• Published 24th May 2019
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Luna is a Harsh Mistress - Starscribe



When Celestia banished Nightmare Moon, she didn't go alone, but with her loyal army. Now they're trapped in an alien environment, with tensions high and the air running out. If they don't work together, their princess will soon be alone after all.

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Chapter 28: Vision

Despite the fire in her body, despite the unimaginable disappointment, Faith still had the presence of mind to try and bow. She wanted to survive this meeting with the princess, after all.

We knew this would happen eventually. The princess was going to figure out where we’d gone. Now we have to justify it. “Everything we did was my responsibility,” she said, before Arclight could do something stupid like trying to defend her. “Arclight tried to stop me. I forced him to bring me here.”

Even moving hurt, let alone speaking to her. But she had to try. If they didn’t try to defend themselves, they’d face the princess’s punishment untempered.

Nightmare Moon loomed over them, wings spread wide. Even if they hadn’t been in such a sacred place, Faith would’ve been able to see her. But by the light of the Polestar, every feather on her wings was outlined. “Not here,” she said, voice still furious.

Then came the flash of a teleport. It was the same magic she’d felt with Arclight, but vastly more powerful. It didn’t leave her in that endless void of staring eyes, but took her swiftly back to reality. There was a bang, and when her perception returned, her hooves were on cold sand again. The surface, by her guess. The place of lunar judgement.

“You two have committed as foals a crime beyond anything the ponies of Moonrise have ever done. You have trespassed upon the Sacred City. And… robbed it, at a guess.” Poor Arclight made a sound of petrified fear, lowering his head, but the princess wasn’t watching him. Her eyes were only for Faith. “When this conversation is over, I will return to Moonrise. Whether you accompany me depends on your answers.”

They waited. The princess hadn’t invited them to stand, but Faith had already been burned inside and out. So she stood up, looking towards the princess. Waiting for her questions.

“The city’s security should have vaporized you,” Nightmare Moon said. “A generation ago, half of my Voidseekers were destroyed attempting to enter it. I remember… ponies who rebelled would just disappear. How did you walk all the way to the city’s heart without being destroyed?”

She raised a wing. “I see that lie forming in your mind, unicorn foal. Do not tell me that your shield could’ve done it. I know otherwise. Remain silent with such words, lest I grow angry.” She turned back towards Faith. “Answer.”

She shuddered, searching for anything that might satisfy the princess. Of all the ponies of Moonrise, few ponies had spent as much time with the city’s sovereign as they had, by virtue of their parents. She knew better than to say she didn’t know—Nightmare Moon never took that well.

She had only one secret big enough for this. Arclight already knew, so the princess might as well learn it too. She would find out soon enough regardless. “I think it… I think it’s probably to do with the things I can see. I can see you, Princess… and Penumbra. I’ve never seen anything else in my whole life, until… until I got to Vanaheimr. The Polestar called me to it. I dragged Arclight all the way there so I could touch it.”

Whatever the princess was expecting, it wasn’t that. Her mouth hung open, and she stared down at Faith, stupefied. After a few seconds, she opened just one wing. “Which wing did I move?”

“Left,” Faith answered.

The Alicorn no longer sounded angry, but shocked. “And which limb did I just lift?”

“Left again.”

The princess settled back on her haunches, looking up at the sky. For almost a minute, she didn’t say anything, leaving their fear to settle in around them. Particularly poor Arclight, who sounded like he might be moments from collapsing.

“It called you,” she eventually said. “Brought you across the moon’s surface. Through Vanaheimr. Why?”

I have no idea. But the princess didn’t seem angry anymore. Insane as it was, it seemed like her suggestion had actually worked. “It said… Evaluate. Reconstitute. And it showed me things. It was like being able to see for real, but… they were so terrible.”

Nightmare Moon continued to stare. She wondered briefly if it would be enough, if maybe this was the moment when the princess would finally see through everything she’d been trying to do and punish her. But then the Alicorn began to pace back and forth on the sand, looking thoughtful. “It is watching us. It has been waiting all this time for survivors to return… but I am ‘compromised’ and so can’t take possession of the Armory…”

She was mostly talking to herself now, and barely seemed to even see the two of them there. “Has it grown so desperate that even the derivative slaves are worth consideration? It watches Moonrise. What is it waiting for?”

“Slaves?” Arclight asked. “What do you mean, Princess? I thought… Wasn’t our rebellion opposed to serfdom? We learned it in…”

Faith winced as he said it, jabbing him with a wing to quiet down. But of course she was too slow to stop him from attracting the princess’s attention again. Exactly where they didn’t want to be.

But not enough for Nightmare Moon to really notice, it seemed. “Vanaheimr used ‘bioservice agents.’ Not like ponies as you know them today. They were effectively lobotomized at birth, most of the time. But that was chemical conditioning that didn’t hold with any of their children, and…” The princess waved a wing. “You have no idea what that means, nor do you need to. I am not explaining myself to foals.”

She settled on Faith again. “For reasons that escape my imagination, Polestar appears to be using you to monitor Moonrise. Why it would want its agent to be sightless eludes me… but it is fortunate for you in any case. You were not rebellious after all, but serving a greater purpose.” She glanced between them, tapping one hoof on the ground in thought. “I will speak plainly to you, and hope that for your sake you are mature enough to understand.”

