300 - Lurking Suspicion
“Silhouette, what is the meaning of this?”
Luna couldn’t keep the puzzlement out of her voice as she took a step forward, surveying the bewildering scene in front of her. Across from them was the unicorn they’d come here to meet, Lex Legis, in the midst of casting some sort of spell. The words he was chanting were unfamiliar to her, and a quick glance at her sister – who shook her head wordlessly – showed that she wasn’t clear on what he was doing either. It quite clearly had something to do with the luminous figure hanging in the air in front of him, obviously the source of the light they’d seen as they’d flown in, but beyond that she had no idea.
Equally baffling was the rest of the scene before her. A half-dozen of their Royal Guards were standing over a trio of foals and a pair of bound mares, one of whom was gagged and had a large hound (which Luna recognized as being the product of her worshiper’s magic) holding her horn in its jaws. Another two guards were arrayed in front of a crowd of ponies watching from a short distance away, as though keeping them back for some reason. That alone was cause for concern, especially with what they’d just been told…
Luna hadn’t been sure what to expect when that filly, Fiddlesticks, had come rushing toward them, her baby brother cradled protectively in her hooves. Her alarm had risen sharply, however, when she’d begged them to hurry and “stop that crazy guard!” That she was talking about Silhouette was certain, but Luna had hoped that the child had simply misunderstood the nature of her worshiper’s faith in her. Now she was less confident of that being the case, her eyes turning back to where her most devoted pony was still touching his nose to the ground as he spoke up.
“Goddess,” he called, his voice filled with rapture. “Forgive me. I was attempting to bring Lex Legis to you, as I swore I would, but these ponies interfered.” Still without looking up, he raised a hoof to point at the group surrounded by the guards. “When I insisted that we bring him along, they became violent, and we were forced-”
“YOU LYING SACK OF-, MMNNNGH!” screamed the bound mare who wasn’t gagged, though her words were cut off as the guard that had been holding her down shoved his hoof over her mouth. She immediately began to thrash, a series of muffled curses filling the air as two more guards worked to stop her from getting a word in.
“It’s alright,” called Celestia, causing the guards to pause in their efforts, allowing the mare – whom Luna now recognized as the pony that had spoken on Lex’s behalf when they’d last met – to yank her head away and take a deep breath. “This mare is a spokespony,” continued Celestia, “let her up-”
“Belay that!” snapped Silhouette, raising his face at last to glare at the guards Celestia was addressing. “Do not let her speak!” Celestia’s eyes had just enough time to widen before Silhouette turned his gaze to her. “Your Majesty, I apologize, but this mare is an enchantress, able to weave dark magic with her voice. I cannot allow her to endanger the Mother of the Night.”
“I’m not a danger to her! I’m a danger to YOU!” yelled the furious spokespony. “If I had an egg right now, I’d say that it’s your brain, and then I’d fry it up and say that it’s your brain when I’m done with you! You won’t-”
“ENOUGH!” yelled Luna, causing the mare to quiet down and Silhouette to lower his head. Luna kept her eyes on the latter as she spoke. “Silhouette, while I appreciate your concern, I’ve met this mare before, and I don’t believe that she’s a threat to me.” She turned to the pony in question. “Isn’t that right…Sonata, was it?”
“Yeah, no, you’re fine,” snorted Sonata. “Like I said, it’s that jerk I’m gonna silly-slap.”
“I’m afraid there’ll be no silly-slapping for the time being,” interjected Celestia, the corners of her lips turning upward for a moment, before a more serious expression returned to her face. “For now, Sonata, can you tell us what Lex is doing?” She gestured to the guards as they spoke, and after hesitating for just a moment, they undid the ropes binding Sonata’s forelegs.
Huffing, Sonata shot another angry glare at Silhouette as she climbed back to her hooves before turning to look at Celestia. “He’s casting a spell to turn my sister, Aria, into a pony. But it’s, like, super delicate, and if anyone messes it up, they’ll both, I dunno, blow up or something.”
Celestia’s eyebrows rose slightly at that. “I see.” Her eyes made a circuit of the ponies around her, before returning to the mare in front of her. “Sonata, would you mind accompanying me for a few minutes? I’d like to ask you some more about what’s happened here.”
“Um, yeah, no.” Sonata shook her head. “No offense, but I’m not going anywhere. Crazy McNutbar here,” she pointed at Silhouette, who was still bowing before Luna, “almost hurt my boyfriend and my sister, to say nothing of what he did to me and my best friend-” She pointed at Nosey, just in time for the silver mastiff holding her horn in its jaw to vanish, dissolving into a glowing mist that faded away a second later, leaving no trace of the animal. Blinking, Sonata frowned before whirling to face Silhouette. “Oh don’t even try to act like you’re suddenly being Mister Generous all of a sudden!”
