Bloodlust

by Thorn

Flashback

Five years ago...

Carmen Heartstrings was woken by the soft whimpering in the room across the hall: tonight, as every night, Lyra was shaking in fear, hiding from the monsters of the Everfree. These night -terrors had begun after her partner, Lyra’s father, Tomlin Bard, disappeared into the Forest two months ago.

His absence was in itself an aching, hurtful presence that shadowed Carmen throughout the day, constantly reminding her that he was gone. In addition to this, Lyra’s grief, violent and unrestrained, in the manner of children, continued long after the traditional period of mourning and prevented the wound in Carmen’s heart from closing.

Lyra had not understood that her father was dead: she would ask Carmen each day when her father would return, unable to comprehend that he could actually have been torn from her life forever. Each night, she whispered to her mother in the darkness, that tomorrow, surely, her father would return.

In the face of such certainty, Carmen herself would have almost suspected him to be still alive, had she not lead the rescue party into the Everfree Forest and recovered his maimed, tattered body. Had she not, crazed and fearless with grief and fury, ran into the darkest place of the Forest in order to recover his missing limbs, and to fruitlessly pursue whatever foul creature had slain him.

Tomlin had been slashed into pieces by some unknown denizen of the Everfree, most likely a chimera, while wandering the edges of the Forest, in an area deemed to be safe. On many occasions, he had ventured further in, as he said the calm of the Forest provided him with inspiration, and no creature had ever harmed him because of the sweet music he made. This time, at Carmen’s own asking, he had stayed to the sunlight boundaries.

“I don’t you want you to be eaten by some ferocious beastie, now, and leaving me all alone with little Lyra”, she had laughed, sending him on his way with a wicker basket of baked goods; Lyra pretended to chase him to the threshold, impersonating a dragon.

And then, little more than four hours later, the mayor of Ponyville had come to her door with the terrible news that someone had found that wicker basket in the woods, torn and saturated in blood...

She hadn’t shared such gruesome details with her daughter, but the Forest’s terrible reputation and the hushed whispers of the town had created a fragmented reality that haunted Lyra in the night hours. In her dreams, her father fled a terrible, formless monster-now with claws, now with wings; now with six heads, now with none- and she stood by, unable to prevent what she knew must come.
Carmen was at least relieved that Lyra always woke, screaming, before the monster ripped Tomlin’s head off his shoulders.

...

“Ra...Ra... Shh, it’s me. I’m here: nothing will hurt you now”.

Lyra continued to sniffle and moan, rocking backward and forward, cocooned in blankets. Carmen encircled her quivering daughter, blankets and all, stroking her forelock and murmuring gently. She knew from experience that it could take hours to calm Lyra down and soothe her to sleep.

She knew it was useless to matter platitudes or consolations: neither grief nor fear listen to reason. They just needed to be felt, and overcome.

After a while, she began instinctively:
“A very long time ago, a little filly just a bit older than you came without her mother or father to Canterlot city. She was going the see the Princess Celestia, to become a warrior and protect those who were weak and vulnerable.”

She peeked down at her daughter, still safely enclosed in her arms. Lyra had stopped shaking and was listening to the story.
“But... wasn’t she frightened? Without her Mama?”

“Well, she was a little. She knew she wouldn’t see her again for a while, but she was a very brave filly. And she knew that no matter how far away she was, her mother would always keep her in her mind, and in her heart. But shh, now, listen:

“She travelled for days and days in a huge carriage empty of impractical possessions or reminders from family. All she had in the world was in a pair of crisp saddlebags at her hooves, with a silver buckle featuring the family crest: a serpentine figure coiled around a rugged monolith, wings half-furled, fangs bared and dripping venom.

“These were filled with the things she would need in her training: a sturdy leather writing-case, which housed a quill and an ink-stone; a small purse of bits and a worn dagger.”

Carmen took a deep breath, about to go on, but a small sigh stopped her. Lyra had curled up in her arms, snuggled up and fallen asleep. She held her delicate, lovely daughter in her arms all night in an effort to guard her against the night-terrors.

...

Carmen hadn’t been able to sleep, and ran to her daughter the moment she woke, screaming. Lyra crawled into her open arms, sniffing and hiccupping, and looked expectantly up at her. For a time, they simply held each other; Carmen thoughtful, Lyra tearful.

“The filly’s name was Artemis Longhaven, and she had long dreamed of serving her princess in the Equestrian guard. When she was no older than you, she used to get up early and canter the breadth of the Longhaven Castle keep, her ancestral home. She had trained with the Castle man-at-arms until she was as fearsome as any colt, even one who was years older than her.

"At eight years old, she left the Castle to receive an audience with Princess Celestia so that she could train as a warrior. Her elder brothers were a knight and a squire, but she wanted to serve the common ponies of Equestria rather than command an army or serve as a strategist.

"She reached the outskirts of Canterlot, a grand city even then, and she wondered at the soaring, shining, fluted towers of Canterlot Castle, which seemed to her too ethereal to be solid.

" When she was led into the Royal Throne Room, she could barely keep her composure: there were so many nobleponies gathered around, some smiling at her eagerness, other frowning at the sight of a noble filly wishing to serve as an elite warrior, not a military strategist or figurehead. All of them were extremely beautiful, and dressed in fine and exotic fashions that reflected their status as among the most powerful in Equestria.

