown. However, if the Countess had decided to pay her a visit at this hour, it meant that she wouldn’t be surprised about her host’s state, right…?
Well, depending on who would be considered a proper host in a situation like this.
Nevertheless, Twilight pulled away the curtains, finally, witnessing the other mare waiting for her. She was wearing a very delicate and pretty see-through robe of her own, one that definitely made Twilight stare, even if for just a moment. Regardless of one’s preferences, the silky material paired with Ivory Crescent’s shapely physique was offering an exquisite sight.
Not that the mare cared about that, instead looking inside with a wide, almost innocent smile, which only grew once Twilight unlocked the window.
“Care for a slumber party, perhaps?” were the first words the Countess uttered afterwards, definitely causing surprise.
And laughter, for Twilight wasn’t expecting any proposition of the sort, especially from the heir to the Mountain and Family. “Is that a serious request, Honored Countess?”
“No, not really, but don’t blame me. I know what the hour is, and nothing else would normally make sense,” Ivory Crescent explained with a spark to her pear gaze. “Might I come in?”
“Of course, please,” Twilight did offer, moving aside and allowing the other mare to gracefully enter the spire, her robe nearly floating around her on its own. “I would beg forgiveness for my wear, but I see I’m not out of the momentary ordinary.”
“Ha, I like that phrase, I need to use it at some point,” the Countess pointed out with a giggle. “Don’t you worry, Honored Princess, you are dressed for the occasion. Even more modestly than I would think. I know that Equestrian’s don’t wear clothing as often as we do.”
Though she held the tone of a friendly banter, Ivory Crescent’s eyes began to immediately dart all over the chamber, very quickly, not only taking in the interior, but also as if searching for something in particular. Twilight wondered if reacting to that in some visible way was wise, but the Countess’ next sentence came much faster than the ruminations.
“So, while being appropriately apologetic, I shall inappropriately admit that I have come here driven by curiosity that really didn’t want to allow me rest this morning,” the mare explained taking a few step about, nonchalantly allowing her gaze to rest on Twilight in the midst of her sudden examination of the room. “And as I want to get some respectable rest this day, I thought you could help me out in my problem, Honored Princess. Though, I do hope I didn’t wake you already, of course.”
“No, you didn’t. Actually, I was, myself, doing some thinking before bed,” Twilight admitted, which caused Ivory Crescent to grin widely as she casually leaned against the grand table.
“Oh? So we are both the sort of ponies to torment ourselves right before we should be calmly falling asleep? Just so our days sometimes get adventurous in that tense, stress-induced way?”
“I don’t know if ‘torment’ is the right word, but I definitely understand what you mean, Honored Countess. Sometimes the few moments before bedtime are the only time when one can organize certain thoughts in one’s head,” Twilight confirmed, herself approaching the table and even finding for herself a seat, not far from the other mare. “I’d rather do that extensively, come to think of it. Better to lose an hour or so to get things under control than to endure nightmares throughout one’s night. Or day.”
“Very well put. Of course, there are the good restless days and the bad restless days, as I have told you this evening,” Ivory Crescent agreed with a shrug, but also holding that keen, judging stare. One that lingered and one that was asking a question by itself.
And also one that Twilight had no idea how to address, other than asking about it. “… is there something wrong, Honored Countess?”
The mare opposite stayed silent for a breath longer, then chuckled, shaking her head. “No, not anymore, I don’t think,” she revealed, though it was hard to guess what exactly the grand disclosure was supposed to be about. “However, my burning nosiness needs to be addressed, before it begins to actually scald my nostrils – I did hear that you had not only another, somewhat cute night alongside my guide of a brother, even despite the evening faux pas, if I am saying that correctly…”
“You are, yes,” Twilight managed to squeeze a brief reply in.
“… but also that there have been some really peculiar happenings at the herame. That sounds to me like something worth investigating!”
“I’m… not sure I could be of help, concerning all of that.”
“I think the opposite, and I don’t like being desperately proven wrong,” Ivory Crescent teased with a wink.
“I’m still pretty certain that the priests were keen on keeping the matter contained, Honored Countess…”
The mare giggled, taking one of the chairs and balancing it on a single leg, like foals would sometimes do in their constant search for amusement and the need of exploring the world around. “I would be a pretty lacking future leader if I didn’t already have ways of keeping an eye out on the workings of my own Iug. And I’m a little bit of a… resourceful opportunist. Half a word there, a wayward expression here. Dedicated deduction is something I’m relatively good at!”