“My summons ended because its duration reached its limit,” answered Silhouette, somehow managing to sound haughty despite remaining prostrate. “Not because I thought your companion’s treatment was ill-deserved.”
Sonata bared her teeth at him. “I’ll ill-dessert you!”
“I have a better idea,” interrupted Luna before another fight broke out. “Silhouette, please come with me. I’d like to hear your side of things.”
“Yes, Goddess!” The joy in Silhouette’s voice at that was unmistakable.
“Meanwhile,” continued Luna, looking at the other guards. “I want the rest of you to release these ponies,” she nodded toward the blonde mare that was still tied up, as well as the nearby group of foals, “and wait here for further instructions. Do not interfere with Lex Legis or the spell he’s casting, is that clear?” When the guards nodded, she turned back to Sonata. “Do you feel better about talking with my sister now?”
Sonata frowned, not looking completely mollified. “I dunno…”
“It’s okay,” croaked the blonde mare, licking her lips as her gag was removed. “You go.”
Sonata gave her a worried look, going over to her and helping her up as the guards removed the ropes from around her. “You sure, Nosey?”
Neither mare noticed Luna stiffen as she heard that name. Nosey? From that dream?! Blinking, she peered at the blonde mare more closely now, trying to remember the details of that horrifying nightmare that she’d stumbled onto a few nights previous. She’d only been in there for a few seconds, barely having enough time to get a look at its occupant, but from what she could remember this mare looked similar: glasses, a dark coat, and a brightly-colored mane. Yes. Yes, that must be her!
For a split-second, Luna considered pulling Nosey aside and asking her about the monster from her dream. Was it something she’d come across in the waking world, a “belier devil” like what Mihr had informed them about? Or was it nothing more than a figment of her resting mind, a night terror that just happened to resemble a monster that the angel knew about? The latter would still have been cause for concern, of course – Luna took her duty to protect her little ponies from nightmares seriously, especially in the wake of the elemental bleeds – but it would have been far more preferable than knowing that such a creature was actually in Equestria.
But if it was, if their world had been invaded by a body-snatching creature, Luna knew that she needed to be careful how she investigated it. Her eyes slid over to Lex, and to the glowing form of what was presumably Sonata’s sister floating in the air in front of him, remembering what Mihr had said. “If Lex Legis comes to the creature’s attention, it will react to him in one of three ways: as a victim to be corrupted, an enemy to be destroyed, or a potential collaborator to be used until he is no longer convenient.” Even now, she could see the chanting unicorn’s eyes locked onto them, taking in their every move. If the belier really existed, and Lex was working with it – or was possessed by it – then tipping their hoof that they knew about the creature would be the worst thing that they could do. Especially since they knew for certain that there was an evil artifact of great power on the loose somewhere…
I’ll need to come up with some sort of benign excuse to talk to Nosey later, Luna decided. After I come up with a way to make sure that it’s not hiding inside of her. Fortunately, one of the spells that she was able to grant Silhouette was capable of doing exactly that. But for now, she’d just have to watch her closely.
Oblivious to what Luna was thinking merely a few feet away from her, Nosey nodded in response to Sonata’s question. Swallowing, she adjusted her glasses from where they’d been knocked askew on her face during the altercation. “Yeah. Really. I’ll be-, we’ll all be fine. I promise.”
Sonata gave her a worried look, and it wasn’t hard to see why. The other mare was shaking slightly, obviously unnerved by what had just happened. Nevertheless, Sonata didn’t push the issue, instead giving her friend a quick hug, humming a snatch of a tune in her ear as she did. Almost immediately, Nosey seemed to calm down, letting out a breath as her shaking ceased. Luna cocked her head slightly at that, reminded of what Silhouette had said about Sonata’s voice being magical; had that been a spell? If so, did that confirm that Nosey wasn’t possessed?
But there was no further time to ponder what had just passed between the two mares, as Silhouette made his way over to her. “Goddess, I am yours to command,” he murmured reverently.
Luna didn’t answer immediately, sending a quick glance to Celestia, and saw her sister return the look. The eye contact between them lasted only a fraction of a second, but that was enough to let Luna know that her sister hadn’t missed Nosey’s name, or the significance of what it meant. That knowledge made Luna fight down the urge to smile, reassured. No matter what monsters came their way, so long as the two of them were united, they’d find a way to overcome them.
“Come then,” she said to Silhouette. “I wish to know of everything that happened after you left us. Leave nothing out.” She turned as she spoke, leading him back the way they had come after they’d touched down. Hopefully this would be enough to put Sonata at ease, and she’d offer her version of what had happened to Celestia. Comparing her account with Silhouette’s would be important, and not just because it would help to resolve whatever fighting had broken out. If they were very fortunate, they’d be able to uncover a clue regarding the possible existence of the belier devil, or even the magical scythe that they’d come here to find.
