Beyond the Veil of Sleep

by Starscribe

Chapter 22

Mira made her slow way into Meridian's apartment. The state of the interior was frightening, torn apart from one side to the other. His maps were scattered callously on the floor, his telescope deliberately shattered.

One unicorn stood near the door, his spear balanced over his back, point towards her as she stepped in. From the fury on his face, she had every reason to suspect he would use it. The other waited by the window, beside a bat tied by makeshift restraints. Sheets wrapped around his body, binding his wings, while cables hobbled his hooves together.

That soldier rested the spear against his chest, practically touching Meridian. Mira could escape one attacker, but that would leave the stallion to get stabbed.

"All of you, get inside," said the unicorn. "Or we kill the cartographer. That's right, I see you back there. Bat, moth. Everypony in here. Shut the door behind you."

Mira considered for a second, then kicked the door violently closed—right in Sandy's face, leaving them trapped outside. "They were my prisoners," she said, loudly. "They have nothing to do with this. And if they did, we would overpower both of you in about three seconds."

She faced him down, opening up her chest, and spreading her wings to either side.

"You have a problem with orders?"

She giggled. It took some discipline to force out the sound, but she managed. "You two new here or what? This is the Dreaming. You use that on me, and I wake up in the real world."

She strode past him into the kitchen, taking each step deliberately. There was an angry solar guard standing directly behind her, with a weapon they'd threatened to use... and Mira pretended she wasn't afraid. She reached the kitchen, removed a jar of tea leaves, then the only unbroken kettle from a shelf. "Thirsty?"

The other unicorn shoved Meridian forward, so roughly that he tripped and landed on his face. "You're so confident, bat. But what about him? Neighbors say he's lived here for centuries now, never leaving this house. Does he have a body to wake up to?"

She shrugged absently. "Maybe not. You gonna kill him or what?" Mira put the kettle onto the stove, then lifted the fallen chairs around Meridian's table. "Go on then. Get it over with." She leaned towards them, giving the unicorn the toothiest grin she could. The low light would probably have her eyes looking like slits, the perfect predatory gaze.

The unicorn kicked him roughly out of the way, up against the wall. Meridian grunted in pain, whimpering under his breath.

Keep your mouth closed, Mira thought, glaring at his back. If they think I care about you, you're doomed. "So you were looking for me?" She added a spoonful of tea to the strainer then turned on them again. "Whatever it is, tell me. I'm sure the sorcerer who sent you here will be upset if you waste the magic."

They moved towards her, surrounding her in the kitchen. Importantly, that left Meridian abandoned on the floor behind them.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" the first unicorn asked. She couldn't really tell them apart—both wore the same gold armor, carried the same weapons. Did they both really have white fur, or was that just the magic of the armor? "You're accused of conspiring to free a capital prisoner, perpetuating forbidden magical practice, and consorting with Goetic Demons."

"We've witnessed the truth of those accusations. Your presence here is evidence of Dreamcraft. You traveled with a spirit of this land, no matter what you say about her."

"The last is true too," Mira said, taking a mismatched set of glasses from the cabinet onto a tray, and pouring tea in each. She made four, though she doubted Meridian would be drinking much hogtied on the ground. "I don't know what a 'goetic demon' is, but I spoke to Princess Luna. You sure heard about that fast."

She settled the tray between them, took a glass with her wing, then sipped. "What are you going to do about it?"

"The Golden Legion will protect Equestria," one unicorn said. "Traffic with the Dreamlands is forbidden, and this is why. We will find your secret hideout, drive out your cultists, and burn your shrines to your forbidden god."

The other unicorn smacked his spear onto the table, shoving it violently across. The teacups fell and shattered, spraying hot tea all over the floor. "You have this one chance, thestral. Abandon your designs. Take no apprentices, retreat from civilization. Your behavior will not be endorsed, but it may be ignored. Our princess graciously decreed mercy for your tribe. She elected not to make Equestria safe by removing you from it. You should not make her regret her mercy."

I should just agree and shut up. Rage boiled in her chest, brighter than any solar magic. As her emotions raged, a spell floated up from her memory, one of the many gifts the princess had given her.

"Her mercy." Mira set the cup down in front of her, flaring out both wings. "It's merciful to steal all the land and property we ever own. It's merciful to refuse any job we wish to take, or even to accept us as serfs. It's merciful to drive us into the mountains and caves to starve and freeze every winter. And when we do gather together and try and build a life, your Golden Legion marches down on us and tears it down.

"Your princess is a worse tyrant than any dragon or kirin who ever conquered. If that's her idea of mercy, I think I'll take my chances with demons."

She felt the nearest unicorn shift his stance, bracing to attack with the spear. Mira met his eyes, then spoke the words the princess had given her. Of course it wasn't just about the sound. She needed the intent behind them, the pronouncement of banishment for an outsider who did not belong here. "ZIROM TRIAN IPAM IPAMIS!"

The unicorn imploded. He gasped, then puffed away in a bloody cloud. The other disappeared less dramatically, taking his spear with him.