“And… you are hoping that I could grant you insight into what occurred?” Twilight asked, though it served the Countess’ point, actually.
“Ha, and there we already have some of it,” the mare pointed out, managing to cause the chair to make a full pirouette on one leg before finally taking her place on it, in quite the graceful display of coordination. “Something did happen, because you mentioned it being contained information and it was most peculiar, because even your broad and open mind is not sure that you can provide useful information,” she pointed out with a grin. “But that was already what I knew, now I am here for an altogether different scavenger hunt…”
The way that Ivory Crescent said it sat both right and wrong with Twilight, though she wasn’t going to immediately assume the bleaker scenario just because. “Do tell, Honored Countess,” she carefully encouraged the mare to speak her mind.
Which she did, with both that twinkle in her eye and the note of seriousness in her, otherwise playful tone. “So, here you are, Honored Princess Sparkle of Twilight. A representative of your nation, a dutiful adherent to the will of the Judging Sun, as some claim, and rather strongly, too. A bearer of the Divine Aspect, the Bozanu Gledis, a unique blessing, as it is interpreted…” Ivory Crescent began explaining, looking more and more excited as she did. “That’s all a little… lacking, to my tastes, actually.”
“ ‘Lacking’, Honored Countess,” Twilight parroted her simultaneous guest and host, trying to gain any insight on her. “What would you mean by that?”
“Oh, you know,” Ivory Crescent responded, waving her hoof about. “I’m not blind to the shortcomings of my kin. What we don’t grasp, we try to explain anyway, and then we stick to it, happy that we are doing so. I mean, it does have certain merits! Makes the world of ours a lot simpler, easier to swallow,” she claimed, looking at Twilight intently. “The Immaculate Moon… is caring and merciful, the Judging Sun is unforgiving and judgmental, the night is good, the day is bad… Simple, really.”
Presenting matters in such a way was definitely unusual, Twilight thought, gathering all the focus she still had left that morning not to miss any details of what the Countess was sharing. She almost had to stifle a yawn, as her brain was demanding more air to stay awake and lucid for all of the possible nuances to come.
Thankfully, the mare opposite was ready to provide them in a clear way. “I know that things can be simple… but we also live in a world where plots are woven like quilts, by skillful, diligent hooves, working every night, in a world where agendas are pursued with a predator’s conviction, by truly famished hunters, and their game sometimes is flesh,” Ivory Crescent remarked, her eyes shuddering briefly, as if wanting to continue her strange search. “Add to that the supernatural happenings, like the miracles in our shrines. Does that make a certain sense to you, me saying that the world is nuanced in ways we hardly grasp?”
“Absolutely, Honored Countess.”
“Splendid!” came the mare’s genuine exclamation of joy. “So, now comes the harder part of the ‘lecture’! You see, herami are the places where one would expect divine matters to happen, consecrated spaces are for that, at least in theory. We have our measure of omens and prophecies, but that’s repetitious… but now you arrive. A pony the resembles what we see as divine and… well, there you have it. Something supernatural happens.”
The tone the Countess used made it sound relatively mundane, but Twilight understood that the mare was bringing forth an interesting point. “And… you want to assure yourself if I have something to do with it?”
“Why, yes!” the mare admitted, gracefully rubbing her chin. “We are, right now, two mares, in their lounging robes, discussing some matters that might or might not push this conversation into yet more unique territory. I would lie by denying that I’m very, very excited about all of the possibilities!”
“So that is the sort of curiosity which is robbing you of sleep, Honored Countess,” Twilight spoke, nodding to herself, especially when the mare opposite confirmed her with her own gesture. “Admittedly, this isn’t the first time that somepony is asking me whether I am divine, rather than just possessing the signs and traits of divinity.”
“Oh… Now, that’s a little annoying. I thought I would be the first to dare to do so!” Ivory Crescent complained, folding her forelegs against her chest in a display of true displeasure. “Who even dared? I presume that you mean one of us, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight revealed, returning to the moment, and so vividly that she had to actually keep her expression and the blush contained.
She remembered it like it was yesterday, actually. The question whether she was a goddess. Her denial, and then Midnight’s sentence, the one that had been haunting her for quite some time before she had gathered the courage to actually ask about it.
‘… what is the taste of your blood.’
Quite a macabre thing to say out of context, but back then? Oh, it had rattled her in the weirdest—no, actually, with everything that had happened, she could admit that it had been the best possible way it could have affected her.
That… Yes, that actually got her thinking. So much so, that it was Ivory Crescent’s question which made her gather focus once again.