She lifted off the ground, sending clouds of dust around her with each beat of her powerful wings. “You were instructed to travel here, on a mission from me. You will not speak of what you saw there outside of my presence. Not to your parents, or lovers, or other family. If I discover you disobey my injunction… I consider loyalty of greater value than any mission the Polestar might’ve given you. It can choose another messenger, if you force me to kill you.”

“I w-won’t,” she squeaked. “I won’t force you, I mean. I’m a loyal citizen of Moonrise, Princess. Arclight is too.”

“Perhaps.” The princess landed again, apparently satisfied with her cowering. “We will see, in time. Certainly the two of you were resourceful to make such a difficult journey by spell. Killing you would be a waste.”

Faith wasn’t sure what made her say it. By all accounts, the smartest thing she could possibly do was not open her mouth. The princess had already decided not to kill them, how much better could she expect? But for some reason, she couldn’t. There are metal eyes in that city somewhere, and I couldn’t find any.

“Princess, we… I know it isn’t my place… but shouldn’t Moonrise take advantage of everything in Vanaheimr? It’s such a wondrous city, but its secrets are unlearned. Your city can’t take its deserved revenge on the Sun Tyrant if we leave all of Vanaheimr’s wonders behind.”

She smelled the princess’s anger before she saw it. Even then, she could only make out her general features. Facial expressions were too fine for her to be able to see using her impossible sight.

But there was no mistaking her fury now. “I just granted you mercy, criminal. In honor of the Polestar’s mission, and all the service your father ever rendered me. You are making me regret my decision dearly. You question the rule of your princess. A foal, with no idea of the agonies she speaks of. You cannot imagine what sleeps in Vanaheimr. My decisions are made with purpose—beyond your comprehension, just as all that the Alicorns achieved there is beyond your comprehension.”

She could feel the princess’s terrible power all around her, just as she’d felt in Vanaheimr. Her magic was strong enough to melt lunar sand into glass. But after the touch of the Polestar, somehow she just wasn’t afraid anymore. Nightmare Moon could kill her easily, but… if she didn’t stand up for Moonrise, the city might suffer a slow death anyway.

She knew better than most just how much danger they were in. She’d heard from Appleseed during her father’s meetings, worried over the way that the crops just weren’t growing the way they used to. Not to mention that their glowstone couldn’t be replaced, and their sunstone was running out all the time. How would they grow crops through the lunar night when it was gone?

“I did see, Princess. The Polestar showed me. I didn’t understand it very well, but I know one thing. If the things that happened to Vanaheimr happen to us, and we’re still hiding in a cave, then the ones trying to kill us won’t have to try very hard. We’ll probably be dead before they find us.”

It was too bold—she knew as she tried every word that she was pushing Nightmare Moon’s mercy much too far. But she knew she was right. She was so loyal to the city, that sometimes she had to take a few risks to keep it safe.

Nightmare Moon sighed. “Pity. For your father’s sake, I’m sorry.” Darkness descended on her, magic the princess had used to draw the life from disloyal ponies in the past. Her magic was so powerful, it had killed by accident.

Faith froze in place, curious in that final moment what death would feel like, and if the princess would change her mind in the weeks to come.

But nothing happened. Terrible cold roiled around her, the darkness of space itself. The hatred that lurked behind the eyes of those who watched whenever she teleported.

And it didn’t hurt. The soil itself cried out, little ice crystals forming and shattering around her. But Faith didn’t feel it. The cold went right up to her coat, and stopped short.

Somewhere far away, far enough that she couldn’t see it until now, the light of the Polestar shone through the lunar surface. It flared as Nightmare Moon’s magic rose, a reminder in the dark of what real power was.

Then the princess fell still. Beneath her hooves, Faith felt a ground frozen so solid that it smoked under her. Yet the cold didn’t touch her. She reached up, wiping frosty crystals away from her mane.

Then she started to move. Everything the princess thought about their mission to Vanaheimr might’ve been a lie before—but now she felt it. Her body turned, and in a moment darkness was replaced with vision.

That’s why I can’t see! All this time, you stole my sight so you could watch Moonrise!

There was the princess, resplendent in dark armor that she’d never seen herself, but heard ponies describe. The princess’s eyes still burned with smoky green light. Ice had condensed around her horn, just as it did around Faith.

And cowering behind her, poor Arclight. Seeing him for the first time might’ve made her blush, if she wasn’t otherwise overwhelmed. He was as gangly as she’d imagined, though the bright brown of his coat seemed to work together with the shapes she’d always felt.

Somehow she knew that it would be the only time she would ever see him.

And overhead, far above—Equus, surrounded by a sea of stars. There was no hatred here, no calculation and anger. They were each a slightly different shade and brightness, each one inviting her. And the planet itself, a blue and green giant in the sky. Their home, denied by the hatred of the Sun Tyrant.

She’d been so distracted by the Polestar’s own vision that she didn’t realize it was speaking through her. She turned her focus back to it, and had to fight the pressure it put on her head to even do that much. The message wasn’t for her, and it didn’t seem to care that it was using her.

