"Ready for your first real view of the world?"
The hallway opens into what feels like a massive space. There is meager illumination and a faint noise, constant but rippled with variation. Ocellus approaches cautiously, edging past the fluted columns that mark the hallway's end.
Luna instructed her to find the Throne Room. A throne meant a ruler. Queen Chrysalis had a throne, but this building was built by and for other creatures. Again, she revisits the feeling that the love-starved changelings are infesting a home once belonging to creatures long gone. Did they abandon this place? Did the changelings find it empty and move in? Or are the original inhabitants now withered husks in a discarded changeling pod?
This is not the Throne Room, but Ocellus believes she is heading in the right direction.
The cavernous room can easily hold a small grove of trees. High above, the cold light of the stars pierces the room through a grandiose arched skylight, the size of which gives Ocellus understanding of the breadth of the room. All below is shrouded in shadows, the light showing edges of shapes and glimpses of forms.
She appears to be in a grand foyer. Her lantern casts light on an ornately patterned marble floor split by swaths of carpet. Immediately above her, those patterns are echoed in moonsilver latticing of the glass-floored balcony ringing and bisecting the room two stories above her.
The near wall boasts a massive arched doorway beneath a trio of lancet windows. Elaborate tracery holds panes of blue and purple stained glass depicting clouds and celestial bodies. A tympanum dominated by a huge crescent moon sits above the exterior door that the hall stand promised.
Massive, familiar magical chains converge on a lock over the door. Again, the lock eschews the traditional keyhole for one demanding a disk surrounded by twisted spikes.
On the far end, she can glean the rising wings of a grand staircase, starlight glinting off banisters of polished blue adventurine. And in the center of the room rises the frozen form of a wicked alicorn, rearing up majestically above worshipping ponies. Her ears prick, recognizing the sound now as running water.
Ocellus steps up to the fountain. The water gurgles as it falls down the marble forms of the ponies bowing to the black alicorn rearing above them.
At least, she assumes it is water. It is clear and doesn't smell like anything else. It isn't as if the water could be a changeling. There are limits to changeling transformation, and a pure liquid with nothing to hold its form together is beyond those limitations. At worst, it could be poison, but who would make a poison fountain?
She is quite sure the fountain isn't a changeling either. Sure, a changeling could become a fountain. But they would either have to become themselves expressed as a fountain, or there would have to be another fountain just like this one to learn this specific form from before they could add it to their repertoire. And even then, they wouldn't get the water effect unless there was plumbing for the fountain already here, and they plugged that into their...
Nope! Not thinking about this anymore.
Ocellus' resolution is interrupted as one of the marble ponies and a quarter of the alicorn rising above are encased in a too-familiar green glop, the jelly hardening with alarming speed. Alarm electrifies her spine. Her nerves tingle with panic as part of her screams that the hive's queen has found her! But this jelly wasn't spit at her. Nor was this an uncontrolled explosion like the orb earlier. Part of her brain insists it was more like a targeted geyser.
The changeling nymph spins to see a hovering drone grinning down at her. But drones can't do that! Ocellus thinks before she notices the strange object strapped to his back. It looks like the fire extinguishers at school, only the transparent tank is filled with a subtly luminescent green. The changeling aims the nozzle at her as his tongue slithers out between his fangs.
Ocellus had thought of the concentrated orb in her saddlebags as the queen of this hive weaponizing her jelly, but this? This takes the idea to an extreme Chrysalis would never have dreamed of. Ocellus finds the ingenuity of this queen frightening.
Ocellus leaps into the air as the drone fires another stream of royal jelly through the place she had just been standing. She beats her wings furiously, gaining height as quickly as possible. It will be harder for the drone to aim against gravity.
"Ocellusssss!" the drone hisses as he turns and chases after her.
He knows my name! How can he know my name?!?
She lifts higher, avoiding another volley as the jelly's parabola fails to reach her. She looks down to see he is farther away than before. Royal jelly is not light; that tank is weighing him down. She veers to the side as he aims again, hoping superior flying will beat superior range.
"You're not where you're ssssssupposed to be!" the drone hisses as he misses Ocellus again, the jelly splashing across a strangely familiar tapestry of planets and moons, trapping the thick fabric against the wall behind a glowing splatter of translucent green. "Everyone's in the Conservatory waiting for you."
Waiting for her?!
Ocellus realizes she was jumping to dire conclusions when she thought the changeling who chased her had murder on his mind. But the realization does not bring the nymph any comfort. Somehow, this seems worse.
With a pang of guilt, Ocellus temporarily abandons looking for the Throne Room, returning to her previous plan of GET OUT! The exterior door may be locked, but there were more ways out of a building than using the door. The changeling nymph changes direction, leveling out, and pours on the speed as she flies for one of the stained-glass windows above the door.
The drone slows, swooping about, adjusting to chase Ocellus on her new course. He prepares to fire again.
Just before colliding with a thick pane of lavender glass, Ocellus closes her eyes. A flash of turquoise fire erupts around her as she becomes a rock.
Rock-Ocellus slams into the stained glass and rebounds, her eyes flying open. As she falls, she sees a shimmer of magical chains become briefly visible before disappearing again. Then a swath of green goo sprays across the trio of windows.
Of course, Ocellus thinks as she thuds to the floor. That would have been too easy.
The drone stops, looking around, apparently having lost track of her. He hisses with frustration, tongue lashing out like an angry snake. "Queen Elytra doessssn't like to be kept waiting!"
Queen Elytra. Now she had a name to put to all of this.
"And we've waited ssssssooo long for the world in the sky to be oursssss!"
Ocellus looks up through the skylight and sees the crescent sliver of a world of blues and whites, browns and greens. Something very much unlike the moon she has seen in the sky every night.
Turquoise fire erupts around Ocellus as a spear of fear strikes through her, almost crippling the changeling nymph. Never has she felt so lost. For even the moon to be so different...
Where am I...?!?
"There you are!"
The hissing voice of the drone snaps Ocellus out of her moment of horror. She is in her changeling form again. The drone spotted the energy burst of her transformation. She rolls across the marble as the drone tries to drop down on her. The drone's attacks force her to refocus.
Ocellus flies up again. Her wings are tiring. She hasn't raced this much in a year. She can't keep this up.
But at the same time, she doesn't want to fight back unless she absolutely has to. She doesn't want to hurt these changelings. The hollow feeling in her gut is reminding her that she was once a love-starved changeling too. She knows what it is like to be a drone. She knows what it is like to be starving.
