Silverstream gets questioned
On the next day, Strike seemed distracted as he gestured for his guest to sit. “Silverstream, this is probably the last meal we will have together. We’re coming to Chiropterra tonight. Thought you may want to know.” He said.
Oh. “And what’s going to happen there?” Silverstream asked. As much as she was not trying to show it, she was still aware that she was a prisoner. Only her newfound friends allowed her to get through this, but now she was coming closer to whatever awaited her there.
Lightning Strike, brave captain of the Chiropterran Navy, hesitated visibly before answering. “You were captured because we needed someone who had personal… bond, so to say, with Luna.”
“What? But, I barely know her!” Silverstream protested. “I saw her few times, but that’s it. Why me, and not someone closer to her?”
“Well, you are a member of the royal family, and took part in the meeting between Queen Novo and the Princesses. Luna was also in your school few times for special lessons, wasn’t she?”
“Still, I’m sure there are many ponies who have much closer bond with her! I mean, she probably barely knows my name.” Silverstream still protested. She didn’t mind being taken in place of someone else – especially since she already managed to make a new friend here! But it still sounded weird.
“You also had a connection to the Harmony, because of Cozy Glow’s attempt to stop all magic, right?” Strike sighed again. He looked much less sure of himself then ever before during their conversations. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but… we’re getting desperate. We tried multiple things before. Trying to create tensions between thestrals and other ponies, magic rituals to bring back the Goddess, hoping for a war to happen and push Luna to change back… it all failed. Eternal Eclipse is getting desperate. We… have to do something. Our society may not survive another millennia.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Luna changing? Millennia?” Silverstream tried to remember the history lessons. Luna was on a moon for a thousand years, as Nightmare Moon. And when she changed for the first time, back then, she had a royal army of… thestrals. “You want to bring back Nightmare Moon?!”
“Yes. She is our Goddess, and we have served her loyally for all those years. We will bring her back and be granted great rewards for this… or perish. There is no other way.” Captain said with heavy heart.
“But… this is crazy! I’m sorry, but what?! Luna IS Nightmare Moon, just not corrupted!” That was actually insane, Silverstream was sure of that. “And why would you even bring her back? She would bring eternal night, kill everyone! Even plants can’t live without sun, let alone ponies!”
“Luna is not our Goddess. She is a weak form of her, stripped of her might by the Elements of Harmony and with her mind forcefully changed. We will bring her back to her senses, break the mind control magic that Celestia put upon her, and she will reward us greatly. We will be given magic that allows us to live in the night forever, without any harm, as we should have long ago.”
“You can’t actually believe it, can you?” Silverstream asked with disbelief. “There is no mind control! Why would you even think that? We talked with the Harmony, and…”
“You what?” This seemed to surprise him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we found a door leading underground, and Harmony showed us all those scary things, I saw the Storm King, and we learned all kinds of lessons, and I am rambling again. But if she could just control us, why do all this?” Silverstream asked, remembering that (very scary) day. “If she could just make us do what she wants, I’m sure friend Gallus wouldn’t procrastinate so much!”
“I… see. So Harmony is sentient, somehow. But how do you know she truly isn’t controlling you, or your friends? Or those ponies who used the Elements?” Strike asked, trying to put this new information into his worldview somehow. “This only makes it more likely she is manipulating you all to stop our Goddess from regaining her free will.”
“Have you heard of our teachers?” Silverstream asked in return. “Do you truly believe someone mind controlled would act so… well, not-harmony-like, like they did in the past?”
He seemed to actually hesitate. She pressed on. “Luna was purified of her corruption by the Elements, but the reason she stays as herself now is not some magic. It’s friendship. Ponies, hippogriffs, even Princesses can change. Luna is happy now, this is why Nightmare Moon is not returning. You can’t just… un-uncorrupt her with some magic, because she simply doesn’t want all these bad things anymore! She changed. You can change, as well.”
“How do you know?” She swore she could sense a small spark of hope and hesitation in his voice.
“You changed, haven’t you, friend?” She asked.
He had no answer to that. He quickly changed the topic. “Once we reach Exile’s Landing, you will be taken to the capital. The sailors who were with you will be put to work, to prepare our cities for the glorious return of the Goddess.”
“Put to work? That doesn’t sound good.” She saddened. “Is there anything we can do to help them? They were just helping me get home, they are innocent. I really don’t want them to suffer just because they were there.”
“No can do, Silverstream. They are now our prisoners, and all pony prisoners have to work. These are the rules.” He decided against mentioning some of the worse things that happened to prisoners sometimes. He really wanted to spare her at least that in the last days of her life. “But aren’t you worried about yourself? Shouldn’t you ask me to help you escape?”
“But you said you all believe that you can bring Nightmare Moon back. I can help explain to your leaders that they’re wrong, and then you can stop being afraid and full of hate!” She answered with conviction. “This is all just a misunderstanding, after all.”
