553 - Wheat and Chaff
“And those are the basics,” finished Cloudbank. “Does anypony have any questions?”
Looking at the ponies gathered around her, most of them having migrated over from the nearby market after they’d recognized her, she sincerely hoped that no one did. It wasn’t just that she still felt nervous speaking in front of an audience – and with almost fifty ponies having shown up to hear her talk about the Night Mare and what it meant to be one of her faithful, her stomach had been clenched in knots for the last hour – but also because she felt exhausted. Maybe I’ll just skip praying for spells come midnight and sleep straight through to tomorrow. No, scratch that. To next week.
She wouldn’t seriously do that, of course. It was too important for her to renew what few spells she possessed at every available opportunity. But the thought remained tempting nonetheless, the accumulated stress and fatigue leaving her feeling wrung out.
Although it had been less than thirty-six hours since she’d come back to life, she’d already gotten caught up in another serious battle, one that ended with her throwing herself in front of Drafty – reckless, helpless, beautiful Drafty – in what she’d been sure would be the end of her new lease on life. That she’d woken up a short time later with only mild injuries, and found out that Drafty’s wounds were little more than superficial, had left her relieved but deeply shaken. All the more so when she’d found out that not only was Lex at death’s door, but realized that his best hope for survival (since no one trusted Princess Twilight’s convenient offer of healing, especially after she’d sprung from captivity the mare who’d hurt so many ponies) was her praying for a curative spell, something that the Night Mare would only grant her come midnight.
Despite how relieved she’d been to find that Drafty’s wounds weren't much worse than a few bruises, Cloudbank had spent every hour leading up to midnight in a state of controlled anxiety. As much as she hadn’t been able to imagine Lex dying before she was able to heal him – after how many monsters he’d killed, there was no way some punk mare on an ego trip could possibly punch his ticket – she hadn’t been able to get rid of the persistent dread that she was in denial. After all, she had been equally certain that Vanhoover would be fine, which was why she’d scoffed at the prospect of leaving the city until it was too late.
The one thing she hadn’t felt in those long hours leading up until midnight, however, had been the one thing she’d thought she’d have been consumed by: guilt.
That had initially left her confused, uncertain why she wasn’t wracked with remorse over what Starlight Glimmer had done to Lex. After all, she’d seen how badly resurrecting them had depleted him; he’d barely been able to stay on his hooves after finishing the spell. That he would have easily defeated that nutcase if he hadn’t bothered with bringing them back – or even if he hadn’t needed to waste some of the power he had left saving her and Drafty; something she’d found out about only a few hours after waking up in the makeshift infirmary – should have been like a dagger in her heart.
Except she hadn’t felt that way. Not even slightly. Instead, beneath the pervasive worry that something would happen before midnight arrived – the sight of him lying in bed, insensate like that had been distinctly unnerving – there had been a jumble of inexplicably positive feelings about what Lex had done for her.
It hadn’t been until she’d knelt at his bedside and prayed to the Night Mare, even though midnight had still been hours away at the time, that she’d finally realized why that was.
Lex Legis was somepony who couldn’t not do everything that he could for others. Underneath his intimidating demeanor, blatant rudeness, and total lack of interpersonal skills, there was a deep well of compassion, one that drove everything he did, to the point where he couldn’t bring himself to do anything less than his utmost in service to that urge. That was why he’d voluntarily injured himself bringing them back to life; because he couldn’t bear the thought that he hadn’t been able to protect them. He’d practically said so himself right after resurrecting them, mournfully telling Aria that their deaths had been his fault.
In hindsight, that had been a glimpse of Lex at his most honest. He had just done an incredible thing, something that nopony else would have imagined possible, and rather than expecting gratitude or praise – or even expressing joy or satisfaction at accomplishing something so monumental – he’d castigated himself for having needed to do it at all. In his eyes, all he’d done was correct a mistake that he never should have allowed to happen in the first place; that he’d used magic that would have made Star-Swirl the Bearded’s head spin to do it was an unimportant detail.
And as if the Night Mare had personally reached down to peel the metaphorical blinders from her eyes, Cloudbank – deep in prayer at the time – had realized that that was why she couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty about the sacrifices Lex had made for her. Why the thought of what he’d done filled her with pride, gratitude, admiration, and so many other warm feelings that seemed inappropriate when her benefactor was hurt so badly. Because Lex was, at his core, somepony who cared about her – and everyone else that he saw himself as being responsible for – with an intensity that wasn’t diminished in the slightest by how impersonal it was.
Being the recipient of that much devotion, how could she not think of what Lex had done with anything less than heartfelt appreciation?
