Chapter Eight - After
This is not the first time Luna has wished that the night could be longer, but as she watches Mare disappear in her hooves, she finds it is for an entirely different reason than all those thousand years ago.
She gently lifts herself off Mare’s bed and lowers herself onto the floor. Out of the corner of her eye she spots a movement by the meteor. She watches Mare appear translucent atop it, where she curls into a small ball. Luna walks over and tries to lay a hoof upon her, but it passes through. Mare doesn’t even seem to notice.
Luna sighs, and walks towards the door. Cherry stands next to it, seemingly lost, watching the still figure of Mare.
“There is nothing we can do for her now, I’m afraid,” says Luna, making Cherry jump, “At least not until the night returns.”
“Can she hear us?” says Cherry.
Luna shakes her head. “Nothing of this world can reach her right now.”
Cherry sags slightly. She looks exhausted, no doubt the events of the night are catching up with her.
“Your shift is over, I suggest you head home for some rest,” says Luna sympathetically.
Cherry takes some steps to the door as if to comply, but then stops and turns to Luna, looking thoughtful.
“If I may ask, Princess, what will you do, will you be staying?”
Luna shakes her head. “I am afraid I must inform my sister about the events of this night, and then I shall have to see to some… urgent matters,” Luna says, not wanting to frighten Cherry with the nature of those matters.
Cherry looks into the room at the prone Mare. “Then if it is all the same to you, Your Highness, I think I’d better stay.”
Luna raises her eyebrow. “Are you sure? You do not have to, I certainly wouldn’t think any less of you for wanting to sleep this off.”
“I know, Princess, but… when Mare wakes up, I don’t think she should be alone, I know I wouldn’t want to be.”
Luna is silent for a moment, then smiles. “I will send someone to inform your mother that you will not be returning home today. Wouldn’t want her to worry.”
“Thank you Princess,” Cherry says, sitting down next to Mare.
Luna leaves to find her sister.
She isn’t hard to find. Celestia is a creature of routine, and Luna manages to time her arrival as Celestia is stepping out of the bathroom after her morning shower.
“Luna, I wasn’t expecting to see you until breakfast,” says Celestia. The water quickly evaporates off her body, and she spares her sister a glance while she goes to dress herself in her royal regalia. “You’ve grown taller since last night, good to see your powers returning so fast.”
“Sister, there is something important I must discuss,” Luna says gravely.
That tone catches Celestia off guard, she turns to face her sister halfway from the dresser. “What’s wrong?” Then she actually takes a good look at her sister. “Luna, what is that smudge on your neck…”
Suddenly she was right in front of Luna. “Sister, why are you bleeding?”
“That blood is not mine, although in this case I would prefer it,” she says.
Celestia feels a chill down her spine. “Whose blood is it?”
“Mare’s.” Luna says sadly.
“I… I don’t understand. Luna, what happened?” says Celestia weakly.
Luna gestures to Celestia’s bed, and they both sit down.
“Last night, Mare was attacked… by a Crawling Dark.”
“What?” Celestia almost shrieks, “But why?”
“I don’t know!” says Luna, “All I know is that one was there and it nearly got her!”
“It just doesn’t make any sense,” mutters Celestia, “Why would Mare of all people have a Crawling Dark!”
“Well, she has never been the most happy person,” says Luna.
“But what about the power, Luna,” says Celestia. “I always thought that the amount of power for a Dark to manifest was considerable, certainly larger than Mare’s meagre reserves.”
“We don’t know that, Sister… No one does,” says Luna.
Celestia sags. “How… how is Mare?” she says hoarsely.
“Sleeping I think, it’s hard to tell,” Luna says. “I think she wore herself out crying.”
“I… see… and what of the blood?”
“She was bleeding from the forehead, I don’t know how she got it, but the wound suggested blunt trauma, I cleaned it up as best as I could.”
Celestia swallows. “And what of the Crawling Dark?”
