Chapter 25: Awesome
The shift bell came to Moonrise not long after, sounding through every level of the city. Everywhere, ponies lingering after dinner rose to return home. The bright lights illuminating every public space dimmed to a faint glow—or so she heard.
“Tomorrow morning,” Arclight promised, touching her shoulder with one hoof. “I’ll take you to the cave. If you still think this plan is… If you’re still crazy enough that you haven’t given it up.”
“I won’t,” she said. “It’s obviously perfect.”
He groaned, then let go. “Whatever, Faith. Sleep on it. Maybe you’ll have a better idea.”
I won’t, she thought. But she didn’t keep arguing. Arclight wasn’t a bat—he hated the dark. She wouldn’t keep him out here. Some part of her wanted to go back with him, to the little loft bed waiting for her with Aunt Cozen. She used it most nights—at least there she could be around other ponies, instead of giant empty rooms. But she didn’t want any more sympathy.
Besides, Cozen was smart too. If she stayed a little too long, she might realize that Faith was planning something, and put together what they’d be up to. Arclight would already have it hard enough keeping the secret.
She turned for her own door, resting a hoof on the old wood. Real wood, all the way from Equestria itself. She touched it with a hoof, breathing in the scent of an alien place. Grown so far from here that she could barely even imagine it.
Then she saw. Through the wall, and the old wooden door, there was suddenly a pony inside. She didn’t hear a sound, but she didn’t need to. Penumbra’s body was visible to her the same way she “saw” the sounds of walls and objects and other ponies, but in far greater detail. No color, little texture, but distinct lines.
Faith sighed and nearly turned around. Penumbra started pacing back and forth by the far wall, apparently waiting for her.
Finally she gritted her teeth, shoving the door open with a shoulder.
The First Commander’s old home was almost as large as the princess’s own, except that it had no servants’ quarters. She stepped into an entry-hall with its own heat vent, along with more skeletal plants, then through a doorway into the kitchen.
“Hi Mom,” she said, voice tired.
“Faith, good to see you!” Even without the strange way she seemed to glow, Faith would’ve called her happiness forced. “It’s, uh… big day.”
Faith stopped on the other side of the kitchen—almost entirely empty, since she couldn’t cook, and her mother was an undead monster who didn’t eat. They had their own icebox like the other Greens, but changing the block every day was more work than it was worth to keep a few pieces of fruit fresh. She never bothered.
“Big day,” she repeated, settling down on her haunches. “Everypony else had their parents waiting for them when they got out.”
“Oh, uh… did they?” Penumbra winced. “I didn’t know. Sorry, sweetie.” She made her way forward, extending an awkward leg to touch her, but pulling it back. She probably thought Faith couldn’t see it, since she was so quiet.
Faith wasn’t about to correct that impression.
“But… looks like you’re… Blue? That’s a good color, right? Better than… Green?”
“Worse than Green,” Faith corrected. “White, Yellow, Red, Purple, Blue, Green, Black. How do you not know that?”
“I…” She shrugged. “I’ve never really cared. Better food, warmer bedroom. Not really sure what I’m supposed to do with those.”
“You’re Black,” Faith said flatly. “You get anything you want just by asking. You don’t care because you don’t have to care.”
Penumbra finally did reach out, touching her lightly on the side. Faith tensed, pulling back. Not because she was afraid, though she knew plenty of ponies who would’ve been. “Congratulations, sweetheart. I’m sure, uh… I’m sure he would’ve been proud.”
Dad will be proud when I come back from the Sacred City with metal eyes, and nopony in Moonrise can force me to act like a cripple. “Yeah,” she said flatly. “I’m sure he would.”
“I, uh… guess most parents get their foals something when this happens,” Penumbra went on, sounding more awkward with each word. “Do you want anything?”
“Can you make the Master of Labor let me apprentice?” she asked. The words came out before she realized what she was saying, leaving her with a bitter taste on her tongue. But they were all true, and she wasn’t going to take them back. Why should she?
“Can I… what?” Penumbra blinked, retreating a few steps. “What are you talking about, Faith?”
“Master Needle,” she said. “Says that I’ll never walk on the surface as long as I live. I’ll never get to be a Dustwalker. Even though I basically got a perfect score. Just those stupid knots slowed me down a little, but… not too much. I probably know them better than half the crews up there right now.”
“Oh, is that it?” Penumbra asked. “Why would you want to be a Dustwalker, Faith? You’re blind.”