She knows what it is like to serve an evil queen. And to not know there is another way.
Ocellus darts, changing direction again, flying for the balcony. The moment she reaches it, she takes cover behind a pillar on the upper balcony.
"Listen!" she calls out. "I'm a changeling too. But I'm different. I'm different because I share love! And because of that, I'm never starving!"
She pauses, listening to the change in the drone's wing-beats. He is hovering. As best she can hear, the drone is halfway to the opposite balcony, and maybe a little higher. But what is important is that he isn't moving. He has stopped to listen.
"You could share love too!" Ocellus calls to him, her nerves electric with hope and anxiety. "All of you could. The love you have for each other could sustain you!" She peeks out at him from behind the pillar, giving him her best smile.
The drone's muzzle smiles back. But it is a cold, nasty smirk. His response is terse. "Eh, no."
Ocellus sees green energy flare around his horn as the drone conjures a barrier of green energy in front of him. She dives to the balcony floor, flattening herself against it, knowing what is coming.
Like a blazing green comet, the hostile drone shoots across the space between them, smashing through the pillar. Stone debris pummels Ocellus as the love-starved changeling hits the balcony floor with enough force to shatter the glass and snap the latticing. He turns towards her, crouched and hissing, getting his hooves back beneath him.
The balcony floor sags ominously, then gives way beneath them. The two fall.
The enemy changeling beats his wings, catching himself halfway to the floor two stories below the broken balcony. Ocellus does not. Turquoise energy flashes around Ocellus just before she hits the glass-strewn floor below, one rock among the debris.
The drone aims the nozzle of the royal jelly sprayer. He doesn't have to know which chunk of stone she is. He can just hose all of them.
Another burst of turquoise flame. Puckwudgie-Ocellus turns her back on the drone above her and lets loose a barrage of spines. They bounce ineffectively off his chitin. As she knew they would.
The love-starved changeling fires.
The moment the pressurized liquid is released into the hose, it ruptures. Royal jelly explodes out of the multiple holes where puckwudgie spines pierced through, encasing the drone, weapon and all.
He drops to the floor, trapped in a jagged, air-permeable chunk of hardened royal resin.
Ocellus stares at the drone, remembering what it was like to be him. She shudders, fear melting into sadness. She feels sorry for him.
Taking a deep breath, she formally promises herself that she will not bring harm to the changelings of this hive. She believes that these changelings have the capacity to be reformed. She has to. They should not be denied that chance.
When Queen Chrysalis began to drain the love from Thorax, did it feel like this?
Ocellus had been distracted by a thought: Luna said there were wards against enemies; but if the wards keep out changelings, won't they keep me out? She was so deep in her quandary that the changeling nymph didn't realize she had entered the Throne Room until she looked up and saw the ogee arched window filling one entire wall, framing the world outside.
Ocellus sits on her haunches and stares into the valley of despair. She can feel hope draining out of her as if it were being consumed by an alien entity. She was helpless to resist the loss.
Beyond the window, the sky is as dark as ink, pierced by the cold, lonely light of stars. The line between sky and land is stark, like it was cut into being with scissors. Below the sky is... nothing. Just cold and dust. There are no trees, no plants, no grass. No signs of animals or any sort of life. Ridges rise from valleys, all the dullest gray of old ash, so barren they make the badlands feel hospitable. There aren't even any frozen lakes or snow; no windigos. Wherever she is, it is a far, far worse place than the badlands her hive was once thrown to. This is a wasteland. So empty it doesn't even have color.
Ocellus swallows, feeling a hard lump in her throat.
Trembling, she pulls herself away from the sight. Gets back onto her hooves and looks in the opposite direction. Away from the lonely bleak.
Pointed arches march along the walls to either side -- each an alcove or an exit leading to a new wing of the castle -- are separated by fluted pillars and torches burning with azure fire. Tapestries hang from above, richly depicting themes of the night sky or the wicked alicorn featured in the fountain earlier.
Even if Cozy Glow hadn't been good to her word, arranging for Ocellus and her friends to get a make-up test, there was no way she could have flunked Friendship's Effect on the Course of Equestrian History hard enough to not know who that alicorn is meant to be.
Curved steps of arctic blue stone lead up to a dais, and then up farther to the throne. The royal chair is elegantly curved -- a trio of blues rising to a point like frozen candle flame -- and ornately framed with a sculptural backpiece. Teal bat wings spread from behind the throne, rising from sculptures of swirling clouds to meet a monstrous azure form with appendages ending in claws... all beneath an awe-inspiring amethyst magically cut to resemble a crescent moon set within a moon.
Several feet behind the throne, framed by even more rich tapestries, rises a massive mirror, visually doubling the grandiose size of the room and reflecting the outside desolation beyond.
Ocellus turns from the sight, telling herself that she is merely fascinated by a peculiar oil painting on one wall.
She corrects herself. Now that she is looking, she actually is curious about it. Not merely because of the strange and almost arithmetic imagery, but because it is the first painting she has seen in this place.
Ocellus beats her weary wings and starts to fly over for a closer look. But she stops as she notices the mirror darken, the reflection of the room sinking into blackness until the mirror seems to be made of ink. From the depths, the welcome figure of the night alicorn walks towards her.
Ocellus turns and flies to the mirror, landing to stand before Luna. The two gaze at each other as if separated by only a window.
"Good. You made it."
Ocellus blushes slightly, feeling warmed by the praise. But she is not content with it. "Where am I?" the nymph asks urgently. Then, "Where are you?"
"You are in the Palace of Nightmare Moon, Ocellus." Luna informs her in the tone of a mother attempting to break bad news.
Ocellus feels a wave of surprise, but not at the drop of the name. Too much of the decor seems to pay homage to Luna's former, villainous self. And a few of the tapestries had struck a familiar chord, reminding her of the ruined ones in the remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters.
No, her surprise is that Nightmare Moon would have a palace anywhere. Her lessons suggested the black alicorn of endless night had not ruled Equestria long enough to erect monuments, much less a palace. Neither before her banishment nor after her return.
Unless it was one created for her, perhaps by a cult?
Or unless it was once created by her during her banishment...?
Oh no.
A frozen pit forms inside Ocellus. She knows what Luna is going to say next even as she says it.
"You are on the moon."