So it was like the princess in other ways, too. “Refusal. Purify,” it said from her mouth, in her voice.

“You have no right to interfere!” Nightmare Moon raged, hovering in the air on angry wings. Yet she seemed winded—she’d used a terrible amount of magic on Faith, trying to get through the Polestar’s defense. It hadn’t been enough. “You’re a machine! Do the will of your creator and give me the Armory!”

“Survivor compromised. Alternates nominated.”

“Children of laborers and slaves!” Nightmare Moon yelled. “I am the only will that matters here! Submit to me!”

“Evaluating,” she was forced to say. “Determination postponed. Interference refused.”

As swiftly as it came, the presence in her mind began to fade. The vision it had shown her, of the furious princess, and Arclight behind her, and the beautiful stars overhead—faded too. Within seconds, it was all gone, replaced with shapes and outlines. Only the princess’s body remained, a single point of concentrated darkness.

A second later she landed with a thump, fuming with rage. Faith expected another blast to come, or maybe a stab from her dagger. Maybe the Polestar could protect her from magic, but that didn’t mean she was invincible. She’d been hurt plenty of times, and it had never stopped any of that.

But Nightmare Moon didn’t attack. After a few angry breaths, the cloud of hatred around her began to fade as well. Hating somepony took energy, and she’d used an awful lot of that trying to kill her.

“It seems the Polestar is not merely watching anymore,” Nightmare Moon said, defeated. “It’s determined to steal sovereignty from me as well.”

She approached slowly, knowing that at any moment her daring could go too far all over again. All the princess had to do was leave her here on the surface, and she would die. “Maybe it wants you to succeed. Moonrise is still a pony city up here in its home, right? With the Alicorns gone, we’re all it has left.”

Nightmare Moon seemed so… small. Though part of that might just be not being able to see her armor anymore. It echoed of course, but without being close enough to touch, finer details were hard to hear. “Still you torment me. Just like your father. In his time, every lunar day brought a new crisis. He pushed… harder than he ought to.”

She isn’t leaving. It’s working. “And Moonrise is here,” she finished. “Your city. Ponies who love you, and want to make it back to Equestria one day. We want our inheritance.”

“Well you won’t get it,” she said, staggering Faith more than any of her magic had done. “The Elements of Harmony sealed the sympathetic threads that bind space between this sphere and that. Nothing can teleport to Equus from here. The effect is permanent. I will never go home.”

Arclight made some indeterminate squeaking sound. “Our revenge…” he whispered. “You were going to free us. Everypony said so.”

“Nopony knows,” she said. “Except you, now. But why should I care? If Polestar wants to rule so badly, let it rule. Let it worry about the effect on morale. Let it stop the ponies from revolting. Let it keep the farmers on their fields and the muckrakers at their posts.”

Even she was staggered by the news. She was supposed to return there one day, to grass and fields and wind and rain that came from clouds instead of the constant haze of the Great Cavern.

I will never go home.

There was no reason to question the princess’s wisdom in this. Nightmare Moon’s powers were considerable, and her knowledge was vast. If she said it, it was true. “Were you at home in Vanaheimr, Princess?”

Nightmare Moon made a sound that was almost a sob—quickly strangled. “Long ago.”

“Then let us make Moonrise a city as great as Vanaheimr was! Let us go there, learn their secrets… and honor the dead. Nopony deserves to lie there on the sand, unmoored.”

That did it. The princess stiffened, and seemed to be staring down at her. But if she was searching for some truth just by looking into Faith’s face, she was going to have a hard time finding it.

“Cinereous Gale wanted the same thing. You really are his daughter. It’s a… cruel thing that Polestar has done to you. But life is cruel, and you will not have my pity.”

“I don’t want pity,” she argued. “I only want to serve Moonrise. That’s all I ever wanted. When Silver Needle told me I couldn’t be a Dustwalker because I was blind… I tried to find another way to serve. This was it. The way to help Moonrise that nopony else could figure out.”

“The city may not be so kind to the other ponies of Moonrise. The Polestar spared you, and your friend. It will not always spare intruders. You may have to attend every expedition yourself. You may not see Moonrise for months at a time.”

I can’t see anyway.

She shrugged. “I’d pay that price, Princess. If we can learn the lessons of Vanaheimr ourselves, then… it’s worth it to do some hard things. I’d help charge the teleports myself if I could. But I can help explore, help dig the graves. Help…”

“You have said enough.” Princess Nightmare Moon extended a wing, silencing her. “A pity you are deformed, Faith. You would have made exactly the sort of Lord Commander that Moonrise requires to succeed. But I will find some other use for you.” She took off again, spinning through the air. “I alter my command. You will speak no word of our exchange, or else I will kill you. Do not think a machine will turn me in my course if you defy me, Faith.”

“I won’t,” she promised, and she meant it. Faith was crazy, but repeating that the princess’s attacks didn’t work on her was much too far. She was no rebel. “I just want to serve the city, Princess.”

“Then rejoice,” Nightmare Moon said. “For you have just begun a lifetime of service to me.”

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