She froze. For a few seconds, it felt like her heart didn’t even beat in her chest. She took a few ragged breaths, backing away from her. “Y-yeah. Why would I…” She sniffed, turning her back on Penumbra. “Why would I want that?” She ran, gliding the last few strides before spinning abruptly and rolling through the doorway into her bedroom. She slammed it shut behind her, slumped against the wall, and cried.
A few seconds later, she saw Penumbra vanish through the wall, returning her to true darkness.
She flopped onto her hammock, and the welcome oblivion that waited there. I’ll show you too, Mom.
Penumbra wasn’t there when she woke for a breakfast of dried fruit and water from the wall. She flaked a pinch of dried lemon, stirred it, then drank. Faith sat with her pitiful breakfast at the huge wooden table. She felt its old surface under her wings, the dozens of little dents and impressions probably left by hundreds of meetings that shaped the future of Moonrise.
But now Quill was dead, and those meetings happened somewhere else. She sat in his seat, with the little wheels that let her pull it along the length of the table. She rolled it forward and backward, until she felt hungry enough to finally eat.
I’m supposed to be celebrating today. Moonrise would have a dozen different parties, as adults of every craft welcomed their first moonborn newcomers. But none of those parties would be waiting for her. Become a runecrafter. Carve metal for spells until I get old and die. If that was living, then she would walk out onto the surface and let the moon take her.
But she wouldn’t be going to celebrate with the runecrafters, or anypony else. She finished eating, and wandered down the hall to Quill’s private shower. She flipped the switch, then waited impatiently while water bubbled and rose. Finally a bell chimed, and she flipped it off again.
She’d insisted on being assessed with everypony else, but that didn’t mean she would reject every luxury her family enjoyed. She barely had parents, she was going to bucking use the private shower.
She met Arclight just outside the door, wearing a heavy satchel and already smelling nervous. He shifted on his hooves, but didn’t seem able to say anything for several long moments. “You’re… you’re really gonna… you think we should…”
“Yes,” she said, annoyed. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Then…” He turned, and she followed. “We should probably get gone before ponies start inviting us to things.”
“Inviting you,” she muttered. She shouldn’t be sour with Arclight, he was one of the few ponies who actually seemed to be on her side. If anything, she should be thanking him.
They descended down several flights of stairs, then stepped out of the housing block and into the main cavern, sticking to the marked paths. She couldn’t see any of those markings, but the floors here were flat brick instead of uneven stone, and had a raised lip that could either warn her that she was wandering off, or trip her onto her face in front of everypony. Whatever she needed least at a given time.
She couldn’t see the oxygen plant they passed next, with its shallow pools of water and strange instruments. But she could hear the faint froth of bubbling liquid that suggested they were making air now.
As important as the purples doing that job were, she’d never even thought about it twice. The instruments they used to know how much air the city needed couldn’t be seen without eyes, which meant she couldn’t read them.
“I guess you didn’t think of any better ways,” he said conversationally. “Like… maybe just talking to the Dustwalkers and asking them to teach you?”
“That might’ve worked…” she began. “But Needle was so sure I’d never be allowed to work. She would’ve talked to them to make sure they sent me away.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, voice distant. “You’re probably right. I’m just… not looking forward to being an empty crystal for the next two days. You better stay with me. I don’t know… what we’ll do, but… you can’t leave. I’m charging this for you.”
“I’ll stay,” she swore. “You’re helping me with… Nothing’s more important than this. It’s basically sacred, Arclight. You’ll see, when we’re done. You won’t regret helping me.”
He didn’t sound like he agreed, but he didn’t argue. At least for a little while, this cavern was still mostly public, packed with traffic flowing in both directions from the fungus/insect farms, as well as the cistern and the crypt-cavern. There was also the old arena, used mostly for sports that other ponies seemed to enjoy, but that Faith couldn’t watch.
“How much further?” she asked. “I don’t like the lower caverns much. The smell is just… awful.”
“I thought you liked fungus,” Arclight said. She couldn’t tell if his voice was amused or indignant. “That’s all it is.”
She didn’t have the energy to argue just now. All her hopes now hinged on this desperate ploy.
Eventually Arclight directed her off the path, in a direction she’d never traveled before. But she could smell it all the same, even as her hooves were traveling over rough ground. She wrinkled her nose, touching his side with one outstretched wing. She held it there constantly even as she squeaked, as a second line of defense against obstacles in her way. “The midden heap? How many bad smells do we need?”