Ocellus feels her freak-out fading, her breathing returning to normal.
Luna watches her from the mirror. Her expression is gentle and steeped in dismay. It was clear to Ocellus, even as she panicked, that Luna wanted to step through and comfort her. It became equally clear she could not. But she remained. Quiet, caring and patient.
Before, at the hall stand, the night alicorn could barely hold her place in the mirror long enough to finish a sentence. But she has given Ocellus ample time to absorb the news, and the nymph realizes she had not faded once.
Finally, Ocellus returns to the question left unanswered. "Luna, where are you?"
"I fear that I am still at the Treehouse," Luna tells her. "I am trapped within a changeling pod, just a foreleg's reach from the mirror portal."
Luna's words dredge back the memory of the last day of Queen Chrysalis' hive -- the day Starlight Glimmer and Thorax invaded. Ocellus remembers that Luna has been trapped in a changeling pod before.
"Are the others there? My friends?" Ocellus asks, imagining Smolder and Yona trapped in changeling pods. Gallus and Silverstream and Sandbar encased in air-permeable prisons of green.
"I do not know. I cannot see the Treehouse or anything more than a pegasus' wingspan away from my pod through this green resin," Luna informs her with regret. "But I can see the mirror's surface, and it is still open."
Ocellus feels a cautious rebirth of hope. "Can I get home through it?"
"I am afraid not. The mirror has been corrupted and is... malfunctioning somehow." There is a hesitation in Luna's voice that betrays deep confusion. "The mirror is no longer acting as a means of travel, although it clearly is... doing something. I have found myself able to use it in this state to see into Nightmare Moon's palace. But only through the mirrors in the palace, and only one at a time."
That little seedling of hope stops growing. But it does not die. Even though this is not a way home, Ocellus recognizes this as valuable. The mirror is a tool, even in this state, that might lead them to finding a way home. But most precious: she is not alone.
"Worry not," Luna intones, attempting to console the young nymph. "Several cherished students and a former Princess can't go missing for too long without notice". She smiles with confidence. "Help will be coming."
Ocellus wants to smile back, but... "We are supposed to be gone for days."
Luna's smile fades. "That is true," she admits. "Perhaps then we should take matters into our own hooves. The palace contains its own portal to Equestria..."
Ocellus jumps up. Why didn't Luna just say so? "Where?!"
The night alicorn holds out a cautioning hoof. "It does not physically exist at this moment. It must be conjured. And doing so is neither easy nor safe. It is not an undertaking I would recommend unless the situation is extremely dire. All I am suggesting is that you check on the..." Luna stops abruptly, her expression becoming more dour. She takes a moment to find the words she wishes to use. "...pieces of the key needed to conjure it, and make sure they are all in their proper place."
"Um... Luna?" Ocellus appreciates Luna's desire to keep her safe. But she is not safe here. And the idea of trying to keep tabs on wherever these pieces of the key are isn't really a good idea when the place is swarming with drones. Especially when the changeling queen is clearly up to something, and could even be behind what happened to the mirror portal.
In the very least, Queen Elytra has drones actively hunting her.
She is prey.
Ocellus tells Luna of the changelings. Everything she knows. Everything she suspects.
Luna listens, eyes occasionally widening as parts of Ocellus' tale surprise or alarm her. After the nymph finishes, the former Princess is quiet for a several long minutes. When she finally breaks her silence, her tone is grave.
"This is a problem," Luna admits. "Once conjured, the portal will remain open until it is actively closed. Were you to use it to return home, Queen Elytra's hive could invade through it."
Ocellus winces. She knows from the talkative drone that Elytra intends just that. She doesn't want to go home at the price of opening Equestria to an attack. "Is there any way to prevent that?"
Luna grimaces. "The only way to prevent that is to destroy the portal. But the portal is one way, and can only be destroyed from this side. Worse, the portal must be manifested in order to be destroyed, and that means opening the portal."
Ocellus' ears fold back. Her wing-muscles tighten beneath her elytra. She can almost see the prize dangling before her on a poisoned string. Oh look, the way home. Jump or destroy.
Luna's grimace deepens. She hangs her head. "I am very sorry, Ocellus. But I fear the situation is even worse." Ocellus can hear the sorrow in Luna's tone. Each word falls from the night alicorn's tongue like it is weighted. "If this new changeling queen is as ingenious as you surmise, then it is only a matter of time before she figures out how to open the portal herself."
Ocellus nods. She suspects Queen Elytra may have done so already. The nymph takes a deep breath. "So how do I open it first?"
Ocellus is standing at the window again. Looking out on the barren dustscape of the moon. Digesting the truths that have been told to her.
Luna was reluctant. Even when she acquiesced, it was clear that these were secrets that she had kept locked away, hoping never to tell. And Ocellus sensed that Luna was skirting subjects that were even more painful to her. Ocellus didn't want to insist, and she did so as gently as she could, giving the alicorn who was once Nightmare Moon the time and coaxing she needed. And bit by bit, Luna told Ocellus what she needed to do.
It took the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon. According to Luna, it takes a similar power to open the way back. While unexpected, the news does not surprise Ocellus as she recalls that travel with the mirror portal needed to be augmented with the magic of the Treehouse of Harmony to ensure passage between their world and this one.
What does surprise her is to learn that Nightmare Moon was aided in her return. Strange, alien entities -- spirits of the stars -- gave Nightmare Moon four magical items of tremendous power.
"It is best to think of them as evil equivalents of an Elements of Harmony," Luna confessed. "Each resonating with a vice, just as the Elements were conduits to the spirits of virtues."
Luna looked at her sadly. "There are many such vices, just as there are many virtues. But these... these resonated with the four vices that were strongest in Nightmare Moon's... in my heart."
Ocellus stares out at the moon and remembers the way Luna bit down, glaring at the throne, then let out an equine snort of disgust.
The idea of evil counterparts to the Elements of Harmony struck a chilling nerve. Ocellus began to wonder if the Tree of Harmony had enemies. Or at least, evil... relatives? If these came from the stars, were the stars themselves like the Tree had been?
Luna's voice cut her ruminations short. "These... for lack of any other name, let us call them 'anti-Elements'... are scattered about the palace, and they must be gathered together to make the portal appear. Once the portal appears, it can be used... or destroyed."
For the first time, Ocellus feels glad her friends are not here.
