> Luna Eclipse
>  by Teeemu
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: The Equestrian Reneighssance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






"...And they will see the whiteness of the moon as they gaze unto Her eyes,
They will tremble before Her in terror,
They will call for their hounds to feast on their decaying corpses,
And on that day, they will know Her name..."






Equestria has changed. I can see it in the towns, I can feel it in the streets and I can hear it in the air. The magic of the dragons has finally left us. Their once proud monuments abandoned to time. Their memories scattered to the wind. 
It began with the forging of the great alliance. Unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies standing together despite their various differences and setting the building blocks for a civilized society. In every town and city across the realm, the celebration of the unification of races became known as Hearth's Warming Eve. Following the unification, a capital city was established in the south.
Thus the vibrant and ancient city of Isabella became the hub of all pony culture.
Time had passed, order was established and in the wake of cultural vibrancy, a new religion had formed. Town by town and pony by pony, all had become enslaved by the power of faith. Three prominent stallions representing each race had risen to the head of the city's greatest families. These ponies stood at the center of Isabella's new religion, ushering in a movement devoted to their own private deification.
Yet not all were content with such radical change and soon there were disagreements on the fundamentals of faith. However, those who opposed the new regime were quickly eradicated, allowing fear and violence as a weapon in Faith’s arsenal.
Eventually, the stallions had become old and withered. Named aptly after themselves, their final act was the construction of the Temple of The Three Graces. Both designed as a monument and their earthly tomb for all eternity. Some say it was a last ditch effort to immortalize themselves. Others claim that they had never truly died, that their very souls became one with the statues deep inside the temple itself. Yet despite the end of their mortal lives, Faith continued to grow.
The role of The Cleric of Isabella was created soon after their deaths and filled by a simple Unicorn priest named Faroe. Cleric Faroe was a mystic of great renown granted the with the power of the second sight. The ability to peer into the veil of the future. A gift that he would later use to write his most famous prophecies later recorded as The Canticles of the First Cleric.
Now armed with its own central codex, Isabella's religious beliefs and subsequent Clerics continued on for the next few centuries unhindered and unchallenged. Their word became law. Their rules absolute.
Yet nothing could ever last unchallenged for long. The strength of Isabella's supposed unity began to decay and a new tyrant had risen from the shadows to the east.
Hailing from origins unknown, a creature of vast magical strength and prowess had beset the land. In a single sweep, it had taken control of the realm. Pouring its malice and chaos into the world, the creature known as Discord had proclaimed himself Equestria's solitary monarch and set his sights for Isabella.
Soon the land had become poisoned by pure chaos and not even Isabella's famed Cleric could stem the tide of Discord's reign. No pony knows for how long, but the monster's stranglehold had near razed Equestria to the ground before finally being halted by the efforts of two of the most unlikely of adversaries.
Known only as the Mares of Harmony, the pair's great magical prowess stood forth to oppose him. With the aid of a little known magic of powerful origin, the mares had finally vanquished Discord and returned harmony to the land. 
In the wake of their conquest, it was said that the moon and sun had bestowed great power upon them. The sisters had reached a level of magical understanding so deep that it was said they had instantly sprouted wings and could challenge death itself. A power that rivaled the laws of magic.
And thus a fourth race of pony had come into existence. Wielding the strengths of all three races and the weaknesses of none. Alicorns: Immortal, fairest and wisest of all beings. With Discord petrified in stone as his eternal prison, the alicorn mares were hailed by all of Equestria as saviors. Their names, Luna and Celestia, glorified and heralded as almost godlike. Yet the response to their undesired deification was most telling. The mares were not pleased. Instead of reaping the rewards of their stature, the sisters retreated to the very heart of the Everfree and have existed in solitude ever since. Their lives unhindered by the growth of their renown. Their presence, felt as nothing more than a whisper in the breeze.
But even as the alicorn sisters retreated to a world of solitude, Equestria had become shaken by a crisis of faith. The citizens of Isabella no longer trusted the word of their Cleric whom they had followed without question for so long. Why should they still believe the words of three dead stallions when the power to control day and night now lay in the hooves of two very powerful, and very much alive, goddess-like ponies?
As more and more began to abandon their faith, the Cleric had seen the potential threat of a civil war breaking out. The cost of Discord’s chaotic reign had left the city in a state of disrepair so great that the prospect of more catastrophe would mean its ruin. There was simply no more room for fear and violence in Faith’s arsenal.
In order to keep opposing views civil, Faith proclaimed Celestia and Luna as Princesses. Honorary rulers of Equestria and paragons of harmony. Yet still it was not enough. Despite the Cleric’s best efforts to restore Isabella’s former glory, the city had lost its status as Equestria’s capital.
Canterlot, an ancient mountainous city and the origins of both Princesses, had been the first conquered by Discord’s reign. It's early days of suffrage had been the birthplace of the resistance that spurred Discord’s defeat. Soon after, it had become the founding city of a new faith, a new understanding and a new deity. Its reverence for being the symbol of Equestria’s heroines had also earned it the title of the realm’s new capital. A stunning, shining new city far more glorious than a war torn Isabella.
The Cleric, now desperate for anything to safeguard Faith, delved deep into the sacred Canticles for guidance. Through months of searching, he had finally come across a prophecy he hoped would deter the inevitable collapse of the old ways. The prophecy had been cryptic, but the Cleric had eventually fathomed that it foretold the rise of an ominous evil veiled in the whiteness of the moon. An evil, he concluded, linked to the younger sister, Luna.
But time was a never on his side. Soon the noble families of Isabella voted on a new secular government. A government run and consolidated by the heads of each family. Because of this, there was no longer power in the hooves of the Cleric… Naturally, the prophecy fell on deaf ears.
All the Cleric could do was count his blessings and hope that the families at least remained loyal to Faith and the city’s once proud heritage. A new shrine dedicated to Equestria’s honorary rulers was built. Not only did it serve as a symbol of harmony, but also as a beacon of hope to many... A beacon of hope to me...
And I? I was chosen to serve as its priest.
I have many names. Father, guide, apostle… But to the many who now follow the code harmony and its princesses, I am known as Cepheid. I seek to undo the falseness of the past, set right the wrongs that have perpetrated by Faith’s ignorant hoof and carry the message of Celestia and Luna. For now, Isabella has entered into a changing world and it is our duty as ponies to see that it follows the path of harmony.


***


Two unicorns stood side by side underneath a splendid mosaic of two alicorn goddesses encircling each other. It was impossible to enter The Church of Harmony without gazing up at its eerie glass design.
“I see Cepheid spared no expense decorating the inner halls,” said one of the ponies, an elderly stallion with a graying black mane and a dark beige coat. “With all that has happened, you’d think the figurehead would disapprove of the liberal usage of taxpayer money.”
“I think it’s glorious,” said the other pony. He too was a stallion, yet where the other was old and feeble, he was young and freakishly large. His muscles accentuated by the dim flickering light of the church’s candles, and his thick blonde mane giving him the look of a lion in its prime. Despite his grizzly appearance, he had a kind face and soft pale blue eyes that mirrored the color of the blade of a sword holstered over his back.
“I do not doubt its glorious intent, Aurelio,” the old pony rebuked. “I only take issue with its extravagance.”
“It’s the least we could do to show our gratitude to our saviors,” the pony called Aurelio replied. “There is a true sense of their strength in this room.”
The old pony shook his head. “Some part of you must realize that neither of them truly want such glorification. Immortality has at least failed to take away their humility. I have a feeling if they were to step into this place they would see how their message of harmony and equality was once again lost to pomp and splendor.”
Aurelio lowered his head in frustration. “Can’t you just be positive for once?”
“Very well,” the old pony acquiesced. “It is truly a sight to behold. One to rival the Temple of the Three Graces itself. I’m sure there will soon be temples everywhere.”
“You asked to meet me here,” Aurelio replied, ignoring the old stallion’s retort.
“I did indeed,” he replied. “As my agent, you are beyond Cepheid’s interference. You are perhaps one of the only ponies left I can trust.”
“I’m… honored that you would think of me as somepony you could trust, sir. But don’t you think meeting like this in secret is a bit… I dunno… too much? I don’t see why we would need to be so cautious.”
The old stallion gazed thoughtfully at Aurelio, his eyes lingering momentarily upon his sword. “You brought your family heirloom with you as well, I see. Do not tell me you believe bringing a weapon to a holy place is any less cautious.”
Aurelio snorted. “You can never be too careful in times like these, sir.”
“Then you should have no problem understanding the discretion.” The old stallion turned his gaze away from Aurelio and made his way towards a small bronze lectern at the end of the chapel. “Care to join me? There is something I wish to show you.”
Aurelio did as he was told, trotting briskly towards his elderly companion and glancing towards a small leather bound book lying upon the lectern’s surface. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Indeed it is, Aurelio,” The old stallion replied. “This one in particular belongs to Cepheid himself.”
Aurelio raised an eyebrow. “Why would Cepheid have a copy of the Canticles? I thought he despised everything to do with the old Faith.”
“Already calling it old, I see?” The old stallion chuckled. “He does indeed despise the old ways. But it is not strange for him to still keep a copy of its central codex.”
“Then why show it to me?”
“Because, my son, he has recently taken great interest in a very specific verse.” He turned his gazed from Aurelio and magically opened the book to an earmarked page. “A rather controversial prophecy about Princess Luna.”
Aurelio seemed to relax at this. “Oh,” he responded. “That prophecy. Didn’t Cepheid say that it was all lies added to the Canticles in order confuse us?”
“What Cepheid says and what Cepheid believes, I have concluded, are two entirely different things.” He turned the book to face Aurelio. “Why don’t you read it?”
With a sigh, he stood closer towards the lectern and began to read the prophecy out loud. “Beware the age of the Diarchy, for she who holds power over the moon will use it to block out the light. Stand fast against the honeyed words of harmony, for they are veiled in falseness and death.” He glanced back up at his companion. “So… I don’t see your point? What does any of this have to do with Cepheid?”
“Well, you see, that was not the only verse he had showed an interest in.” The old stallion began paging backwards until arriving in the middle of a completely new chapter. “Just like the Cleric, Cepheid took it upon himself to search for verses that may do the Princesses harm. But whereas the Cleric could only find one verse, he had found another.”
Aurelio looked as though something had fallen on his hoof. “He found… what does it say?”
“I’ll spare you, it's rather long winded and cryptic wording,” the old stallion replied. “But it essentially tells us how Luna will fall into darkness. Here…” he pointed at a paragraph in particular. “And the guardian of the moon shall be sterile. She will bear no fruit from her loins, but shall mother a foal from the barren loins of another.”
Aurelio looked confused. “How does that lead to her downfall?”
“And the foal shall bear the markings of the moon,” he continued. “From the first moment it draws breath, the guardian will abandon true virtue.”
Satisfied that he had made a connection, the old stallion closed the book and returned his gaze to a rather dumbstruck Aurelio.
“Princess Luna will have a foal. A foal that makes her go bad.” He scratched his head.
“According to this passage, yes.”
Aurelio looked skeptical. “What does it really matter, though? Even if Cepheid did indeed believe it could happen, that doesn’t really mean that it will.”
“No,” The old stallion replied. “But whether or not it’s true is not important. What is important is that should such a foal ever be born baring what this passage describes as the markings of the moon, how do you think he will react? How do you think ponykind would respond should they wise up and come across this verse themselves?”
“This still doesn’t make sense,” Aurelio replied. “What exactly are the markings of the moon?”
“I do not truly know. But that is not our only clue. The passage clearly states that the foal will be born from barren loins. In other words, an infertile mare. How many infertile mares do you think can conceive a foal?”
“N-none.”
“And now we reach the reason why I called you here in the first place.”
Aurelio blinked. “That being?”
The old stallion silently stepped away from the lectern and stood face to face with him. “I have read Cepheid’s private journals. Should the day ever come that such a foal should enter this world, he will find it and snuff it out. Anything that damages his new faith damages his position in it.”
Aurelio stood back in shock. “You can’t possibly believe that Cepheid would condone-“
“Oh yes I can,” the old stallion interrupted. “Do you suppose a pony who has risen to such stature in this city would let the source of his new power fall into question?”
Aurelio stepped away from his companion. “I don’t like this conversation. Cepheid has only ever sought to spread the word of Harmony. He’s a just a simple a priest, a pony that only wishes to-“
The old stallion lifted his hoof to silence him. “His journals say otherwise. Would you prefer it if I stole them and proved it to you? Or is my word not enough?”
Aurelio hung his head with another sigh. “What would you have me do?”
“Nothing. At least not until the day comes that I call upon you for this very reason.”
“Why me? Why tell me this at all if you’d have me do nothing?”
The old stallion smiled. “Because, my dear colt, you are perhaps one of the only ponies in this money and power-infested city that I know has a good heart. I trust that should the day come when Cepheid plans to harm any foal, I can count on you to be by my side to stop him.”
Aurelio remained quiet for a second, his cheeks slightly red. “Indeed you can, sir.”
“Good,” the old stallion replied. “Remember, Aurelio, we are Soldiers of Harmony. Our mandate is to protect the weak and helpless. Even if it means protecting them from our own.”
> Chapter I: The Woes of Alouette
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





"How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice?"





