The Trinity of Moons: Mending Shards

by Cloud Ring

Chapter 11: Limitation

⊛⊛⊛

Gentle Touch lay on the bench, totally relaxed. The columns on the sides cut off the space that nopony would enter; on the round table in front of her was a bowl of spiced alfalfa salad. The cafe was smaller and more comfortable than the restaurant from where she and Cursory Streak went to sector 12-S, the Black Moon’s sector, just a few cycles — and so many events ago. She had found a companion; she saw White Moon up close; and there was the major quest to follow up. Now, at the quiet cafe not so far away from central sectors, she was… mostly calm; maybe worried at Cursory Streak’s recent and sudden leave.

There were no modifiers in the menu at all, and the scent background was made by tulips of the green line — almost like at home — reminding of grass and unripe apples.

Your smell is quite cute, she remembered Cursory's words and smiled to herself. She looked around, easily finding the pegasus Herald — beyond the entrance and above the wooden ceiling of the cafe, at a height of several nines of throws, at the Great Net that sprawled unusually low here. At such a great distance, it was impossible to gauge the range more precisely: there was nothing to compare with. Next to Cursory Streak were three more web rainbows, without major flaws, but, obviously, at that age.

Well, in any case, she could stand up for herself… Gentle carefully chewed a third of the salad, enjoying the spicy sweetness and impeccable freshness of the taste, filled out the appreciation form, but the worry remained. She placed table spatulas in a triangle on the edge of the bowl and went outside, under the Blue Moon.

☄☄☄

Cursory Streak kept her distance from the purple glass pipes as thick as her legs that made up the global damping Net here. No Red in the forecast, so it should be only semi-active now…

She narrowed her eyes, tracking the three young pegasi; the pinkish one accelerated, folded his wings and swept through the cell without touching the Net itself, except perhaps by the wind in his wake; it responded with a low, thick hum.

His companions followed suit. The lilac one almost touched the pipe with the edge of his wing; the rumble increased sharply, filled the air, and a seemingly slow ice tentacle stretched from the Net’s nearest crossing, branching and rushing to the lilac trespasser. Less than a third of a beat later, the next three ice branches aimed at the remaining pegasi.

The one that darted towards Cursory melted down when she instinctively recalled the flame before her; the young ponies were less fortunate. All of them froze in an icy grip on the thin and sparkling tridents created by the Net. Immovable — and above the level of the Net, under the shrouding hazy glow of the Blue Moon in full glory, dense and drowning, undissipated by the Net.

And I thought it was not in full... Cursory sighed in her mind and repeated the leader's maneuver, also slipping through the Net into the unprotected sky. Otherwise, she would not have been taken seriously. Blue Moon's shimmering brilliance confused her and misted her vision, but still Cursory was able to position herself correctly — right by the pinkish leader of the trio. He was positioned almost exactly in between the two of his trapped followers, which was convenient: Cursory Streak was showing that she talks to the leader first, but without disrespecting his wingmates, or favouring one over the other.

“Do you understand the consequences, unbounds?” She allowed herself to be angry and dropped the honorific. Non-children wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

The three-voiced noise of reluctant confirmation was an answer for her.

“As an observing adult, I’m entitled to accept a request for assistance. Or listen to a comment for family and friends. You probably know about the risk of change already. The leader of the pack sure does.”

She took a crossword puzzle out of her bag, turned the sheet over — clean side up — and prepared to write replies down.

“I'm Short Cut. I refuse to speak and do not ask for help,” the pink leader replied. Cursory tried to pick up more from his expression, but his face was akin to a mask.

“I'm Vortex Flow. I am asking for help,” the lilac one said in a raised tone but not in a shout. Cursory Streak did not wait, sharply hitting the ice trident with her shoulder girdle and breaking ice; the Herald’s shoulder went numb, the pain leaked into the wing muscles on the same side, and the single mobile pegasus barely stayed in the air, hammering with the other wing until she found a new balance. It's impossible to get used to it… Released, Vortex Flow descended to the safe air under the Net; from there, his lilac form disappeared behind a corner in an instant.

