Previous Chapters
Close
Talks of Old Times2,369 words
Trigger 3,585 words
Chill2,625 words
Entropy2,397 words
Silvertongue1,897 words
Runners1,704 words
Walls Fall Down3,498 words
Sun and Moon2,384 words

Sun and Moon

From fire and dancing sunlight,
From ice and blowing snow,
Let the starlight guide your footsteps,
And the night song guide you home

-----

The air fizzled around Lone and Nox, tasting faintly of mint. The crystal machine that they had been shoved into seemed to spin without moving, light and sound glancing off of it's uneven surface. Nox's nostrils flared in a snort, and suddenly the world was eerily quiet and still.

Crystal was the first to move, unwrapping her finned tail from Nox's belly and sliding to the ground. "We're here."

Lone shook out his coat, glancing around. "Where's 'here', exactly?"

"I..." Crystal looked around, holding a hoof over her forehead as if it would help, "I'm not sure. Do either of you have a light?"

"I don't smoke." Lone snorted. A small bead of orange flame appeared in front of his muzzle.

Nox drew the lighter away, the dim glow lighting his smug grin.

"You don't smoke."

He shrugged. "I like fire."

Crystal tapped her hoof on the floor, bringing their attention back. "There's a tunnel this way. Bring the light."

Lone fell into step behind Crystal as Nox took the lead. "Bring the light, she says, not like he just admitted to being a pyromaniac, she says."

"Be quiet back there!" Nox called over his shoulder, flame dancing as he tried to talk around it. "We don't know if we're in enemy territory."

"We're thieving criminal scum! Tomb raiders! We literally just broke into an abandoned Empire and kidnapped a resident! What places aren't enemy territory?!"

In a blur, Nox had one hoof pressed against Lone's chest, dark wings spread behind him, golden eyes shimmering in the flame dancing in front of his muzzle. "I think it's high time we figured out just which one of us is in charge here."

Lone frowned, blue eyes shining. "Well, it's obvious you're not a feather-brain, so you know it's me."

"You did not just bring my wings into this."

"I figured the rest of you couldn't possibly leave them behind." Lone's lips curled in a sneer, and his hooves scraped the ground as he found footing.

Nox's hoof swung before he spoke, smashing into Lone's cheek and filling his eyes with stars. He spat out the lighter, the flame bouncing towards Crystal before going out entirely. "I never needed you. You're nothing but an Earth Pony!"

Lone ducked, feeling the rush of air as another swipe passed overhead. Aiming blindly, he felt his hoof connect with gut and the Kirin hissed. "Says the one who can't go to the market without being stared at!"

Crystal backed up, holding the unlit lighter in her mouth. She glanced down as her body started to glow. "G-guys?"

Nox's eyes glinted, and he pounced forward, pinning Lone by the shoulder. "Say that to my face, ground-lover."

"I would, but your breath stinks too much!"

"Stop!" Crystal's light shone brighter as the two stallions turned towards her.

The resulting effect could only be described as a valentine's heart, cut in half, slamming through the backs of the stallion's heads and connecting between their muzzles. The small gemstone heart glowing through Crystal's skin dimmed back to nothing as Lone and Nox kept staring at each other.

Lone's lower lip jutted out. "N-Nox-san?"

"Cut it out." Nox sat back on his haunches, cuffing Lone's ears with a hoof. "I'm sorry I called you a ground-lover."

"I'm sorry I... didn't call you a feather-brain?" Lone's apology trailed off, "I guess this is a little stressful for both of us."

"Maybe if you just shut up in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"You know me! I never shut up on command!" Lone grinned, rolling onto his hooves. "Crystal, what was that?"

"I don't know. I think the Crystal Heart's power was used to make ponies remember their love for each other after they fought." She looked up from the crystal slowly, as if the realization had just dawned on her. "Y-you two...?"

"What?" Lone tilted his head.

"You're together?"

Nox rolled his eyes. "Well, duh."

"Why didn't you tell me?! I'm like, the physical embodiment of a love-powered artifact and you didn't tell me you were together?"

"It didn't seem relevant." Lone pointed out. "You weren't exactly writhing in your death throes."

"I hear something." Nox interrupted, holding up a small flame. "Everypony shut up."

"You had two lighters?!"

He frowned, swatting Wolf's head with a wing. "I told you, I like fire! Now shut up!"

Lone frowned, ears lifting as he tried to pick out a sound other than their own breathing. "I hear it too."

"It sounds like a song." Crystal put in. "But it hurts."

"The crystal?"

"Yeah. It's... it's a mourning song."

-----

Until the day when I will meet you
And I'll see you again,
Just know that I'll be waiting
And I won't break till then

-----

Anastasia sighed, an act that created a bubble of steam around her muzzle. "I've never heard a Changeling sing before."

"They have beautiful voices." Spiderwick agreed, leaning up against her.

"How many of them are there?" She tried to scan the area, but it was too open, even with the sound. In fact, the sound itself seemed to beg her not to see.

"Well, I can see all of Crescent's pack over there, and I'm pretty sure there's two other packs here too." There was the sound of him turning, and he sighed. "She's over with the Unicorns, readying the projections. They're going to project the names and pictures of... of the dead, on the clouds."

"Will you read them to me?" She asked, finding his face.

His smile was small, but earnest, and when he moved to nuzzle her cheek, she didn't move away. She was, however, aware of Pumpernickel's little 'ew' from his other side. "I will."

"How many are dead?" She was aware of her voice cracking, but she would not let her own feelings through.

"Many." Spiderwick replied hesitantly. "But knowing Crescent, she'll have some way to avenge them."