There are three things that the Province of Isabella is known best for: warm weather, wide open plains of endless prairies and the conservative nature of its pony inhabitants. Traditional family values are upheld by all. The stallion; provider, father and leader. The mare; caretaker, mother and follower. That is how it’s always been.
If you couldn’t be a mother, couldn’t conceive or suffer the tragedy of stillbirth, then you were seen as nothing but an empty vessel. Cursed with the sterility disease and unworthy of any title or respect within the small communities that dot the area surrounding Lake Faroe. Stallions who are unfortunate enough to lay claim to a sterile mate are forced to either abandon their companions or suffer the shame of being unable to father an heir.
The larger towns close to the city of Isabella are at least, if anything, forward thinking. Ponies there have a modicum of understanding when it comes to a mare's inability to have a foal. Yet further to south such disabilities are never looked upon with anything other than utter disdain.
It is here in the dry and dilapidated village of Faroe de Luna that our story finds its roots. A place so far removed from the laws that govern Equestria that the grace of harmony was nothing but a whisper. It's here that Alouette, a well proportioned, brown-coated unicorn mare with a thick, luscious black mane, had lived for her entire life. Faroe de Luna was a small village. Everypony that lived there existed in an extremely close knit community. So it was no strange thing for a young filly to be married off at a young age and Alouette was no exception.
Her father had jumped at the opportunity to offer her as his first born to the son of the region's figurehead. Every county in Isabella had a figurehead.  A well respected member of the province's society and governmental member that usually had access to wealth and influence. In Alouette's case, the figurehead's son and heir to his name was a perfect match. Her father had almost gone bankrupt securing the dowry, but in the end the contract was made and the young filly was betrothed at nine.
Alouette had never even heard of the figurehead's son let alone known if she could ever love him. Yet a lifetime of conditioning lead her to believe that a mare never had a choice in the matter. They were there to produce an heir, to bolster a family name and to care for their offspring.
Years had passed and when she was fourteen, she was finally permitted to see him. It was an occasion she had felt her entire life had been building up to. The opportunity to finally lay eyes on her husband-to-be for the first time. She and her father had taken the day's journey to the city of Isabella to meet with the figurehead and prepare for the wedding. Yet even though she was only days away from her marriage, she was still not able to meet with her husband.
Alouette could never remember a time that she had experienced such anxiety. Shut up in a big city manor and fussed over by a bunch of mares all trying to gussy her up for her big day. It had felt like an eternity and all she could ever think of was home. The place that she may never see again. In many ways she secretly resented how her father had simply sold her off and perhaps the hope of falling in love with a dashing stallion was all she needed to push through her nerves.
Eventually the day had arrived and just before the ceremony had started she was permitted to know his name. For no other reason than for her to say her vows properly. The stallion's name was Quicklight, and somehow knowing his name was all she needed to see this through, to play her part and to bring honor to her family.
Walking veiled down the aisle, she laid her eyes on a striking young unicorn standing at the altar. His coat a charcoal color, his eyes a luminous green and his mane silver and glistening. For all intents and purposes he was perhaps the most dashing stallion she had ever seen. Her heart had gone all a flutter and all her previous woes had disappeared. Alouette had become infatuated.
Yet she still felt her body trembling the closer she trotted to him. His eyes locked almost expectantly upon her as she approached. What was he thinking? Would he love her? Would he even like her? Her mind continued to plague her with every step she took. It wasn't until she had stood before him and waited for him to magically lift her veil did she finally have her answer. A simple yet graceful smile as if to say, "It will be okay."
It was only when the two of them had finally exchanged their vows, when Quicklight had smiled his secret smile and when their lips had finally touched that she had felt it. The spark. Alouette knew that he was the right one. That the two of them were meant to be.
The wedding ceremony was short and soon she had found herself in the bed chamber of her betrothed. Yet even though she had mentally prepared herself for the act that would finally make her a true mare, Quicklight had been a proper gentlepony. He treated her with respect, took it slow and tenderly. Alouette could never have asked for a more caring or better lover.
And so her life continued along the path that was already planned out for her. She attended luncheons with all the well-to-dos of the city, quickly became friends with her local group of gossiping housemares, and did all she could to keep Quicklight happy. The longer she lived with him, the more her love for him grew. There was nopony in the world that could ever compare to him in her eyes.






Five years later



Under the clouds of the stary night,
I walk towards the clearing and cast out the darkness,
For I am the silvery ray of light, 
I am Luna.

I wear the veil of Eternity,
For I have felt Its hollow and lonely embrace,
Forever shall I watch you among the stars of the night,
For I am the silvery ray of light,
I am Luna.






I know you, Alouette... You are worthy...

"Urgh!" Alouette woke with a start, lifting her head up quickly and breathing fast. She looked about her frantically, trying to remember the being that had visited her in her dream.
"Hmmm..." grunted a voice next to her. "What troubles you, my love? Nightmares once more?”
She placed her hoof to her face, falling back onto her pillow and trying to wrack her brain for any detail of who the voice had belonged to. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to wake you," she said groggily.
"It's no trouble," Quicklight replied, turning onto his side and facing her. "Your nights’ rest have been disturbed of late. It's not the first time you've had one of these dreams, is it?"
She rolled over and kissed him with a smile. "It's nothing. Go back to sleep."
He stroked her cheek and turned over. "I love you," he whispered after a short pause.
Alouette's smile faded as she rolled onto her back. She hadn't told him about the cold sweat that matted her fur, that this was no ordinary dream. Despite the fact that she could hardly remember what it was about, that eerie voice was like nothing she had ever heard before.
The thoughts lingered on her mind for a while longer until she found herself drifting back into an uneasy sleep.


***


The following morning continued just as every other day. Alouette's routine consisted of preparing breakfast for Quicklight and seeing him off with a peck on the cheek. Although the heir to a fortune, he was still his own pony. Running a small business in the center of town that sold fine garments. His independence was just one of the reasons why she loved him so much. She could remember the first time his father had tried to intervene in how their marriage should be. That it was imperative that she produce an heir as soon as possible. Yet despite tradition, Quicklight had made it clear that they would only have a foal when Alouette was good and ready.
It wasn't for lack of trying on Quicklight's part. As a customary show that he wanted a child whenever she had reached the pinnacle of her estrous cycle, he had presented her with a basket of strawberries three times in their marriage. Each time, she had somehow refused him.
The first time was weeks after they had first married. He had taken her out to an amazing sing and dance show at the plaza, walked close by her back home, kept her warm in the cold night's air and even ran her a hot bath on their return home. She knew what she was getting into, that he was ready for a baby. However, Alouette was not. The moment he had left the bathroom she stepped out from the bath and towards the bedroom without even glancing towards her husband. An hour later, a disappointed Quicklight had returned to their room. Shuffling towards the bed, climbing in next to her and gently touching her cheek as if to give it one more shot before shaking his head, rolling over and falling quickly into a deep sleep.
The second time had been a year later. Alouette had experienced a rather a grumpy cycle due to more cramps than anticipated. The last thing she needed was to see a basket of strawberries on the dining room table and a smirking Quicklight staring hopefully up at her when she entered. Yet with a forced smile, she had sat with him and pretended to be excited about the prospect of having a baby. All the while leading him on, steadily getting him drunk on wine and forcing him to follow her upstairs with a promiscuous grin just to guiltily finish him off in other ways.
The following day, Quicklight had awoken with a headache, a running stomach and absolutely no recollection of the night before. Alouette had cared for him by bringing him medicine, forcing him to drink water and treating his hangover just as any devoted wife. 
Yet when he had kissed her in the kitchen after recovering later that evening and expressed how happy he was to finally have a baby, her stomach had churned at just how guilty she had felt. How could she have ever lied about something so important? Worse... she had lead him to suspect she had indeed conceived a foal. Only to later lie once more and claim she’d had a miscarriage.
The third time had been a genuine failure to conceive. Once again it had been another year until Alouette found a basket of roses in her bedroom with a note. The note had written instructions that lead to a secluded roof balcony on the top of the apartment. There she found him lying in an extremely wide hot bath with the night’s sky above them. With a smile she climbed in and joined him, the gesture too romantic to deny him a third chance. They had made love under the stars, lay in each other's hooves after they were done and then proceeded to make love once more. Alouette had felt the fear of motherhood during the days that followed. Only to be told weeks later by her doctor that she wasn't carrying.
In many ways she had felt relieved. Being married off at such a young age was fair enough, but having to raise a foal was something else entirely. Something that she had dreaded her entire life. But in the back of her mind she knew that a foal was something Quicklight had always wanted, and after five years of marriage she had come to terms with the fact that now was the best time to conceive.
Alouette trotted over to the kitchen window of their second story apartment and gazed out towards the street. A pair of ponies crossing the cobbled road had caught her eye. A young filly and her father both heading towards a cart bound for school. She watched as the stallion kissed his daughter goodbye with a smile and levitated her up onto the cart's seat. Alouette knew that one day such a simple act would give her betrothed more joy than anything else. She turned from the window and made her way towards the entrance hall. A trip to the doctor would indeed be the best way to start.
Isabella was perhaps one of the most iconic cities in Equestria. A trip to anywhere in town often had you trotting past at least some building of significance. The road that Alouette lived on crossed through the heart of the city, meandering at some points to show off visages of the city's past. One such visage was the Statue of the Three Graces. Three ponies standing side by side and holding their heads to the sky as to signify a higher understanding. Each pony resembled a member of the three races. Unicorn, Earth pony and Pegasus. In the early days before the Diarchy, the southern provinces had held onto traditionally pagan beliefs. The Three Graces were predominantly believed to be the founding ancestors of ponykind. Although now believed to be nothing but old mare's tales, the statues and histories still remained. Isabella was nothing if not traditional.
Alouette couldn't help but spend a few seconds gazing up at it as she passed. It had an oddly nostalgic feel for her each time she did so. A reminder of what was and what now is. In the years that had followed her life here in the province's capital, Alouette had witnessed the birth of a new kind of religion. One that had deified two ponies who held the power to control both the sun and the moon. These ponies had become so powerful that they had seemed to surpass the boundaries of even race itself. A pair of sisters who bore the traits of all three. The horn of a unicorn, the wings of a pegasus, and the bodily strength of an earth pony. They had become the very first of a race defined as Alicorns.
Civil unrest in the following years grew before she had ever set hoof in the city. There were always clashes between those who defended the old ways and those who followed a new religion devoted to the sisters. Or at least that was as much as she had ever paid attention to. Religion and faith was never something Alouette found solace in.
She passed the statue and continued on her path towards the clinic. She considered the time she was living in; a time of tumultuous change and upheaval. A time where the norms of the old had been challenged by the rise in power of the twin sisters. She could remember all the times she had chatted with her gossiping friends at the tea garden. How they spoke of these alicorns with such reverence.
Alouette couldn’t help but think of her family back home. How much had changed there? What did her parents think of these ponies that were now affectionately dubbed as princesses? And finally, how were her parents? She had no idea whether or not they were still alive. A part of her didn’t even want to.


