Wanderlost

by GMBlackjack

XXIII - Lunar Lives

Equis was black as night, sitting amongst the stars with only their light for illumination. They provided enough light to make the bluish-white ball of ice visible against the black backdrop of space, but only barely. No lights came from the surface of the world whatsoever. It was only a lifeless rock that had frozen solid centuries before. Had any major light source been around, the world would have been a beautiful, brilliant white - but the hidden beauty was kept hidden. The world was alone.

Well... Not quite alone. Equis' satellite, the moon, stood strong. Mostly untouched over the centuries, it circled Equis slowly, just as dark as its mother. But it somehow seemed more alive, more powerful - more steadfast. Gray and lifeless though it was, an air of something different surrounded it.

It had a single point of light coming from the surface. A singular domed structure lit up the otherwise black landscape. The dome itself was glass, ringed on the bottom with brilliant yellow lights, serving as a makeshift sun. Within the dome itself a small forest, filled with dense green foliage, most of which was bearing fruit. A single staircase in the center led down into the underground facility.

The subsurface levels were much larger, the size of a town. The rooms were narrow and cramped, but they were clean and functional. Screens lined all the walls and ceiling-embedded lights kept everything well lit. Many rooms were filled with nothing but boxes, and in others, there were nothing but beds.

In yet another room there were over one hundred thousand tick marks, signifying a long and terrible struggle. There were at least five distinct styles evident in how the tick marks were spread - the oldest being methodical and mathematical, the newer ones just quick scratches. They told a story - a story of a tradition passed down through the centuries.

A new mark was made by somepony completely unknown to the room. Her horn hit the wall, and she drew a long, straight mark into the metallic surface. She took a step back. The mark was the largest one on the wall. It screamed out, demanding to be seen, demanding to be noticed.

"if that's how you're going to do it... By all means, I won't stop you Scythe."

The completely black mare turned at her name, meeting her grandfather's eyes. "It needs to be something new," she said.

Her grandfather nodded. "Of course. You are now the datekeeper. Make us proud."

"Of course," she said, standing up and walking out of the room. "I will be back tomorrow."

Her grandfather nodded."Of course. Don't squander this honor."

Scythe trotted out, moving silent as a shadow. The only colors that weren't black on her were the whites of her eyes, accenting the void-like pupils that stared out at the world with a resigned gaze. She walked into the main room - nopony actually had a name for it - and counted forty-three of the sixty-two inhabitants of Home.

She knew all of them by name. They were all her family.

...There had once been well over a hundred ponies living in Home. The number rarely increased any more.

She passed her many family members without a word - and they said nothing back. They all knew she didn't like talking, only reading and listening. They spoke knowing she'd hear, and she walked around in order to listen. She caught many snippets of conversation...

"...inbred..."

"...infertile..."

"...barren..."

"...power fluctuations..."

"...decline..."

"...nowhere to go..."

Scythe continued on, emotionless. She had long ago refused to let it affect her. Those who weren't like her... Well...

"...feather's gone..."

Sixty-one.

Scythe didn't even pause as she adjusted the number. She headed up to the top floor - to the garden. Dense foliage greeted her, and she knew every last bit of it was edible, filling, and nutritious. She could have eaten some, there was plenty to go around, but she didn't care right now. She trotted along the small path to the edge of the dome, pausing to look out at the stars and the dark shape of Equis in the sky.

She lifted a tablet with her hooves and began to read - "Tall Tales of Equestria" - and a smile spread across her face. She read of the great princess Aurora, of a love spell gone awry, of a brown stallion in a blue box, and of a foal who saved the world.

A mix of history and legend - oh, this was perfect. What parts were true? What parts were false? What was somewhere in the middle? The questions nagged at her brain, the mystery bringing joy to Scythe. They were one of the few things that could, anymore...

She looked back out at the black sky, into the depths of the starfield.

She thought of the many tales of the Stars and how they played games with ponies, looking down from above and laughing at their plight. How these Stars always made things difficult.

"Happy now?" she asked, glaring out into space. "We won't be around to entertain you much longer..."

The moment she said that a claw dropped from the sky, embedding itself into the ground a few miles away. Scythe dropped her tablet, unable to move. She stared at the gigantic claw in the distance, following the wire up into the darkness. How long was the cable? How far up was the ship? Had aliens found them? Was this good or bad? Why on Equis wasn't she telling the others?