The changeling nymph is still looking at the desolate gray desert when Ocellus finally asks, "Which one is closest?"
Luna answers. "Envy."
The nymph groans inwardly. She was not looking forward to this.
The moon outside continues to be the moon. Wanting a distraction, Ocellus asks, "So... what is the rest of the moon like?"
Ocellus can hear the little snort and can almost feel Luna shaking her head behind her.
"It is all as you see out the window. Endless dunes and craters of the same rock," Luna informs her in a bitter tone. "It was different while Nightmare Moon was here, but this is all she left in her wake."
Ocellus turns, finding the answer too curious not to pursue.
"Without the magic in the palace, the air outside is thinner and yet colder," Luna adds. "The magic in the palace also keeps the gravity you experience like that of Equestria. Outside, there is less gravity to hold you to the surface. Particularly given your fast-beating wings, Ocellus, you would likely find it difficult to control your flight."
Ocellus was not expecting that. "But there is air on the moon?"
"Of course," Luna responds. "My sister was trying to imprison me, not suffocate me."
Ocellus flinches. "Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I just have so many questions!"
Luna blinks. "Really? Nobody has ever asked me about it before. I suspect they were afraid to. Or didn't want to know."
The night alicorn contemplates a moment, then announces, "Go ahead. Ask your questions!"
"You were here for a thousand years. What did you eat?"
Luna smiles grimly, seeming both pleased that someone has finally asked her and displeased at the answer. "The blast of magic that sent me here stripped me... Nightmare Moon... of much of my dark power. Scattered it across the moon, leaving a dark stain."
Ocellus brightens with comprehension. "Ooh! The Mare in the Moon!"
"Yes," Luna says with a nod. "Everywhere that dark stain lay, the moon was made fertile with dark power. The plants which grew in those places were rich with dark essence that provided sustenance. At first, I ate them. Later, I... Nightmare Moon... found a way to refine the plants into raw essence that she... I... could use to forge this palace. And to make servants who would farm for me."
Ocellus tries to picture Nightmare Moon farming. The image refuses to form in her head.
Luna is quiet a moment. Then she lifts a hoof, pointing towards one of the alcoves shadowed behind its pointed archway. "Over there. See those pillars?"
Ocellus traces the vector of Luna's foreleg, turning in place until she finds herself looking at a trio of three short columns, each no taller than herself. She nods, finding them oddly familiar. It takes a moment for the recognition to solidify; the kitchen had an identical set.
Ocellus spreads her wings, flapping them quickly to rise off her hooves. She draws closer to the columns, examining them. Each is made of polished onyx and capped with an ionic capital inscribed with a different but equally unfamiliar rune.
"What are they?" she asks.
Luna answers. "They are an artifact that I... that Nightmare Moon devised to facilitate creating her palace. Allow me to show you how it works. Return to that picture you were looking at when I first appeared in the Grand Mirror."
Ocellus nods, turning away from the onyx columns and swooping across the Throne Room to an oil painting hanging on the opposite wall. The painting had struck her as peculiar, drawing her attention when she first began to explore Nightmare Moon's old Throne Room: a masterful rendering of a piece of jewelry -- the black disk of a moon covering the face of a sun, the fiery spikes of the sun's corona seeming twisted in agony. Behind it, the mottled brown of aged paper bears numbers and equations, sketched figures and measuring lines, as if the piece was resting on a designer's blueprint.
"Take the painting and place it on the center pillar."
Ocellus does as instructed, transforming into her dragon form to get the best grip on what looks to be a priceless artwork. She flies back across the room with it, setting it down on the capital of the middle column with care.
Luna watches, her eyes widening a little when Ocellus transforms. Once the oil painting is in place, the former Princess nods her approval. "That image is the Seal of Nightmare Moon. The emblem of an eclipse. From that painting, the artifact can recreate the Seal."
"What happened to the original one?" Ocellus asks, staring at the painting, curiosity welling within her breast.
Luna's answer is succinct. "I destroyed it."
"But it may be wise to create another," she admits. "Should you find that you need to venture outside the palace, the Seal will open the magical locks that barricade each of the exterior doors."
Ocellus nods. That is the answer to another of her questions. But she finds the answer spawns yet more questions in its place. If the exterior doors are barred with magic, then either the queen of the hive locked them, or Nightmare Moon sealed up her palace before leaving. And the latter seems far more likely; the magic involved is pony magic. She has seen Chancellor Neighsay use the same spell. But something about that doesn't make sense. Nightmare Moon was alone, save for servants that she created.
"Luna?" Ocellus asks, feeling a needling worry creep up her spine. "Who... or what... was Nightmare Moon locking out?"
Luna grows very quiet. The silence stretches long enough for Ocellus to look to the Grand Mirror, expecting Luna to have vanished.
But the night alicorn is still there, standing solemnly. Ocellus feels a tear in her heart; Luna's expression seems trapped between gut-wrenching sadness and scathing bitterness.
Ocellus flies up to the mirror, beginning to worry. "Luna, I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," the blue alicorn answers sternly. "It is not you who has anything to be sorry for."
Luna droops, her head hanging down. Her mane and tail go nearly limp, barely shifting in the lack of breeze.
"Nightmare Moon... I... wasn't attempting to keep anything out. After I left, this palace was intended to be a prison... " Luna takes a deep breath and lets it out. "...for my sister."
Ocellus sees a single tear fall. It doesn't hit anything; it just ripples into non-existence when it reaches Luna's hooves. "I didn't mean to bring up such a bad memory, Luna."
Ocellus lands in front of the mirror, changing back to her usual form. She lifts a hoof, touching the glass.
The changeling nymph takes a moment to compose her thoughts, rejecting the first few phrases that come to her. She does not wish to say she understands. That could come across as condescending. Or worse, arrogant. She must not presume she has any idea what Luna feels. Instead, she needs to make her words about herself. Show why she empathizes. Let Luna draw her own conclusions.
"I was once an 'evil changeling'," she tells Luna.
Everyone knows that, of course, Ocellus thinks. But she doubts anyone has done the math. Unlike her little brother and sister, she isn't so young that she was born after the Royal Wedding. Queen Chrysalis didn't bring grubs to battle. And the magical pulse generated by Shining Armor and Princess Cadance did not gently deposit them back at their hive -- it flung them into the badlands. Where they rebuilt their hive anew.