***


Alouette approached the front door of the clinic and headed inside, magically closing the door behind her as she did so. She made her way to the front desk, slightly scrunching her muzzle at the sterile smell of antiseptics covering up the stench of decay in the entire building.
The clinic wasn’t as full today as her previous visits. Only a few patients sat in the waiting room, two of which were reading books and a mother on the opposite bench, stroking her sickly looking foal.
“Excuse me,” Alouette said in a whisper to the assistant behind a small wooden desk, her eyes falling upon the mare and her foal.
The assistant looked up casually. “Can I help you, miss?”
“Yes,” Alouette responded, glancing finally at the assistant. “I’d like to see Dr Esteril.”
“Are you here for another maternal check-up?”
“Um… an unannounced one,” she responded casually.
“Okay, please scribe your name and reason for your visit here.” The assistant mare levitated a small piece of parchment in front of Alouette, “and then take a seat by the other patients.”
She did as she was told before offering a final smile and taking a seat next to the mother and her foal.
“Hi,” the mother said with a slight shiver, shifting slightly for Alouette to join her on the bench.
“Hello,” she responded tersely, sitting next to the mare and looking straight ahead.
“Are you expecting?”
“Sorry?”
“You’re here to see the maternity doctor are you not?” the mare probed.
“Oh… sorry. Yes, yes I am.”
The mare smiled and continued to stroke her young filly. Alouette chanced a look at the foal. She was wrapped in a small blanket and looked anything but healthy. Her breathing was shallow and there were slightly matted watermarks in the fur next to her eyes. Alouette gazed up and looked at the mother’s face quickly. Spotting the same marks on her eyes as well. It seemed as if both of them had recently been crying.
“Is… Is your foal unwell?” she asked quietly with concern.
The mare forced a smile. “She’s been struggling for the past few weeks. Her breathing has been oh so terribly wheezy. Because she can’t breathe properly, she cries, and when she cries she makes it worse for herself.” The mare’s eyes began to water. “I honestly thought she would be okay, but she's only gotten worse.”
Alouette opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the arrival of a doctor who had called for the next patient. The two ponies seated opposite them had both folded their reading material and proceeded to join the doctor in his office.
Alouette looked back at the mare, not sure how to respond.
“S-sorry,” the mother stammered. “I did not mean to worry you… worry is bad for a pregnant mare.”
Alouette shook her head. “I’m not pregnant… not yet anyway.”
The mare looked back at her. “A check-up, then?”
“Well it’s my cycle and my stallion and I have been thinking about it,” Alouette began. “I’ve just been… putting it off.”
The mare began to smile once more. “Oh! That is such a wonderful thing to hear! Are you excited?”
“A little nervous, actually,” she responded truthfully.
The mare placed her free hoof upon Alouette’s, her touch making her feel slightly awkward. “A foal is a wonderful gift, friend. You’ll see! Motherhood is a gift from Celestia, the bearer of light, herself.”
Alouette raised an eyebrow.  “Celestia?”
The mare seemed slightly taken aback. “You know!” she exclaimed. “The princess of the sun? She and her sister, Luna, defeated that awful draconequus all those years ago."
"But I thought that the fable of Discord the Chaotic was just an old legend," Alouette responded. "A story meant to scare foals into behaving and not acting out."
"Dear me, no!" the mare continued. "Discord truly did exist! It was due to the heroics of the Sisters of Harmony that he was finally put in his place, locked in stone and never to cause disharmony upon the land again."
Alouette sat back and considered the mare's words for a moment. "Their names are Luna and Celestia?"
"Princess Luna and Celestia," the mare corrected. "They're the true goddesses all should be worshiping. Not the false idols of old."
Once again Alouette was saved from having to answer by the arrival of a doctor who had beckoned the mare and foal towards his office.
The mare slowly stood up and levitated the filly gently onto her back. The small blanket became slightly unwrapped, revealing a tiny feathered wing on the foal's body. Alouette had only noticed now the foal had no horn. In Isabella, the site of anypony who wasn't a unicorn was indeed rare. Rarer still was a pegasus.
"She's truly a gift from the goddess," the mare said, noticing Alouette's gaze as she stood up. "Celestia answered my prayer when she came out with wings. Perhaps she may do the same for you should you have faith." With one final smile, the mare trotted her way towards another office, leaving Alouette alone in the waiting room.
Alouette wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved to see the back of the mare as she glanced out the window, reflecting on the conversation they had just shared. The mare had told her that motherhood was a gift. Yet in the back of her mind, Alouette couldn't help but doubt that the mare had been as devious towards her husband as she was.
And then there was that whole speech about the Princesses. Alouette had never known their names nor had she ever cared to. Immortal Alicorns or no, they had not sought fit to spread their so called "Harmony" down south. Even the mere idea that mares could call themselves rulers was foolish enough for Alouette to doubt why she should spare a thought for them anyway.

You are worthy…

Alouette had suddenly remembered something about her dreams. That voice... It had once appeared to her in its true form, she was sure of it! The creature was dark, really dark. Yet radiating light from its outline as if the moon had eclipsed the sun. It had beckoned her with its hoof, its slender body taller than any pony she had ever seen. Its horn seemed sharper, longer than her own and then... it did something else... It had something else…
"Alouette?" a deep voice spoke from behind her.
Alouette shook her head, slightly annoyed by the interruption. "What?"
"Well..." the voice responded. "If you wanted to speak to a doctor about how to treat a mild form of Tourette's, I would have told you that you're in the wrong clinic."
Alouette spun her head around and gasped when she realized she had just snapped at her own doctor. "Dr Esteril," she exclaimed. "My apologies, I had no idea it was-"
"That's quite alright, Alouette," he responded with a tired grin. "I know your voice all too well. Otherwise I may have been vaguely offended by that outburst."
She felt her cheeks go red. It wasn't so long ago that the poor old stallion had to deal with her losing her temper over him simply urging her to discuss her fear of conception to her husband instead of hiding it from him. In true Alouette fashion, she had stormed out of the office. But not before calling him an old coot and yelling at him to mind his own business. Despite her outburst, she had still made it a habit to continue with quarterly check-ups.
It had all started back before she had even met Quicklight. Alouette's first few days in Isabella had been nothing if not completely invasive on her privacy. On her first day there, the old doctor was called in to examine her marehood so as to confirm the legitimacy of her virginity. However, instead of performing the frighteningly rigorous procedure, Dr Esteril had merely called for a few minutes alone with her to check her blood pressure and make sure she was feeling altogether healthy. He had then proceeded to the door before she had stopped him to ask why he hadn't performed the procedure. He simply sighed and told her that he didn't need to invade her privacy to trust that she was a virgin, that he had been a doctor long enough to tell anyway.
The old stallion had been more respectful towards her dignity as a mare than even her own father. Because of this, Alouette had formed an almost paternal bond with him. In the years that followed, he had been the only outsider she could truly trust in this city.
"So shall we proceed with the check-up, or are you going to continue to sit there with that erythematic tinge on your cheeks?" he asked in a dull monotone.
"Of course not," she announced, standing up and trotting past him towards his office. "I was also hoping you could give me a small run down of what to expect when, well... expecting."
Dr Esteril walked in behind her, closed the door and motioned for her to take a seat.
"Are you saying you're with child?" he asked with a slightly surprised tone.
"Well, no. Not yet," she answered whilst taking a seat. "But I feel as though the time is right."
Esteril raised an eyebrow. "Truly?"
"Yes," she responded defiantly. "It's not fair to keep him waiting."
He quietly considered her response before speaking up again, his voice resuming its normal torpor. "Ah... So you're not ready. Only ready to appease your soul mate."
"Sometimes we all need to sacrifice a bit of ourselves for the ones we love," she answered immediately.
Esteril grinned once more, realizing that she had thought this through. "Indeed we do... But how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice?"
It was Alouette's turn to raise her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
The old stallion’s smile faded, exposing the lines of his tired face. "I was expecting your return a little sooner than this, my dear."
"What do you mean?"
Esteril moved towards an old filing cabinet behind his desk, magically extracted a file from its contents, and placed it neatly upon his desk. "How have your cycles been? Have you still been experiencing more cramps than usual?"
"I... no. In fact, these days my cycles have been completely painless."
"Ah..." he chimed with a sigh.
An awkward pause had developed between them. Something about the way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine.
Alouette leant forward, "Doc? Is there something wrong?"
Esteril gazed sadly down at her before taking a seat himself, clopping his forehooves together before speaking once more. "Do you remember the first time you experienced those severe cramps? They were quite bad to begin with, but in the years that followed I had noticed that you had begun to complain about them less and less. I thought little of it until you had returned once more, expecting to be pregnant but only to be told that you had indeed failed to conceive." He stroked his chin." I was perplexed... How could a mare who had coupled with her husband at the perfect time and age miss her window for pregnancy? I decided to take a blood test after your next visit and..." The usually calm visage of his face had now begun to crack slightly. "Well, I had decided that since you had come less and less for maternal reasons that it would be easier not to share this with you. But now I know that it was a seriously grave error in my-"
"Doctor..." Alouette whispered, her eyes shut tight. "Please just make sense... What's wrong with me?"
"These... were all indicative signs that you had been plagued by the sterility disease," he responded uncomfortably. "Alouette, you were rendered unable to have foals."
Alouette had felt as though a deluge of gushing water had opened up inside her and crashed towards the very pit of her stomach. The misdeeds of her deception had finally caught up with her in the form of the curse of the empty vessel. The dreaded and hated disease of all southern mares.
Another awkward, longer pause.
"Alouette?" he whispered cautiously. "My child, are you-"
"Alright?" she finished in a monotone to rival his own. "No. I'm the furthest thing from that."
The deluge had finally receded, leaving in its wake an empty feeling in her body. It was as if something vital to her existence had been washed away and drowned by the harsh realization of the truth. The irony of everything that had lead up to this moment was staggering. From her motherhood dilemma to her deception and then finally to the mare and foal she had spoken with moments ago. It drove a tear to roll down her cheek.
Esteril stood up immediately at the sight of the tear and ambled around his desk to her. "My dear," he sighed, placing his hoof gently upon her hunched shoulder. "Please forgive me for not telling you sooner."
Alouette slowly looked up at him, a glimmer of hope somehow making its way to the surface. "But doc, should I not get a second opinion? Maybe there was something you had missed or, or..."
He shook his head slowly, "No, my dear. The file I retrieved has the results. It's definitive. I... I'm sorry."
"You should have told me sooner!" she choked, feeling a deluge of a different kind beginning to well up. "Why would you h-hide this from me?"
Esteril blinked. "My child, I... I had thought only to protect your secret for as long as possible." He lowered his voice. "You know how mares with this affliction are seen. I couldn't bear to look upon your face the day I would have to finally tell you. Please... My dear... Forgive my error in judgment."
Alouette placed her hoof upon his. "It's okay," she whispered. "It would have been far worse to have to explain this to Quicklight when he was really trying."
"You are worthy of far more than what life has dealt you, my dear."
"No," she responded. "I deserve this... Worth has nothing to do with it"

You are worthy...

"Child, you are worthy." Esteril insisted. "Don't let these notions-"
Alouette suddenly stood up. "Why do I keep hearing that phrase?"
The old doctor look slightly taken aback. "Phrase?"
She turned her head to the door and began to make her way towards it, her mind unsure of what she was truly doing. "Doctor, I must leave now."
"Pardon?" Esteril stood up. "Now? My dear, we need to discuss alternatives. There is still hope."
She placed her hoof on the doorknob and turned back to look at him. "Another time." With that, she open the door and headed out of the office, leaving an utterly bewildered Dr Esteril behind her.

Where are you going, Alouette?

Why had she just stormed out of his office yet again because of a phrase? Why had it brought her out here into the lobby of the clinic with no intent to prove anything? Alouette shook her head at her sudden and strange behavior and was halfway between turning back towards the office when she spotted the mare and her filly exiting the opposite door.
The mare looked up at her with a smile. "Hello again, friend."
Alouette looked towards the mare but said nothing. Her body caught in a strange limbo between turning back to the office or heading towards the exit.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at the curious expression on Alouette's face.
Alouette slowly nodded, her eyes drifting towards the filly on the mare's back. She saw its steady breathing and the shifting of two winged shapes through the blankets.

Wings.

Her mind had quickly jumped back into the recollection of the voice in her dream. That slender eclipsed creature with its long, sharp horn. Again it extended its hoof to her as if to beckon her towards it. The closer she stepped, the more it beckoned. Finally, it reared its head to reveal two bright white eyes, and extended a pair of massive wings at its sides.

The creature in my dream is an Alicorn?

Alouette's revelation had caused her to do a double take. The coincidences of today had been too numerous to ignore. All her ponderous thoughts inspired by statues, the strange conversation with the bewildered mare in front of her, the connection to her dreams and the soul crushing diagnosis. All these things were connected, she knew it. She just didn't know how or why.
A strange tingling in the back of her neck edged her towards the next step of her journey. Somehow, Alouette knew where she needed to go.
"Pray for me," she finally said to the mare before darting out of the clinic.


***


Clean white marble columns, golden inlay in the corner stones of its chapel and the stark contrast of oak wooden flooring. The Church of Harmony was the only known shrine in Isabella that was built solely for the glorification of Princess Luna and Celestia. Because of this, it had the pristine glow of a monument that had been freshly built, its designs still fully visible and its art new and glistening. 
The small church was no taller than three stories high, yet it had been erected the same year that Canterlot had been proclaimed the capital of Equestria. It had just so happened that this was the same year that Alouette had moved to the city of Isabella. Despite its rather humble size in comparison to the Temple of the Three Graces, she couldn't help but feel a sense of something truly omnipotent hidden in its design and imagery.
She had seen that massive temple that towered over the municipal buildings in the city center far from here. Its structure was encircled by its own road that had the city’s most important avenues jutting outwards from it like a giant spider web. Eight roads in total, all heading in different directions and all stretching to the furthest corners of town. The temple itself was round in shape and stood over ten stories high. A massive dome encircled the roof with a ten meter wide oculus at its apex and an ossuary anex enclosed in granite on the floor beneath it. Dubbed as "El Sepulcro”, the enclosed annex formed the only entrance to the city’s catacombs. Although initially used as a cheap gravesite, it was later expanded upon into a network of sub-levels used to bury most of the city’s dead. The inner sanctum consisted of shrines in three recesses along the interior wall, each dedicated to a bronze statue of one of the three pony races. Alouette had remembered their faces, all of them stallions and all of them harsh and imposing. The presence of patriotic superiority whistled in the wind through the ever-open access of the monument’s grand entrance.
But standing alone for the first time in this simple chapel, Alouette felt something glow within her very soul. A positive presence… a benevolent presence. A presence of two harmonious entities with a power that reigned supreme.
Without even knowing why, Alouette had become a believer. Taking a step closer inside, she gazed up and into a grand stained glass mosaic on its ceiling. Basking in a ray of its warm light, she peered into the eyes of two ethereal alicorn sisters circling in unison with each other in the glass. Alouette felt her hind hooves relax as she sat neatly upon the wooden floor, her head craning upwards as if to pose an awe struck filly at the hooves of her ever-loving princess mothers.
After gazing up at them for a while longer, she closed her eyes and lowered her head in prayer.
“My name is Alouette del Faroe,” she said in a soft voice. “I'm sorry, but I have no idea how a pony like me should address you. I don’t know why, but… I see you in my dreams.” She opened her eyes. “Is it you, Celestia? The Alicorn who believes me worthy? The sister of life and the sun? Well I’m here. I followed the path. What do I do? How do I escape this mess I’ve created for myself? Am I even worthy of your help? I know I shouldn’t be asking so many questions, but I’m scared. I’m scared that I will lose my husband. I’m petrified by the terrible things I have done to deny him the one thing he has ever asked of me. A foal. And now… I fear I’m too late.” She closed her eyes tight. “Please, dear Celestia. Please grant this foolish mare a sign that she’s not crazy. That you’ll help her… please.”
The chapel remained silent and the sun continued to glisten through the mosaic. When she finally opened her eyes and looked up, she could still see the two princesses frozen in a glassy limbo. Silent and still.
With a sigh of disappointment, she stood up and turned for the exit. Her hooves dragged upon the floor as she went. Her mind reeling over the prospect of having to confess her sins to her husband.