She found herself firmly planted on the spot, staring, not wanting to miss anything. Minutes passed, and nothing seemed to happen - and she allowed her mind to relax. She finally forced herself to take a step back - time to go talk to the others. But then she saw it descending. A cylindrical shape coming down the ground. It softly landed atop the claw, and the doors slid open.

Scythe recognized the figure inside instantly. Mare of Stars. Coat of Night. Eyes of Wisdom. "Princess Luna... " Scythe said, watching closely as the regal alicorn drew closer. Scythe's mind took a while to process the fact that Luna was staring right at her.

Luna.

Luna was back on her moon.

That meant the Ark had returned - though the Ark's claw didn't look like that in all the schematics she had seen. Maybe they had retrofitted or replaced it?

What did Luna want? To find survivors? To help them?

...To reclaim her moon?

Perhaps Luna had gone mad and was Nightmare Moon again, here to return all to ash and nothingness... And she was now standing inches away from Scythe, the glass of the dome all that protected them from each other.

May I come in? Luna asked telepathically.

Scythe's mind was blown - she knew magic had been real, but she hadn't really believed it until that moment. You could talk mind to mind with it! She wondered if teleportation-

At the thought of teleportation, Luna appeared inside the dome with a flash of light.

"I didn't say yes!" Scythe yelled.

"Apologies. I heard 'teleport' and acted. Your mind was... very muddled." The princess' voice was soft, concerned, and wise. It put Scythe at ease. "...Has the Ark returned?"

"Ah, you already know who I am and what happened all those centuries ago. Good, I was afraid I'd have to explain. In short, no, the Ark is not back, it crashed."

Scythe sagged. So the mission had been a failure.

"But most of the occupants survived and are now on a planet a few thousand light years from here," Luna said with a smile. "Everypony here is welcome to join us."

Scythe let out a small squee. "Everypony is going to be so relieved! We were beginning to lose hope!"

Luna looked downward. "I can see why. This was... the only light we saw. All bunker signals were dead." She looked into Scythe's eyes. "What happened while we were gone?"

"Well..." Scythe gulped. It was time to put her historical knowledge to the test. "War. There were lots of wars at first. Kingdoms formed that ran on heat - geothermal, magical, you name it. It was brutal. Everyone worldwide was cold and dying, but those with heat thought they could survive. Then the seals of Tartarus broke, and we all realized what was happening for the first time. Magic itself was decaying, and all of us needed magic to live. At first, we did nothing - the creatures of Tartarus raged and roared, fighting over the frozen world, surviving the cold by their sheer power. But even the great demons would die eventually. The centaur Tirek ended up being the first to act. He attempted to solve the problem of magic drain. While the other creatures warred and most of the others hid in doomed bunkers, Tirek worked endlessly with scientists in Hoofington to solve the problem. And they did it. They figured out how to remove magic from their bodies without dying. Of course, this wouldn't be enough. Equis itself had a landscape built by magic. Soon, the very earth would start shifting and shattering - the planet was not safe. So Tirek left, taking his ponies with him, and built this place centuries ago."

Luna blinked. "Tirek? Of all people..."

"not even he expected he'd do this all in his wildest dreams," Sychte said. "...Do you want to talk to him?"

Luna gasped. "...He's alive?"

Scythe cocked her head. "...Does brain-in-a-jar hooked up to a computer monitor count as alive?"

Luna blinked. "...Close enough. Let me see him."

Scythe smiled. "Sure. Just ignore the locals. You're going to draw a lot of attention." She led Luna down the stairs - and down, and down, and down. Ponies of all kinds gaped at Luna, and a few tried to speak to her - but she smiled warmly at them and shook her head.

Eventually, Luna and Scythe arrived at the bottom - a small room with nothing but several vitals monitors, a centaur brain in a jar, and a screen with Tirek's face on it.

Even on the virtual screen, he looked tired. "L... Luna?"

"Tirek. It's been a while."

Tirek groaned."...Yes"

"You saved them all."

"That's not a question."

"Why?"

"...It was self-preservation at first," Tirek said, "but then I got to know them. I spent years working with them. It... felt wrong to leave them once the problem had been solved. So I took them all with me. In return, they have taken good care of me."

"You're dying."

Tirek chuckled. "Also not a question. There's only so much mundane technology can do, even as specialized as it is. But at least I know now that you have found a home, and that my ponies will be safe."

Luna sighed. "We have magic. We can heal you."

"You will find that magic cannot affect us. Used the stuff in Chrysalis' throne to save us. We are all dead zones."

"Surely-"

"No. My time has come, Luna. I have paid for my sins and saved some ponies. This place is more than sixty individuals - it is an archive of all things written and done on Equis, including after you left. Everything, the entire history that you missed."