Luna sighs. “What else could I do? I flung it away, as far as I could, with any luck it will be a week before we see it again. Regardless, I will spend today warding the tower and the castle grounds to prevent its incursion.”
Celestia nods sombrely. “That would probably be the best course of action. But… what do we tell Mare?”
Luna looks at her sister sadly. “I know you will want to hide this from her, but not telling her will only put her in more danger and potentially destroy what trust she has for you, I know you do not want that. While it will be harder for her, she will at least be safer than if she were left in the dark.”
Celestia sighs. “You are, of course, right… I will tell her as soon as she is ready to know.”
“Sister…” Luna says accusingly.
“I do not wish to pile this on top of her probably considerable trauma,” Celestia says sharply, “First and foremost she needs comfort. If you are correct we have a week before it returns. If she asks I will not lie to her, and if she does not I will tell her sometime within the week. But I will not tell her until I think she has at least somewhat recovered.”
Luna gets up. “Very well, that sounds reasonable. Just try not to leave it too long. It will hurt more the longer you leave it. Now if you excuse me, I have a long day of work ahead of me, I have a lot of ground to cover. This will require a very large ward.”
“Might I advise seeking the aid of the guard captain, he is quite proficient at defensive magic. If nothing else, he can at least organise the guard to aid you.”
“I doubt he knows a spell as old as this, there is often little call for it, but I will seek him out all the same. First I must see if any of the night staff still remain, I must ask one of them to run a small errand for me.” With that, Luna leaves the room.
Celestia sits in thought. To think, today was going to be so simple. Now… there was no way she was going to be able to focus, not like this.
She stands up and leaves her chambers.
Raven is standing outside with a clipboard. She raises her eyebrow. “Princess, you seem to have neglected your regalia.”
“Raven, I am afraid I shall be cancelling my appointments today… All of them.”
Ravens other eyebrow raises. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure. Something has come up, and work right now is… impossible,” says Celestia “Extend my apologies to all those inconvenienced, and try to help reschedule them.”
“Very well, Princess,” says Raven, “Where will you be?”
“I will be in the Western watchtower.”
Celestia opens the door slowly and looks around, it seems most of the curtains have been shut bar one, which only shows an open expanse of sky. Her eyes alight on semi-transparent Mare, who sits curled up on her meteor, still, with only the occasional twitch indicating that she is still alive. She could be sleeping, it is hard to tell with Mare. In the half darkness she seems to glow faintly, like the stars from which she owes life.
Celestia also sees another figure next to Mare. She couldn’t help but smile a little seeing Cherry snoozing next to Mare’s meteor. She must have dozed off, poor thing.
Using her magic, she gently wipes the thin line of drool off her muzzle, then gently lifts her head and places a pillow under it. Cherry mumbles a bit before wrapping her hooves around it and continues snoozing.
Celestia turns back to Mare and her eyes grow Melancholy.
She seemed so happy last night, happier than Celestia had ever seen her. She had smiled, joked and laughed… and now…
Celestia sits down on Mare’s opposite side. She doubts there will be laughter now, not even a smile. She ponders Mare’s words
“...no matter how much I wish you would sometimes, you never leave me alone!”
That is what Mare said, yet why is it…
“I’m sorry… But I’m not strong enough!”
… that she is never there when Mare actually needs her?
Celestia sighs, she wonders why the universe is so hellbent on seeing Mare miserable? There are only so many bad hands one can be dealt before suspecting that the deck might be rigged.
‘No wonder she wanted to sleep forever,’ thinks Celestia somberly.
Celestia shakes herself of such thoughts. She mustn't give up, nor should she let Mare give up, a phrase from her old master and friend springs to mind.
“Remember Celestia, just because life has given you lemons, that does not mean you have to take them,” Starswirl had said with a wily grin. “Throw them at their feet and spit in their eye. History is made by those who defy destiny.”