Retrieving their grubs from Equestria was not a high priority for her former queen. Ocellus knows at least one survived to find its way into Ponyville, but she suspects most did not. And they certainly never rejoined the hive.
Ocellus continues. "I haven't told anyone, but I was old enough to be part of the attack on Canterlot. The love-starved changeling I used to be did some horrible things. She hurt ponies. When I transformed, I abandoned who I was. With Thorax leading us, we were all able to. I know I am not that 'evil changeling' anymore. But it took Smolder... and some nudging from the Tree of Harmony... to accept that I have really and permanently changed."
Luna is looking at her.
"I'm not the creature who did those terrible things," Ocellus says firmly. "And neither are you."
Luna smiles, although Ocellus can see the sadness has not fully left her face. The changeling blinks as she tastes an unfamiliar but pleasant mix of honeydew and tar. Luna's love. Just a small amount, but somehow sharper and clearer than any she has experienced, as if more alive than life itself, flowing through the mirror as easily as her words.
"I know that, Ocellus. And I forgave myself years ago."
The night alicorn's words are sincere, but Ocellus can tell that is not entirely true. But then, even if they have changed, does anyone ever completely forgive themselves?
Ocellus has left her past behind her, embracing fully her new life as all in the transformed, love-filled hive (except perhaps Pharynx) have done. But the even though she knows she is no longer the love-starved changeling nymph she once was, she does not know how she would fare if she ever met any of the ponies she had attacked. Or fed on. There are deeds her former self did under Queen Chrysalis' reign that still pain her. Nightmares she may never fully escape.
"I know," Ocellus says. "We were taught the story in class. But I also know that even things you have forgiven yourself for can still hurt."
Luna is quiet a moment, but she nods with a sad smile.
As Ocellus smiles back, she closes her receptors, feeling a touch ashamed. She had not meant to do that. She had not even realized they were open.
Luna muses, "I had not thought of it before. But I can see now: unlike your friends, you cannot learn from my mistakes... for you have already learned those same lessons from your own."
With a wry chuckle, she adds, "I believe that is what I wished to help teach all of you on our field trip..."
Ocellus cocks her head, her ears perking. "Believe? You don't know?"
Luna pauses. Then frowns, a look of agitation playing across her face. "No, I... You're right. I should know... I..."
The night alicorn's face grows distorted with concentration.
"I... I cannot remember. I... I do not know why I planned the field trip. Or if this is truly where I meant to bring you. I cannot even remember asking Starlight..." Luna's eyes widen with alarm. "I cannot remember a great deal of the last few days! And when I try, I feel an ache in my mind. Like a hole..."
Ocellus gulps as a terrible thought comes to her. "Like your memories were drained away?"
She can feel Luna's love through the mirror. This strange malfunction... it allows much more than the alicorn's words and image. Ocellus could feed on Luna's love if she allowed herself to.
Memories aren't like love, she tells herself. Stop thinking what you are thinking, Ocellus. Feeding doesn't work that way.
But this is a changeling queen! They have powerful magic. She knows only a fraction of the things Queen Chrysalis was able to do. Who knows what Queen Elytra is capable of? Her thoughts turn to the drone in the grand foyer.
He knows my name! How does he know my name??!
Luna's eyes widen. Her words show that she too has followed the same line of thought. "Ocellus! This new queen is a far graver threat than I conceived. There are no words to express the damage she could do if she has my memories... not just of Equestria's defenses, but of the fears and dreams of all the creatures within it! It is most imperative that she not be allowed to invade our world!"
Ocellus looks at the three pillars again, the middle one now wearing an oil painting for a hat. The other two capitals remain as before.
Ocellus blinks, another (and hopefully far less invasive) question forming in her head. "Why hasn't it created Nightmare Moon's Seal?" She restrains herself from adding: Do I need to turn it on?
"The artifact weaves creations from dark essence," Luna answers. "You must supply that."
Oh. That makes sense. Of course, Ocellus figures, Nightmare Moon had a plentiful supply of that. But she does not.
"Place something made of dark essence on the first pillar, and the artifact will pull the essence from it," Luna tells her.
"Like what?" Ocellus asks.
Luna smirks. "Literally anything. Every part of Nightmare Moon's Palace is made from dark essence. ...Do not do this with anything you wish to keep. Being stripped of essence will cause the thing to dissolve."
After a moment's consideration, the night alicorn adds, "Although things without real power required only a wisp of essence to create and will provide very little to destroy. You would have to dismantle several rooms and dissolve their furnishings to create the Seal. Weapons and creatures forged from dark essence will provide much better yield."
Ocellus feels her eyes widen, a shudder of shock running through her at the casual mention of dissolving creatures to make a tool. She quickly reminds herself that this is not something Luna ever did, but rather the cold cruelty of Nightmare Moon.
Luna sees Ocellus' reaction and is quick to clarify. "Ocellus, I am not suggesting that you would -- nor should -- kill creatures to create Nightmare Moon's Seal."
Ocellus feels herself relaxing, a tension that had begun to build slowly trickling away. In the wake, her mind latches once again onto the memory of her fight in the grand foyer and the weapon that drone was wielding. A weapon now encased in queen resin with him.
There is an identical set of onyx columns in the kitchen. If Nightmare Moon built and furnished this whole palace with these artifacts, surely she would have wanted to reduce the hassle of lugging materials and furniture.
Ocellus doesn't even have to ask how many of these artifacts are spread across the palace. The tension that had almost faded away rushes back as she realizes the hive has control of at least one. Queen Elytra is using it to create the weapons she devises. And with that comes an even more dreadful thought:
If this is what Queen Elytra is creating now, what will she conjure up when she has all of Equestria's nightmares to pull from?
Layers upon layers, wheels within wheels. This is getting complicated.
We feel there's a missing section after the fight. How did Ocellus get into the throne room and remain unmolested (so far) for at least half an hour?
Envy huh? We're going to need some stronger sins than that...
Time for a stealth fetch quest!
Keep going! ;)
"The cavernous room can easily hold a small grove of trees."
"The cavernous room could easily hold a small grove of trees."?
"the drone hisses as he spreads his wings and takes to the air after her"
Wasn't he already hovering? "a hovering drone grinning down at her"
I do wonder: if the portal can only be closed from the moon side, how did it close after Nightmare Moon left? Perhaps it closes eventually by itself, with "eventually" simply being too long here.
