The courts of Sun and Moon

by Jade Crossroads

Smoke and mirrors Part 1

The Maiden of the night is not so easily intimidated however, and her temper boils as she stamps her hoof upon the earthen ground. She would have told him just that had she not been interrupted mid stammer. Her ear twitches at something sounding muffled as if by a great distance, but before anything can be done in response to it, a deafening screech fills the air, the echo of which was deafeningly loud making the moon princess’ ears ring. Suddenly wary of her surroundings the tense atmosphere is for a short while broken. Discord, using this to his advantage turns away from Luna and extends his lion arm to Celestia, who takes it without hesitation. She tries with some difficulty to stifle her laughter at her sister’s behavior as she is lead away and further within the line of trees.

Only Luna heeds the noise, as she swiftly looks about to assess the seriousness of the horrid sound. They were in the everfree forest after all, it can only be so tamed by alicorn magic. The thought made the accompanying howling of timberwolves seem like laughter to her ears. Perhaps this clearing was too vulnerable? Undistracted either of the trio could blast the wooden creatures to scraps, however… on a night of festivities, who would be attentive tonight? She shook her head, no, they had come here for longer than anypony could remember and no such incidents had transpired in all that time. It isn’t until the noise goes off again and it is joined by a cacophony of more familiar sound waves that it begins to take form and sound like… music.

She too blushes at this, but out of sheer embarrassment. Luna would have laughed at such gullibility, had it not been herself that fell for the trick. Discord always got on her nerves like that, and it truly had sounded so dreadful what with the first indescribably indecent notes. It was yet another reminder of her dislike for the draconequus seconded only by his courtship of her sister, Tia, that he played such ghastly pranks.

Of course it was only one of his instruments, and not only that but a distraction!, she curses her foolishness, noting that her sister as well as the thrice mentioned creature had fled the scene in her bewilderment. The music continues to pour out of thin air, emanating as if it came out of the air itself and the flickering lights of breezies and lanterns that now litter the skies with their own light. A quick observation clarified that the music, while ricocheting off from the surrounding overhang of branches and shrubs, was gradually moving away. While it was meant to keep her at bay, perhaps it could also lead her to whom she seeked. Emphasis on gradually, however, it could be hours before she found her sister and the buffoon that was so taken with her.

It didn’t take nearly as long as Luna had feared for her to find her sister again once she began her chase of the song. It seemed that she was chasing the ponies necessary to play the invisible instruments instead of notes carried on the wind. All the while her face had turned beet red, chasing something that wasn’t really there in any form but a sound was rather humiliating, more so than the prospect had at first seemed to her.

It appeared Discord had conjured yet another oddity with his magic during her absence. A great white pavilion was floating where it would have been otherwise invisible from where she was had he wanted to hide it. That is to say it glowed with a brilliance that was a bit difficult to look directly at if one’s eyes were not adjusted. “I should never have turned my back on that one.” Luna remarks as she takes in the dancing couple beneath the cover of the structure’s roof. Disapproving of the pair and acting protectively of her love struck sister, she attempted to intervene. Unsurprisingly, before she can blink, much less move a hoof she is met with another obstacle; The little pavilion Discord created with his magic grew to accommodate the newcomers that had unbeknownst to the star-clad alicorn, gathered alongside her outside of the enchanted shade. Ponies she had never seen before headed past her to join in the dance. Discord had always loved his illusions, it would only make sense that these were apart of that. Now she had to get to them in order to put a stop to it, which meant getting through the now crowded perimeter of the ivory pavilion. While nopony would notice, it was still sure to draw unwarranted attention from any number of sources, she wasn’t concerned about the smoke and mirror guests, so much as the ponies that lived near the outskirts of the forest and the many beasts of the Everfree. It was hard enough to miss a flying pavilion, but one that was illuminated so unabashedly was another entirely.

Luna made her way to the pavilion only for it to relocate. Three times she tried, and it wasn’t until the fourth that she managed to enter through the arches of it. With no sign of the two love birds, she tried to move further through the gathered crowd. She couldn’t get past any one of them. She was growing incredibly irritated with the festivities herself, when a stallion’s voice could be heard from over her shoulder just as laughter rang about her head from across the space. It was not one she was familiar with, the voice, not the laugh.

“Don’t tell me Discord actually made an illusion speak to me.” She mutters under her breath as she turned to the stranger one who spoke, rather put out by the prospect of such nonsense. She paused when she saw his face, and part of her wished it wasn’t an illusion, truly, but she quickly pushed aside the thought.The stallion before her was the picture of a gentlecolt. He was tall and his coat was grey like the clouds that warned of a coming storm. His mane was black, and while it wasn’t oiled, it had the look of it. His eyes were red, a rose red, something else that caught her off guard. Red eyes were rare enough, typically associated with villainy, but there was nothing that screamed of villainous intent about him. She did admit to herself however, that he melded along a little too well among the shadows, where she wasn’t even sure there were shadows to begin with. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that she realized she was staring and while it looked like she was hiding the fact, he seemed to be staring as well.

Comments

[Jade Crossroads]

7478083 Thank you. :)

[King Sombra Returns]

Hmm.. Now we are getting somewhere!

[sociopath on the moon]

well why is this story dead 😭