Celestia shakes her head fondly. She misses that crazy old coot, he would know what to do. He always had some bizarre plan that would make everything alright.
She looks down at Mare. But Satrswirl isn’t here, and Celestia can do nothing but trust Luna with her warding, and give Mare comfort when the stars return. Until then, she will be there for Mare, she will not leave her alone, and maybe, even with the looming threat of the dark, she will find Mare’s laughter again.
But until then, in the gloom of the room, with only two unconscious people for company, she will catch up on her reading.
Luna slowly drags the large paint brush over the gigantic ritual parchment. The castle grounds are large indeed, and therefore need a powerful ritual to cover it.
Shining Armour watches the complicated patterns the princess paints with interest. He had never seen a warding like this, or a ward of this nature, and even with all his knowledge of defensive magics, this design is alien to him.
“So this is for that… thing that was reported last night?” Shining asks.
“The Crawling dark, yes,” says Luna, not taking her eyes off her work. “This will prevent it from entering the grounds… for a time, at least, and it will inform me of its presence.”
“Not indefinitely?” says Shining.
“The amount of ground to cover is too large for a perfect ward. Eventually it will be able to force its way through and temporarily shatter it, but I will know the minute it even touches the barrier, and we will have plenty of time to react.”
“Why does it need to be this ward? Surely there are other more powerful ones that could be used,” says Shining.
Luna snorts. “The Crawling dark is no ordinary apparition, this is the only ward short of a perfect physical barrier that will stop one, once cast it will also sustain itself nearly indefinitely.”
“Sounds handy. Usually only the most powerful of wards can go without renewal,” says Shining conversationally.
“It was designed like this, after all…” Luna says grimly, “It needs to last the user a lifetime.”
“What will you do with it once it gets back?” says Shining.
“What I did with it last night,” says Luna. “I will fling it as far as my magic and its mass will allow. Then await its return to do the same once more.”
Shining raises his eyebrow. “Isn’t there a more permanent solution?”
Luna stops her work and seems to stare forlornly into the sky. “...No... there really isn’t.” She resumes painting.
Shining was distracted from Luna’s chilling words by one of his guards approaching, carrying a large tall stone in his telekinetic grip.
“Captain, your Highness, we have found another one to match your specifications!” he says with a salute.
“Thank you guardsman,” says Luna. Plucking the stone from the air, she cuts it cleanly in half with a magical blade, before standing the parts up in the two empty spots on the circle alongside similar stones, “Fourteen should be adequate for our purposes, thank you for your assistance.”
Shining finds himself impressed with Luna’s concentration. She didn’t even look up from her painting.
As the guard leaves to find his cohorts, Luna puts the finishing touches on the circle. She runs a critical eye over it, searching for imperfections. “I advise you take note of this Captain. Engrave this circle into your memory. To my knowledge you are one of the most proficient casters of defensive magic of this age. In consideration of my sister's lack of talent for warding magics, I ask you to keep an eye on this circle during the hours of the day and repair it, if damage is done. It does not require constant surveillance, but I ask that you check it at least once a day before the evening. Can you do that?”
Shining thinks about it, casting his gaze over the inactive magic circle. “I think I can do that, Princess,” he says finally. “But if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is at stake?”
Luna stares long and hard at Shining, sizing him up, before speaking. “The life of a child.”
With that proclamation, Luna steps back and braces herself, Shining also takes some steps back, deciding to leave the deeper processing of Luna’s words for another time and to simply study the casting of the spell.
Luna’s hooves bite into the lawn as she widens her stance. Her horn starts to glow, and the painted lines start glowing softly. Steadily the glow of her horn increases, as do the lines, quickly becoming white with a blue corona, then blindingly white. It was all Shining could do to keep looking as the circle starts pulsating, the ritual parchment lifts off the ground, then combusts, leaving the the magic circle floating indpepently in the air along with the fourteen small standing stones. Each stone suddenly starts glowing as sigils embed themselves into the rock, before sinking into the ground, the grass seemingly rippling at their passage.