“We’re just going past it,” he said defensively. “Think about it, Faith. We have to go somewhere that nopony would ever think to check. What’s the worst part of Moonrise?”
“I get it,” she said, voice flat. “Just tell me when we’re teleporting.”
“You say it like it’s easy.” Through her touch, she could tell he was puffing out his chest, slowing a little and throwing his head back. “How many other ponies who haven’t had their cutie mark a year can do that? It’s, uh… it’s really advanced!”
That’s the moon. Learn quick or die. “And I’m very proud of you,” she said. “And grateful. Nopony else could do this. But… please tell me this super-secret magical lab is somewhere close?”
“Yeah.” They walked a little while longer, before turning up a slope. “Time for a little more squeaking, Faith. This tunnel sucks, and I don’t think my horn will help you.”
She raised her voice just a little, and he wasn’t wrong. The tunnel curved up and away from them, with jagged protrusions and broken rock blocking the path at random. No wonder nopony had thought to use it for anything before now, it was barely even wide enough for an adult. They had things easier, though her head would scrape the ceiling in places.
After a few more difficult minutes of climbing, spent together in near-silence where she could use an occasional high-pitched sound to keep the cavern’s shape ever-present in her mind, they finally reached their destination.
A blank wall, no different than any other. She squeaked a few times as Arclight fell silent, as though she might be able to hear her way through the stone to whatever was on the other side. But there was nothing, not even the hollow feeling she sometimes got from doors and thin walls.
“You’re sure this is it?”
“Shut up,” he answered. “Stand close to me, close your eyes, and breathe out when I say.”
“Close my eyes for what?” she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side. “You think I’m going to see terrible things in the void? See, Arclight. See.”
“No,” he groaned. “I think Mom said the water on your eyes can freeze and you can burn them. Do you want your eyes cut out?”
She fell silent, screwing her eyes shut, and tucking her ears and wings in for good measure. “I’ve… never actually done this before.”
“Obviously,” he said. A few more moments of silence, then, “One… two… now!”
She exhaled, felling a profound yank at her lungs. There was a moment of terrible cold in the void, and it didn’t matter that her eyes were closed. Thousands of little dots seemed to appear around her, each one a little different. Like the way her mother looked, a faint patch of greater darkness against the vastness. They turned, watching her.
Then she was in the air, falling. The ground met her, and she squeaked in surprise, becoming abruptly aware of a round space maybe ten paces long. The ceiling and floor were covered in odd grooves, probably earth-pony toolmarks to widen and expand the little cavern. The tables were formed that way too, flattening and polishing the lunar stone.
The air smelled—stale, like it had during the month the oxygen machines broke down and a few other foals had died. Not her, though. Faith was too tough for that.
“And we’re… here.” Arclight dropped to the ground beside her, flopping to one side. “Let me… just… catch my breath a minute.”
She walked past him, circling around the lab with one wing outstretched. She was cautious with her touch at first, unsure what might be enchanted and what might be otherwise unsafe.
There were standard runecrafting tools here, a few ancient equestrian books, jugs of water, and some metal storage boxes piled up by one wall. It wasn’t that impressive, except that she now knew just how annoying it would be to get anything up here.
The far end of the room didn’t have any tables or chairs, but had been cleared to a completely flat expanse, with a metal ring set into the rock. As soon as she felt its raised grooves with one hoof, she knew what she’d just found. “The way runes are here, right?”
“Yeah…” he muttered. “Don’t bother with it. Have to… be a unicorn to charge it.”
She ignored him, circling around the spell with one hoof outstretched. She read each rune quietly. “Home… distance… move… inside… contain…” Then a bunch of numbers, and words she couldn’t recognize by touch. “Okay, I give up. A unicorn made this?”
“Where do you think I got it?” Arclight sat up, making his way across the room. “Don’t you get… Of course you don’t.” He sighed. “We’ll want a portable torch next time. Lighting it myself will take power we should save for the runes.”
“My dad had one,” Faith said absently. “Mom barely even opens his room, we can borrow it.”
“I… Are you sure about this, Faith? The further we get, the stupider it feels. This whole situation is just begging for us to give up. Maybe we should.”
“Buck that,” she said. “This is fate, Arclight! Your parents weren’t brave enough to use this thing. I’m Iron Quill’s daughter, it’s been waiting for me. Me, and my trusty unicorn adventuring buddy. The secrets of Vanaheimr, just through this spell!”
