The Stars of Nightmare Moon

by Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 3: The truth

The fact that he wasn't in any physical danger was of little comfort to Night Mist as he followed Umbra down a series of seemingly random tunnels. It was clear to him that these ponies were very familiar with their underground dwelling. It struck Night Mist as an unfair advantage for his kidnappers to have. After all, it wasn’t as if having magical powers didn’t give them an edge already. Despite how bleak his circumstances looked, Night Mist was determined to find a way to tilt the odds in his favor.

"Eclipse told me that you all intend to free Nightmare Moon," Night Mist prompted, hoping to learn something that might help him.

"Oh really?" Umbra said absently.

"Yes really," Night Mist confirmed as he started walking faster to keep up with the longer legged stallion. "He also said that she would make night time eternal. Is that true?"

"Yes, that is true."

"But isn't that wrong?"

Night Mist's words caused the unicorn to stop and glance at him before he resumed walking.

"Wrong how?"

"Well, eternal night would be bad wouldn't it?"

"Different maybe, but not necessarily bad. It will take some getting used when it happens though."

"But not all ponies would want eternal night. I know I wouldn't."

"Did Eclipse tell you what would become of the Stars when Nightmare Moon is freed?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, once Nightmare Moon has made night eternal, the Stars will be raised above all other ponies. We will become the highest class, surpassed by nopony except Nightmare Moon herself."

For a brief moment Night Mist fantasized about being part of this upper class before he asked his next question.

"How come you haven't freed Nightmare Moon already then?"

"We can't. The Dark Storm isn't powerful enough yet. Nightmare Moon was, and is, very smart you see. She realized that if she made us extremely powerful from the beginning, her sister would detect our creation and put an end to it. So she granted us a very small portion of her power, just enough to establish a connection. Whenever Princess Celestia is distracted by moving both sun and moon to create a eclipse, she grants us a little bit more power. The power that she granted us today during the eclipse was just enough to retrieve you from wherever in the world you had gone off to."

"How long before you, um, we are powerful enough to free her?"

"We don't know. We try every time an eclipse occurs, but only time will tell when we have enough. But we've gotten ahead of ourselves. This room right here is where your parents live," Umbra said as he stopped in front of a door. "Why don't you wait inside while I go find them? I imagine they're still looking for you."

Night Mist was barely through the door before Umbra shut it behind him and walked away. Night Mist glanced around and was surprised to find that the room looked rather homely. All of the walls were made of rock, but the room contained ordinary furniture, doors leading to other rooms, and enough torches to make it very well lit. A fireplace was blazing near the back of the room, keeping the bizarre looking living room at a reasonable temperature. From where he was standing, Night Mist could see a kitchen as well. Interestingly enough, the sink had faucets. If the Stars had running water, perhaps there were not as uncivilized as he had previously thought. Night Mist tried to think of way to use water for an escape, but came up with nothing.

Disappointed, he walked back into the living room and stumbled upon a most startling sight. Near the entrance was a picture hanging on the wall. Portrayed within it was an image of a black earth pony foal with a silver mane and golden eyes. As Night Mist stared at it, he wondered if Umbra really had been telling the truth. But no, that was ridiculous. There were plenty of ponies out there in the world. Just because the picture had features like his own did not necessarily mean it was him. A voice in the back of his head pointed out that he never seen pictures of himself as a foal in his home in Ponyville or Trottingham before, but he dismissed the thought. Right now, he needed to focus on escaping.

Night Mist shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to think of something while he was alone so he could focus. He started by going over what he knew or what he could infer. From what he could gather the storm that had appeared outside of his school was the Dark Storm. No one had made any mention of Sharp Wing or Frazzle Spark, and they hadn't been brought to the cavern with him, so he could only guess that the Dark Storm really had come just for him.

This fact combined with Eclipse's demonstration led Night Mist to believe that Nightmare Moon was real. Night Mist shuddered as he recalled the statue from the shrine. As much as the idea of Nightmare Moon being real horrified him, he knew he should take her existence into account. What he refused to believe, however, was that he was also a Star. His parents had never hinted that he wasn't really their son, and it seemed more likely to him that he had been kidnapped for some other purpose. Suddenly Night Mist was struck with longing to go home to Ponyville where his parents were. It was his parents that he loved and trusted, not the Stars.