He winced. He really wanted to spare her that knowledge, but it seems he had no choice. “Silverstream. They will kill you. That’s what this magical ritual is. A sacrifice. You can’t convince anyone if you’re dead.”
“Oh.” Her courage suddenly waned, and she hesitated. She didn’t think of dying much, but she really wanted to avoid it. If she dies, she won’t see her friends ever again! But then she thought of something. “But if I escape, what happens to you? Won’t they hurt you for allowing me to escape?”
“They will. But you will be free, Silverstream.” He argued. “You can come home, come back here with an army, try to stop Eternal Eclipse from hurting anyone else!”
“But… that would be war.” She shuddered. “And wars are horrible. A lot of ponies and hippogriffs would die, wouldn’t they?”
“Sometimes there is no other way.” He said grimly. "And war can happen regardless."
She shook her head. “No. I believe there is. I can speak to your leaders, and others, maybe I can convince them!”
“You are utterly insane. I am one of the most open-minded thestrals in Chiropterra, and it took me days to even consider helping you. Eternal Eclipse won’t even laugh at you, he will just ignore you!” Lightning Strike tried to calm himself. “Fine, if this is how you want this to go. Guards!” The armed thestrals instantly spilled into the cabin. “Get her back under the deck. Before we send her to the port, make sure to muzzle her so she can’t spew her heretical nonsense. And get me the first mate on the double!”
Guards took shocked Silverstream out of his cabin without delay, and it took less than a minute before slightly-sleepy thestral entered it instead. Lightning Strike didn’t even wait for him to sit down before he started talking. “Change of plans. I trust you can manage, but it’s a big change…”
Silverstream, chained and muzzled, was slowly walking down the plank connecting the ship to the well-hidden port. Her thoughts went into dark places. She was sleepy – it was night, after all – and her failure in convincing her new friend weighted heavily on her. Where did she make a mistake? He seemed so open to change, and then…
She heard him walk behind her, slowly but surely. Not that she was walking any faster – the chains she was put in were loose enough to allow her to walk, but tight enough that running, let alone changing into a seapony, were out of question. He didn’t say a thing, and they just walked under the cold light of the moon. Silverstream normally enjoyed the sight of Luna’s satellite, but here, in this place, it felt much colder for some reason. Or maybe it was just her feeling worse.
“We will take the prisoner from here.” Said one of the armed thestrals awaiting them at the dock. “You can return to your ship.”
“There was a change of plans. I need to go to the capital, and discuss the situation with Commander Lucent Eclipse.” He answered coldly.
“Change of plans? We were not informed of any change of plans.” The other thestral protested.
“Do you have Moonshine-level clearence?” Lightning Strike asked. The asked thestral was silent. “Thought so. Now take care of your prisoner, while I take care of matters important to the State. I need to be provided with the transportation to the capital.”
“Will be done. What about the pony prisoners?” The first thestral asked, this time more timidly. Silverstream could her he was cowed by this display of authority.
“They all died, trying to save this… hippogriff. What a waste.” Lightning Strike said without much care. She gasped, but then realized something – the sailors were alright! He lied! She smiled inside. They were saved! “They will not see our Goddess return in Her glory. The “Veiled Dagger” has to go on a new mission now. Ensure they have proper supplies for another raid.”
Even as the cowed thestrals put her in some kind of cage mounted on a cart, and starting pulling her towards the dark heart of the Chiropterra, Silverstream found herself feeling much less scared. She was still being taken to be possibly sacrificed in a dark ritual, but now she had a friend! And she saved her sailor friends. It had to count for something, right?
Although she was still afraid, she felt the warmth of those thoughts warming her up inside. Friendship, she thought, truly is magic. She hoped it would be enough.
Unknown to her, Lightning Strike was on his way to capital to make sure it would be enough. He did his best to reach it as fast as possible, ready to forget about sleep and rest.
As suicidal as that hippogriff seemed, willingly going to that lair of snakes that was New Ayacachtli, she was lucky to have someone willing to look over her. He needed to get to Lucent Eclipse as fast as he could. He was the only one who could help.
And equally unknown to her, the first mate of “Veiled Dagger” was moving in a different, but as important direction. The first mate, still confused, but loyal, was way past the stage of scratching his head as the ship steadily moved north, and then east.
The direction of Mount Aris.
“Yes! The night will last forever!” Nightmare Moon shouted triumphantly, as the sun was extinguished. Silverstream could only look in horror, as her friends and family all fell before the undefeatable Queen of the Night. “And it’s all thanks to you, my child! You will be greatly rewarded for this. You will get to live in my new world, forever!”
“No!” Silverstream screamed, falling on the ground in tears. No, please, someone… stop this, she thought in despair. This, this horrible nightmare, I can’t take it anymore!
Wait. Nightmare. That’s right! It was not real! She got up on a shaky legs, to the mocking laughter of the monstrous, corrupted pony before her. “You, you are not real! None of this is! Luna!” She shouted to the black sky. “Luna, I need you!”