No! You have to help me!

Alouette stopped just before leaving, looking at the ceiling one last time. “You have to!” she pleaded.
> Chapter II: Immaculate Conception
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




"An ironic choice of words, wouldn't you say?"




She could see nothing, she could hear nothing. Fear began to pulse through her in the black silence she had found herself in. Alouette tried to move her hooves, yet found that they were no longer there. She tried to scream, but felt her lungs unable to inflate.

Relax. Do not struggle.

"I can't breathe!" Alouette yelled, hearing herself for the first time.

You can... This is only a dream.

Alouette kept her eyes closed. This was impossible. No pony could ever truly be aware that they were dreaming when they were dreaming. She would have woken by now drenched in her horrible cold sweats. No, this was anything but dreaming.

You know my voice.

It was as if her entire body had returned to her in one single moment. She could breathe again, she could hear again, and most of all, she could feel again.
The welcoming sensation of something warm and gentle caressed her fur. Alouette opened her eyes, half expecting to see her bedroom ceiling, and gasped at the sight before her. Endless plains of tall grass basking in the glow of the moonlight stretched out and beyond her. Alouette could barely contain the awestruck expression on her face as she gazed above her and towards the heavens. The moon engulfed the night's sky and blocked out the light of the stars beyond. Somehow, Alouette had felt safer here than anywhere she had ever been before.
With the innocent grin of an explorative filly, Alouette began to trot slowly through the swaying grass of these Elysian-like fields. She felt it brush against her coat and its seeds collecting in her tail as she went. Never in her life had Alouette truly been able to experience the joy of a free spirited youth. She felt her cares abandon her and the concept of time become meaningless. The longer Alouette had played in the fields, the more freedom she had felt. It was not until she had reached the top of a particularly tall hill did she finally feel as though she was not the only presence here.
She stopped suddenly, brushing her raising forehoof along one of the tall blades of grass in front of her. The seeds from the top began to fall loose and blow away in the wind which rustled through the fields.
It was only when Alouette turned her head that she finally had seen it.
The shadowy outline of the alicorn princess stood silently behind her, its hoof once more raised up as if to beckon her forward. She bowed her head as a gesture of respect.
"No dear, Alouette," the alicorn responded. "I am no deity... I wish not to be addressed as such."
Alouette raised her head. "It's still an honor to meet you."
The alicorn raised her wings and stretched them out before folding them neatly back at her sides. "You followed the path that we had set out for you, and you have done it well. I have been waiting to meet you for a very long time, gentle mare."
Alouette lifted her head. "Have you been watching me?"
Indeed," said the alicorn. "I've been watching you for longer than you know."
"Why?" Alouette asked. "Why me? What makes me so special?
"Because, dear Alouette, you are worthy."
Alouette felt a pang of annoyance. "But worthy of what? I keep hearing that phrase and nopony ever explains it to me." She felt herself glaring at the shadowy figure. 		"And why can't you just reveal your face? I already know it's you I'm addressing, Princess Celestia."
"Celestia?" the alicorn responded, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Why would you assume my name is thus?"
Alouette was confused. "But all the signs... The prayer I was meant to say... The fact that you're the 'bringer of life'. Who else would you be?"
The alicorn remained silent. For a while, all Alouette could hear was the rustling of the wind against the grass. Eventually the creature took a step forward, her dark purple coat and stunning turquoise eyes revealed at last. "My name is Princess Luna. Celestia knows nothing of you or your importance."
Alouette had to double take. "B-but... I had thought that... that you were going to help bring life to my world. That you were going to help me. Who but Celestia could do that?"
Luna's expression remained neutral. "And what makes you believe that I was not here to help you?"
"I- I apologize, Your... Highness," Alouette simpered. "I didn't mean to assume you couldn't. Or to be so short with you."
"I am just as capable of giving the gift of life as my sister is," Luna continued. "However, the toll exacted upon me is... higher."
Alouette had no idea what this meant and wasn't inclined to ask. "My dreams," she began, taking the conversation forward. "You watched me through my dreams?"
Luna nodded. "And I have seen what ails you the most. You are not ready to be a mother."
Alouette hung her head. "Not that I'll ever be."
Luna nodded. "You will never be able to conceive your own foal, this is true."
Alouette sighed, hunched her hind hooves and sat down in the grass. She curled her tail into her hooves and began to stroke it. It was something she had always done when her heart had felt this heavy. She felt the seeds embedded in her tail and imagined how much brushing she would have to do just to get them out.
Alouette laughed. "It's all just a dream."
Luna stepped towards her, the alicorn's slender figure moving through the grass like a phantom. Alouette found herself mesmerized by the ethereal glow of the princess' mane. How it floated behind her like silk through the wind.
Luna stopped directly in front of her. The young unicorn could feel the presence of something old and magical gleam in the creature's eyes as her form towered over her. Yet the imposing nature of her figure became offset as she laid a hoof upon Alouette's shoulder and gently brought it up to her chin.
"You may never conceive your own foal," Luna repeated carefully, gently lifting Alouette's chin back up. "But you will conceive mine.
Alouette couldn't find the words to respond.
"Tomorrow morning, you will awaken with the seed of my grace in your womb," Luna continued, dropping her hoof to the floor. "You will raise this foal as if she was your own. You will care for her as if she was your own. She will be born to the light of the moon and she will bear its mark upon her visage."
"I..." Alouette felt herself at great odds. True, a foal was the answer to her marehood woes and it was the one thing her beloved Quicklight desired above all else. Yet something about sharing motherhood with a goddess seemed... fear inducing. Alouette knew that this foal would never be an ordinary filly. How could she? She would be the daughter of an alicorn. The supposed pinnacle of ponykind.
"She will be the mare of the moon," Luna said as if reading her thoughts.
"What if I refuse?" Alouette asked curiously.
"Refuse?" Luna inquired. "My dear Alouette, the grace of my child has already found you." She lowered her eyes to the tiny seeds imbedded in her tail and fur. "These are no ordinary seeds. They contain the key to the life that has already begun to grow inside you."
Alouette let go of her tail and stood up quickly. "I thought I had a choice in the matter!" She tried to shake the seeds off, but found that they had begun to slowly embed themselves inside her. "What's happening!?" she demanded.
"Choice?" Luna whispered, watching Alouette's outburst. "Where was there ever a choice that was better than this? When had you ever experienced true choice in the life you have lead? Worse, What sort of consequences will you face when your husband finds out that you are barren?"
Alouette felt hurt by Luna's words. "I am NOT barren!" she shouted, finally abating from the struggle against the seeds. "I am no less a mare than any other mother in this godforsaken land."
"An ironic choice of words, wouldn't you say?" Luna said with a smile.
"You tricked me! How am I supposed to raise your demigod foal?"
Luna's smile faded. "You could not comprehend the lengths I have gone to make this possible," she said with an icy tone. "Do you even realize how important this life you carry is? And you dare scoff at the gift I have given you?"
Alouette bit her lip. It was true that no other outcome had a better ending than this. She would raise the child that her husband had always wanted. It would make him happy and in turn: make her happy.
Luna’s smile returned. “Do you not see? You have so much to gain should you choose to raise my foal. Why would the alternative of losing everything you hold dear to you exist in the capacity of a choice? You have already decided to mother this foal. You would not be here otherwise.”
“Where even is here?” Alouette asked. “Is any of this even real?”
“This is a place beyond the constraints of realm and time.” Luna replied. “However, irrelevant to the matter at hoof.”
Alouette considered the role she would soon be playing. The mother of a child that was neither her’s nor her husband’s. Yet even as she considered this, nothing was quite as bizarre as the prospect of carrying, birthing and caring for a child that was not of her blood. Then again, the seed had been sowed.
She looked up at Luna. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, my dear princess. I'm just… confused. I feel as though my whole life has just been a tragic parody of a proper existence. I have failed in every aspect of marehood. How am I worthy to fit the task that you have given? What will this foal become one day?”
Luna sat beside her. “The foal you will bare contains everything in me that represents harmony. My sister, the diarch all have grown to love, has never truly experienced the loneliness that comes from being the second born. From being the younger one that maintains harmony in the coldest hours of the night. This foal will be my saving grace.” She shifted her wing and wrapped it soothingly over Alouette. “As for you? I chose you because you suit this task better than any other mare of the land you live in. Your heart is true and your mind still open. That is enough for you. It is enough for me.”
Alouette felt comforted by the princess’ embrace, yet was still not entirely sure of her answer. “My happiness in exchange for caring for your child? Will I at least be able to raise her as my own?”
Luna retracted her wing and stood up. “You may raise her as if she was your own.” She began to trot slowly back towards the edge of the hill, her color fading back to darkness. “But remember, Alouette. She shall always be my filly. She will always be The Mare of the Moon.”
With those last words, Luna’s form slowly faded into the wind. Alouette stood up, instantly feeling the sensation of a dream sequence beginning to take form. The blades of tall grass began to wither, the moon began to dim and soon she had found herself surrounded by constricting darkness once more.


***


Alouette’s eyes felt heavy and a slight chill lingered in the air. The smell of leather greeted her as she rolled to the side and discovered she had been sleeping on her grand old chesterfield sofa. Slowly, she peeked her head over its arm and peeked through the window of her lounge. It was dark out. How long had she been asleep for? She could barely even remember how she had ended up on her sofa in the first place.
She wiped her eyes and sat up. “Hello?” she whispered groggily. “Quicklight, are you home?”
“Finally awake, I see?” a voice whispered from behind the sofa. “Imagine my surprise when I found you snuggled up on the couch when I came home.”
Alouette turned her head and found Quicklight standing behind the sofa with a cheeky grin on his face. “Oh?” she teased. “Should I have been in the kitchen?”
He chuckled. “Slaving over a tasty risotto? How could I resist such a charming image?”
Alouette laughed as consciousness slowly returned to her. Yet her joy was short lived as the memory of the day’s events began to filter back in. She remembered the clinic, the mare with the pegasus foal and the awful news that had led her to passing out on the sofa in the first place.
“Quicklight…” she said seriously. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
The charcoal colored stallion stepped around the couch and towards her. “Anything, my love.”
She opened her mouth but stopped. The events of that most peculiar dream came flooding back to her. She remembered all of it. Luna, the grass, the seeds and…
Alouette’s grin returned once more. “I’m ready.”
Quicklight stopped in front of her. “Ready?”
Alouette nodded, lifting her hoof and stroking his cheek. “I’m ready to give you the one thing you’ve wanted for years. A foal.”
He stepped closer. “Are you sure? I mean… The last time we tried you-“
“Shhh…” She leant closer, touching her lips to his. “Kiss me.”
Quicklight did as he was told, caressing her neck with his hoof and breathing in the aroma of her strawberry-like perfume. She always knew exactly what he liked and how to please him.
“Come…” she whispered, breaking the kiss and taking his hoof into hers. “Follow me…”
Alouette guided her husband away from the sofa and towards the stairwell that lead towards their bedroom. Once again Quicklight obeyed, following her lead like a young colt hoping to get a reward for behaving.
Entering the room, she could see the hope in his eyes and felt a pang of guilt. Once again Alouette was about to repay her husband’s kindness with deception. Yet she knew deep down that this was the only way he would ever believe that the life that was already growing inside her was truly his.
She fell backwards upon her bed, dragging the amorous stallion down with her. Once again they began to kiss, his hoof slowly making its way to her flank. Regardless of his ignorance, Quicklight was an excellent and passionate lover. Never once had he failed to pleasure her in the way she desired. For a pony of simple origins, she was in no way easy to please.
He paused just to stare at her. Her long black mane spread out across the sheet and her eyes glistening at the sight of him. “I love you. You know that, right?”
She giggled, pulling him closer to her. “I love you, too.”