Night Mist pressed his ear to the door he had come through and listened. Once he was sure that no one was close by, he opened the door and slipped out. For lack of a better direction, Night Mist went back the way he had come from. Without any warning, he heard hooves approaching. Employing the same tactic as before, Night Mist ducked into a nearby crevice. The act couldn’t have been committed sooner, for the moment he was concealed a pony came around the corner and positioned herself in front of the door to the living quarters of Night Mist’s alleged parents. Apparently Umbra hadn’t trusted Night Mist to stay put. Night Mist slowly began crawling further back into the crevice, only find that that there was nothing behind him. A glance over his shoulder revealed that the crevice was actually a small tunnel.

As quietly as he could, he turned around and made his way through of the colt sized tunnel and out into a larger one lit by torches on the wall. The sound of hooves reached his ears a second time, forcing Night Mist to quickly dive back into the little tunnel. At this rate, he would never get away. This time however, Night Mist recognized the legs walking by. It was Eclipse. As a plan quickly formed in Night Mist’s mind, he grinned for the first time since entering these horrible caves.

"Hi Eclipse!" he said cheerfully as he popped out of his hiding spot, startling the dark green pegasus.

"Ah! Geez, you surprised me there," replied Eclipse, nearly tripping from fright as he spun around. After quickly recovering he asked, "I thought you were going with Umbra to see your parents?"

"I already did," Night Mist lied. "We talked a little, and then they decided it would be best if I got to know some other ponies and get a feel for this place. I was kind of wondering if you could give me a tour and introduce me to others."

"Oh, um, sure, happy to help. Um, lets see, we don't really have any landmarks except for the shrine, the main cavern, the school, and the throne room. We could start with the throne room I suppose."

"What about the tunnel that leads to the surface?" hinted Night Mist.

"The tunnel that leads to surface?" Eclipse repeated.

"You have one don't you? You can't live down in this cave without ever going up for supplies right?"

"We do, but only adults are allowed to go all the way up to the surface without supervision."

"How come?"

"They don't want us kids to run off and let the rest of the world know we exist. Umbra says if ponies ever found out about us too soon it would be bad."

"It wouldn't hurt to just take a look would it?"

"I suppose I could show you the door to the surface," Eclipse mused.

Night Mist was once again led through a network of of tunnels until he and Eclipse entered a carved out circular room with a stone ramp that led up to two moderately sized wooden doors. The doors were tilted downward, like the doors of a cellar. Inwardly, Night Mist was pleased that it didn't appear to be guarded.

"Say, have you ever been outside of this cave before, Eclipse?" he asked slyly.

"Sure have," Eclipse answered nonchalantly.

Night Mist blinked in surprise.

"You have?"

"That's what I said."

"I thought you said you weren't allowed."

"I'm allowed with supervision. A long time ago kids weren't allowed up at all, but that led to ponies becoming overly sensitive to daylight. And since we don't know how long we'll have to deal with daylight, we're required to visit the surface often enough to prevent our eyes from becoming too weak."

"Oh."

Eclipse opened his mouth to say something else but instead perked his ears up as a quizzical expression came over his face.

"Do you hear something?" he inquired.

Night Mist glanced over his shoulder and rotated his ears forward to listen. He heard the faint sounds of shouting, but couldn't make out any words. But he could guess why they were shouting. Night Mist charged up in the incline and slammed his fore hooves against the doors. They didn't open.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse asked in alarm as Night Mist frantically continued to beat on the doors.

Night Mist saw no point in trying to deceive him.

"I'm leaving," he said quickly as he started shoving against the doors. "I don't care what you, Umbra, or anypony else says. I'm not one of you and my real parents live in Ponyville!"

"Are- are you ever going to come back?"

Caught off guard by the question, Night Mist looked at Eclipse and saw that he was looking at the ground.

"I was kind of hoping we could be friends," the pegasus added softly.

Briefly Night Mist was struck by the urge to invite Eclipse to leave with him. But somehow he doubted Eclipse would accept. He also knew that there wouldn't be any time to convince him, for the shouting from the tunnels was growing closer. Just as several ponies came into view Night Mist threw himself at the door. But instead of meeting resistance, a strange sensation washed over him and he dissolved into a dark cloud-like substance that slipped through the cracks instead. Night Mist only had a blurry perception of his surroundings as he flowed up out of a cave. Then, without trying to, his new form compressed into a solid mass that shifted back into his original body.