Nightmare only laughed. "Foalish hippogriff! You are in my domain now, the weakling will not save you!
Meanwhile, Princess of the Night – the real one, this time – was, as she did every night, making sure her little ponies could sleep well. She would calm their fears, and stop the nightmares that were trying to grow in their dreams. Such was her duty, and she enjoyed it greatly. More and ponies enjoyed the night with every year, as the news of her touch spread, and everypony… everycreature, she corrected herself, in Equestria could sleep well no matter what hardships they faced in the waking world.
But now, she felt something… different. A pull to a place far away. She never felt it before; other lands were too far, and not really aware of her, and she never ventured there. And when she tried, over a thousand years ago, she found beings on Gryphus she knew would be not easy to defeat even for her. She shuddered, remembering this ‘Maar’, or however that... thing called itself. She would need help to ever hope to defeat it, and it was hiding far beyond the reach of her full power. For now, all she could do was protecting Equestria from it.
But this pull… it came from the South. It was cold there, somehow, and she rarely went there either. She knew she wasn’t welcome there, zebras especially seemed to hate and loathe her for some reason.
However, she now heard a plea for help. She tried to find that dream, only to find… a barrier? What? Someone dared to block her access to the dream world? Deny it to Luna herself?! To add insult to injury, she recognized this magic. Twisted, ancient magic of the night, used once by Nightmare Moon and her cultists to hide and protect their vile dreams.
That will not do! Now that she was aware of this barrier, it took little effort to destroy it, the taint of Nightmare leaving this world. She hoped it was the last remnant of it.
To her surprise, she found Silverstream, facing her own, corrupted form. Luna descended into her dream, and banished the horrible creature. “Begone, you fake visage! You hold no power here!”
To her surprise, the image was… resisting her. With the same, corrupted power she knew so well. “Pathetic. You grew weak, Luna, while I, Nightmare Moon, only grew stronger! You show mercy, compassion, weakness! You forgot the lessons Star Swirl gave us. I bet you cannot fight at all these days!” The monster laughed, and the dream shook. “I have all the power in this place! I spent a thousand years, waiting for this day, and now, you shall fall!”
Did this… apparition, this fake image, just challenge her in her own domain?! Luna may have indeed learn much about the modern ways of Equestria, but to say she lost her warrior spirit? How absurd! She was still the warrior she was back then, the one who banished all the monsters of the night by herself! “I see. Begone then, creature, and know my full strength!”
The Nightmare before her laughed again. “You have no power here! How stupid you must be, to attack Us in the heart of Our power!”
And then, the dream shook, and Nightmare started to fade away. “What? Impossible! You are weak, and I am strong! I can feel it, even now your thoughts are not of this fight, but of your sister, the one who banished you!” The nightmare fired a burst of dark magic so powerful, it would annihilate Silverstream on the spot… if not for the fact that Luna effortlessly held it back.
“I see. So you are but the smallest part of my corrupted power, that grew sentience. Like a poor, weaker version of Tantabus, with ego not matching its power. Begone, I say for the third time!” And so the Nightmare, or rather the power of darkness building itself in Chiropterra, faded away. Luna turned to Silverstream. “You are safe now. You are Silverstream, student of School of Friendship, am I right? I remember you from the negotiations with your aunt, Queen Novo, as well.”
Silverstream jumped at Luna, hugging her and not holding back her tears. “You remember me! And you banished this, this scary thing, Luna! I am so happy to see you!”
“It is all right now, Silverstream.” She returned the hug. “As I said before, you are safe now.”
“I… I’m not.” Was the answer, and the hippogriff looked at Luna through her tears. “There are all these horrible scary ponies, and, and, they want to make some kind of dark magic thing to summon the Nightmare, and I have only one friend, but he’s amazing, and…”
“Slow down, Silverstream. Ritual? It that why I could not see this place before?” She thought about it, remembering the feeling that summoned her there. “I see. Your connection with Harmony made it possible for you to reach me. You have my thanks, Silverstream, without your help this… parasite would spread and fester in these lands. Now, tell me, what happened to you? I assumed you were already home.”
Silverstream, trying to stop her tears, told Luna everything. About her kidnapping, how she spoke with Lightning Strike, and made him realize things. She was proud to say he was her friend now, and he saved those pony sailors. She told Luna about what the Chiropterrans had planned for her, and upon hearing this, Luna felt fury like she didn’t feel for a long time now.
“These… thestrals thought they can corrupt me? I knew of those loyal to me, and tried to find them, but none seemed to remain after I returned from my banishment, their lineages long extinct. To think they would remain in this place, plotting for a thousand years… unthinkable.” She shook her hear. “The Eclipse lineage truly got corrupted by the darkness. Another sin on my conscience, it seems. They used to be the greatest of my protectors, using their might to fight back against the horrors that would creep in the night… and now, this? The gifts I gave to them, and all the others, perverted and twisted like that. Unforgivable.” Her warrior spirit, already awakened by the Nightmare, was now burning inside her.