***


The soft sheets felt like silk entwined between their bodies and the residue of dried sweat lingered in the air. Alouette had felt safe, cradled in the hooves of her husband and lover. Her passionate lover. In many ways, her safety had come from the knowledge that she had properly sold the lie. She had coupled with her husband and would carry “his” foul. Who would ever know? 
“That was different …” he chimed, leaning in to kiss the side of her muzzle. “Completely irresistible as ever… but... different.”
Alouette rolled over to face him, a cheeky grin lingering on her face. “Different? Hmm, I knew you would like it…”
He chuckled, kissing her again and pulling her closer. “You’ve always known just how to make me happy. Even when things seem at their bleakest.”
Alouette’s grin faded. “Bleakest?” she asked with concern. “Why? What’s been worrying you?”
“Well I…” he began. “I really don't think now is the best time to talk about it."
“I’ll tell you a secret if you tell me why you’re feeling the way you do,” she offered.
He lay still, considering what she had to say. "Keeping secrets from me now? Okay, I'll bite. But I need you to know that none of this affects the way I think about you. Okay?"
"Okay," she responded, now genuinely concerned.
Quicklight rolled onto his back with a sigh. "In many ways it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm still not a father. I hate to admit it but... it's had an effect on the way the other stallions view me."
Alouette felt that pang of guilt resurface once more. "View you? But I had thought that... I mean with all the work that you do and the... family name."
"Alouette, sweetie, you don't understand the expectations that have been placed upon me. I'm the son of one of the province's most influential ponies. A great deal of pressure lies in my ability to... show my worth as a stallion."
"Show your worth?" She asked in a surprised tone. This was the first she was ever hearing about this. "You mean..."
"I mean that five years married and... I still haven't been able to produce an heir. These things, they... well they matter to my family. They matter to the ponies whom hold my respect and most of all it... Well, it matters to me."
Alouette's ears went flat. "I can't help what happened in the past," she answered slowly. "We were just unlucky. We could never have planned for it to take so long."
Quicklight neither confirmed nor denied her statement.
"You do know that, right?" she spoke again, lifting herself up slightly to look at him seriously.
He remained silent still, unable to figure out how best to say what was on his mind without making her feel too guilty. Alouette on the other hand, began to feel slightly worried. Were all those efforts to snub his advances not as subtle as she had hoped?
"Alouette, I..." he stammered, struggling with his words. "I sometimes had the feeling that you weren't always as honest with me about things as you should have been."
There it was. The last phrase in the world she ever wanted hear. "What would make you think that?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Quicklight turned his head back to face her, his expression slightly hard. "You said you had a secret to tell me?"
"Oh," she stammered. "Well it was just... something innocuous really. After that bombshell I doubt anything I could say would compete."
Quicklight could sense the icy tone in her voice and sighed once more. "I'd still like to hear it, nonetheless."
Alouette nudged herself closer to him. "I was going to tell you that Doctor Esteril believes that I'm now as ready as I'll ever be to have a foal. Your foal."
A smile formed on Quicklight's muzzle once more. "You went to the clinic again?"
She nodded.
Lie upon lie. It was beginning to get harder for her to keep track of them all.
"I guess that explains your very sudden desire to... you know..." he winked at her, bringing back the pleasant tone of the conversation.
She nodded once more, kissing his cheek and resting her head on his chest. "I just want you to be happy."
At least that was the truth.
The blissful feeling that accompanied their pillow talk had once again lingered in the atmosphere as they lay together quietly. The playful silence must have lasted for at least a few minutes before Quicklight spoke again.
"Alouette?" he said in a whisper.
"Yes, my love?"
"It's important that we remain honest with each other. You'd never lie to me, would you?"
It had sounded more like a rhetorical question than anything else. Alouette remained silent for a while as she listened to the low thumping of his heart and the steady rise and decline of his chest with each breath.
"I've never lied to you," she responded without thinking too hard about it. Was it that easy to do the very opposite?
"Good. Because if there's one thing I require from you above all else, it's honesty and commitment. It's all I've ever wanted."
It was the first time she had ever heard him talk to her like this. In some ways it had scared her.


***


The weeks that followed Alouette's curious dream had been the longest of her life. The desire to find out whether or not she was truly pregnant had been amplified by the fact that  deep down she knew that this was craziness. How could she possibly be with foal after her doctor's own diagnosis? That she was basing her most elaborate lie on the promise of an ethereal being that had visited her in her sleep. 
Her anxiety had increased and her mood had suffered for it. Much of her time was spent in the town library reading up on how long it would take for a mare to properly show. If she wasn't there she was at home, snapping at Quicklight for arbitrary concerns and only feeling bad about it afterwards. She considered paying Esteril another visit but knew that it was simply too soon to tell. All in all, her only solace lay in the strangeness of the sudden departure of her dreams and night sweats.
It was not until the her fourth week did Alouette finally pencil in another appointment with a rather surprised-looking Esteril. As was her custom, Alouette apologized for her rude behavior during her previous visit and went on to request for a full maternity test.
"A what?" Esteril asked, looking slightly taken aback.
"That's right," Alouette responded casually, taking a seat opposite him. "I want to check if I'm pregnant."
"You do recall the way our last appointment rounded off, I assume?" he asked.
"I'm sterile."
A slight pause. "Yes..."
Alouette smiled. "What if I told you that I believe I am indeed with foal?"
"I would say that it is and always was entirely possible but..." his expression became soft. "This diagnosis was... extremely accurate. I don't see how it could be challenged without some sort of experimental treatment that, quite frankly, doesn't yet exist."
"Did you not say there were other avenues I could look into?" she asked with mild interest.
"I did," he replied rather guiltily. "But I confess it was merely said to grant you false hope. Again... A serious error in my judgment."
"And I'm grateful for you genuine concern, doc" she replied, leaning forward. "You've been one of my only sources of true compassion in this city. You don't know how much it's meant to me."
"It's just my job, dear," he replied with a hint of modesty. "I don't-"
"Doc, you need to listen to me," she interjected. "I am pregnant. There's no point arguing about it now and it sort of makes what I'm about to tell you even stranger."
Esteril sat back slowly. "I'm all ears, Alouette."
She bit her lip for a second before finally opening up to him about her dreams. She was careful to include every detail she could think of. Her well rehearsed monologue about her immaculate conception regaled in its entirety to a seemingly astounded Esteril. The hardest part about this story was describing how Princess Luna had somehow visited her in what could be best described as a fugue state. When she had finished, she realized that the entire time she had been holding onto her tail. A sign that in many ways she also questioned the validity of her story.
"Well..." Esteril began, standing up from behind his desk. "I can't say it is ethical for a medical practitioner to entertain a fantasy." He looked at her carefully, grinning at the slightly hurt expression on her face. "But I cannot help but feel honored that you would view me worthy enough to share such a personal story. If you believe it to be true, my dear, who am I to stand in the way of your pregnancy test?"
Alouette gazed hopefully up at him. "You mean to say you believe me?"
"I'm not sure what I believe anymore," he replied rather broadly. "What I do know is that you seem to believe it. That's all that matters. Now tell me, when was the date of conception?"
"About a month ago."
"Ahh..." he replied, stepping towards his examination table. "Very well. Why don't you hop on up here and lay down on your back?"
"Of course." Alouette stood up and climbed onto the table. "It's odd finally doing this," she said, feeling surreal.
"I imagine it would be," he responded, his horn now glowing. "Take care to remain still. Do not worry, this is a simple, non evasive procedure."
She lay as still as possible, watching him gaze curiously at her abdomen as his horn continued to glow. Alouette had always wondered how earth ponies and pegasi performed such a procedure without magic. Doctor Esteril's complex spell hadn't even been active for a minute before he had to stop himself with a slight gasp.
"I... I don't. This makes no sense," he stammered.
"Am I pregnant?" she asked, eager to finally have confirmation.
"Indeed... Indeed you are, Alouette." Esteril's spell remained active as he continued to examine her. "There... I can pick up a tiny heartbeat. My goodness... this is phenomenal."
Alouette felt as though a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Eh..." she battled with the words in throat, unable to hold back the tears. "This... It's all true..."
"Well I wouldn't go as far as to say it's an immaculate conception, but... It's still astounding." His horn's glow began to recede.
Alouette had more queries than she could process into words, eventually settling on one simple question. "Is it a filly or colt?"
"A bit early to tell right away, but..." he replied, noticing her tears and levitating a small handkerchief from his waistcoat towards her. "For what it's worth... Congratulations, my dear."
"T-thank you..." she choked, taking the small handkerchief. "I don't really know how to describe this feeling. It's just... magical."
"I am just as surprised as you," he said, helping her down from the table. "Although this is unorthodox, you are by all means an expecting mare. I believe we should pencil in monthly check ups during your year-long gestation period... If of course... you would have me as your doctor?"
Alouette chuckled, wiping away more tears. "And who else would I ask to hold my hoof through this long journey, doc?"
For the first time in her life, Alouette could see the reddish glow of a blush beginning to show upon the old doctor’s cheeks. For as long as she had lived here, she couldn't quite recall any other pony that she could truly call a friend. In fact, Esteril knew more about who she was than her own husband. A fact she was ashamed to admit.
"I shall do my utmost to make sure that your foal is born healthy," he said proudly.


***


It had taken Alouette all of six seconds to tell her husband the good news the moment she had gotten home. Quicklight’s reaction ranged from sudden shock to excitement. For the first time in her life, she had seen something in her stallion that proved just how important this was to him. It hadn’t taken long for the two of them to become swept up in the moment, their evening ending in the bedroom in each other’s hooves with blissful expressions on their faces.
The following day, Quicklight had closed his shop for the morning in order to spend more time with Alouette. Between breakfast and what could be best described as the laziest morning of her life, the two of them had discussed the prospect of their future as parents. In many ways she felt as though this had been the push their relationship needed in order to grow to the next level.
The days that followed had been extremely eventful. Firstly, Quicklight’s family had to be informed of her conception and that meant that a lot of her time was spent in the company of both her mother and sister in-law. There were apparently many things that an expecting mare had to learn, and Quicklight’s mother had taken upon herself to teach Alouette.
Despite the fact that she had lived in the city for five years, Alouette had still felt awkward around them. She could never understand why ponies of their standing would walk through town with their head and noses literally in the air. However, the fact that she was now carrying the heir to their family name had at least warmed them up to her.
It wasn’t until the first month had passed that she had finally begun to show. Even though she had all the evidence she needed to believe that this foal wasn’t just some elaborate hoax, she couldn’t help but feel as though seeing her belly grow was the final piece of the puzzle. In many ways, she had grown to appreciate the life that was growing inside her. Yet something about it, something she couldn’t explain, had made her feel disconnected from this foal.

She will be a Mare of the Moon.