“I'm Dip. Just Dip. I'll stay to watch over my friend. Sector 113-L, second habitat, three square nines and two nines apartment. Tell them that I am not sorry, that it was not their fault and that they are good ponies,” the dark blue pegasus said these words very slowly, as if thinking over each word. Cursory knew this was how ice worked.

“But are you going to come back?” Cursory asked for clarification.

“If at all possible. If I will be enough… to become Herald… I’ll return,” Dip blinked slowly. She could not nod anymore.

Cursory chuckled and added a couple more notes to the list; wrote down the address for the report to follow. Words that were said and heard, personal and sacred ones, were memorised instead. Then, without looking back, she dived through the Net into Metropolis.

She allowed herself to fall. Her shoulder was heavy with a soggy pain; she wanted to get to a warm bath and totally clear her thoughts for a slice or three. But below the Net there was one with whom a meeting had been more anticipated than would normally be proper among two strangers; Gentle Touch. Cursory chuckled to herself. It's not my fault that it's true. It’s not her fault that she has already passed the unbound age either.

⊛⊛⊛

Cursory Streak was angry, although she tried to hide it — but they were under a normal sky, near a perfectly normal cafe, and Gentle Touch saw everything quite clearly. So Gentle came over and asked bluntly, “I take it they weren't engineers of the Net, were they? And you were hardly offered a race for a prize,” She smiled. “Although you look like you have lost. A race, I mean.”

Cursory looked down and did not answer right away.

“I got an urgent message from my Moon.”

Gentle gasped, “I didn't know Moons could do that... that Moons do that in fact. Is the message a secret? If not, and if it would be better for you to tell me about it, then I will listen. Attentively.”

“Yes, I will tell, but first things first. I agree to accept your help so that you can relieve the pain. If you are following the relevant aspect,” the pegasus turned sideways to Gentle; she came up, peered, and snorted at what she saw. The flow of color over the front leg of Cursory Streak practically stopped, and the colors themselves... Gentle knew only a few poisons that could cause such an effect, and only one of them...

She understood, bit her lip and got to work, creating new lines from the branches to bypass the silenced area. Almost immediately the pegasus exhaled and moved to the side; Gentle had to warn the patient that the treatment was far from over and that it will be necessary to visit the hospital sector later on. Gentle purred under her breath a training rhyme for the correct rhythm, ‘One, two, three — a line there should be free / Three, two, one, zero, test — the Forest awaits to be next,’ and Cursory was able to support her and get in tune, although at the Forest line her voice was audibly — for Gentle — hesitating.

In a slice or a little more the flow was, for the most part, restored in the foreleg and in the wing muscles on the same side, except for a small patch of direct impart. For a time, they simply remained next to each other, side by side against the wall of the cafe. Then Cursory said as if nothing had happened, “Three unbounds, who went up to test themselves and offer themselves to Moons, by flying over the Net. Thankfully, there is no Red in the forecast… well, if they ever look at it.” She smiled sadly. “So… they are lucky to get Blue Moon. She will be more than enough.”

Gentle was compassionately silent for a few beats; then sniffed and said, “Could they return yet?”

“One of them has a chance to hold it off down there, the other two... I don't think they'll manage, no.” Cursory replied. The bitter lump in her throat caught her breath for a moment.

Gentle nuzzled the pegasus's wing, “Well… two more Heralds for the Blue Moon.”

Cursory didn't move back — she felt sapped, placed in an invisible yet rigid shell. Just replied. ”They say Blue Moon may be kind when She wants to.” She took a small pause; Gentle nodded to it. “With White Moon there’s no chance that way, you see. She is unforgiving. She pulls unbounds through all the stops, and leaves them Changed. But if Blue Moon is softer, if She really is lenient, then... then, yes, it's good then.”

“Are you sure about them?” Gentle asked carefully.

“Yes. Just like about you. You see, I knew you’re a Herald right off the bat, once you hesitated at my proposal. Only a Herald would earnestly consider it: you, too, are lonely.”