“You… knew these ancestors they speak about?” Silverstream asked with a hint of worry at her voice at seeing Luna apparently getting ready for a fight. “Can you tell me about them?”
“I will, but that is for later. For now, I will contact Queen Novo. We will gather our forces, and crush this Chiropterra. I will personally lead our forces through this darkness, and destroy it.” Luna declared, only to realize Silverstream does not seem happy to hear it.
Before her banishment, she would not care about the thoughts of a child – teenager, these days there were actually distinct from children, she knew that now. She would gather her hosts and wage war until the enemy was crushed and Silverstream safe. But that was old Luna, and old age, much less civilized. So instead, she asked her. “You seem not satisfied with my plan, Silverstream. Why is that so?”
“Well… that would be war, right?” The hippogriff looked sad. “And war is very bad, isn’t it? Many ponies would die, and hippogriffs.”
“It is but a necessity. From you told me, they captured hundred, nay, thousands, tens of thousands maybe even of ponies, zebras, every creature they could find to work for their unhinged ambitions. And now, by kidnapping you, they declared war on entire United Alliance! We cannot let that slight pass, less others think of us as weak.” Her voice was slipping more and more into her old, pre-banishment way.
“Can we not have it, though? The war?” Silverstream asked, now both sad and worried. “There are good ponies here, Luna.”
“How can there be good in this place, if it was shrouded in darkness for so long? Think of all the suffering they caused! You had no doubt when Equestria faced the Storm King, even though it ended with his death.”
“Yes, but… remember Lightning Strike, I just told you about him? He has doubts, but if an army attacks, he will probably go to war to defend his country. Who knows how many others like him are there? Ponies who have doubts, but ignore them because they are just too scared?” Silverstream argued. "And you remember Storm King, what about Tempest?"
Luna sighed. “Thou remind me of Twilight Sparkle, and her insistence on redemption. It is against my better judgment that I reluctantly agree. But I will tell both Queen Novo and Twlight of your predicament and decision. When you come back, expect them to have choice words for you for what you just decided.”
“They will understand!” Silverstream hesitated. “Well, Princess Twilight will. Aunt is going to get so mad, she will probably ground me for the rest of the summer… but it’s worth it.” She decided. In truth, being at risk of death was much more scary then her aunt, as she found out. And she already decided to take her chance with finding the good ponies in this horrible place. “But tell them that I truly care about them, and don’t want them to worry! I will be home once I help these poor ponies to stop being so afraid!”
Luna just shook her head with slight amusement. “You truly remind me of the best and brightest ponies I had ever met. You were rightly chosen for the School of Friendship, not that I had doubted this before. You would make a fine ruler yourself. Rest, for now, as I will guard your dreams.”
And Silverstream slept, while Luna braced herself. Telling Queen Novo the news will definitely be… an experience.
“She did W H A T?!?! Forget grounding, when I get her back I will forbid her from leaving her room for the rest of her life!”
And it really was.
Silverstream wasn’t sure how long she spent in that cage. When she awoke, it was day, but whatever food they gave her must have been laced with something, because she fell asleep again after she ate. She woke up some time later, thirsty and with a splitting headache. She looked around with bleary eyes, realizing she was in a cell. Interestingly, it was not made out of bricks or wood; it was just a cave, with one door leading outside. The doors looked solid enough to keep even Smolder in, and they had a small window in them, possibly to check on the prisoner.
She was no longer in chains. And, to her relief, there was water and some food even! She started eating and drinking quickly, only realizing moments later it could also be laced with whatever they gave her earlier. She mentally shrugged; it’s not like not eating is going to be much better.
Apparently, it was just food, since she didn’t feel sleepy at all. Alright, Silverstream, now you need to their leader, and convince him to stop this before somecreature gets hurt. Like her. And others. And definitely her. She was scared, and it was not a nice feeling.
At least her talk with Luna made her feel better. She wasn’t truly alone. And besides, if she was in their capital, Lightning must be there as well! That made it so much better. Everything is nicer when your friends are nearby, after all.
She didn’t have much to do, so she just sat in her cell. It was boring, and a little scary, but she tried her best to keep her calm.
She failed, and was torn between horrible boredom, and fear. With nothing to do, her mind was going over more and more scary and unsettling scenarios, and she was only growing more worried. What if her aunt does launch an invasion? What if Luna decides she doesn’t want to wait in the end and just attacks? What if Twilight tells her friends and they come to her rescue, and get hurt?
She was so lost in these bad scenarios, she almost missed the sound of hoofs outside her cell. She did not, however, miss the sound of heavy lock being open, as four guards came into her cell.
With two more guards outside, Silverstream wondered why were they acting like she was so dangerous. Maybe if Smolder was here, she would require so much security, but she couldn’t breathe fire! And the cell got a little cramped with all those thestrals inside.
Her thoughts stopped suddenly when another person entered the room. A stallion thestral, very old, with mostly white mane. He walked slowly, but surely, and radiated authority. She instantly knew he was a person of authority here.