Of course, that was just a precursor. At some point, they’d need to talk to Lex Legis and figure out what he knew about both of those topics. Luna had no doubt that Mihr was right, and that he was involved somehow; everything she knew about him suggested that he was too powerful and too intelligent not to be. The only question was if he was working against the dark forces, or with them. If it was the former, then she and her sister would gladly aid him. But if it was the latter…
Then he’d need to be stopped, for everypony’s sake.
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Repetition sells. Repetition sells. (Not in this case.)
the bound mare.
Well, we've got control.
Let's hope Luna realizes the difference between being faithful and being a fanatic.
Lex seems to be in the clear for the time being and will remain so since everyone just heard the potential ramifications of interrupting him.
And as expected, the Knights got away scott-free with nary a question as to why the guards were around them. And with kids being kids, I can see them taunting the guards for what they did so as to establish how 'awesome' they were as Knights.
As for Silhouette,his fanaticsm is rather...shall we say 'cranked up so hard that the knob broke' levels of disturbing. This is rather odd after becoming Luna's worshipper for what I assume to be a few months.
Almost feels like he's been worshipping Luna long before she granted him her powers. Or granting him her powers did more than lame his leg.
Still, I wonder how strong his faith in Luna will be if she decides he was in the wrong and punishes him though with how he is, I doubt he'd defy her wishes.
Either way, I'm looking forward to more of Sonata's brand of story telling next chapter.
I really hope Luna took note of her so called follower doing his best to tell her what she should be saying so he can follow what he believes she is even better.
Celestia asked Sonata to tell her Everything? Well, first came the dinosaurs, but they died and turned to oil.
Then again, Does she start with the Spiders at the previos town? The chewed up rail tracks, the whale of a tail in the bay, the ghoul swarm, Xiriel, ghouls, xiriel, ghouls, extreme fanatics etc?
hay pinkie pass me the popcorn this is going to be good.
9320389 Typos and bad grammar fixed now. Thanks, as always.
9320410 I was planning to write more about Luna's view of Silhouette in this chapter, but I just couldn't work it in. Luna's focus was squarely on the threat(s) to Equestria, rather than reviewing her relationship with her worshiper, and wouldn't be dissuaded from that. I still plan on coming back to that in the near future, though. Maybe after she evaluates what Silhouette tells her?
9320524 For now, it does look like Lex will be able to finish the ritual and fulfill his promise to Aria. Let's just hope that nothing else happens!
So far, the Knights are being overlooked by virtue of their being a bunch of kids, which isn't too surprising. While I'm uncertain what, if anything, the princesses will say to them, I suspect that Lex and Sonata won't ignore what happened there...once they've dealt with everything else on their plate. Hopefully they'll express goodwill toward them for what they did, though if there's a way to screw that up I'm certain that Lex will find it.
As for Silhouette, well...maybe it's true what they say, and there's no zealot like a convert? As it stands now, he seems like he'd accept anything so long as it comes from her, which ironically makes behavior modification a rather dubious prospect. Still, Luna will hopefully try to correct how he acted once she hears the full scope of what he did.
9320680 It wasn't so much that Silhouette was trying to put words in Luna's mouth, as it was he was trying to anticipate her needs. By itself, that's not a bad thing; the problem is how, shall we say, vigorously he goes about it.
As for Sonata and Celestia, I suspect that the latter has the patience to keep the former on track, even considering how furious Sonata is right now. That said, it's not like Sonata doesn't know how little Lex thinks of the princesses, so I wonder precisely how forthcoming she'll be if Celestia starts asking about certain things that she's looking for, such as a flying scythe...
9320700 I suspect it will be, but then again, I would.
I suspect Silhouette follows the night mare more than he knows, perhaps because of his views of Luna and who she is as opposed to who he expected.
9320788
And congrats on 300 chapters!
9320919 Well, this is where we get into questions of "what sort of actions/attitudes/beliefs constitute what alignment," along with issues of how you can have an alignment slightly different from that of your deity. Which is always a mess to try and hash out.
9321017 Thanks!
I thought about making a big deal out of hitting this particular milestone, but looking back over things, I seem to reserve those for particular word counts or thematic markers (e.g. hitting the end of a particular "book" in the story) more than chapters. But I appreciate the congratulations nonetheless!
Once again Sonata is the chapter MVP, for getting Celestia to say "silly-slapped."
9321361 Yeah, that was a lot of fun for me, too.
9322609
Ah, I thought the foal had disrupted his first spell, and Silhouette had switched to a new spell on the next round, so my action count was off. Thanks.