Of course, this does further highlight the interesting question of how these changelings got here. Did they ride along with Nightmare Moon somehow, and hide from her that entire time? Well, I expect we'll find out at some point. :D
"Outside, there is less gravity outside to hold you"
"Outside, there is less gravity to hold you"?
re the history of the time on the moon:
Very interesting! :D
"This strange malfunction... it allows much more than the alicorn's words and image. Ocellus could feed on Luna's love if she allowed herself to."
...Oh. Dear. I suspect that perhaps not everyone involved in this situation views that as and undesirable trait of the connection...
I wonder if that last line is Ocellus wondering about what those nightmares might inspire, or if the nightmares themselves can somehow be used as fuel?
(I'm also wondering what these unspecified servants were, and what happened to them. Possible it's actually the changelings, but as potential answer that also raises more questions. Well, I think it likely that we'll find out. :))
Oh, hey, we already had gloo charge, now it is turn for gloo gun, recycler and fabricator :)
Alreay simplified crafting simplified further.
So basically NMM ate herself during her stay, since everything around is from dark stain.
Oh, okay, of course that would be the case. I had been wondering why she hadn't just done that sooner, but clearly it was never going to be that easy.
I had more to comment, but it was basically just repeating most of what the chapter ultimately reveals, so not much point in doing so.
10145615
Maybe that's why she didn't seem all that powerful when she returned to Equestria--she had inadvertently already partly de-powered herself.
Either that, or she was depowered upon arrival, and that was how she gradually "recharged" again throughout the course of her banishment, reclaiming the scattered power.
To be honest, I've never been a big fan of NNM being banished on the moon, preferred rather that she was banished in the moon in a sort of stasis, due to the many logistical leaps one has to make even by MLP's standards to make it all work...but this fic is presenting a pretty compelling case for itself and has managed to resolve many of the issues I'd normally have while still presenting a compelling environment to explore.
Ah yes, evil recycling. A glorious invention for immoral minds.
Just remember the three R's "Reuse, Recycle, REVENGE."
I feel there’s a really important question that should have been asked this chapter, or should be asked very soon, even if not answered just yet ‘cause it’s obviously part of the mystery.
How did Elytra’s changelings even get to the moon?
Just as important: why did they go there? Did they already know about the palace and it’s secrets? If so, how?
Memory feeders...which likely means Neuromods. I wonder how Ocellus will get memories in return...
So even the Gloo gun makes an appearance. Now the real challenge will be justifying the Huntress Boltcaster, the definitive best gun in the game.
And yes, I'm talking about the toy crossbow that fires squeaky darts.
Is the Mooncrash DLC gonna be connected to this story in any way?
So, Ocellus is in a creepy, Moon themed mansion full of changelings who seem to only shift into objects, there are a lot of, almost game like objects around for her to puzzle out, and she's met a Luna in a mirror trying to give her directions. Yes a Luna, still not sold on which one. And given the chapter title.... I'm pretty sure the Moon isn't going to literally be crashing into the place this early. Which leaves some other ways this could all go wrong. Now, on with the massively extended and overly thinking commentary!
Huh, well then. Guessing this might be backstory? Seeing the state of this world as a whole... wait, dark, 'dead' skies outside, no seeming way out, lots of moon themes.... Yes I have an idea where this might be, but we'll see what we learn.
And you open up with that specific phrase.........
That one seems fairly obvious. Still, always good to double check even seemingly obvious assumptions, but I feel this one to be fairly solidly supported by all the evidence so far.
How well preserved are those carpets? Those are the types of things that tend to wear out and decay relatively quickly if left alone for a few centuries. And Changelings don't seem the types to bother maintaining them. Then again could be preservation spells on everything.
That was a given. Though again, can't break one of those windows instead to get out?
Yeah, as I've noted, this place has just screamed 'Nightmare Moon' from the start, this just drives it home even harder. So, a NMM wins timeline, or have we found her 'vacation home' lets call it?
Yeah, that seems logical. Though, could they do like say, a cup of water? Something where liquid is part of it, but contained? They kind of have to given they are doing just that for any transformation, unless telling a changeling apart is as simple as poking them with a pin and seeing if they bleed or not. Though where is the limit?
So they can only take a form they have directly observed, and can only copy it directly? They can do some adlibbing and free form shifting, but always maintaining a clear amount of resemblance to their base form? So is there really a crystal pony who look just like 'Crystal Hoof'? Or is that essentially 'Thorax in pony form'?
Always good to have a bit of humor to break up the tension now and then.
Ah, for a second I took that as her noticing the glop was already on there, not it suddenly being tossed onto it signalling an attack.
I don't know, we've seen a few that looked rather grinny before. So, does she mean they physically can't move their mouths to form a grin, or they don't have enough free will to express it? Also, goop thrower. They are really inventive in how to use that stuff. Though given how she's saying it's produced, really want to see what is going on with this queen.
Yes, the Queen......
Good question, and makes mirror Luna knowing it and not being Luna all the more likely.
Nice nerd speak.
This is not at all creepy..... 'to be' what? Here? Awake? Free? Rainbow? In this dimension? Existing at all? Though if the latter, why would they be waiting for her? Really want to know what the buck is going on here.
Yeah, having plans for you means a whole lot more bad options then you just being a random intruder they are trying to neutralize.
Hey, finally!
Well, that is some damn quick thinking. Also very nice use of that change. Very impressive.
Okay, I thought that might happen, but was still worth trying.
Okay, so there IS an active Queen, good to know.
Well then..... yeah, looking like I was right about where they are. Though, still the same universe?
CALLED IT! Though, how the hell did changeling get on the moon?
Did Chryssi get the Changeling Space Program working and forget to bring a crew home after getting them to the moon?
Story.... story... thank you. Thank you so much for giving me the opening.
That's no moon!
Heh, nice.
Poor girl.....
Well, direct. and yeah, gotta assume there will be at least a few who prefer the 'old way'.
Don't you just hate having to fight clever enemies? Still, a good fight overall, both sides are smart, make good use of what they have, and just, all around well done.
Huh, good call back, and good use of a ranged weapon.
Ohhh, very, very nice. Yeah this was a great battle. Smart, lot of action but with breathers as needed, and a great struggle for Ocellus, not wanting to fight back till forced to, then using her brains to trick him into beating himself. Very, very well done.
Yes, but what if they refuse to take the offer once given the chance?