The stallion was wearing a dark green uniform with silver ornament. A silver monocle was covering one of his uncaring eyes, and in general the thestral looked… not bored, but just uninterested. He was also looking at her and she realized she was gawking instead of saying anything. “Hello! I am Silverstream, what’s your name?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at her with… indifference? Like she was just another rock in the cave. She shivered a little; it was not a nice look. Like she was an object, not a person. She tried again. “My aunt always says that a good host should introduce themselves to their guests. So, um, what’s your name?”
He looked at her few moments longer, before answering in emotionless voice. “Warmaster Eternal Eclipse.”
Warmaster. That doesn’t sound like a nice title. And wait, Eternal Eclipse… she heard that before. Oh, right, Strike mentioned him! He is the leader of Chiropterra! This is her chance now!
“So, I know you want to bring Nightmare Moon back.” She carefully said. “But, I don’t think it can happen. Luna isn’t, like, mind controlled or anything. I talked with Harmony, and trust me, if she could control us, we would be in trouble far less than we tend to be, and our teachers as well, and I am rambling again, sorry it’s just that all these guards are a little scary.”
He looked at her dispassionately, not showing any sign of hearing what she said. She tried a different angle. “I already spoke with Luna, there was some kind of dark magic here preventing her from seeing you, but now she can! You can call her in your sleep, and talk with her. I’m sure you can solve this without killing anyone, or me.”
That got a reaction; he moved his head a little, and there was something in his eyes, not just lack of everything. Silverstream hopefully continued. “Luna has changed. She is happy now, and you can’t make her change into Nightmare. She no longer has these emotions inside her. You will only anger her, and she’s really scary when she’s angry.”
He still didn’t answer. The atmosphere in the cell was so heavy, even Silverstream finally run out of things to say. The silence hung in the air for what felt like minutes, before Eternal Eclipse shook his head, slowly, and answered – although it felt like he was mostly talking to himself. “I don’t know what Lucent thought to be interesting here. I don’t have time to waste with this. Guards, take her to Lady Light.”
Silverstream felt her hopes shatter. Eternal Eclipse didn’t even look at her, or acknowledged her. Was he truly lost? She tried one last thing as he was leaving her cell. “She misses you, you know. She really feels guilty she corrupted and abandoned your ancestors, and she tried to look for you. She would love to hear from you.”
He didn’t show any sign of hearing that, as he left without even a single look at her. The four guards left with him; only the two guarding the cell remained, and they took her… somewhere.
The entire place seemed to be underground. She was really happy she had no claustrophobia, as the endless tunnels were already causing her discomfort anyway. The smokeless, magical blue torches lit the tunnels in cold, moon-like light. Don’t these ponies have any other things they like but the night, moon and darkness?
It didn’t take long before Silverstream found herself before steel, reinforced doors. The sign above them simply saying “Lady Light’s Laboratories”. The guards standing before them exchanged few words, and Silverstream was moved inside the laboratory.
It reminded her a lot of Princess Twilight’s laboratory. She was never that big on knowledge and science – unlike Ocellus – but she could instantly recognize some of the things in here. There were tools she did not recognize, and ones that seemed familiar, but slightly different. Less advanced, maybe?
“You don’t look like one of the usual subjects being brought here.” She heard, and realized she focused on the room itself so much she missed a… was that a unicorn mare in a white lab coat? She had an emerald green mane, and wore half-glasses, behind which were very observant eyes in a similar color to her mane.
“Oh, sorry, it’s just that your laboratory felt familiar! I am Silverstream, what’s your name?” She asked, hoping to maybe find another friend here, not like this horrible Eternal Eclipse person. He was very mean.
“Familiar, you say? Fascinating. My name is Lady Commander Emerald Light, but you can just call me Lady Light.” The mare guessed the question that Silverstream wanted to ask. “Yes, I know that my name is very exotic for Chiropterra, but it is what it is. And yes, I am a unicorn; not every Chiropterran is a thestral.”
“No?” Silverstream asked, confused. “But, I only saw thestrals here, besides you. And weren’t they all descendats of ponies who served Nightmare Moon?”
“Oh no, no no. We absolutely aren’t anything like this. I see you are confused. Come, sit with me.” She pointed at a desk with chairs set up on both sides. “You are truly a different breed then those I can usually talk with. I will be happy to answer some questions, if you answer mine.” She sat down, taking out the pen and clipboard. She really looked like Twilight when she was in her scientist mod. This made Silverstream relax a little. The scientist was at least a little familiar, and she wasn’t hostile or ignoring her.
“So, to expand upon my answer.” Emerald said, while writing something on her clipboard. “Our society is based on merit, that is a pony’s mental and physical capabilities. My predecessors in the designated Social Research Laboratories created a perfect an array of tests that make sure only the best and brightest of us are in the highest positions of power.”