Mira waited expectantly for a few seconds, breathless from the effort. She might not have a horn, but that didn't mean the strength came from her any less directly.

Finally she turned, rushing over to Meridian. "Are you alright?" She gripped his bindings in her mouth, then started tugging

"I can't... I can't believe you just... you told him to kill me!"

She dropped the sheets around his forelegs, meeting his eyes. "I've dealt with bullies my whole life, Meridian. You can't win by fighting them directly—you have to make them think you don't care about what they do. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what you do, how much you beg—they'll always break everything they can."

She gestured at his broken house, complex telescopes and maps laying in ruins. "If all they wanted to do was talk to me, they wouldn't have done this. They'd be sitting at the table politely, and we could have a conversation."

She fell silent as she worked on the knot around his back, untying it and releasing his wings. The bat was covered in bruises and small cuts, but that was all. At least the unicorns hadn't killed him.

He opened his wings one at a time, wincing from the pain. Then he backed away from her, until his rump smacked against the wall. "You brought this here. I never should've talked to you... took you in. You need to leave, forever."

Something wiggled in her saddlebags, and Pixie appeared, hopping up onto the kitchen table. She took one look around the destroyed kitchen, then her attention settled on Meridian. "You're just gonna let them do that to you? What do you do next, fix everything so they can come back? Or do you think they'll let you live?"

"I don't know!" he yelled, voice wild and afraid. "I've never fought a princess before! I make maps!" He bent down, scooping up a wingful of drawing tools, a compass, and rolls of vellum. "I just want to go back to my work. I helped you, against my better judgment. I can see I made the wrong choice."

Mira leaned across the table, resting a wing on his foreleg. "Or maybe you made the right choice. Look at the way they treat us. Think about all the bats still living in Equestria suffering that right now. Whose side do you want to be on?"

Something tapped lightly on the window outside, quiet enough that Mira almost missed it. But Meridian was already on the edge of hysterics, and he leapt up into the air, pointing at the balcony. "You think there are more of them?"

"I don't know." Mira stalked past him to the door. She opened the curtains, just far enough to peek outside.

Sandy and Kallisto lingered behind her, crouching in the entrance. She'd acquired a spear for herself, or maybe it was just an iron fire-poker. Either way, it looked appropriately intimidating. Something to fight with if the soldiers were still here.

She stood up, then flung the door open. "Kallisto. No more soldiers outside?"

"None we saw." She stepped inside, with Sandy following close behind her. The bug didn't have any weapons of their own, but kept a lookout, eyes darting constantly back and forth.

"They could not bring too many to Hope," Sandy said. "The city has defenders. We do not tolerate violence. But visiting ponies are so rare, two would probably be let in without question. They must have an important mission, if they traveled so far."

"They sure did." Meridian stopped in front of his telescope, looking defeated. "I've been perfecting this observatory for decades. There is no instrument like it anywhere in the Dreaming. Now there's no instrument like it anywhere.

He let go, backing away from the cracked viewfinder. "What are you even doing back here, Mira? I thought you were on a suicide mission to tell the moon princess about the plight of our cousins still living on Equestria. What changed?"

"I succeeded," she said. "Wait, don't look so suspicious. I didn't get all the way to the moon. She noticed my search way before that, and spoke to me."

"She has a sacred order from the night princess," Kallisto said. She went around the room, locking every window and drawing every curtain. "We have a responsibility to help her. Unless you've abandoned any sense of loyalty and honor."

"I don't know what you expect me to do! I can't fight an army, I can't sneak past guards or resist a sorcerer. I make maps, that's it."

"We came to you for a map," Mira said. "Once we get it, I'm sure we can do something to help you hide again. Or you could even come with us. At least you'll have protection if they come back."

"What map is it this time?" he asked, defeated. "As you can see, my equipment is... in serious disrepair. It will take some time to recover all this"

"We can help you," Mira promised. She didn't have a clue what any of that entailed. But they had Sandy on their side, plus the power of a living dreamer. Those had to mean something. "We're looking for lost knowledge in the Astral Sea. I hear that's something you can find for us. You're the only one who can."

"In the..." He backed away, mouthing the word. "Astral Sea? With broken instruments, and probably more royal thugs bearing down on us? What could you possibly be looking for?"

"A spell. I need to know how Celestia's scholars built the prison that trapped Luna on the moon. They're all long dead, taking their knowledge with them. But it's still out there somewhere, on the sea."

She turned towards the window leading to the sea. The curtains were drawn, but she could still see the perpetual sunset light shining in through the cracks. "I don't know how else to help the bats. We have to find that spell, learn its weaknesses, then set her free."

Comments

[redmar]

I wonder if The Golden Legion has any official authority since they do seem like fanatics. Of course Mira is herself a fanatic even if she doesn't realize it so things are not exactly clear on that front.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

11749897
As i said before Mira is the only good guy here. The fact Celestia allows this to happen makers even worse then NMM