So, she is on the moon then, and also, gotta go back for even more amazing praise for the set up, the bit earlier about the sky looking 'dead'. It came off as some kind of, hard to describe in precise terms but poetic way of comparing the sky with and without an active Best Princess. Noting that something had changed about the sky. At the time, came off just like that, some dips into more poetic scene setting to make clear something was wrong, without really being able to give a clear reason.
When, while being that, it's much, much simpler, the sky looks 'dead' not due to some mystical lack of 'something' that Luna gives it, not some meta-physical reason. But due to this being the moon, the lack of atmosphere (I'm going under the assumption only inside the house or a bubble around it has air at the moment) does chance how the stars look, the 'twinkle' stars are know for is a result of atmospheric distortion of their light. No atmosphere, no twinkle, things look 'dead'.
Just, such a damn good, subtle way to set this up I totally missed due to looking at it from a more mystical, poetic nature then a practical one. Very good job.
Magic. Maybe they only work on 'enemies', or are tuned to non-Skittle-bugs, or just to this one hive.
Damnit story, making me google stuff and learn these terms! Keep it up!
Okay, Luna, get your flank back in here and cheer her up! Assuming this is Luna. Again, not discounting her being in an AU on it's moon and this being that 'verse's NMM trying to use Ocellus to free herself or something.
Yup... so ponies don't know what the surface of their moon looks like? But, yeah things just got a lot more complicated Ocellus. Just getting out of the mansion won't be quite enough.
Yeah, that would be kind of hard to miss. So, how long till she pieces things together?
Well, she does have issues there. But it is also how Luna* said she'd contact you.
She was made to be at Twilight's school.
Called it!
And there it is, that dawning moment of realization. She is far, far, far more fucked then she ever thought.
"While you are there, I left behind my favorite pair of socks, could you try and grab them before heading back?"
But yeah, this is very, very not good. Alright, some questions answered. Now, next one: Why the buck are their Changelings on the moon?
So, how bad was it, on the Sparkle Scale? She worked herself through it and there are no paper bags in sight, so, I'd say no more then .5-.6 Sparkles. But, nice on Luna to do what she could, while letting her get it out of her system.
Well, that's not good. So, do they have a full on beachhead set up now, or did she stop them from getting all the way through, but the initial push trapped her?
At least she's only tied with Tia now.
So, the mirror did it? Also, still blaming this on Starswirl, I'm sure he screwed up somehow. Either in making it, or not testing it well enough before telling Luna she could use it.
Except the trip was going to be a few days so, it'll be awhile.
Case in point.
So the mirror... is it acting like a stargate now? Only allowing travel one way? Was the moon where Luna meant to take them in the first place? How did Luna get put into a cocoon? Still a lot of questions about this.
So, the way NMM got back last time I take it?
Roll credits!
True, but shouldn't Luna have suspected something going on given the, you know, cocoon she's in? How else does she think she got in it?
Can you target where it leads? Maybe pop out in right in front of Ember, let the dragons roast the 'lings as they try? Or right to Princess Twilight?
Though why do they need Ocellus to do that? Or do they not know how she got here and just assume she knows a way back?
And back to the start and those questions. What will you be willing to sacrifice yourself to save? And yeah, really kind of hopping this isn't all one big test, cause that would be epic levels of pure dickishness to put Ocellus through all this.
Time bomb time. Yeah, that means there will be a window to get through, and leave something behind that will blow it up after you get to safety. Though, why isn't the portal already open if NMM used it to escape and it can only be shut from the moon? There's a few things here that aren't quite adding up right.
Why hasn't she done so already if she's had time? How long have they been here? Why do they want Ocellus given they have no reason to know she knows how to do it, till now at least. Yeah, there is still something going on we don't know.
Again, this is assuming this was the intended destination in the first place. Though giving them a tour of the moon would be a fun trip for them. Plus let Luna grab those socks she left behind.
Well then... Why does this sound familiar?
Pride, Jealousy, Rage, Envy?
Oh lots of potential question here, and a lot to puzzle out on the lore. But, most of it just guess work. Still, interesting way to take things, I'll wait to see how it plays out.
Again, how did they get scattered if the last time they were used was to get NMM back to Equestria?
Called one.
Either cut that 'the' or add in a missing word.
Also, why 'thinner yet colder' given thinner air would be colder just by how it works?
Well, the less gravity would be balanced out by the thinner air meaning less lift generated per beat. But yeah, it'll really screw with her flight. Assuming she can ever actually leave the place in the first place.
Okay, going back to the 'dead' skies thing, still holds given we are already told the atmosphere is thinner, and also like far less deep, meaning less air to cause the twinkling effect.
Also, doesn't mean there had to be air if you could survive in vacuum. (Or if it's a more literal 'in the moon' rather then on the surface.)
Come to think of it, Twilight not asking ALL the questions is very odd.
Okay, this is an interesting take on how things worked up there. I like it. Though... Luna...what 'servants'?
Gee, that's not symbolic or anything at all.
Why? I see that story. Yes, this has been noted.
So, Ocellus, going to ask about these 'servants' NMM created, and where they might be now? Or why NMM's house is locked so as to keep what is inside, in?
As noted above, good that she's being smart about this.
Or in.
Hmm, fair enough. Though, a prison, that just happened to have a key inside of it (admittedly one that would take a Sierra point and click adventure game dev's mind to ever figure out how to get it) and a portal back to Equestria? Not exactly the best plan here Luna.
You know, as emotional as this is.... I can't help but feel Luna might just be overplaying things. It is certainly keeping Ocellus from asking too many questions.
So how did they end up with the Throne there if they just built where they landed?
And, still hard to buy Ocellus as old enough to look just like any other drone pre skittlefication.
But the whole, leave them where they are, yeah I can buy Chryssi doing that. But, that still just, feels like there are issues to the logistics of it.
Oh, hey Kevin!
Yeah, like I said, this is potent, emotional stuff, but, got to be honest, not hitting as hard as it should to me cause I'm still having trouble parsing her being part of the attack in the first place. It just, feels a tad bit forced for the sake of wanting specific feels.
"It took creating a monster that gave all of Ponyville nightmares and nearly ripped a whole in reality to turn all of existence into an endless nightmare...."
"Did Professor Dash really dream herself into being all of the Power ponies at once and team up with herself to fight off an army of dream ninja's that the Tantabus created all while rocking out an epic power ballad about how awesome what she was doing was? Cause that always seemed a bit suspect to me."