“That… sounds fascinating. You have no monarch?” Silverstream asked. It really sounded much nicer then she expected; a society based on one’s achievements. It sounded much more civilized. Maybe they weren’t so bad after all, cult of Nightmare Moon aside.
“No. The Council of Chiropterra, of which I am also a member, has a Warmaster designated every year. Upon the year’s end, the Warmaster steps down, and the Council debates the new leader. During the debate, all members of the Council are equal. Only when Warmaster is chosen, that pony becomes the leader of the Council.”
“Fascinating. It’s like those democratic places I heard about in Gryphus.” Silverstream said, feeling more and more relaxed.
“Oh, we are not a democracy. Democracies are flawed; they give each and every creature the same vote, regardless of physical and mental differences. Do you want some water?”
“Oh, yes, thank you!” Silverstream took the glass happily.
“It is a real shame you weren’t born with Nightmare’s blessing. You sound like a very intelligent person, for someone like that.” Emerald wrote something down on her clipboard.
“Nightmare’s blessing? You mean thestrals? But, you are a unicorn?” Silverstream was confused.
“Nightmare’s blessing does not only manifest in thestrals. Everyone can have them, if they are born right.” Emerald answered. “It was proven generations ago by my predecessors. It seems that Nightmare is truly generous, for her gift can be found even in those not of pure thestral bloodline.”
“So, everyone can have this blessing? That’s a relief.” Silverstream smiled. “I was worried that, since you seem to kidnap people, they are just, I don’t know, treated very badly? I am happy it’s not the case.”
“But of course not. We are rational people, not barbarians. Happy slaves are productive slaves, there is no need for cruelty.” Emerald answered, and Silverstreams suddenly feel her blood go cold.
“S… slaves?” She said, her throat tightening.
“But of course. Those brought here cannot have Nightmare’s blessing, and therefore need someone to direct them. It is just natural that those supreme to others are above them, is it not? It’s just like your royalty, but based on merit, not some superstitions about monarchy.” Emerald explained. She seemed to not be bothered even slightly by what she just said.
“But… you said everyone can have Nightmare’s blessing earlier!”
“If they are born right, as I said. Those who freshly arrive cannot have it. But those born to slave parents seem to have a chance of earning it, if their parents were pious and working hard for the Chiropterra.” Emerald stopped writing and looked at Silverstream. “You seem bothered by it. Let me assure you, it is not cruelty. We are fully rational ponies… maybe aside from Lunar Hail and the fanatics from some more radical cults. But even they do not interrupt our society’s achievements. We all work together, to prepare ourselves for the Nightmare’s return.”
“How? How can you just sit here and… talk about it? I thought you were civilized ponies!” Silverstream felt sick. Was that what Strike meant when he said he did many bad things? Was he one of those who… who kidnapped ponies and brought them here to work as slaves?
“We are civilized, much more than the primitive Solarist ponies in Equestria, who worship Celestia without thinking.” Emerald sighed, making a note on her clipboard. “You seemed much more intelligent, I hoped you could be more rational. It seems I was mistaken. A shame, really, but what could I expect from someone not born with Her blessing?”
“This is horrible! You keep these ponies as, as slaves!” Silvestream could not believe it. Emerald Light seemed so… not evil. She was talking like a rational, educated person, not angry, not afraid. How could she be so, so casually evil at the same time? It felt wrong now, comparing her to Princess Twilight. She would never do such a thing!
“Please, keep calm. I do not want to be forced to have guards take you away now. I have many questions, and you truly seem like one of the more intelligent and eloquent people we caught. Let us act like civilized beings, there is no need for excessive, pointless emotions.”
Silverstream had some very not-nice words she wanted to say to that, but instead closed her mouth and forced herself to try and calm down. She learned that much at School; emotions can only get her so far. An Emerald seemed to truly be a pony believing herself to be logical, no matter how insane her ‘logic’ was.
After few moments of silence, Silverstream started talking again. “Before you ask me your questions, there is one last thing I do not understand. Can you explain in to me? And then I can tell you whatever you want to know.”
Emerald considered it for a moment. “As long as you act like a civilized person, yes. Ask.”
“How do you know if person has Nightmare’s blessing or not?”
“Oh, that is simple. We have a strict testing regime, created specifically to find out. Ponies blessed by Nightmare have much sharper minds then others. Out tests can easily detect it, or lack of it.”
“So, you could, theoretically, test me?”
“Of course not. You do not know our language.” Seeing her test subject’s confusion, Emerald sighed. “The language we speak of is common and known to many, but not the right one. The only true language is the Holy Tongue. You may know it as Old Ponish.”
“I see.” Silverstream thought for a moment. At least Emerald was not interrupting her, or trying to go to her questions as fast as possible. She seemed to be very patient, and calm.
And evil, don’t forget that, Silverstream thought.
“So, please correct me if I’m wrong, but… do you test the, um, slaves for the blessing? Like, regularly?”