“So, who was it that was so dauntless?” the Countess’ curiosity was unrelenting. “You look like the bravery, or maybe foolishness, left quite an impression on you.”
“You… could say that, yes,” Twilight admitted, and was going to elaborate a little bit more, especially with that warmth in her chest gathering, but the other mare’s interest went further still.
“Wait a moment… Oh, okay, that would make a certain sense,” Ivory Crescent suddenly mused, nodding to herself again, but then her expression shifted, almost unnaturally, as she asked another question. “Or was it a Crescent that did so? I wouldn’t suppose my dear, barely-younger brother actually gathered enough temerity, or did he?”
“Why are you so hard on him?”
That wasn’t perhaps the ideal way of responding to that, but Twilight was possessed by her own spirit of inquiry, one that surfaced as rapidly as Ivory Crescent’s own decision to veer from whatever initial thought she had.
Also, Twilight had a feeling that the mare opposite’s approach to her brother was a bit more intricate than just the stereotypical harshness towards one’s own sibling, born out of familial love.
Intriguingly so, the Countess didn’t seem to mind answering. “Because he’s a mess, and I mean it in the most caring way,” she revealed, the smile on her muzzle losing a little bit of luster, but definitely retaining its honesty. “He never did get through properly mourning our father’s death, and he’s recouping in a lot of ways that aren’t helping him. I want to remind him that life goes on, and that it often doesn’t care for one’s desperate attempts at proving something to it, so I suppose I do look a little harsh.”
Now that wasn’t an answer which Twilight had been expecting, especially considering how free-spirited the Countess had been so far. But that was an explanation which didn’t hide anything duplicitous, coming from a place of disarming honesty.
“I… I see,” was the only reply Twilight could muster, earning for herself a shrug from Ivory Crescent.
“I suppose it isn’t unbecoming of me to share that. I love my brother, he’s the closest pony I have in life, other than my uncle. But a bond with a twin is something even more unique, something that I would be willing to call ‘transcendental’… which is why I am concerned for him,” she explained, her brow furrowing ever so slightly. “His mind is brilliant, his talents are undeniable… and his penmanship is to die for, as long as he can get enough focus to actually weave something without immediately considering it not perfect enough.”
Without a warning, Ivory Crescent stood up, her loose robe billowing from the sudden movement. The mare gestured for Twilight to remain seated, even as she began trotting about the table.
And, again, her gaze ventured around the chamber, as if looking for a sign or a clue.
“He’s witty, his approach to poltawca is unique and praiseworthy, but he still needs more and more… He searches for it with intensity that would serve him better in… other ways.” She paused ever so briefly, turning on a whim, with her gaze boring into one of the nearby window curtains. However, as nothing more occurred, other than Twilight’s mounting confusion, the mare continued. “Not to mention what we had seen in the evening, actually. He is usually far more careful about these sort of distractions, especially if they would keep him from official matters.”
It wasn’t a simple and straightforward topic for Twilight still, but she couldn’t deny the obvious, especially with Ebony Crescent having explained his interest in life’s sensuality. “I wasn’t offended by what happened, even if I am a little more conservative about the topic. I take it that, from what he also tried explaining to me that, he is… well, ‘forgiven’ for indulgence of that sort, despite the societal norms and expectations? Since it is happening in his spire? See nothing, hear nothing, that sort of thing?”
Ivory Crescent giggled melodiously. “Eloquently put… You’re not wrong, however. Our Family tends to play a little looser with the cultural boundaries, but that little, ‘towering’ facet of our tradition is mostly why my dear brother is not being openly judged. However, he’s being judged allusively, and I find it a fate much, much worse,” the mare claimed, slowly and nonchalantly returning to the table. “I don’t find myself quite so liberal in these matters myself, truth be told, but I’m hardly one to caution him, if that is how he wants to go fight his stress and tension. He’s not so stupid as to give our Legatuum a headache, at least.”
The implied meaning was more than clear to Twilight, again making her feel a little red on the muzzle. She decided to distract herself from that, and from the feeling in the pit of her stomach, by asking about one matter that she simply couldn’t overlook.
“If you could tell me one thing about the Count Brother, Honored Countess—”
“One, please, we’ve gotten sidetracked,” the mare spoke, and though it was meant in a jest, the sentence carried pressure behind it.
“I take it that he is dealing with certain problems, and I think I grasp those a little better now, but… is he well? I mean, it’s hard not to spot his near-constant predicament. He seems rather uncomfortable about it, despite gallantly battling it.”