He groaned, circling past her to the top of the runes, then sat down. “I’m probably going to be stuck here for a while after I do this,” he said. “I don’t have to ask you to stay, there’s no way to leave without teleporting. And there’s… not a ton of air in here, so…”
She settled down nearby, away from the runes. “It’s worth waiting for. Even if I could leave, I wouldn’t.”
Even without being able to see what he was doing, she knew the moment he “charged” the runes. She knew nothing about how things worked for unicorns, but she could feel the sudden energy in the air, the ozone that lifted her coat and burned her nose.
Arclight flopped to one side with a meaty sound, groaning. “Ugh. That’s awful. It just… everything you have.”
“It’s probably made for older ponies,” she said, making her way cautiously towards him. She didn’t touch the runes, unsure of what might happen if she accidentally activated something that was only partway charged. She certainly didn’t want to teleport half a wing to the Sacred City.
“I hate it,” he said. “And I’ve got to do it… three more times. When we find the magical key that lets us go back to Equestria or whatever, you better give me most of the credit.”
“Sure, Arclight.” She sat down beside him, where they would be in contact every moment. Not because she’d promised to be his marefriend or anything, that wasn’t it. Not at all.
But she did want to keep him company, after all the energy it took to charge the runes. “Just as long as I can be a Dustwalker, you can have all the credit you want. But if we find metal eyes like my dad’s metal leg, I get the first one.”
“Metal eyes,” he repeated, exasperated. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. How would you… see out of metal?”
“Dunno,” she argued. “The ancient Alicorns were a powerful tribe. Who knows what their magic can do?”
It would be a few more days before they could find out. While Moonrise’s youngest and newest members of the various crafts celebrated, Faith and Arclight snuck away as often as they could, away from the Arcanium and into the isolated lab.
There was very little for Faith to do otherwise. Every day she took her mother’s necklace to the commissary and asked for trail rations on her behalf, and every day they loaded her up with everything she asked. Beyond that, all she really had to do was keep Arclight company while his body was dried out like a sponge.
“Isn’t it going to be hard to bring air with us if you’re, uh… like that?” she asked, the next day, after he’d charged the way runes all over again.
“It would be,” he said. “That’s why we’re not going until tomorrow. They’ll stay charged until we use them. The hard part will be how we charge them on that side. We’ll… probably need some kind of shelter, like Moonrise itself, to hold the air in after I do it. My mom might’ve built one, she’s smart like that…”
“But she couldn’t have,” Faith supplied. “She didn’t go, remember? You said only my father went. He must’ve… set up the runes on that side.”
“Or your mom,” he said. “She’s like Nightmare Moon, she can go anywhere.”
“Penumbra?” Faith rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious. I’m not sure what she does, but helping your parents with exploring doesn’t seem like her. She’d have to be around other ponies to do that. Knowing her, she probably thinks she’d catch fire or something.”
He didn’t laugh. “I’ve been doing the math on this trip,” he said, once he’d recovered a little. “About the air on that side. We’ll be going from the lab, and even if I hold it all with us when we leave, that’s… not a lot of air. Mom says two ponies should never be in here for more than four hours without exchanging it.”
“That… is a problem,” she said, freezing suddenly at the implication. Had they made it this far only to find out they would get stopped by something stupid before they’d even really begun? “What can we… can we bring more?”
The Dustwalkers had waypoints all the way to the mine, little pockets of air and supplies placed close enough that they would never run out.
“No. I’m… not an Alicorn, Faith. I’m already doing more than most unicorns in Moonrise.”
“Okay, uh… if we can’t save up air, then… maybe we can save up magic? Can we charge up the runes for two trips, so we can come back after a few hours?”
He groaned. “That would probably… start to be obvious if anypony was looking for us. A lot of magic, all packed together. And… we wouldn’t have as much time to find your miracle.”
“Nopony’s looking.” She ran a wing along his back, as reassuring as she could. “We’re smart! And if we’re lucky, we might find some air over there! From my dad’s trips, maybe. Better to save up before and not need it, then run out of air and not have a way back.”
“If the princess found out…” he began, then shrugged. “Nevermind, I don’t actually think she’d come to punish us. Dying over there might be exactly the legacy she wants to idiots who don’t know their place.”
“We’re doing something huge, Arclight. You’ll see. Ponies all over Moonrise will remember us for this. We’re gonna bring back something so big, they’ll give us statues next to my dad. Or… at least give me a work shift.”