“There is no need. Generations of scientists did it, and the results are always the same. Freshly arrived, even if they may seem intelligent, never had the gift in them.” Emerald answered patiently. “Only the children of the hardest-working and most pious slaves are tested, and many of the are found to have the blessing. And, after that, the blessing is in their blood, and their children are also blessed.”
“So… slaves that freshly arrived, are like me, right? Don’t really know your language?” Seeing Emerald nod, Silverstream pushed on. “So, they would also not be able to take the tests properly, right?”
“Please, do you think of us to be so limited? Every slave is tested only upon learning our language. I don’t understand what is so hard to understand.”
“Do you give them, like, language courses and stuff? Or do you just wait until they learn whatever they learn from other slaves or pick up from you and then do your testing?” Emerald seemed a little confused by her questions. “Is it possible that perhaps children of these slaves, since they are raised here, just speak your language good enough to pass your tests better then ponies who are still learning it?”
“Language fluency has very little to do with testing. We do not check if they speak Holy Tongue properly, we just check if they are intelligent and capable of being in our society. That is not defendant on language.”
“Princess Twilight always told us that the hardest thing in being a scientist is not inventing new things and confirming her theories. It’s being open to the fact that she may be wrong, and testing not to see if theory is right, but to do it to see if it’s wrong.” Silverstream said, hoping she sounds logical enough for the pony in front of her. “Once a child passes your testing, do you try to test the parents? Have you tried translating your tests? I’ve seen in the School of Friendship, people from outside Equestria, who had trouble not because they were less smart, but simply because they couldn’t understand some words, or it took them too long to understand and make notes. And same with some culture things they would just miss, because they didn't live their lives in Equestria. Princess Twilight…”
“Enough. Truly, Silverstream, you disappoint me. We have over a thousand years of research to support the truth. All you have is your unsupported theory, and personal experiences.” Emerald interrupted her for the first time, and it almost looked like she was annoyed. “I may consider doing what you said, just to prove you wrong. But you should learn to respect the work of those who came before you, or you will never learn anything.”
“Well, your people plan to-to kill me soon, so it’s not like I will have much time for learning anyway, will I?” Silverstream responded with a little bitterness, her voice breaking for a short moment. She was starting to really have enough of these ponies. Why are they just so horrible?
“Yes, and I consider that a waste. You would be much more useful as a source of information, and then a test subject, then this… waste. But, Lunar Hail has her Moonspeakers and deals with all these unproven rituals, so you’re hers. Shame.” Silverstream didn’t want to think about what being a ‘test subject’ would entail, but she had little doubt it would be bad. “Now, I have some questions here. What can you tell me about Everfree Forest?
Silverstream, upon returning to her cell, just fell on the floor, exhausted. Emerald spent hours asking her about unrelated things, mostly Everfree Forest and creatures living there. She had no idea what this was all about, so she answered truthfully. She also asked about hippogriff magic, but there Silverstream was much more hesitant to answer – although, to her surprise, Emerald mentioned that main goal of these questions was to create emergency magic for the sailors in case of ship sinking, rather than invasion of Seaquestria. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that Silverstream was sure it could also be used for that.
And during this questioning, she heard things. The laboratory was still working, and some of the wall weren’t soundproof enough. She did her best to not listen, or look at guards moving in our out, carrying ponies and thestrals deeper into laboratories. Emerald, upon seeing her discomfort, explained it in her usual, unimpressed voice.
“Does she really think that hurting someone to help others is just… acceptable, without any remorse?” Silverstream thought out loud, too tired to notice that she was talking to herself. “How can anyone be so, so cruel, but not sadistic? There is no joy in her, no sadness, nothing! Oh Princess, what am I supposed to do now? I think I'm not good enough for this. I'm just a student, maybe one of the teacher could do this better?
I miss my friends.”
She soon fell asleep. And only thanks to Luna her dreams were not plagued by what she heard and saw today, although the Princess of the Night was growing more and more worried about the lone hippogriff in the heart of darkness.
Unknown to them both, a meeting was taking place this night, in a cave used by the Great Ursa Legion of Chiropterra. Every single person in the cave was hiding under a dark cloak, and using various spells to mask their voices. Hundreds of years of paranoia and infiltrating Equestria resulted in many such spells.
“I still do not understand what you are saying.” One person said in magically distorted voice. “It is not yet time for us to act. If we try to push for change, the Council will push back. We cannot risk losing, not at this point; if we do, Chiropterra will be in the hands of hardliners like Autumn Breeze and fanatics like Lunar Hail. Can you imagine what they will do? We already heard rumors about making an invasion on Equestria, like Storm King did, and hoping Nightmare will emerge just from the stress of war! We cannot allow that to happen.”
“I think the choice is now out of our hands. Silverstream is not only connected to royal house of Hippogriffia, she is also well-known in Equestria, and without doubt Princess Twilight, the Elements of Harmony, and others will come to her rescue. Lunar Hail is out of her mind, and now pushed us to open war with United Alliance… which, now that I think of it, might have been her plan. This mare is crazy.”