That was the lighter way of wording it, as Twilight deemed, and perhaps safer.
“Oh, the…?” Ivory Crescent didn’t finish her initial reply, instead wiping some invisible sweat from her brow in a theatrical motion. “Let’s not talk about this, please, that is the least gripping thing about him.”
That was a rather short reply. Too short, for Twilight’s taste, actually, though it was a little difficult to tell why the mare opposite had that sort of a stance on the matter of her own twin’s health. Did she know something more? Lord Bright Crescent had seemed a little more concerned about it, after all, yet the Countess either paid it no mind, or had decided to do just that, for the sake of sparing herself the anguish?
It was hard to press the topic, however, because the mare was far more interested in returning to the matter of her morning visit. “Let him change, dry himself off, sacrifice another, unfortunate hoofkerchief, he’ll be fine. I won’t be soon enough, if I don’t allow myself to ask about my predicament,” she claimed, and rather strongly. “Which might be a risky approach, after all, when dealing with a potential deity… but damn me if I don’t ask about what bothers me.” She thought for a second. “No, actually, don’t damn me. Not sure if you would be inclined to do so in the first place, even for me being extremely nosy, but it would be… a rather banal action, one way or another. And you are anything but that, Honored Princess!”
Twilight shook her head, avoiding a giggle. “Thank you, Honored Countess, that’s very kind of you to say. So, let me get this straight, you want to know if I could be considered divine?”
“That would be nice to know, yes,” Ivory Crescent admitted, resting her head on her forehooves and gazing at Twilight with a gleam of interest found in only the most inquisitive foals.
“Well,” Twilight began, trying to gather enough wakefulness to be coherent and informative, “Equestria recognizes me as a Princess, first and foremost. But that title is not only something that means royalty. Alicorns are viewed as being responsible for a particular part of the world around, a facet of it, each of them handling matters connected to their domain, more or less. I know that, despite my younger age, I am viewed as resembling both Princess Luna, the Immaculate Moon… and Princess Celestia, the Judging Sun. And my sister-in-law, too, Princess Cadance, she’s considered—”
“Her!”
Even the sound of the scraping chair didn’t make the interruption as effective as Ivory Crescent’s sudden, excited shout.
“Yes, alright, this is also most gripping! Tell me more about her! It is ‘Cadence’, then? With an ‘e’ in the middle?”
“Actually an ‘a’, to be precise. No, actually, to be perfectly precise, it is ‘Mi Amore Cadenza’, but—”
“Oh, that is her full title, then?! Riveting!”
Twilight had answered on instinct at first, yes, but now she squinted her eyes, witnessing this outburst of energy from the mare. “I… could tell more about her, yes, but what… do you mean, Honored Countess? I wasn’t expecting such a reaction, where is its coming from?”
“Curiosity! Pure, unbound curiosity!” the mare almost shouted, and there was no reason not to believe her, as it seemed a genuine outpouring after all. “The Goddess is among your kin, and her sister-goddess, too, we view it as a form of direct guidance and custody over you… but also there is ‘Cadance, Mi Amore Cadenza’! And that’s really interesting to me, because, as I understand it, she’s one of the idea of love, emotion and sensuality, tac?”
“Well, she is often referred to as the Alicorn or the Princess of Love, yes, and her talent is connected with the feeling, though I’m not sure that I would push it as far as you have presented it. I mean,” Twilight tried to explain to the best of her abilities, not that she actually ventured deep into her old foalsitter’s domain, “I suppose one could argue that her duties would involve many forms and expressions of love, though I wouldn’t want to give a wrong impression of her. She’s definitely concerned when it comes to the depth of the feeling, but that does not always mean—”
“No, of course not, one would not want to make such a topic shallow! Well, I could think of a couple of ponies that would, but that’s irrelevant!” the Countess commented, and her interest was visibly piqued. “But there is a space there, with Mi Amore Cadenza’s presence, for many things! Things that could, technically, go beyond our grasp of the two divines!” she claimed, nodding to herself in great excitement. “Our Mother is many things, ‘mother’, first, but she’s a ‘guardian’, she’s a ‘guide’… Is she a ‘lover’, though? Is that her facet? None of us explore that!”
Something about the way that Ivory Crescent said that felt really out of place, challenging a certain, pure idea of the Goddess, at least in Twilight’s mind. After all, she hadn’t particularly experienced that sort of approach to the Immaculate Moon… She was ‘immaculate’, but as a guide and protector of batponies as a nation and as a species, she would also be a patron of the family, with all which that entitled. How did that work in the pious minds of the locals? That was harder to guess, but it definitely worked in a very specific way for the mare opposite.