So they took a few more days to prepare. Faith borrowed her father’s old electric torch, and made sure it was charged at the Green’s public lightning dispensary. Nopony asked her a single question while she waited for it to be charged, and Penumbra wasn’t there to interrogate her when she returned home. Actually, she hadn’t seen her mom since her assessment. At least there were little mercies.
Then came the day of her trip. She packed away her collection of homemade and scavenged Dustwalker gear, all the survival supplies she might need, and resisted putting them on to march across camp. Instead she carried them in her saddlebag, making the trip separate from Arclight all the way to the secret entrance.
Her worst fear—that Cozen or Nightmare Moon herself might be waiting for them when they arrived—was in vain. She had a little time to get dressed, in the spun silk robes that were Quill’s last gift to her, just two years ago. They hadn’t fit when she got them, but they only dragged a little on the ground now. Quill always knew how to think ahead.
But the other Dustwalker gear was harder. Cozen had made her the glasses, using scrap glass and some tin rims, though she’d tested them in dust and been more than satisfied. They didn’t have to help her see, just protect her two most useless organs from damage.
She’d made the mask herself, painstakingly cutting the same patterns she felt in real masks. It would have to be good enough. Finally the harness of straps to hold her father’s torch—entirely pointless of course, but that was real gear too, and Arclight would probably complain if she didn’t use it. All she had to do was tighten the old straps a bit, and it slipped firmly around her shoulder.
“Did I keep you?” Arclight asked, and she spun to watch him approach. Or… look like she was watching him. It was all about pretending.
“Not long,” she said. “I’ve got everything you asked for. Everything I thought we’d need.”
“Looks like it,” he said. “I wonder if you don’t have some magical air containers in there too. Something… we invented but nopony knows about. Except my family probably would’ve invented them, so…” He stopped beside her. “You promise we’re not gonna die? This feels really dumb.”
Faith didn’t know, but she could feel his breath on her face, and he was so close, and… she kissed him. Not for long—she didn’t really know what she was doing. Mostly she bopped into his nose. But the intent was there, and she could hear his heart start to race.
“Yes,” she said. “It is really dumb. But we’re gonna come back, because we’re awesome.”
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Famous last words right there.
Hmm. Seems like Faith's vision isn't so much gone as tuned to a different, darker spectrum.
Oh. Black is the highest caste. Well, that's egg on my face.
Oh. Oh wow. Penumbra's trying, bless her, but she really doesn't get the whole "motherhood" thing. She certainly hasn't tried to get to know her daughter. I get the sense she's still terrified of this strange, disfigured life that came from undeath.
Ah. They haven't reached atmospheric sustainability with just plants yet. Indeed, they may never have enough habitable volume and sunlight to reach that point.
Even more famous last words.
There is no way this will go according to plan. The question is just how badly it will go, and how furious Nightmare Moon will be. Should be fun!
And it turns out that a bereaved wight has a difficult time raising a willful daughter. Who knew?
9892751
I'm really curious now do other Voidwalkers also have kids by now, and if so, how they treat them. Also, how many were there again?
I hope we get a chart as to what each job color represents. like what jobs each color offers, what sort of privileges they get. Presumably NMM, Absentee Mom, and the top brass get black, and other lesser VIPs get green since apparently the best the moonborne can earn is blue at the moment.
9892794
pretty sure all the other void walkers are still absent.
Faith at this current moment to me is a combination of pre-redemption sunset and season 1 rainbow dash.
Edit: still love her and I hope she lives up to her father, but she has no idea just what’s she’s in for.
Wait, Arclight has a cutie mark? Was there a timeskip?
Interesting to see that Faith can actually see Penumbra. Wonder what else would show up in her vision. Other Voidseekers? The Polestar? Nightmare Moon? And what were those things that she saw during the teleport?
Can’t wait to see what goes horribly wrong. How do they plan on getting back, anyways? I didn’t think there was a set of runes on the other side that Arclight’s parents made, since they were never there, unless I just forgot or unless the runes in the secret lab have a recall feature. At least if the runes are charged for two trips someone else can come after them (or can figure out where they went), but without a method of using the runes from the other side of the moon they’ll likely need a rescue from Nightmare Moon. And didn’t Arclight say that just using the runes would tire out a unicorn for days, or was that if you didn’t pre-charge them?