“We are hidden. Nightmare protects us from the eyes of the impostor. Many ponies tried to get her attention, all failed. We all know that. Even if ponies try to find us, even if hippogriffs search the coastline they will find nothing. The ports were already hidden without trace. We will survive and hide, like we always do.”
“You underestimate them all. Equestrians aren’t stupid, if they were, they wouldn’t defeat all these dangers in the past few years. Even Storm King, who could’ve easily defeated us all; remember how close he was to discovering us, before he suddenly decided to attack Equestria? We would’ve be gone if he didn’t.”
“You seem to value this… Silverstream highly. Why?”
“I don’t think I can even explain it, but it’s the way she is. It’s not just her words, or how she acts. She just… is. She treats everyone like a friend that she can make, and she often succeeds. She cares about everyone, even her enemies. If Equestria decided to just kill us all for treason, she would stand between them and us and demand we be treated fairly.”
“Mercy is weakness.”
“Tell me, if Harmony is so weak, how did they defeat all their enemies? And, more importantly, how do they continue to be respect and powerful nations, while we spent the last thousand years in hiding? This cannot continue. Either we change, or the world will change us by force.”
“What if Nightmare was to return, in the end? We would be traitors while she would lead the Lunar Empire to glory.”
“What if? Last time it was just the Elements. Now, she will face the Elements, Discord, this Starlight Glimmer who was supposedly able to fight the Elements and almost win before, Commander Tempest, and probably others I’m forgetting. And let’s remember that their students already defeated a being that almost stole all the magic in Equestria. Just their students have such power, possibly equal to Elements when they defeated our Goddess! Our situation is infinitely worse than before, and even if Nightmare returned she would not succeed. We would be back here, if we were lucky.”
“Heresy.” It was hard to say who whispered the word.
“If I am a heretic for telling the truth, so be it. We were loyal to Luna long before she became Nightmare Moon. And now, if they are truly the same person, we spent a thousand years plotting to hurt her, instead of helping her.”
Lightning Strike, still hidden under the cloak, continued. “I vote we bring Silverstream before us and ask her any questions you have. Anyone against it?”
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No offense to Luna, but that honestly wouldn't surprise me. Luna doesn't strike me as the sort who'd reliably remember the names of creatures she's only met in passing at best.
Interestingly, they're not wrong...they just have it backwards. It's the other way around, lads!
7.000 words is actually pretty average for a chapter length. It's when you start getting into 25,000 words or more that you start getting excessive.
11459393
Well, Luna is trying her best. And she is working hard in the dream world, so I wouldn't put it past her to have a very good memory when it comes to names, so she can recognize and speak to ponies who have regular nightmares. But she is also partially stuck in the past, and I can sadly agree that she is still learning how to be a more modern ruler.
To quote Silverstream, 'it's just a misunderstanding!'. It's sadly a big one though, but fortunately the Student of Friendship is on the case :). But yeah, situations where you have enough facts to support the wrong idea are the hardest to disprove, since you have some facts that correlate with it.
Well, my average over all my works (over 300 000 words total right now) is around 5 000 words. The longest chapter I ever wrote was over 9 000 words. Seems I'm just on the shorter side when it comes to chapters. Definitely shorter then Tolkien's average of 7 500 words per chapter in LOTR trilogy.
Thanks for the comment! This work is slightly longer and darker then the previous Gallus one, and I was worried no one will like it because of it, but it seems I was wrong.
Well apparently as Nightmare Moon I guess there were some Ponies were okay with the Eternal Night yikes 😬
Mind controlled what are you talking about nobody forced Luna to do anything she choose to not let the darkness get the best of her she never wanted to become Nightmare Moon ever again and that's some crazy nonsense they're talking about
Hey he basically showed Mercy on the other sailors that's pretty awesome it looks like Silver Streams words is starting to get to him in a good way
Silverstream
Silverstream
But yeah it sounded a little psychotic
Oh wow this is getting very serious so they finally made it to the island but unfortunately lightning told silver about this whole sacrifice to the greater good of Nightmare Moon and apparently this is much serious that we thought it would be once she got all chained up and everything what are the guards ask them what happened to the other sailors he told them that they have died tried to protect her which that's not true they must have escaped and probably call for help so it looks like silverstream has some help from the inside and it feels like it's been a few days that she's been stuck like this even having nightmares about Nightmare Moon and Luna tried to get through to her but something Darkness stopping her but she power through it and she rescued silver stream from The Nightmare and she told the princess about this whole situation what they were going to do Luna tried to figure out what to do until then silver stream is basically on her own for now until helps arrive and silver stream try to convince the leader and even one of the scientists to reconsider about this whole situation on how they proceed about this whole internal night but apparently it's not working they felt like they had to do this not just for the bat ponies but to everybody silver stream is starting to question that is she the right creature to do this she's trying to feel like this is getting hopeless don't give up hope silver stream I'm sure things will work out somehow