The constant reminder of this fact had sometimes, not always, felt as though she was nothing but a surrogate. A vessel for somepony else’s will. A foal that for all intents and purposes was the filly of a godlike creature.
Yet Alouette no longer experienced the dreams or the night sweats she had before her conception. She wondered whether Luna’s strange absence in the maternal growth of her own child was anything to be concerned about. But in order to keep herself from worrying, she did her best to drive these thoughts from her mind and simply enjoy the exciting prospect of the future she had now guaranteed for herself.
And so the months had passed and her lifestyle had changed dramatically. The growing life inside of her checked regularly by Esteril, her newfound appreciation for leisurely days of simply doing nothing and the acceptance of her husband's family had lifted her spirits immeasurably. Never before could she truly say she had felt happiness on this level, and nopony knew this better than Quicklight.
Soon though, Alouette would realize that these few short months of happiness would be the last she would ever experience.
On the morning of the coldest day of the year, Alouette had awoken with a start and could feel dampness under her sheet. At first she had thought it was another one of her night sweats coming back to haunt her, but quickly realized that this was not the case. She lifted the sheet slowly, viewing a giant wet patch beneath her hind hooves but was stopped short by a sharp pain spreading through her lower stomach.
"Ergh!!" She cringed, pulling her legs up to her abdomen.
Quicklight stirred next to her, rolling over in his sleep.
Alouette glanced at him, moving her forehooves towards the dampness that seemed to originate from between her legs. This was way too damp to come from sweat, she thought. Slowly, she tried to crawl from her bed but was once again beset by another violent spasm.
"EEURGH!!" She curled into a fetal position, clutching at her stomach and clenching her teeth.
Quicklight had finally awoken, lifting himself up to look at her. "Alouette?" he said groggily. "What's the matter?"
"I dunno!" she whined. "Something's- ARGGGHHHHHH!!" 
Quicklight immediately leapt from bed and hurried over to her side. "Are you okay? Where does it hurt? What-" he lifted the sheet to find her curled up in a pool of soggy clear liquid. Some of it had still not soaked through the covers. "Oh dear."
Alouette chanced a quick glance at the mess she had created. "No, no, no, no... It can't be! It's too soon!"
Quicklight was struck dumb by the sight of her before shaking off the shock and springing into action. "I... I'm gonna get Doctor Esteril..."
"Nooo!"  she bellowed, lifting a hoof to him. "Don't leave me!"
Quicklight grabbed her hoof and leant down beside her. "Sweetie... I think your water’s broken. We need to get your doctor here as soon as possible."
"It's too soon!" she repeated, her eyes shut tight.
Quicklight stepped back. "You can't just lie here... I need to get help." Without a second glance he darted out of the room, leaving her quivering on the bed and mumbling incoherently.
So many crazy thoughts had pumped through her mind as she lay there. Something was definitely wrong with her foal, she knew it. All the dark thoughts that she had believed gone from her mind had immediately resurfaced.
Despite all this, Alouette tried to keep herself as calm as possible. She concentrated on the breathing and relaxation exercises Esteril had taught her. Yet each time she thought she had herself under control, another sharp contraction would pulse through her body.
The seconds had turned to minutes with the pain showing no sign of going away. Where was Quicklight? What was taking him so damn long? All she could think of doing was softly hum to herself as she gently caressed her belly.
"Shhhhh..." she soothed. "It's... OW! It's... going to be okay... You can do this."
The sound of Quicklight's frantic voice followed by the smooth monotone of Esteril's greeted her ears after a few more minutes. How fortunate she was to have a doctor as devoted to her as him. Tears began to form as she heard their hooves clop quickly up the stairs and into the room.
"She's not supposed to have the foal for at least another six months!" Quicklight said seriously. "Please, doc. You have to help us."
Esteril glanced at Alouette's curled up form and slowly made his way to her bedside. "Alouette?" he began, placing his hoof gently upon her forehead. "Can you hear me?"
She nodded slowly, her eyes still closed.
"I'm going to have to ask you to lie on your back for me, my dear," he requested calmly, gently stroking her quivering hoof. "Can you do that for me?"
Alouette grunted in acknowledgement, slowly rolling over onto her back and wincing at the next contraction. She could feel his hoof upon her belly, slowly placing pressure in different places.
Quicklight had cautiously climbed onto the bed opposite her and held onto her hoof. "I'm here for you."
She opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him before turning her head to Esteril. His horn glowing as he observed her belly with a serious look on his tired face.
"She is indeed in labor," he announced. "Quicklight. I need you to help her into a better position."
"I... What?" he stammered, gasping at Esteril. "Yes... yes of course."
As Quicklight began to move pillows behind her head and back, Esteril slowly took her hoof and helped her into birthing position
"Alouette?" he said slowly. "I'm going to need you to concentrate on your breathing, okay?"
She nodded, her hoof clutching Esteril's. "Is the foal going to be okay, doc?"
Esteril didn't answer right away. Whether or not he believed his own words to be true she would never know. "For the most part, this seems to be a very fast-paced labor. Your foal seems to be... well... fully formed and ready to be born."
"But I thought pregnancies were meant to last over a year," Quicklight interjected. "It's been less than half that!"
"I am just as surprised as you are, Quicklight. However, we need to concentrate on birthing this foal as quickly as possible. there will be time for speculation later-"
"AAARGHHHHH!!" Alouette screamed, shaking both of them back into action.
"I need you to breathe, Alouette," Esteril soothed, getting himself into position to help the foal out.
"I am breathing!" she hissed venomously. "Just get my foal out!"
"Quicklight, I need some room," he said, pointing towards the back of the bedroom.
"I'm not leaving her side!"
"She needs-"
"HE'S NOT LEAVING MY SIDE!!"
"Very well..." With a sigh, Esteril's horn began to glow. "Now Alouette, I need you to push methodically and gently at first every time I give the word. When I see the head, I'll be able to help her out. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Good... Are you ready? Push!"
Alouette clenched her teeth and did as she was told despite the fact that every fiber in her body was screaming painfully at her. The action of relaxing and pushing had become nauseatingly repetitive and she could feel her back starting to ache dreadfully with each contraction. The only form of solace she had was the tight squeezing of Quicklight's hoof upon hers. The action of giving birth had taken a heavy toll on her. The pain of labor and exhaustion she felt had built up so quickly that she was on the verge of passing out.
"Alright... I see the head," Esteril confirmed. "Alouette. I'm going to need you to give me one last giant push on my mark. Are you ready? Now... PUSH!"
Alouette seized every muscle in her body, heaving with all the strength she had left to give. She could feel something large squeezing through her and exiting her body. The sound of high-pitched crying following soon afterwards.
Gasping for air, her head fell back upon the her pillow. Her eyes closed and the throbbing in her stomach starting to abate slightly. In many ways she couldn't quite grasp just how painful and quick this process had been. Yet something about the air of the room had felt wrong. She could feel the grip of Quicklight's hoof begin to loosen until he had finally let go. The only sound in the room being the continuous cries of her newborn foal.
Alouette opened her eyes. "Somepony please say something..." she gasped, her eyes lingering on Quicklight. "What-"
Alouette felt a chill run down her spine the moment she could see the expression on her husband's face. Quicklight stood as still as a statue, his eyes glaring at the crying form below her. Something about the way he was staring at her foal felt incredibly... wrong. She glanced quickly to Esteril, propping herself up painfully as he did so.
"Could somepony please just-"
Alouette's eyes had fallen upon her newborn foal for the first time and felt her as though a bucket of ice water had been dropped on her. Never in her life had she seen anything quite like the tiny form that hung crying and suspended in Esteril's levitation spell. In an instant, she was overcome by the shocking silence that had befallen her stallion companions.

What in Luna's name have I given birth to?
> Chapter III: The Burning of Grace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




"There will come a time when I shall explain everything to you."




Silence. Blissful silence... Then.
The echoes of past events filtered through her mind's eye like a looping record player. She could hear voices talking in hushed whispers. They sounded concerned and somewhat fearful. Like ponies who were guilty of committing some unspeakable crime.
"How much longer until she comes to?" came the voice of an elderly mare.
"I cannot say for sure," replied an all too familiar monotone. "She has been through a substantial amount of bodily trauma. Couple that with watching her husband behave the way he did, and the harsh words spoken? I'd be surprised if she still isn't in a lot of shock."
"But... what if they discover what we've done with her and her foal?" the elderly mare asked, the fear still easily audible.
"Their safety is of the utmost importance at this current stage. We can only take comfort in the knowledge that for the time being they are here with us and not in the hooves of those who would do them harm."
"But what of our safety, Esteril?" the elderly mare pushed with more urgency. "How do you think they would view us if it were discovered that we harbored an… adulterer."
Alouette twitched in her sleep. She felt a pang of annoyance at the sound of that word. The events of a few hours ago began to roll through her mind. She remembered the sight of her foal. How it had sent Quicklight into a hysterical fit of rage that in all her years married to him, she had never thought it possible that her husband could ever behave the way he did or say the things he had said.
Why did he say or think that about her? What had been so wrong with her foal? And then she remembered it. The sight of which she had never seen. The foal was in no way deformed or small for its size despite the fact that it had been five months premature. She had come out just like any normal unicorn filly with just one scary exception. Her fur, white as snow, her mane just as white. Her eyes, her horn, everything about the filly was pure white. With their coats so dark, the foal was the starkest contrast to Alouette or Quicklight. To a family of ponies so steeply entrenched in conservatism and of only dark colored fur, a pure white filly was deeply suspicious. Because of this, Alouette had found herself at the centre of a controversy she had never seen coming.
She could still feel the residual tears on her face when Quicklight had lost his temper at her. He was so angry that he had refused to even look at the foal. Opting instead to storm from their house and out of sight. She was spared of most of his hysterics by passing out from sheer exhaustion and shock. The last thing she remembered was Esteril administering her a sedative before finally drifting from consciousness.
“We shouldn’t discuss this any further, Trin,” Esteril continued. “I believe she should be waking now.”
Alouette opened her eyes and found herself tucked snuggly in bed in what looked like the spare room of a very old looking home. She glanced to her left and saw both Esteril and an old mare she had never seen before standing in the doorway. The two of them had stopped talking the moment she had opened her eyes and were now both observing her curiously. Esteril quickly moved over to her side and placed a hoof on her forehead.
“You’re still very warm, my dear,” he said quietly. “How do you feel?”
In truth, Alouette had no idea how she felt. Her husband had abandoned her out of nowhere and she was now stuck with a foal that wasn’t even hers.
“Tired…”
“That’s only natural,” he replied, trying to sound as cheery as possible.
“W-where am I?” she asked, wincing slightly as she tried to move.
“Shh… You need to rest, dear. You’ve just given birth… You have to think of your recovery.”
“Just given birth to a bastard…” the mare in the doorway muttered.
“Trin!” Esteril exclaimed, turning back to face her. “You have no idea of the events that have lead up to this. I-“
“I’m not an adulterer!” Alouette said as loudly possible, glaring at the mare.
“Then how do you explain your filly?” the mare pushed, undeterred by Alouette’s outburst. “Clearly she’s not the offspring of Quicklight.”
“Trin!” Esteril breathed with venom. “This is not the time. Please give us some space.”
The old mare whinnied slightly before trotting out of the doorway and out of sight.
Esteril turned back to Alouette and tried to smile. “I’m so sorry about that, dear. My wife is still very much influenced by superstition. As is your husband’s family. It is still unclear why ponies still believe that a foal should be born with the same markings as them when they have even been seen born completely different races.”
Alouette immediately remembered the mare with her pegasus foal at the clinic. Now that she had thought about it, the mare seemed to behave as only a single parent would. She had seemed so sad and lonely, and only now had Alouette finally picked up on what must have happened to her.
“Where is she?” Alouette asked, trying to drive the thoughts from her head.
“Your filly? She’s in the other room. I had just finished cleaning her up before giving her time to sleep. I must comment on how healthy she is despite her rather early birth. She’s remarkable.”
“When can I see her?”
“Well, I’ve left her to rest now,” Esteril replied, sitting on his haunches next to the bed. “But as soon as she wakes I will bring her to you.”
Alouette wasn’t sure she even wanted to see the foal, but simply nodded.
“Please do not be alarmed by what ponies may conclude though ignorance. My wife? Trinity? She was born to a family just like your husband’s. She is simply too old to see past what has been a false reality for her entire life.”
“I don’t care what she thinks. I care what Quicklight thinks… and now he’s gone.”
Esteril had to think about his response. “Your husband is a good stallion. If he truly loved you, he would never have abandoned you outright.”
“Do you even know where he went?” she asked.
“It is most likely that he went to his family for solace.”
Alouette sighed, closing her eyes and turning over. “His family. They’re more likely to twist him against me just to protect their precious lineage.”
“You cannot know that for sure,” he tried, although not entirely convinced with his own statement. “You cannot concern yourself with what may be when the dust has yet to settle.”
“Hmpf…” she chided. “Quicklight is the only thing in my life that has ever made sense to me. And now you’re asking that I just let it be?”
“You have more to concern yourself with now. Your filly being one. Her happiness should now be your only concern.”
Alouette couldn’t hold it in anymore. “It’s true, though.”
“What is?”
“The filly isn’t his.”
Esteril leant back in surprise. “She isn’t? But… How? Whose is she?”
“You already know the answer. I told you… Luna appeared to me in a dream. After that, I was with foal. Luna had expressed that the child was neither mine nor Quicklight’s, but hers.”
“This is impossible, Alouette. You told me yourself that it was only a dream.”
“Yes! And you told me that I could never conceive! So here we are.”
Esteril seemed as though he wanted to say something, but thought against it. “It matters little whether or not this foal is yours or that of some divine being,” he said instead. “She came from you. So by that right, she is your foal.”
But she wasn’t. Alouette knew it in her heart. “Is this your house?”
Esteril had hoped for a better response. “It is indeed. I had thought it best to bring you here before your husband returned. It seemed safer for you and your foal.”
“What exactly do you think he’d do to me?” she asked in amazement.
“Nothing. But you cannot argue that your presence and hers would do little but aggravate the situation.”
“I just can’t believe he would ever hurt me. You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” she said with annoyance. “Who knows what he might think when he gets home to see my foal and I gone.”
“I did what I did because I care for you like a daughter,” he admitted with a straight face. “What would you have expected me to do? Abandon you to whatever fate may have befallen you? Allow you to be carted off to the hilltops and abandoned with your filly like some harpy?”
Alouette shook her head in disbelief. “Nopony does that to mares anymore. That’s just silly.”
“You know nothing, Alouette,” he replied sadly. “I’ve been a medical pony for years and I’ve seen many a mare in this predicament up until this day. I’ve had the misfortune of only seeing a dozen of them exiled for adultery or sterility. I refuse to let that happen to you.”
Surprise, then disbelief, crossed her features. “So what happens now?”
“Well,” he began. “As I said before, you need to recover. After that, you should see your foal. Have you considered a name for her yet?”
“No.”
In spite of all that had happened to her, Alouette couldn’t help but resent the filly for tearing her life apart. In many ways she had hoped that Luna would come and take the child away and put things back to the way they were. She could deal with not being able to conceive on her own. She would have had to. Maybe she and Quicklight might have resolved it. But now? Adultery? It looked as if such a crime could never be forgotten. Worse still, the filly wasn't even his.
Tears began to flow once more. “Please, doc… I just want to be alone now.”
“Of course, my dear,” Esteril replied, standing back up and making his way for the door. “Get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
He must have stood there for a few moments more. His thoughts lingering on the broken pony in front of him before silently closing the door behind him.