Having come to understand the sort of pony Lex was now that she could see past his off-putting exterior, it was easy for Cloudbank to understand why Sonata and Aria were so smitten with him. If his dedication to strangers was that powerful, what must it be like to be loved by him? What kind of fervor did his affection bring with it, when his regard for ponies he barely knew was already so overwhelming? Cloudbank could only imagine, but it was enough to make her see why Drafty, who’d always had a significant romantic streak in her, was so stuck on him…even if that still made her somewhat jealous.
“Actually, I have a question.”
Drawn out of her thoughts as she saw a hoof go up, Cloudbank plastered a smile on her face. “Yes?”
The questioner, a middle-aged earth stallion with a rather unkempt-looking beard, put his hoof down. “When do we get to the good stuff?”
“I’m…” Blinking, Cloudbank took a moment to turn his question over in her mind, wondering if her nervousness about public speaking was making her miss something. But after several seconds of consideration, she still didn’t know what he was talking about. “I’m sorry? The ‘good stuff’?”
“Yeah,” nodded the stallion. “I mean, all that stuff you were telling us about how the Night Mare respects strength and demands loyalty and all of that is fine, but what do we have to do in order for her to give us super-charged magic spells and flying weapons and all that other cool stuff that’ll, you know…” He gave her a grin that was half-apologetic and half-leering then. “Let us do like Prince Lex and attract some hot mares of our own.”
For a moment Cloudbank couldn’t do anything except stare at the pony who’d quite clearly understood nothing of what she’d spent the last hour talking about. “…what?”
But the stallion didn’t have a chance to respond before another pony, this one a bubblegum-chewing teenage pegasus mare dressed in a rather chic vest and beret, let out a snort. “Oh, my gosh. You’re, like, so gross,” she sneered at the stallion, before turning to look at Cloudbank. “Listen, I don’t want to agree with Creepy McNasty over here, but I do want to know when we get our own spirit animals like those kids have? Because I was in Canterlot a few days ago and that stuck-up old nag Fleur de Lis just had, like, a cheetah dedicated to her at the zoo by Fancy Pants – he could do so much better than her, bee-tee-dubs – and while I’m sure a bunch of foals are happy getting snakes and moles and stuff, I’m totally going to need something better if I want to show her up.”
Normally, when Cloudbank froze up in front of a crowd, it was because of anxiety. But right now she was struck dumb for a different reason, utterly nonplussed as the pegasus paused, blowing a large bubble before popping it loudly and pulling it back into her mouth before continuing. “I was thinking, like, maybe a gazelle with a tiger-print coat, y’know? Or maybe a cross between a puma and a fox? The Night Mare can do that, what with her being such a big deal and all, right?”
“Can da Night May-ah do dat?” marveled an earth colt who looked like he couldn’t have been more than five years old, his eyes round as he looked between Cloudbank and a pair of embarrassed-looking older ponies who had to have been his parents. “I-I wanna hamthta dat’s awtho a wombat! And ith bwue!”
“Everypony stop.”
Holding up a hoof, Cloudbank closed her eyes as she took several deep breaths, opening them only once she heard everyone quiet down. “I thought I made this clear before, but apparently I didn’t. So, I’ll say this one more time: the Night Mare is a goddess of strength. Not brawn or stamina or anything like that, but strength that comes from within. To develop a set of principles and convictions so firm that, when they’re challenged, you reshape the world to fit them rather than reshaping them to fit the world. Worshiping her means seeking that strength out, whether by cultivating it within yourself or devoting yourself to someone else who has.”
She paused for a moment to let that sink in, not even noticing that her nervousness about speaking in front of ponies had vanished. “That’s the only reason to be part of the Night Mare’s faith,” she continued.
Giving the colt a firm, but not unkind, look, she shook her head. “Not because you want a pet.”
Giving the teenage pegasus a scowl of disapproval, she repeated the gesture. “Not because you want status.”
Giving the scraggly earth stallion a sneer of disgust, she shook her head a third time. “And not because you want to get girls.”
Looking around, she waited to see if there were any objections to what she was saying. When none came, she gave a perfunctory nod. “Being a part of the Night Mare’s faith means pushing yourself to improve, mastering yourself and your environment as best you can. Sometimes it’s scary, and a lot of the time it’s painful, but whether you’re trying to grow for your own sake or because you want to be useful to someone else, it’s something that you have to do. Then and only then will the Night Mare even consider rewarding you for your effort.”
“But that sounds hard,” whined someone in the crowd.