Luna smiled. "Thank you Tirek. You have been forgiven."

"I do have one request."

"What is that?"

"Take the moon to your new home. Your magic can still carry it. Let it be a piece of history forever, a reminder."

Luna grinned. "I will. I had plans to take it back to the system anyway."

"Good."

There was silence.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Tirek asked. "Get on that!"

"Er... aren't you-"

"Oh for Faust's sake, I'm dying, not at death's door! This tank is going to keep me alive for at least a few more months Princess, probably a few more years. What, did you think you'd arrive just seconds before I kick the bucket?"

"Er..." Luna fumbled.

"Nevermind, don't answer that. I'll be here for a while. See if you can get me to the new home. I'd like to see it."

Scythe grinned. Luna followed the black mare's example. "Actually Tirek... Care to join us on our journey to another stop? Great evil to be vanquished."

"...Wouldn't the moon slow you down?"

"We have enough ships to create a jumpnet. We were expecting to take it back with us after all, it won't take too much rewiring to take it forward and back. ...You know, before I came here, I wasn't all that sure I actually wanted the moon back."

"It is a part of you and your history. You should keep it."

"My sister didn't get to keep the sun..."

"So?" Tirek said. "She doesn't need to keep you from what you want. Now let's get moving here, I'm not getting any younger."

~~~

The ships took their positions around the moon and activated all their drives at the same time, connecting to each other with a powerful net.

"Ready Tirek?" Luna asked over the comm.

"I've been ready for five centuries."

"In 3..."

"Still can't believe that centaur made it..." Discord muttered.

"2..."

Twilight shrugged. "I think it's good - he made a difference."

"1..."

Starlight smirked. "A big difference."

"Jump." The Mite said, giving the command before Luna could give her final dramatic line.

The moon vanished in a flash of magical energies.

The ruined world of Equis was now truly alone. Dead.

Comments

[FancyFan]

One of the best chapters I think.

[mastermenthe]

Woah.

[FredMSloniker]

"Oh for Faust's sake, I'm dying not at death's door! This tank is going to keep me alive for at least a few more months Princess, probably a few more years. What, did you think you'd just arrive seconds before I kick the bucket?"

Hee.

[Fire_Starter]

Story is starting to really pick back up

[Europa]

Tragic and uplifting all at once. At least Tirek did the right thing. Though I loved the 'im dying, not on deaths door' jab at the trope.

[Gamerdestiny6]

And so, the shining jewel that was equis is left dead and frozen.
Forever drifting in the never-ending night.
It's journey to be continuing on, until the death of time.

[Neece]

Powerful. Specially who were the one to save them. The memory of Equis, thought long forgotten, recovered at least. And their moon shall with them go on a mission of vengeance

[Holyme]

The atmosphere of this chapter is so bleak, the impact is a bit diminished though. I think the chapter was a bit rushed. It could have included more perspectives from the survivors, more interactions with Luna, reactions from the rest of the royals... Or any other element that could hammer in the oppressive emptiness.

Still a good chapter, rushed but good.

[NotanImportantPony]

"...Does brain-in-a-jar hooked up to a computer monitor count as alive?"

brain-in-a-jar?

i.onionstatic.com/avclub/4219/09/16x9/1200.jpg

It's close enough.

[Ice4smaster]

I can say too this was a bit short, non the less it's interesting.

Though, here's an idea. If they can tow the moon back to their new home, they could do with Equs too, well with a bigger armada. And two planets better then one even if the revival would take centuries to do so. And mortal implications? Why not have their home world back restored even if so many died, many more have died before they ever lived to begin with. And they could share it with the Gari too.

[Charliehorse]

I liked this chapter. It had new facts introduced that each implied a lot of story that we readers get to fill in with our own heads. I think thats part of the secret of good story writing.

[Blaster M]

8117359
Exactly what I was thinking

[GMBlackjack]

8118209

...If you don't mind, I'll be taking note of that. Can't believe that didn't occur to me...

-GM, master of mice.

[Cheshire_Jackal]

That was heavier than expected, but I loved it just the same.. just.. whoah.

[Cutie Honey]

Horribly tragic. Yet life survives, it finds a way.

[Greatazuredragon]

"Happy now?" she asked, glaring out into space. "We won't be around to entertain you much longer..."
The moment she said that a claw dropped from the sky, clawing into the ground a few miles away.

Hello, my name is Murphy and I'll be your host this evening.