***


A day had passed and as soon as she was able to walk again, Alouette's first inclination was to visit the room the crib was in. She had refused Esteril's offer to carry the foal to her and chose to walk to her instead. Her first moments with the foal needed to be when she was asleep and unaware of her earthly mother.
Yet there was something she had felt. Something she just couldn't quite explain when she gazed down at the tiny form wrapped snugly in the crib below her. The filly seemed completely at peace with the world as she lay there, her tiny and delicate features kissed by the white of the moon. Everything about her seemed to radiate with perfection and beauty. Everything... save her eyes.
Alouette couldn't help but remember the shock she had felt when she gazed into those pure white irises for the first time. Although she hated to admit it, seeing them again felt as though it was a task best suited for another time.
"Would you like to hold her?" Esteril offered, standing beside Alouette.
Alouette shook her head, still gazing down at the sleeping foal. "I don't want to disturb her."
Esteril nodded. "Perhaps you are right."
She could feel his gaze upon her as she continued to watch the foal sleep. He didn't understand. How could he? To him it must have seemed like she was apprehensive because she was new to motherhood. The truth was, Alouette couldn't feel the spark she thought she would when a mother loves her filly. Instead, all she felt was the detached emotion of a surrogate. It felt easy to blame it on her bizarre visage, but Alouette felt no connection to her whatsoever.
"How about a name?" Esteril offered, breaking the silence.
"Eclipse," she responded quietly.
All day Alouette had remembered snippets of her first image of Luna. That dark alicorn silhouette irradiated by light as if it had eclipsed the moon. She had no idea why this picture had come to her so often, but something about it seemed significant... It wasn't until now that she had realized why.
"Eclipse," Esteril repeated with resonance, smiling at the crib. "Daughter of Alouette and Quicklight."
She turned her gaze from Eclipse and back to Esteril. "Don't call her that. She's neither mine nor his."
He remained silent, unable to imagine what was truly going on in Alouette's head. He stood for a few moments longer before turning for the door. "Perhaps some alone time?"
"No," she called after him. "I need to see Quicklight. I have to set things right."
He paused, shaking his head. "If it were under any other circumstance, I would say yes. But alas..." He pawed the floor woefully. "The situation has only declined and with all the unrest happening in the city as it is, I don't think travelling through the streets is-"
She stepped away from the crib and towards him. "What situation? What circumstances?"
"Sincerely, Alouette... I do not wish to discuss these matters here."
She continued to advance slowly upon him. "Please... Tell me..."
"We shouldn't wake Eclipse..."
"Tell me!!"
"The family has publicly denounced the filly as their true heir," he said with as little emotion as possible. "Because of this, they have declared you an adulterer and wish to void your marriage to Quicklight."
"What!?" she cried, feeling her heart crumble. "How could Quicklight allow this?! Why has he refused to even see me?!" She stood seething directly in front of him. "And how did you know about this and not tell me sooner?"
Esteril's face glowed bright red. "I could not burden you with such anguish so suddenly. There were more... important things that needed your attention," he said, inclining his head towards the crib. "You needed to see your foal-"
"But she's not my foal!" she hissed, prodding his chest with her hoof. "Quicklight needs to know the truth! I've been faithful to him my entire life and I've been with no other stallion!" she prodded his chest again, her eyes glistening. "I've loved and honored him as best as I could! But there are just some things I cannot do... Things that may seem natural to a normal mare but as foreign as a griffin to me... I was never destined to be a mother, my sterility proves that."
Eclipse began to stir in her crib, twitching at Alouette's outbursts.
"But because a mare must be punished for things she cannot control," Alouette continued, "she is forced to do things she knows she cannot accomplish. Things that have put her in a far worse place than she could ever imagine!"
Esteril continued to let her prod his chest until finally tacking her up in his hooves and letting her weep on his shoulder. "Shhh..." he soothed. "We can make things right, but now is too soon..."
Alouette continued to sob, neither in acknowledgement or disagreement. She simply sobbed. The feeling was something far greater than the vast emptiness of finding out she could not conceive. No, this feeling was pure pain. She could feel her heart ache as if the weight of her abandonment had been hung around it. Even her sobs began to burn in her throat as she continued to cry, trying her hardest to filter out Esteril's tired platitudes as she did so.
Whether it was due her sudden outburst or the crying that followed, Eclipse had awoken. She blinked her ghostly eyes and stared curiously up at the ceiling. The sound of the mare's crying had stirred her. It was a strange noise, a sad noise, a noise that made her feel as though she too was in pain. Eclipse turned her head towards the mare and frowned as tears of her own began to form. The moment after, Eclipse began to cry herself.
Alouette felt a surge of fear and anger rush through her at the sound of Eclipse’s high-pitched wailing. She stopped crying and pulled away from Esteril. "No..."
Esteril stepped backed. "No?"
She pushed past him and towards the door. "I will not allow his family to twist him against me!"
He turned and followed her out the door. "My dear, I cannot allow you to go out in your current-"
"I can go wherever I wish!" she cut across him, stepping into the hallway and advancing quickly towards the front door.
"I do not mean to force you," he tried, struggling to keep up. "I only wish to help you! It isn’t safe out there!"
"What's all this commotion?" came the shrill voice of Trinity as she stepped out of the kitchen and in front of the main entrance. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"
"Stay out of my way, old mare," Alouette hissed.
Trinity raised an eyebrow but remained firmly rooted to the spot. "My husband has recommended you stay. So I suggest you stay."
Alouette came face to face with Trinity. "I will not ask again-"

THWACK!!