“Exactly,” replied Cloudbank without hesitation. “Now you’re getting it. The Night Mare’s religion isn’t an easy path to power. It’s one of the hardest paths there is, and that’s no accident. It’s only by accomplishing something difficult that you can achieve something worthwhile. That’s why Lex Legis is the Night Mare’s champion. Not because he’s defeated monsters and princesses, but because he did so to defend what he believes in, which is making a better future for all of you.”
Standing upright, she put a hoof to her chest. “I gained the Night Mare’s favor when I threw everything I had into helping him do that, shaking off a spell in order to keep fighting the monster who was trying to kill him and the mare that I love. The Night Mare’s Knights earned her recognition when they stood up to the Royal Guard when Lex was at the critical stage of a delicate spell, putting themselves in harm’s way even though they were just a bunch of kids standing against a group of adults in armor.”
Falling back onto all fours, she spread her wings out in an encompassing gesture. “I want everypony here to think about how you can demonstrate that kind of devotion to the Night Mare now that things are more peaceful here. Take some time, and we’ll meet back here tomorrow evening so you can tell me what you come up with, okay?”
The response that came from the crowd was mixed. Several ponies grumbled, others shook their heads, and more than a few simply turned and started walking without saying anything. But others seemed more enthusiastic, smiling and nodding while others fell in with friends as they began to excitedly discuss ideas. Overall, there probably wouldn’t be quite as many ponies showing up tomorrow. But that’s not so bad if I don’t have to listen to anypony else ask how my religion can improve their love life, she snickered to herself, wings flapping as she turned toward River’s manor.
She still needed to work on the finer points of the Night Mare’s religion with Lex, of course. Without Severance, there were a lot of blanks that needed to be filled in. But at least now she’d gotten the ball rolling, teaching those ponies the parts she already knew. With any luck, the ones who hadn’t been scared off by that would start to understand what it really meant to have faith. In themselves. In the Night Mare.
And in Lex.
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Well, while the congregation isn't that large but it is a good start and once the ball gets rolling, some of those that left, will return, willing to try and give it a proper go.
While Severance's absence will make things somewhat harder for Cloudbank to teach the Night Mare's religious dogma, it would allow her to make her own interpretations of the lessons she does know as she stated here and given how the scythe's lessons made the NMK almost willing to harm others to a potentially lethal degree, perhaps it is best that Cloudbank is the one giving the sermons.
Though now that I think about it, it's pretty much what Lex intended from the beginning since even he knew that certain aspects of the Night Mare's religion would be unpalatable though I think he would have liked more control in what is preached to the masses. Though given how Lex is now, he'll probably be more than willing to give Cloudbank more control in what she teaches in her sermons.
From weathermare to acolyte and potentially head of the state religion down the line...maybe.
More religion stuff, so now I wonder?
which one of them gets to wear the night mare equivalent of a pope hat?
a perfect title for this chapter as this is a Wheat from the Chaff kind of chapter.
Thye reason advancement is so hard, is because the easy jobs have all been picked up by those who can buy into them?
10614770 I wanted to add in a bit more of Cloudbank reminiscing, about how she initially hated Lex because his strength threw in stark relief how weak she was, and how she grew because of that, but I couldn't find a way to work it in satisfactorily. As it was, I like to think that her growth still stands on its own. Lex might be the Night Mare's champion, but Cloudbank has had quite the arc of her own thus far.
Given that Lex seems uncomfortable with matters of actual faith, being that he simply lives the Night Mare's dogma rather than preaches it, I suspect he won't be too reluctant to let Cloudbank come up with the lesser tenets of the Night Mare's faith in Equestria. He'll still want to be involved, but when push comes to shove he's not really the priestly type. Cloudbank can be that, even if she still needs to grow into it more.
As for everypony else, hopefully she's made it clear that this isn't some hobby or easy path to getting wishes granted. If not, I still suspect that lesson will sink in soon enough for anypony who's half-hearted about accepting the Night Mare's faith. She's not the sort of goddess who rewards half-measures.
10614910 Well, Cloudbank seems to be stepping into that role...which certainly puts Lex, who is undeniably above her, into a rather interesting position.
10615250 Thanks! Chapter titles are one of the trickiest parts of writing this story, so I'm glad this one turned out well!
10615492 I wouldn't call what Lex, Cloudbank, Garden Gate, etc. have gone through "easy." Advancement is hard because, as I'm sure the Night Mare would say, anything worthwhile is hard.
Sonata says a thing.
10618425 WHOA! That's amazing!
Where did this come from? Is it my birthday and I just forgot? This is really great!
10618434
I used 15.ai and some gentle trickery to get it right. If you have a request, lemme know.
10618439 Well now I'm going to be playing with that website all day!