“Yes, that is mighty interesting! And she does operate as a divine, then, the Princess Cadance, Mi Amore Cadenza?” the Countess pressed the topic a little more.
“Alicornhood comes with a modicum of praise and a corresponding position, but you must remember that our approach is not… saturated with spirituality,” Twilight wanted to explain properly. “Even the Immaculate Moon… is seen as a leader and a powerful figure without worship in the Noctraliyan sense.”
“But She is seen like this here! And her guidance is near palpable!” Ivory Crescent spoke up again, raising her hoof. “And so is the Judging Sun considered a deity, with all the fiery aspects of that. Your nation sees all of the Princesses as mighty leaders, we see two of them as gods… What about the other two? You are an alicorn! This makes it all very, very interesting!”
There was something a little manic in Ivory Crescent’s tone, in a way that Twilight strangely recognized from rather recently.
Well, perhaps ‘manic’ was a wrong expression, as the sparks in the Countess’ eyes spoke of great excitement, but also proper forethought. Twilight had to conclude that the current topic hadn’t been chosen on a whim, that the mare opposite was definitely trying to get to the bottom of the matter in some way. Perhaps this wasn’t the first, sleepless morning for her? Also, it would explain why she had been a little insistent about a private meeting and getting to know Twilight a bit more.
Thankfully, all she had to do was to ask. “I could entertain a longer discussion about my sister-in-law, and myself, Honored Countess, possibly concerning both perspectives connected to our nations and cultures, but… it might be a much more time-consuming talk than the day allows,” Twilight warned.
And, for all of her revealed passion for the topic, Ivory Crescent concurred. “Yes, of course, I get it, I’m just… It’s hard to experience a clear, outside perspective when the only thing you are nightly stuck with is the local view and understanding, even on matters very much outside of our realm of understanding.” She suddenly shuddered and hissed. “Ugh, listen to me, I’m starting to sound dull.”
“I wouldn’t say so, no. For me, you sound like you had a lot to think about, and you are hoping for some answers. I won’t promise I will provide them. I will just promise you truth, at least how I, myself, see it.”
“That’s already very gracious, Honored Princess,” the Countess admitted, giving her a playful nod. “Or perhaps you just view me as a spoiled little filly that had much too much time on her hooves and started going a little crazy, and you wish to entertain me?”
“That sounds like self-critique, and it doesn’t fit you very well, Honored Countess,” Twilight remarked, feeling a little cheeky and getting a bright, fanged smile in return.
“No, it really doesn’t,” the other mare admitted with a giggle. “I can be chastised for many things, I imagine, but not for wanting to experience the world around to the best of my abilities and understanding. Our lives are a gift, let us unbind it! It’s a crescent moon, yesternight, tonight and tomorrow!” Having said that, the mare got up with grace and verve. “Thank you so much for this first taste of what I could uncover with your help! And… I’m glad I could share your presence without any unnecessary additions.”
Twilight stood up as well, but found herself a little confounded about the remark. “What… do you mean? I swear that you were looking about the chamber earlier, am I actually missing something?”
“No, nothing you would need,” Ivory Crescent responded, with no small dosage of obfuscation hidden behind that bright smile and pear gaze. “I’ve taken enough of your time, but I’m glad to have been received… and that I will have a good day’s rest! I hate flights of unaddressed ideas!”
“Speaking of which,” Twilight decided to remark, “I know that flying inside the caverns is not seen as desirable, so… how did you get to my window, Honored Countess?”
Maybe it was the tiredness, maybe something else, but at least the little, snappy question was received well by the Countess. “Who knows?” she asked in return, with a shrug so overt and theatrical that it caused her whole gown to ride up for a moment. “Have you seen me fly up to it?”
“No, obviously not.”
“Well, then I haven’t flown up here, if that’s what you are trying to insinuate,” came the, no-less-cheeky, response.
“So… you climbed your way up?”
Ivory Crescent let out a melodious laugh, taking a step in Twilight’s direction. It wasn’t meant to be a taunting one, though a little, playful challenge was issued.
“I’ll let you in on a secret. A little thing I have learnt during my years…” she began, then shuddered. “Bogine, that made me sound old!” she protested to herself, but then shook her head and continued, nonetheless. “Sometimes it’s fantastic to know, to learn, to understand. At other times? It’s also wonderful not to know, to allow the mystery to continue, the secret to remain secure and the whisper not to reach any ears…”
“It’s healthier, you say?” Twilight asked, that little, sour note of the past and current scenarios making its way to her tone, uninvited.