"Strewn between them were emissaries from foreign nations: a minotaur chatted effusively with a group of noblewomen; a griffin seemed to be engaged in some sort of debate with a group of young noble men involving resources; a zebra duelled an older statespony at chess. Flying above the elegant crowds were svelte and diminutive breezies, and in deep, clear, flowing pools along the edges of the room lounged sea ponies, conversing in song with the poets of the court.

"She marched all the way up that very long room, treading softly on the thick, finely embroidered, richly coloured carpet and keeping her head down. When she reached the end, she bowed deeply and rose, scared to look at the mighty ruler of all that she knew.

" ‘Lady Artemis of Longhaven’, the Herald announced. There was silence as Artemis stared fixedly at a particularly exquisite design on the carpet; a vividly flourishing vine of some exotic crimson flower.

" ‘There is no need to be frightened, Lady Artemis’, proclaimed a sweetly musical and understanding voice, ‘I know why it is that you are here. You have come to train as a Warrior: this I will gladly grant.’

"Artemis glanced up, taken aback by the kindness of the Princess: she had expected someone a little more... terrifying. There was, however, an unmistakeable regality about her that brooked no underestimation. There was wisdom in her eyes, but there was also acceptance, and love. She immediately felt calmed, and worthy to stand in the court, young and unproven as she was.

I will serve this goddess until the end of my days, she thought.

" ‘Your Highness, I must protest!’ exclaimed a white unicorn stallion with a cobalt, elaborately styled mane and a cutie mark of a silver candelabra.

" ‘We will allow a Lady to become a Knight, and that has proven successful, I will grant. But as a Warrior, a mare’s natural sensibilities would surely be overcome by the gruesome nature of the duties! And a noblemare no less! No filly should be raised so uncouth as to-’

" ‘Lord Blueblood, have you so soon forgotten that I have served as a Warrior? That I have proven myself worthy in battle time and time again, while your ancestors still served as commoners in the Army?’, smoothly interrupted Princess Celestia.

" ‘I will tolerate no opposition on this matter. She will serve as a Warrior if she so wishes, and she shall acquit herself admirably!” Here Celestia’s tone took an almost angry edge, but she reined it in to turn back to Artemis, as the disgraced Lord sank back among the crowd of Nobles who were clearly savouring his humiliation.

" ‘I must ask you this: are you sure in your ambition to become a Warrior? It is a hard and violent path for a filly to resign herself to so soon in life, as Lord Blueblood has kindly pointed out. I will support you in your goal: I only wish to determine the reason behind it- why have you chosen to become a Warrior, and not a Knight? ’Tis an easier path.’

"There was some murmuring among the Nobles at this, but it was quickly silenced as the Princess waited patiently for Artemis to formulate her thoughts.

"Artemis swallowed back her anxiety and spoke. She wanted to show that the Princess had been right in trusting in her, and in defending her against the elitist Blueblood.

" ‘Y-Your Highness, I... I wish to become a Warrior so that I may help those in dire need. The army is only mobilised in hours of peril for the whole of Equestria, with Knights to lead and guide, and yes, fight alongside, but a Warrior may, no, must always help those weaker than themselves, whether in a time of warfare or no.’

"She paused, knowing that she had not yet answered the Princess’s question. She had heard from her brothers what the life of a Knight had been reduced to, now that the nobles had mobilised in order to hold positions of power with minimum risk to themselves.

" ‘The Knight’s path may be easier, as your Highness says, but I wish to help ponies with my hooves, not with reams of paper, nor with plans that require approval from three different authorities. I wish to see that my acts are of use, and not to sit three months waiting for a report on the matter.”
"She bowed her head. A splutter could be heard from the crowd of onlookers, but otherwise the room was silent except for the rippling of water and the rustling of the breezies’ wings.

" ‘I see. It shall be done; Clerk Scroll, see to it. Guard, accompany Lady Longhaven to the training barracks. I shall arrange for your equipment to be sent to you. Goodbye, Lady Artemis. I expect we will be hearing more of you shortly.’

"Artemis bowed; feeling relieved, she followed the guard out of a discreet side door. That had been less stressful than she had imagined, however the brevity of the Princess’s reply had taken her aback. Her new life was to begin with nary a hiccup.”

Carmen fell silent, lost in long- repressed memories and smiling with nostalgia. With a gentle movement, she alighted from the bed and walked to the door. Lyra had long ago fallen into an untroubled sleep: she had most likely barely heard the beginning of Carmen’s rememberings. Carmen left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

...

And so it went until Lyra no longer woke screaming in the dead hours of the night, and as the filly grew, the tale of Artemis Longhaven was left behind with her grief, not forgotten but rarely thought of.

Author's Note:

Yep, a new chapter! Sure hope y'all like it... all of you ten who have read it so far! Kinda feel like I'm howling into the void here, but, hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? The Everfree Castle wasn't built in a day and all that.
So... enjoy, feel free to point out any errors (unless they are relating to the differences in American/English spelling...), and hey, upvotes are free. Don't be stingy with them!