Gentle blinked and nodded; the faint blue mesh in her irises pulsed.

Cursory felt more at ease as she spoke, hurried a little, letting it on. “In general, I can see when... ponies think more than they say. Especially when they do not think about what they say. My own skill, a lot of time at the station... you gradually learn to hear more than spoken. So, they were clear too."

Gentle frowned, her mouth opened slightly, ears drooped in a look of silent disappointed surprise, but she said nothing.

Oh. Cursory bit her lip. “I thought about telling you that before but had neither good words nor time. To explain how I intruded into what you wanted to keep secret.” She chose to leave the apology out. If Cursory was right about a few other things Gentle preferred to hold unspoken — at this point the pegasus was pretty sure about that — it will be just fine anyway.

Gentle stood up and rubbed her nose behind Cursory's ear, “I understand. And I sympathize with you. What these unbounds did is nonsense — if the Moons wanted more Heralds, they wouldn’t deploy the Net. I understand why the Net is not everywhere and why it is possible to penetrate through it. I just don’t agree with this decision.”

Apparently, the unspoken apology was accepted. “Yeah. So do I. I mean, I can see how it is the traditional way. White loves Her traditions, I obliged to look for them. But still…”

Cursory went on after a beat, “Anyway... in my experience only unbounds look for it. Of course, otherwise you have to work, to train, to hope, with no promises given. You know, like many say they do and fewer do. Like I once failed to do.” Bitter disappointment was clear in Cursory's voice, addressed to nopony in particular– or maybe to the world itself, or to herself before she first inhaled 'Guiding Starfall-TX'. She sniffed. caught herself at it and tried to calm down. Three deep breaths, and she opted for the less tense topic, “By the way, I want to ask you... how did you go through the unbound age yourself? I don't mean that you shouldn't have, but how? I'm just collecting these stories…”

Cursory fell silent, but Gentle saw that the wish to act the anger out, or at the very least to speak more was still seething in her, and that she was holding back, picking her words and calming down. After nine beats she continued, “Collecting stories. To take them all, and just explain to my Moon that this age is not needed. That it makes the world worse for everypony. That it adds to the issues that we are forced to resolve. So that She would put the unbound age in silence and never say it again.”

Gentle tensed and took a half step back. But she answered in a calm voice, “I will probably answer your query later. We are too far away for it — both from each other and from our many destinations on the Black Moon’s map. First, we need to decide what we are going to do on the quest of the Triangle.”

The pegasus nodded, “I'd like us to get closer.”

“I know. I do not want to, yet. And please do not insist: I see that you are drawn to me, and that there is a spark of sexual attraction, hidden in the tertiary lanes. But the closer you try to be, the harder it gets for me.”

Cursory didn't answer right away; she moved both her wings a bit — still not in true sync — and blushed, “Can you see me that well?”

“No worse than you can see me,” Gentle Touch replied, smiling but still tense.

“And this is not a refusal?”

Gentle Touch was silent for a beat.

“No, it isn’t.”

Comments

[Numinos]

Interesting... So, ponies here have some age limit to do what exactly? Find a purpose? Attract the attention of one of the Moons? Get a cutie mark? And sounds like failing to do so... is not something to wish for.

But hey! At least some attraction of the other kind us going on : )

[Cloud Ring]

10651179
First, about the Net. It's my failure. I really meant to mention it in passing in chapter 6 (and the mention is there now).

As an excuse, here's what goes on about it:

Red is really dangerous. The Net's primary task is to dilute the Red. Make it less deadly (it still remains deadly, mind you. Just less so.) At the same time, it dilutes the light of other Moons. Usually it's too high above to be even noticeable. Remember how you can see the airplanes? Each section of the Net is much smaller than an airplane. But it protects, less so in the visible specter, more so in the magic/influence specter; and ponies may live in the Metropolis without being too much affected by the Moons.

Except said affecting still happens, in a really slow and subtle way. But that's okay.

On the topic of edge age there will be more in coming chapters.

[Chatoyance]

The time system is interesting.