Ivory Crescent recognized it, and decided to banish it with a smile. “No, that would seem like a discouraging advice, and I’m not about that. Life… is about finding balance of curiosity and moderation , of playfulness and starkness, of what’s healthy and what’s overindulgence, so that you can enjoy and yet not spoil the fun for anypony else.”
“And once that balance would be considered found?”
“Oh, that’s simple – embrace it with wild abandon!”
That sounded like a maddened suggestion, at least to Twilight, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of her head that Ivory Crescent knew exactly what she meant, regarding not only herself. There was something serious, almost deathly serious in her eyes, especially as she looked at Twilight in that strange, lidded way that hid them behind her eyelashes…
Something was amiss about this whole situation, that much was certain, but it would be foolhardy for Twilight to expect her tired mind grasping it all there and then.
Regardless, a goodbye was in order, especially after receiving such a piece of advice.
“I must say, it looks like my stay at the Mountain of Crescent is getting more and more fascinating by the hour.”
That also wasn’t meant to be sarcastic, but Ivory Crescent accepted the declaration it in all of its possible forms and implications. “No. Now you get to have a calm day of rest, without any shenanigans. Otherwise, we might overwhelm you, and we don’t want that. Forcing a way is not our Family way.”
Having said that, the Countess quickly unlocked the window, with a metallic click that resounded somewhere deep in Twilight’s mind, deeper than she would think necessary. Then the noblemare did a curtsy that simultaneously showed deference and took her through the thick curtains, as she vanished from sight.
When Twilight came to close the window properly, she had found it already properly secured, with the mare nowhere to be found on the outside, not even by glimpsing a wayward shift of her gown.
… this hadn’t been a dream, had it?
Twilight lightly nibbled herself on the foreleg, and the sensation was there, without any trick of the slumbering mind. Ivory Crescent literally disappeared like a ghost, having locked the window behind her in record time and most likely diving off the balcony.
Unfortunately for the Countess’ cause, Twilight doubted that all of what she had just experienced would give her a pleasant day. Thoughts knocked around her head with a vengeance, asking questions and demanding answers and understanding.
Though, when she rested her head on the pillow, the bed’s softness accepted her with an understanding embrace which soon lulled her into slumber.
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Of course, this doesn't mean that we can't make general judgements on their complexity, such as the fact that Moonwarden still needs to have a deep, very uncomfortable talk with Luna about that first paragraph, but yes, ponies and people are complex. There are very few straight heroes or villains, only those who heroically decide to do the right thing and those who, for various reasons, decide to do wrong. Heroism and villainy aren't innate; they come from our choices. Midnight's a hero for his role in the blood-bout and a villain for his affair with Rowan Berry, just like Rowan Berry's a villain for her service to Azure Mist and a hero for her service to Twilight. "A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward" (George R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings).
So, just to recap, Azure Mist has managed to:
She is not coming out of this with the family circlet still on her head. Even if, by some miracle, Noctraliya managed to win a war with Equestria, Midnight Eye would ensure that she's deposed as soon as possible because of her demonstrated potential for acting in ways that hurt all the Mountains without the Covenant's approval. And, of course, once word gets out that she angered the Goddess, the Mandate of Heaven is going to flee from her faster than a Rainboom. Azure Mist thinks that "If the haspadre does it, it's not illegal," but even in Noctraliya, the ruler's writ only goes so far; one can't claim a divine right to rule if one explicitly goes against divinity.
This was an interesting chapter. I'm glad on both Luna and Twi's romantic emboldening, so to speak. All those vague hints and stuff just go over my head most of the time, happy to see something a little more concrete : )
Still, take care! Don't stress too much, we're a patient bunch : )
Quality stories take time. You're apologizing about missing a month or two, while other guys might release a chapter once a year. Keep up the great work!!
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Yeah, it is noticeably harder to claim divine anointing when the deity blasts your doors from their hinges.
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You might be, I'm not. There are stories to be told, and you deserve to have them!
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I'm just trying my best. And I know that setting goals and expectations for oneself is very helpful. So, please, accept my apology as it is, and I'll get back to furiously tapping on my keyboard.
Starting out strong with a rather adorably acting Luna.
It is surprising that for how smart he is, he still can't seem to realize that, though Luna does also make a good point.
I too hope that things between them improve.
Yes!
Intriguing, I wonder what Ivory wants.