Wish you had done a bit more world building. As is there's a lot of question about their society. I thought you'd do a little more work with that before they ran off on their adventure about how the colony has adapted and all but we're not really getting that. Also since they're the first generation born there the system seems a tad too..solid and in place. Like it's existed for generations rather then this being the first generation through it. Also would've liked to see Nightmare Moon/Luna at the graduation ceremonies/party stuff even if just for a second to welcome them to her army and all. Would've been a nice bit.
Other then those criticisms this is a really interesting story in terms of characters. Nice work with that. Look forward to reading the next chapter.
You know, I originally thought that Penny was staying away because she was afraid the Nightmare would make her hurt Faith.
But apparently she just has no idea at all, and lacks any connection to Faith or the current settlement.
I do wonder if Faith inherited Voidwalker magic & ability to ignore vacuum, or if she's just a mortal batty pony. Because I can't help but think that they're going to teleport into a vacuum and Arclight is going to die.
I am betting they find the star and it does something to her as it recognizes it's own magic handwork in healping with her creation. Didn't the star say something about observation. What's to say it didn't help create this filly to perform that?
9892997
I agree with you on that. It seems like it was hinted when,
I'm thinking one of three things is going to happen:
1: I'm wrong about Arclight dying, and him and Faith do some exploring.
2: Arclight dies and Faith has to spend days/weeks/months in the Sacred City trying to find a way back.
3: Arclight dies and Faith has to be resuced by Penumbra.
Their plan dosent look like it will end well for Arclight.
Huh it just hit me. She is using ECHO location. Does this not mean she would be utterly blind in the void of space since there is no medium to vibrate the echo from her and then back to her.
If that is true, what she is chasing is literally impossible.
9893330
They go out in little Oxygen bubbles I thinks so she can use echolocation. If there was no air she’d be dead up there.
Faith can actually see her mother. This might be the root cause for her avoiding Faith. Think about it. Your blind daughter can see you. That has to be unnerving, and over time has weirded Penumbra enough for her to actually fear Faith in some subconscious manner, making her distant. On the other hand face could be putting out an aura that is unsettling to anyone touched by the nightmare. Luna would be able to hide it, but not her mother, and even Luna might not want to be around Faith. Something she can get away with by being the aloof leader that she is.
Really hoping this doesn't end in an unmitigated disaster
9892800
Pretty sure the other voidwalkers are somehow related to the thousands of little dots that turned and watched her from the void mid-teleport.
I hope she does find something midst all the things that does go wrong.
9893367
Well there is that, but in essence she could see within that bubble only. That might not be too large of an area, and it might be that she would be serious hindrance up there.
9895148
If she is suited up, her ability to echolocate is limited entirely to the helmet round her head.
The undead 1%.
The eternal problem of parents that just don't understand.
Ahh, so this was the first moonborn class of trainees, it seemed like it had to be.
So much squeaking.
That's a bit concerning.
Sure.
They are so going to try and die on this trip.
Not sure if manipulative, or genuine, or maybe a little bit of both.
The Rainbow Dash school of planning.
9895877
That is something she would have noticed during training unless the ponies involved were cruel enough to give her some non-standard gear.
9896447
She's got a lot of the positive traits from both of her parents in her, she knows she cant do everything alone and seeks others to assist in the things she can't do, but she also doesn't let that stop her from improving herself.
She's also stubborn, doesn't know when to quit, just like her father.
9893459
Pretty sure in this chapter Faith mentioned her efforts to conceal that she can see her mother that way.
Remember that after Quill interacted with the artefact, the same one that allowed Faith to be concepted, it made him practically toxic to be around for Nightmare's underlings and even Nightmare had a deep aversion to him. This may have passed on to his daughter somewhat.
9898607
She makes an active effort to avoid revealing that now. But when Faith was younger she would not have.
Even if by some good fortune there are bionic eyes somewhere in Vanaheim, just installing them would probably require a level of surgical expertise that probably doesn't exist anywhere in the solar system. Unless they have a robotic surgeon or something.
And I have to wonder how they're planning on bringing something back without anyone deducing where it might have come from. There aren't a lot of possible guesses there.
Ouch. I thought Penumbra was better than that...
Honestly, going into this fic, I wasn't expecting awkward parenting moments, struggles with motherhood, and struggles with disabilities but I'm all for it!
10287137
To be fair the surface of the moon is already an extremely dangerous place as it is . So for blind pony the surface just going to be many times more dangerous compared to a regular pony