As Climbing Ivy, the castle’s one and only pegasi gardener, busied himself among the furthest flowerbeds, he felt a strange sensation. He watched, nonplussed, as a huge standing stone lifted itself out of the ground, uprooting a flowerbed in the process.
Climbing Ivy sighs and rescues as many flowers as he can before rearranging the flowerbed around the new stone feature.
A nondescript maid, oddly named Tsumugu, armed as usual with her one of a kind broom, stands in the door of one of the the guest rooms, wondering what in the world is a giant rock is doing sitting in the middle of it.
“Someone’s gonna flip when they see this,” she says flatly.
Highrise, one of the castle's window cleaners, is doing his rounds over the parts of the castle that overhang the Canterlot platform, when he notices a large flat rock sticking out the wall.
“Wha…?” he says, eyebrow raised.
The circle slowly lowers to the ground, gently spinning on the spot, the glow dying down to a soft blue.
Luna sags, cutting off the spell now that it could sustain itself. Shining swears Luna has gotten noticeably smaller.
“Are you alright, Princess?” Shining asks.
“I will manage,” Luna says. “It simply took more out of me than usual. I haven’t recovered all my power since the defeat of Nightmare Moon…” She peters off, a look of realization and quiet horror crossing her face. Before Shining can ask, she shakes it off. “Nevertheless, I will have to endure it, this is not the only ward I must cast before the night is over.”
Luna means to walk away, but staggers. Shining is by her side and helps her straighten up.
“Thank you, Captain.”
“I think you need to recover, you are in no state to be drawing wards,” Shining says.
“What choice do I have? In order to minimise risk, the warding must be done before the end of the night,” Luna says. “Though I suspect we will not see the dark for another week, I have been wrong before. I cannot rest until I have done everything I can to ensure her safety.”
“That is very admirable Princess, but drawing wards requires coordination, if you will forgive me for being frank, you are having trouble standing,” Shining says, having flashbacks to Twilight's panic study binges.
The princess shoots Shining a look, and then sighs. “That is… accurate, unfortunately.”
“How about this? If you can give me an idea on the nature of the ward, I can draw it for you while you have a lie down?”
Luna thinks for a moment before summoning a piece of parchment and a quill, and carefully drawing out the ward, before giving it to Shining. “You must draw this around the base of the Western watchtower, so both ends meet. I will charge it after you finish, as it takes a lot of practice to cast this ward.”
“As you say, Princess,” says Shining, helping her towards the tower.
For the rest of the morning, Shining patiently paints a ward around the base of the tower. Luna at first watches carefully, but eventually succumbs to her weariness, and takes a nap in the grass.
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Eh, Cave Johnson says it better.
Eh... I don't think there's quite that much drama yet.
I do not know. You can add, you can not add. I do not write fanfic. Here for yourself, how do you think? Read all the chapters and give yourself an answer.
One more thing... No crossover! The fact that you are writing the very beginning is a good story. Just continue on and do not add something there... other. ...Crossover. I do not want to give up reading afterwards if the fanfic moves to the wrong side.
At this point, it's borderline for the drama tag. I have never written a drama, so I wouldn't know exactly what constitutes a drama.
Just one thing your editors missed...
8207035 I'm not sure if I should laugh or face-palm... ehh I'll do both.
8207035
yes. XD
Also, Star Swirl SHOULD have said this....
8239833
YES someone who actually knows that outside of a fan group!
Edit: I meant to say that you know that and I don't have to find a Portal fan group to understand this
( ADD sponsored by EndGame.INC were the best games and quotes are made!)
8239833
well damn. you beat me to it by a few months. :c
8484525
Your lemons are so out of date that they actually are unfit for human consumption
Well next he's gonna say to burn life house with lemons and creates combustible lemons