🚩
Having now caught up with this, I just want to say that Gulheru, you are without a doubt one of the best on this here website, so don't worry if life gets in the way, that happens and as someone else here already put it, you are putting out chapters every month, whereas some barely update once in a year. So thank you, thank you for writing this story, I often find myself trying to emulate Twilight's moral compass in a my life, and it is definitely something that I think has led me to being a better person overall. On a closing note though, I leave you with this short reading of a comment that pretty much sums up my feelings on now being caught up.
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My friend, you are being altogether too kind. I'm just tying to tell a tale and, for some reason folks are telling me it's really good. I don't get it.
That being said, I will make sure that your get your "hit" sooner, rather than later. It is my absolute pleasure to deliver and I hope that what is to come will only get everybody hooked more.
What a wonderful chapter! I would have so many things to comment on: the very sweet moment between Luna and Moonwarden, the memory of Moonwarden nailing the batponies as the culprits of his attack, Twilight finally seeming to want to "forgive" Midnight Wind, Ivory Crescent's unexpected visit....
But I think the part that struck me the most was Ivory Crescent asking for an explanation about Princess Cadance. It's amazing that the batponies never bothered to include Cadance within their religion or their beliefs. I mean, I expected Twilight not to be contemplated because she became an alicorn recently, but Cadance has been one for many years.
Well, at least she is not considered a usurper of the divine aspect like Twilight.....
Oh boy, it took me a while to remember that, too.
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Indeed, and Ivory Crescent seems to have touched upon a very intriguing subject there.
This is a very interesting chapter since Luna knows that Moonwarden was attacked by a batpony which is going to result in no end of trouble for the Haspadre. Moonwarden experienced that his magic doesn't work on batponies when he met Sunfall Ordain which is why the lacking presence means a batpony.
Twilight is making a wise decision to not get involved with Ebony Crescent in a sensual way and Ivory clearly agrees with this idea. Ivory Crescent seems to think the traditional idea about the Immaculate Moon and Judging Sun is far to simple and seems to be trying to get an idea of where Twilight and Cadance fit in the Noctrali religion. It's obvious that the balance she mentioned is one her brother has not found and she does not believe his behaviour will allow him to find it.I guess that Ebeny Crescent's constant sweating hints at something far more serious that she cares to admit.
I wonder if Ivory Crescent figured out that it was Midnight Wind who asked Twilight about her possible divinity. She's observant enough that I think it's a real possibility.
I'm glad that things, which were troubling you are sorted out or, at least, tamed. As to the chapter itself...
Interesting truly interesting. Luna was clearly enjoying herself at least in the beginning of the chapter. Looks like someone gave her a book about teasing enamored stallions. Or it is past experience?
Why do I hear boss music?
Here it comes!
And it's nice to see Twilight thinking about reconnecting with Midnight. To the question of her possible divinity... Well, one can say that she , of all princesses has more chances of being/becoming one. And she is also knows
someponysomecreature who could help her to understand the matter os cosmic entities.I should agree with other comments - Azure Mist (and her allies in council) are bucked. Her great plan should be something like that:
Assuming the fact she is as fanatic as she seems and not uses it only as a mask. *sounds of brain working*
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Glad I could make it all interesting!
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Desperation sometimes results in... further problems.
Real life tends to get in the way every once in a while. It is best not to place an additional burden upon oneself by trying to deny the tide: go with it. It might not ne as fast a road to where we want to be but an easier trip.
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There's truth in that, but I won't let the current sweep me away.
The Goddess will bring swift vengeance down upon those that dared to take which belongs to thee! you know, after a nap.
I was worried for a moment that Ivory was going to demand she stay over in Twilight's chambers and that was going to create another layer of complication to an already delicate and tumultuous situation. Still, glad that when Twilight thinks back on her time with Midnight she still feels the love and warmth and has not just trying to dismiss it all as a crush fling or manipulative game being played upon her heart.
So many gears in motion.
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The machine grinds away, indeed.
Luna knows the truth, and I have a feeling the Bat Ponies might soon learn that even their goddess’s forgiveness has its limits.
Don’t worry about the delay. Just glad to get more story
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And I'm glad to grant more story, indeed!
As for the luna plot I very much hope she eventually finds out that azure mist is the one who ordered the assassination attempt, because otherwise hasty actions(like an attack that could be escalated to war) might play into whatever scheme she's working on, I'm not sure what her game ultimately is but given circumstances I wonder if she see's a distinction between luna and the immaculate moon.