As he fell onto his rump Night Mist realized that he was now in a forest. He had little time to reflect on what had just happened, for merely a second after he landed his ears caught the sound of a lock turning and clicking. The frightened little colt wasted no time in jumping to his hooves and bolting off through the trees.

Night Mist didn't once dare to look back as he crashed through thickets and made turns so sharp he nearly fell over. Many times he stumbled over roots and rocks, and his ankles began to hurt from his hooves hitting at odd angles. But eventually his reckless speed betrayed him, and Night Mist tripped over a large rock and tumbled down a steep embankment and landed in a small stream at the bottom of a shadowy ravine. Night Mist groaned out of pain and disappointment as he closed his eyes and waited for the Stars to catch him. But no one did.

Night Mist lifted up his head and peered up the sides of the ravine. He heard no hooves. Saw no ponies. Night Mist scarcely breathed, fully expecting that the slightest movement or sound would bring the Stars down on him in an instant. Night Mist curled himself into a ball and tried not to cry. His body was sore from all that he had done so far, and he was still just as lost as before. For several more minutes his body refused to move, but eventually he worked up the courage to pick himself up and look around.

The tree tops of the forest were very close together, but enough day light shone through for Night Mist to see. Very little light fell to his temporary refuge. The sun had begun to set, lengthening the shadows cast by the trees that balanced on the steep ledges above. Seeing no way back up the steep inclines on either side, he arbitrarily picked a direction and started walking, brushing leaves and burrs out of his mane as he went. Night Mist tried very hard to avoid thinking about the fact that he was hurt in a strange forest with crazed ponies most likely still looking for him, but found it difficult to avoid, alone in the forest.

Against the will of the rest of his being, Night Mist’s mind recalled how he had passed through a locked door by turning into a dark gaseous substance. One of the four powers of a Star Eclipse had listed was something called "cloud". Logically speaking, this was proof that Night Mist was indeed one of them.

Once this thought crossed his mind the ramifications came flooding in. His real parents were Stars. He was adopted. He wasn't normal. He wasn't like other ponies. He was a freak of nature. In vain Night Mist tried to push these thoughts out of his head, but they refused to leave. His mind searched for alternatives but could find none, so he started lying to himself.

"I'm not a Star, and my parents live in Ponyville."

But despite the repeating of this phrase as he walked, Night Mist only become more and more distressed. Eventually he couldn't keep up the self deception and he broke down into sobs. Despite the fear that the noise would summon the Stars, Night Mist couldn't control it. He didn't want to be an evil creation. He didn't want to be adopted. Yet in the midst of all his grief a emotional hardness broke through. There would be no hiding from the truth. He may not like it, he might even hate it, but he had the strange desire to take the truth head on. He was a Star. He wasn't normal. That was the cold, uncaring, truth. Hiding from the truth would be an unforgivable crime.

Suddenly Night Mist felt a warm sensation on each of his sides, causing him to turn his head and look at his flank. An image of a magnifying glass had appeared. Somehow, he knew what it stood for. His special talent was finding the truth. The cutie mark had appeared because he had found the truth about himself. However, Night Mist didn't think the occasion deserved celebration. Instead, he only started to cry harder.

Comments

[Arcticbrony]

alright i have made it this far, i will continue later (tomorrow to be more spesific.) i have never done anything like this so just bear with me on this one.

so far its decently written. you reveal very little about Night Mist at all, perhaps to create a mystery behign him but i just dont feel it. Nothing so far encoruages... engcourag.. drives me to keep reading, it just sorta feels bland. personally i think you could have done a lot more when he was in their base, everything just sorta fell into place. it is well written but there is next to no exitement to drive it, you could have easely created more conflict when he was captured or somethig. if there is mystery you are going after... yea i get a little feel for it but not a whole lot. so far, everything just seems to be progressing a little fast.
so end toughts so far. I dont really Feel anything for our main character, everything just sorta feels bland... but i will continue tomorrow. (wow after writing this i am left with a dirty feeling inside of me. hope i diddent come off as hateful or rude... peace out)