D'awwwwwwww Is a good idea.
Well..... fuck. So Luna, how long have you been looking into that mirror before you decided on all this?
If you say so. Though, it's already clear this one is much smarter then Chryssi was.
So, the Queen manipulated Luna into setting all of this up. But that raises the question, why does she need Ocellus? Or any of the Young Six? And how the hells did Luna get stuffed into a cocoon?
So... yeah. This just got a lot worse. And giveing a warning like that... alltight, i'm about 95% sure this is legit Luna at this point, some of those reactions, and the very emotional moments between her and Ocellus are just, too genuine and touching for me to fully expect the story to be faking them. But, there are still a few holes in the story Luna is telling, as have been noted, that don't quite make sense. Also, the whole 'slit eyed' image Ocellus first saw.
Some great character work between the two of them here though.
Weapons and creatures... like say... these Changelings? Also, nice use of what I'm assuming are game mechanics, making you sacrifice something to get the plot coupon, and this makes sense how it's being used.
Once again, Luna... what creatures? You've still not answered just what those 'servants' you created were.
Oh...... buck... yeah, the bad guys having their own personal replicator is never good.
Meaning shit is about to get a LOT worse. Also a nice reason for an escalation in foes, it takes time for her to create these new weapons and train drones to use them as she figures them out from the memories she's grabbed.
So, I m never getting fully caught up with this fic.....
But, yeah got some basic set up, and we have a better idea of just how big a job Ocellus has before her. Though again, still some oddities in the story we're told that don't quite add up right. Something else is still not being said.
I’m sleepy but I want to read more of this! Kkat what have you done!
Plz don’t stop.
10154788 Thank you so much! These really make my day. Comments like this make all the effort worth it!
I plan to put out a chapter roughly every two days.
Um, okay, that part there kinda sat with me a bit.
Is this gonna come back at some point? I mean the implication of hundreds if not thousands of essentially baby changelings being left to die aside --I mean, yeah, holy shit-- the mention of a grub surviving to make its way to Ponyville sounds particularly specific. What became of this aforementioned grub?
10158095
It was a reference to Kevin, the Changeling who showed up at Cranky and Matilda's wedding
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/6/61/Kevin_the_Changeling_ID_S5E9.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/150?cb=20150624061213
Really enjoyed the plot twist that instead of this palace being underground (that was my theory), you instead went higher, and set it on the moon!
The interaction between Ocellus and Luna was sweet, having them bond over having past regrets that they can't escape from. Though, I can't help but question if this is the real Luna or someone pretending to be Luna (or believe they're Luna). Kinda weird Ocellus doesn't ask Luna "Any idea why their changelings in your palace? Are they your followers?", but I imagine the reason for that would be that the chapter would be much longer than intended, and that Luna might not know.
I'm not sure how to feel about how Queen Elytra's 'heel heat' has been established. The fact that only one drone is shown using a device that takes advantage of the 'ling goop, and the revelation that she may or may not be gaining access to Luna's memories isn't enough to really establish her as a serious threat. Though this is just me, and there will most likely be more events that further sells that Elytra is a formidable foe.
Just for fun: I'm going to take a gamble and predict that Queen Elytra is actually Ocellus' age.
Anyway, I hope these comments have been helpful. I'm looking forward to reading more!
hi hi
Hmm, thinking about the fountain... it wouldn't necessarily have to be the entire fountain, right? Ocellus can transform into things that are a different size, so maybe a portion of the fountain broke off and a changeling replaced an eye or an ear? Just thinking about all the places a changeling could hide, I wonder if Ocellus isn't being paranoid enough. What about all of the carpets covering the floor? Or what if a changeling turned into a thin segment of wall, covering up an identical segment of wall; if it's thin enough, would anyone notice?
The starving changelings don't seem too worried about breaking things, including the architecture. Presumably because their goal is to leave, why worry about preserving this old place? If they were to start smashing things elsewhere, disguising themselves as rubble would be pretty difficult to avoid.
"And make servants that would farm for me." Hmmm.... Hmmmmmm... That's an awfully suspicious thought, consindering why there are changelings on the moon in the first place.
Speaking of using the palace as a prison for Celestia. She was notably absent during Nightmare Moon's final night. Perhaps she was briefly held captive here? I always figured she was imprisoned in the sun, but maybe she left something behind here instead?
It's interesting to me how quickly this plot has developed. While I'm a bit hesitant to do so, a comparison to Fallout: Equestria highlights how much more direct Prey is so far: already we have inklings of our primary antagonist and her goal of invading Equestria, and clues for what Ocellus needs to find her way back home. Straight to the main quest this time around!
Luna mentiond how as The Nightmare she created servants to help maintain her palace. Are these the changelings? If not, who were the servants and where did they go? I'm not asking just out of my own curiosity, this feels like an obvious question that Ocellus should have brought up.
The whole palace, it's eerie enough yeah but the lore and worldbuilding behind it... makes it strangely, well beautiful and in some ways the kind of place I'd want to explore. God knows why, but I do want to see more of this place.
Aaaaaaaaa big words hurt my brain!
In all seriousness though, some insane vocabulary and detail in this holy crap.
Whoa That is a lot of information to Digest man And I did not know that luna had her own castle in the moon And I'm surprised there's other creatures up in the moon poor Ocellus I wonder is she gonna do this by yourself I'm sure she probably need some help I mean luna is helping but what about her friends But I guess she doesn't want them to get involved about what's happening But I wonder what happened to princess Luna memory and this Queen Elytra is pretty crazy boy this is pretty intense
A frozen pit forms inside Ocellus. She knows what Luna is going to say next even as she says it.
"You are on the moon."
Just to set the mood 😅
Nice establishment of the lore.
Also some thoughts
Whose mother? Mine, yours, Jimmy Hoffa's, Cathy Crawford. Which one you talking about kkat, cause trust me, you'll get a different flavor of answer
Thus insisting that the elements themselves or their respective attributes inherently virtuous. Do I have to go philosophical on you Kkat, cause I will
Or took the road of positive thinking. "At least the view was nice." Learn from Job friends and neighbors
Wouldn't this be akin to a cow drinking its own milk to stave off starvation?
Are the air quotes Ocellus's or the narrators, cause I think she'd see herself as evil in this regard.
Perfect work as always word-smith! I love how you incorporated some videogame-y aspects into the story, feels nice.