As for the twilight end of things a very interesting conversation, hoping that we will see a "part two" to that, and hoping she was being honest when she spoke of her brother
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I'll do my best not to dash those hopes.
I've finally finished the chapter. And as since a new chapter has begun in my life: I've finished college and am now working to earn enough to move in with my so (I have to change countries, exciting and terrifying), I completely understand how work and stresses delay creative production. I haven't even started all the things I thought I'd start once college was over!
edit : completely forgot to add: great chapter! I can't wait for the next
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Best of luck in this gigantic leap! In the meantime, I will do my best to provide more stories to enjoy.
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860,000 words? Yes it should be quite a journey. I may have to pull back a little on my darker thought given the T rating. The last few story's I've read have been quite dark
Welp, Azure Mist just managed to anger who they believe is the Goddess. I can only imagine how the other Lords would react, should this come to light. This is ignoring, of course, the fact that recent revelations seem to be implying that the Immaculate Moon is an entirely different entity than Luna.
I'm never really sure what to think about Ivory Crescent but definitely keeping an eye out on her.
This sounds a lot like that "tree falls in the forest" question.
No need to apologize. You spoil us with how much you've churned out, especially started in 2022 lol. Looking forward to the next chapter, whether that comes within the next month or some time next year.
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Don't say stuff like that, I mustn't have any time excuses.
Thank you kindly. I do hope things will only get more interesting.
I half expected Nurse Redheart to manifest herself in the dreamscape from Luna’s repeated attempts of causing undue stress to a patient. Would have been an amusing scene with a fuming Redheart dragging a love-struck Luna out of the room by her tail. Sometimes even the most mature and intelligent adults need a reminder that there is a time and a place for everything.
Jokes aside, the romance was very well done. And that Luna now knows about the bat assassin is very interesting, but the question is if she can draw the logical link between Moonwarden’s assassination attempt and the latters visit to the local elite bat guards. Moonwarden did reveal his knowledge of their super-secret plans to them, after all. If I was her, I’d summon the bat commander to the palace and give him some of that goddesses performance until some questions were answered.
But of course there is always the “don’t antagonize the bats in case that they carry out their plans early” part of it.
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I think that things are changing, however. And the initiative can be firmly on Luna's side.
While it was a bit hard to follow Ivory Crescent at times this chapter, I think that here, she shows her purpose. She's curious, innovative, and adventurous, almost a scholar after Twilight's heart. Then there are her statements about Noctraliya:
Ivory Crescent is Noctraliya's worst nightmare, a noctral who went to other lands and brought back foreign ideas with them. She has tested Noctraliya's traditions and found them too restricting, too rigid, "we've always done things this way" and "the Goddess taught us to do things this way" holding the noctrali back. Think back to when she introduced herself to Twilight in Chapter LXXIX:
Ivory Crescent is a Renaissance Mare, dabbling in anything she can get her hooves on, frustrated by a religious establishment that (rightly or wrongly) is trying to hold her back. Something important to keep in mind; fantasy might make us think that 1,000-year societies are normal, but in reality, that is definitely not the case. Think about it; in less than 500 years, American society has had to adapt to the rise and fall of official slavery, wage labor, agriculture, democracy, all changes that forced massive changes in the functioning of society. Even something as simple as how we say "Hi" and to whom we say it has undergone massive changes. Social change, not stasis, is the norm, a norm that Noctraliya seems to be trying to hold back. Religious and cultural tradition seem to have combined to slow the pace of innovation to a crawl, giving the sense that Noctraliya's ancestors, unlike our own, would perfectly understand the world their descendants inhabit.
To somepony exposed to ideas from the outside world, to new technologies, methods of work, systems of work (wage labor, corporations,
other assorted evilschanging what you do for work), political ideas, philosophies, this is simply unacceptable, to a liberal ("Maybe sunponies aren't actually that bad") or a conservative ("It seems that Our Mother takes pity even on sunponies, and still sends them ideas"). Maybe the frustration this restraint causes even informs (or is informed by) Ivory Crescent's feelings about her brother; she wants him to become the best he can be but feels like he's holding himself back from becoming that, similar to how it feels Noctraliya needs to heal from countless self-inflicted wounds. Honestly, one of the best parallels I can think of for her:11781497
A gripping approach to the character, I think. Yes, Ivory Crescent has a very "spirited spirit", but there are still some secrets to her and her ways.
A very good chapter. Nice and thick in its length, strong in the plot, and the girth of the conversation, heaven help you twilight, you’re in for a rutting. XD
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... are you alright?