"You know her?"

"I've done running jobs for her before. She's been mentioning something about the real sun and moon being held in Canterlot, so I think she'll be readying the attack on them soon enough." He paused, tapping his chin with a hoof. "She's not really a murder-spree kind of pony, though, so she's probably got something planned."

"I don't want any more ponies to die." She stated simply.

"None of us do."

-----

Because days I live in sorrow
Are days you wouldn't love
And in dreams, I will still meet you
In the stars above

-----

Spiderwick shivered as Anastasia's wing draped over his back.

"You're cold." She muttered.

He leaned up against her, breathing hot air on her neck. "So are you."

"But I can deal with it."

"Remember, my dear, you've got a fiery heart."

"I will, daddy."

"Are you sure?" He shifted, rubbing his hoof over her shoulder.

"You're a very special pony, you know."

"Why am I special, daddy?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." She sighed, flicking her tail over her flank.

"Because when you came to us, your eyes were made of rubies, your bones were made of steel and your heart was made of fire."

"What about the rest of me?"

"If you say so." Spiderwick settled his head back on his hooves, staring out across the crater.

"The rest of you was made of magic."

She let out another long breath, suddenly aware of the fact his breath wasn't clouding. All of a sudden, she felt like the loneliest pony in the world.

Above the smoke layer, high atop Canterlot's towers, a small sun insignia began glowing.

-----

But wait for me, my brother
Wait for me my friend
Wait for me, my sisters
Be there for me in the end

-----

Crescent leaned up against Torch's shoulder as the song around her ebbed. Her companion's voice was among them, a strong, deep sound that hummed through his entire body and up to her own where she touched him.

"They'll be remembered in our hearts forever." He muttered, wrapping a wing around her side. "Don't let them go."

"I'm not." She leaned into him, feeling tears on her face but not knowing when they had started. "But... Entropy killed so many for nothing."

"It was a display of power. It was them trying to show that they still controlled us." He nudged her to her hooves, guiding her over to where a group of Unicorns were waiting patiently.

They each dipped their heads in respect as the two approached, stepping away from a large amplification crystal awkwardly shoved into the ground.

"We need your identification skills before we can start."

"Of course." She sighed, sitting down behind the crystal. A crackling screen appeared in front of her, and she quickly calibrated the magical device to her own aura. "You can begin."

The Unicorns each funneled their magic into the crystal, creating a single, blue-tinted panel against the cloud cover. With a mere flick of magic, Crescent projected up the first image, another few flashes adding the name.

"Gemstone, Unicorn, mare, age twenty-seven."

Her voice rang out through the crystal's amplification, loud and clear.

"Fossil Scrape, Earth Pony, stallion, age forty."

"Chimera, Changeling, stallion, age seventeen."

"Silver Foil, Earth Pony, mare, age thirty-five."

"Strongheart, Pegasus, stallion, age fifty-one."

Her voice cracked momentarily.

"Cream Top, Earth Pony, stallion, age seventy."

She swallowed, continuing.

"Sweet Song, Pegasus, mare, age fifteen."

"Honey Harvest, Pegasus, stallion, age fifteen."

"Stone Cut, Earth Pony, stallion, age twenty-six."

"Facet, Changeling, mare, age thirty."

The names droned into each other, each one another icy dagger in her heart. Names she had known, had helped; stars that shimmered beyond the smoke.

"Inkspell, Unicorn, mare, age twenty."

"Candy Bar, Earth Pony, mare, age twenty."

"I can't do this."

There was a moment of quiet as Crescent took a deep breath, allowing herself to breathe in the emotions around her; sadness and pain danced black shadows across her eyes.

"Gemstone, found in her shop, was still polishing the rings and necklaces she sold. Fossil was in the museum, toiling over his latest find. Chimera was waiting at the chariot stops, protecting Silver Foil, who rarely leaves her shop on the main street. Strongheart was in the hospital, fixing up somepony's x-rays. Cream was back in the kitchen of his shop, making new flavors for the foals to try. Sweet Song and Honey Harvest were sitting together on a bench, trying to grasp love before their parents separated them again. Stone Cut was fixing the sidewalk near the fountain. Facet was playing with a group of foals in the square." Faces, smiles, laughs, ringing in her head, wove their way into her words and spilled over the edges with their enthusiasm, "Inkspell was no doubt watching, writing up another story for the bookstores around. Candy Bar was probably out there with them, handing out chocolates to the ones that couldn't afford them."

"Crescent," Torch warned.

"Our whole world has been torn apart for nothing other than the shock factor. Could you imagine any of those ponies fighting the oncoming fire? No!" She waved a hoof, papers scattering from the movement. "These lists are full of foals and children, the very weakest of us! In killing them off, they think they've made us weaker."

"Crescent."

"We can't let them get away with this! We are ponies, and we have just as much right to live as them, as any who come after us or those who came before us! Are we going to stand by and let our children be born into this hell?!"

"Crescent."

She turned to Torch, fangs bared. "In the Sun's name, what is it?!"

"You're crying," he whispered softly.

She was aware, now, of the rivulets down her muzzle, of her throat itching, her lungs heaving, of Torch's gentle wings around her. The Unicorns continued reading names, slowly but steadily, and Crescent was pulled ever-closer in Torch's embrace.

"Give them time," he rumbled, "and they will follow you."

She sniffled, burrowing into his chest.

He gently kissed her forehead, rubbing her back with one hoof. "Just give them time."

-----

I will not forget you
As the years go by
Be forever with me
Don't let me cry

May the sun and the moon
Guide you home
Let the sun and the moon
Guide you home

-----

509 views

Previous Chapters