Trinity raised her hoof and struck it down across Alouette's face.
"You hit me!" she squealed, reeling in shock. "What is wrong with y-"
"Listen up, you entitled little hothead," Trinity warned, ignoring Alouette's protest. "I don't particularly like you or the situation my husband has placed us in by helping you. But, I do it because I respect his oath as a doctor. Now you can shout and scream at me all you like, but the only pony that gives a damn about you in this entire city is standing directly behind you. Yet despite his efforts, all you have managed to do is treat him as badly as your husband's family has treated you."
Alouette held back the desire to snap at her but remained indignant. "You still have no right to hold me here."
Trinity stepped aside and pointed at the door. "Indeed. You are free to leave whenever you wish."
Alouette huffed and placed her hoof on the handle, but was interrupted by Trinity one last time. "What is it now?" she demanded, glaring at the old mare.
"If you walk out those doors you're disobeying my husband's wishes," she warned again. "And if you disobey my husband's wishes then that door will remain closed to you. Is that understood?"
Alouette pulled open the door. "Perfectly."
Esteril had once again piped up. "My dear, please don't go out there!"
But it was too late. Alouette had slammed the glass-paned door behind her and had disappeared into the city streets, the sound of an angry Trinity and a wailing Eclipse fading behind her.
The road alongside Esteril’s home was busy with ponies moving vibrantly through its vast expanse. Never once having been this close to the city center on her own before, the grand Temple of the Three Graces at the road’s distant end had given her some bearing. With only one destination in mind, she pushed ahead in the opposite direction. Her thoughts reared back into overdrive as she went.
The only thing Alouette knew about this road was that it was one of the city’s main avenues. The further she travelled down it, the sparser it had become. Houses had become larger and grander, giving her a sense of direction. Finally she had reached a street she had recognised and made her way down it.
The street was quiet and peaceful save for the sound of colts and fillies playing in their yards and birds twittering in the decorative trees. She had felt her panicked mind begin to ease as the sights of familiar surroundings greeted her. Yet something had felt different. The more she travelled past the odd friend and acquaintance, the stranger their behaviour had become. Some had greeted her rather stiffly whilst others had flat out ignored her. She could even hear the odd hushed whisper behind her muttering unintelligible insults as she rushed past.
It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that most, if not all, of Isabella’s elite had heard about what had happened. Yet trying to rescue their opinions of her was the least of her concerns. Alouette needed to get to his home. She needed to explain herself. She needed to see Quicklight.
After turning down at least four roads and passing over another major avenue, she had finally reached the small plaza that Quicklight’s family manor was situated on. She stopped in the middle of the plaza and braced herself for the inevitable lambasting she would receive. If there was one thing Alouette knew about Quicklight, it was that he could never stand being on his own. When she had been out of town he would stay with his parents. So if ever there was a time she had hoped he would be here, now was that moment.
Exhaling, she slowly began to make her way towards the front steps. Familiar ponies had stopped to stare at her, their expressions indignant at the bravado she had shown in daring to come to this place. She had to ignore them. She had to keep her mind focused. No matter what she would face on the opposite end of that front door, she knew that he would understand. That he would forgive her deceit… That he would love her again.
Alouette reached the steps, climbed steadily upwards, and stood at the ready in front of the home’s giant double oak doors. She glanced down a bronze knocker shaped in the form of the founding family member’s head.
No going back now, she thought, grasping it in a magic field and wrapping it twice. The sound of metal on wood began to resonate loudly through the door, making her feel the gravity of her situation. Who would she face first? Would it be Quicklight?
She glanced behind her as she waited. A crowd of five or six stallions and their mares had begun to form at the steps bellow her. Although Alouette felt fortunate enough not to know them, she couldn’t help but feel the weight of their silent staring.
“You have a lot of nerve appearing here…” came a shrill voice from behind her.
Alouette spun around in surprise and found herself face to face with Quicklight’s sour-faced mother.
Her name was Sibilla, the Dowager Figurine of the city and perhaps the most influential mare of the province. She had a dark grey coat, a greying lavender mane and piercing blue eyes… Just like Quicklight’s. Her mane was tied neatly into a tight bun and a stunning silver and sapphire bracelet adorned her right hoof. If there was one mare Alouette could never impress, it was her.
“Remove your scandalous presence from my sight at once!” she bellowed, raising her hoof threateningly at Alouette.
“Please!” Alouette pleaded. “I need to see my husband! Is he here? I demand that you let me see him.”
Sibilla’s nostril began to flare in anger. “How dare you make such demands of me? You have no right.”
“You don’t understand,” she continued, holding her ground. “You, all of you, have misjudged me completely! I have never been unfaithful to Quicklight. I have never even dreamed of looking at any other stallion!”
“I will not warn you a third time, you silly little peasant mare,” Sibilla threatened. “If you do not leave this place at once, I will call for the guards.”
The guards? Peasant mare? Alouette had never been so insulted in her life. This hatchet-faced old mare had no idea what she was talking about. All she was to Alouette was an obstacle between her and her only love. She had always been. This was the last time she would ever get away with insulting her again.
“Get out of my way, you old prune,” Alouette hissed, pushing Sibilla aside. “I have neither the ability nor the desire to indulge you.”
Sibilla squealed in shock as Alouette marched into the hallway. “Y-you… little harlot,” she stammered, pointing out her hoof. “Guards!! GUARDS!!”
Alouette ignored her, peering up the grand staircase that lead to the manor’s upper stories. “Quicklight!!” she called into the house. “Quicklight, please!”
No response.
“Somepony get this mare out of my home!” Sibilla continued to scream.
Alouette turned around to find half of the stallions that were crowded outside advancing through the door and towards her. “Stay back!” She tried to make for the stairs but was quickly surrounded by the crowd.
“Who do you think you are breaking into this home?” one of them questioned, grabbing hold of her left hoof.
“Let go of me!” she bellowed, kicking outwards and trying to evade the advances of another two stallions. “I have a right to see my husband. QUICKLIGHT!! Don’t leave me like this.”
Alouette continued to dodge the stallions until a brigade of four armored guards had arrived at the door.
“Get rid of her!” Sibilla called, still standing by the front entrance.
The guards had descended too quickly on her for any new evasion tactic to work. Alouette was quickly pinned to a decorative column by the staircase before being tightly secured and dragged back towards the door. She continued to scream out her husband’s name as she went. Pleading for him to come out into the open and hear her side of the story.
“My son does not need to hear your lies,” Sibilla spat, following the guards out. “If you have any love left for him, you will spare him from your petulant acts. You will leave the ancestral home of my family and cease to besmirch its name with your low-born presence.”
Alouette continued in vain to struggle against the guards. She could feel herself begin to tire out quickly. The five mile dash and the fact that her body was still recovering from foal birth had begun to take its toll on her. The guards stopped dragging her as they reached the doorway and turned her around to face Sibilla.
She glared up at the old mare. "He is here. I know it. And you can't keep me from him for long."
Sibilla chuckled coldly, leaning in closely to whisper in her ear. "Whatever made you think he even wants to see you?" She stepped back and nodded to the guards. "I believe this troublemaker has been apprehended. Have her detained at your prefecture overnight."
"W-what?" Alouette responded in confusion.
"Your Grace," said one of the guards holding Alouette. "We can only escort her from your premises. We have no legal right to detain-"
"If you have an objection to my demands," Sibilla interjected warningly, "You will be the unfortunate pony tasked with the job of telling your captain that you personally refused one of my requests. I'm sure he would love to hear all about it."
Alouette couldn't believe her ears. "You can't arrest me!"
Sibilla glanced casually back at her. "Oh, but I can... Remove her."
"You can't-"
Before she could even mount a response, Alouette was hoisted over the back of a particularly large pony guard and carried rather unceremoniously out of the entrance and back into the street.
"Let me go!" she demanded, kicking her hooves violently.
She glanced one last time at the manor, her eyes peeling over every window she could see. The outline of a pony-like shape could be seen in a window on the top floor to left. She could just make out the familiar shape of his mane.
"QUICKLI-... Erghh..." She could feel the wind being knocked out of her as her body was thrown from the guard and dropped onto the hard cobble street. Her back ached ferociously as she writhed painfully on the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?" a guard's voice from beside her asked angrily.
"What?" the large guard asked casually. "She was getting on my nerves. Besides, she's one of them sterile mares. Who cares what we do with her?"
"We'll see what the cap says... Till then, don't damage her too much."
"Fine, but I'm tying 'er up. Lil' filly has quite the fight in her."
"Bastards..." She groaned, feeling her hooves being wrapped together tightly in magic bonds.
"There," the large guard barked, hoisting her back over him like a travel bag. "No more squirming, see?"
Alouette could do nothing but hang over the brute's back as the troop of guards made their way down the plaza and towards one of the busier streets. The ponies in the crowd stayed well clear of her burly entourage as they soldiered past and down towards the main avenue. She could feel her bones ache in the places she had landed and could think of nothing but the pain the further they silently marched.
The streets had become darker as day shifted into night. The amount of ponies still wondering the avenue began to diminish rather quickly. Finally, the soldiers had entered into the main avenue and turned towards the city center. Alouette's focus had shifted from the pain and towards panic. Where were these lunatics taking her?
She was brought back to reality by a sudden halt in the incessant marching of her captors. What's the hold up? She glanced down the avenue and gasped at the sight before her.
What was usually the view of the temple in the distance was now a brilliant orange plume of heat. The Three Graces lay ablaze with fiery columns the height of the oculus licking through its opening and seeping out smoke like a massive cauldron. The light from the blaze could be seen from miles around and the sounds of sudden panic had begun to soak into the streets. At the far end of the avenue a massive mob of ponies could be seen silhouetted by the blaze and marching with banners.
"What in the..." The large guard shifted his weight roughly and dropped Alouette to the avenue like a sack of potatoes. "It's on fire!"
Alouette cried in pain, her ears ringing and her back once again taking a massive beating from the ground.  She could feel the vibrations of the guard's hooves trot hurriedly around her in panic.
"The temple! By the Ancients!" the guard closest to her cried. "It can't be so!"
"Cool it down, idiot!" a smaller guard behind her barked, levitating out his dagger. "Get your hoof out of your ass and get into position. That's a large crowd of rioters down there and we need to figure out how to get this situation under control."
"Ha!" the large guard laughed. "I don't get paid enough to wall off angry zealots. You ever see an angry mob before?"
"I aint seen any mob before!" the closer guard cried.
"Whatever," the smaller guard said, dropping his dagger to the ground. "If you guys won't back me up then I'm outta here too."
"Smart," the large guard sneered.
“What about the barren mare?” the small guard responded.
The large guard was starting to become impatient. “What about her? Just leave her here for all I care.”
The closer guard piped up. “But our orders were to take her to the capt-“
His voice was cut short by the sound of steel piercing flesh. The larger guard had levitated his dagger and thrust it deep into the closer one’s throat. Alouette turned her head to see what had happened, but was immediately pinned under his weight as he staggered over and dropped on top of her. She cringed helplessly as a wet trickle of warm blood began to drip from his armor onto her fur.
“You-” the smaller guard was immediately set upon by the larger. In two quick strides, he had already wrapped his massive hooves around the other’s neck and began to twist.
“ARRGHH-” The crack finally pierced through the air.
The last guard had stood as still as a statue as he watched his comrades fall. “Please!” he cried, dropping his dagger to the floor and backing away. “I won’t get in your way! I swear!”
The large guard paid no heed as he dropped the smaller one’s corpse to the floor and casually made his way to the dead guard pinning Alouette to the ground. She could feel his weight shifting as the titan lifted his body off her and extracted the dagger from his throat. Without even a moment’s glance at her, the large guard began to advance on the last of them.
“Please!!” he screamed, still backing away. “You don’t need to do this.”
"It’s the only way,” he whispered, placing a hoof on the quivering guard’s shoulder and thrusting the dagger into his chest.
Alouette cringed at the awful sound of his death rattle, unable to fathom how quickly things had escalated. All she knew that she was most likely moments away from death herself and the only thing she could think of doing was cowering on the ground. Not that she could do much with the magic restraints binding her. The sound of the big brute’s hooves trotting closer caused her to brace for the inevitable. Who knew what terrible fate he had in store for her lying defenseless and completely at his mercy?
“Hey… Blackie?” he whispered, standing menacingly over her.
“Please…” she begged in a tiny whisper, still shaking with fear.
“Get up,” he said with a gruff voice. “You can’t stay here.”
Alouette opened her eyes slowly and glanced up at him. His muzzle was covered in blood and his dagger remained levitated beside him. 		
“You’re… You’re not going to kill me?” she asked, still cringing at the sight of him.
The guard’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh…” he stammered, lowering his dagger and removing his helm. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”
She stared disbelievingly up at him.
“Well,” he continued, wiping his muzzle, “apart from me throwing you to the ground a few times and killing this motley crew of guards, you have nothing to fear from me. Here, let me get those restraints off you…”
Alouette could still feel the throbbing in her back and tried to crawl from him. “Get away!”
The guard rolled his eyes, caught up with her, and held her down to stop her from struggling. His horn began to glow as the magic bindings holding her hooves in place withered into ash. “See?” he said, letting her go and standing back. “I’m here to help.”
Alouette quickly got to her hooves and took a few steps back, her eyes glued to the guard in front of her. “Why did you kill your own soldiers?”
“Because I had no other choice,” he replied nonchalantly. “I needed to figure out the best way to get you away and that riot down there provided an excellent diversion.”
Alouette glanced quickly back down the avenue. 
Now standing, she could see just how terrible the sight in the distance truly was. Who were all those ponies in the distance? Did they start the massive fire that was now burning away in the temple? And why in Equestria were they doing this in the first place?
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking back at the guard. “Who are you?”
“We really don’t have time,” he replied hurriedly. “We need to get you to safety as soon as possible.”
Alouette shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you explain to me what just happened!”
“Fine,” he replied, glancing around to make sure the area was safe. “My name is Lio, I’m a Soldier of Harmony and I infiltrated this band of guards in order to get closer to you.”
He seemed to look rather proud of himself, but suddenly frowned. “Usually what I do isn’t this messy, but we weren’t exactly expecting you to leave the good doctor’s house. The riot behind us is most likely the cause of religious unrest. You know? Those who follow the old gods and those who follow the true goddesses?”
“I know about the unrest,” Alouette responded. “But what exactly is a Soldier of Harmony? Why were you even following me?”
“Listen,” he interjected, stepping forward and placing his helm back on his head. “When I get you to safety you can play twenty-one questions with me as many times as you want. Right now, we need to get moving.”
The last thing Alouette wanted to do was trust a pony who had just murdered three of his comrades in cold blood, let alone travel with him. Worse still, he had openly admitted to stalking her. Never mind the rioters, who in Equestria would take such an interest in her?
Lio looked as if he could read her mind. “You obviously have no idea what’s going on,” he reasoned. “I promise you, no harm will come to you as we travel. All of this will be made clear as soon as we reach sanctuary.”
The streets looked as if in no time at all they would start raging in chaos. Being a lonely mare lost in an unfamiliar part of town during such an event was suicide. No matter how she looked at it, she really didn’t have a choice.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll go with you.”
“Smart,” he said with a smile. “Come. We need to head down a less busy street.”
Lio turned on his hoof and began to trot quickly down the avenue with Alouette close behind him.


***



The journey through the city streets had been quiet and uneventful. Alouette had remained cautiously in toe behind her would-be saviour. The sound of shouting and glass smashing in the distance had begun to grow louder as the riot continued through the streets closer to the temple. A thick smoky glaze from the city center began to engulf the sky. Blocking out the stars and moon, encasing the old capital and amplifying the ambiance of panic.
It had only taken them a ten minute walk to reach what looked like an old horse shoe store. The building itself lay at the end of a tiny street that seemed to house nothing but abandoned buildings.
Alouette followed her balky companion into the derelict store and towards a small door near the back. From there, the two of them trooped up a flight of stairs towards the building’s second story living area.
The apartment was small and moldy. A tiny kitchenette lay at the far end of the entrance room, with a rickety old table and chair making up the dining area. To the left, a musty pair of curtains were drawn shut over what Alouette assumed to be the window, and an old moth eaten sofa stretched its way across the wall.
She stepped silently past Lio and gasped at the state of the place. “What is this? An old Cleric’s brothel?”
He looked at her grimly. “This? This is Plan B.”
“Plan B?”
“Well,” he continued, moving across the room and opening a small door that lead to the bedroom to check if the coast was clear. “Originally, housing you at Esteril’s was the plan. But then you had your unexpected excursion and I was called to get you back.”
Alouette’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know Esteril?”
Lio, now satisfied that the building was secure, removed his helm once more and dropped himself onto the sofa. “That’s better,” he sighed. “Still gonna need a bath.”
Alouette continued to glare at him.
“Yes…” he admitted. “I know the good doctor. A stallion who has been your saving grace from the start.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she responded. “Why would Esteril send you to murder ponies for me?”
“Because, Blackie, he’s one of the founding members of the Soldiers of Harmony.”
“There you go again with this harmony thing,” she replied. “A bit of a self-righteous name for a pony who goes around killing guards and throwing mares around like unwanted garbage.”
Lio shifted guiltily. “Ahh yeah… Sorry about that. But I had to do it in order to blend in until I could get you away. There was no sense trying to rescue you in the presence of the first mare of Isabella. I am... well, genuinely sorry about that. I know it must hurt, especially so soon after childbirth.  Are you feeling okay?”
Alouette whinnied. “My back still throbs and I’m covered in somepony else’s blood. Do you think I’m feeling okay?”
He shrugged. “You’re alive. That’s gotta count for something.”
“Esteril,” Alouette continued. “How is he involved in all this? Does he have anything to do with the riot?”
Lio chuckled. “Doubtful. He’s probably having your filly brought here as we speak. That’s good news, right?”
“It is…”
In all the confusion, Alouette hadn't spared a single thought for Eclipse. All the while desperately trying to stay alive, and the safety of her own foal never once occurred to her. She shifted her hooves awkwardly, still keeping her distance from her companion.
“Why do I get the impression your well-to-do flank has pretty much no idea what’s happening in this city?” he asked curiously.
Alouette felt offended. “Something to do with the deification of Celestia and Luna over the old gods we once worshiped. I hear the lunatics in town sometimes.”
“Oh great!” he replied. “She actually knows their names. No. It’s much deeper than that. If you had taken the time to go out into city you would notice just how crazy things have become. At first it was all innocent preaching, then things got a little violent when conservative zealots decided to hurl stones at one of our gatherings. Because of this, a militant arm of ponies called the Soldiers of Harmony were created to defend our faith and stop the violence.” He prodded his chest proudly. “Nopony knew exactly when it would happen, but the attacks on our homes and places of worship still continued to increase. But this riot and the burning of that temple? You probably know just as much as I do.”
Alouette held back the urge to fire back at his earlier seemingly insulting tone. “But surely you have some idea of what’s going on?”
Lio stood up and chanced a peek out of the window. "My guess?" he whispered, closing the curtain and removing his guard armor. "it's probably the retaliation of some extremist members of our faith. We've been trying to spread peace and harmony through our works but if it turns out I'm right, that my people are behind this... Well, you can forget about any conservatives taking it lying down."
"Look," Alouette chirped in. "None of this is my problem. I'm not involved in this religious rebellion or whatever in any way. Why then, was I beaten then rescued by one of its armed forces? What do you ponies want with me?"
"Listen, Blackie," he said honestly. "I have no idea what your role in this is. I was tasked only an hour ago with bringing you back to safety by Esteril. If you want answers about that then I suggest you talk to him when he gets here."
"Fine," she replied, taking a seat at the old table. "I guess this means I'm free to go if I want?"
"You're free to try," he replied candidly.
"Great. So I'm hostage."
Lio, now completely armor free, had once again flopped on the sofa. "If it makes you feel any better," he began with a smirk, "we can say you're staying out of curiosity?"
Alouette rolled her eyes and looked away. "It's the only reason I haven't made for the door yet," she whispered darkly to herself.
"What was that, Blackie?" he called.
"I said my name is Alouette. So that's what you should call me."
The sound of quick and frantic knocks rattled the door, catching both of their attention.
"I'm guessing that’s Esteril," he whispered, getting up and making his way towards the door.
"Excellent timing," she muttered, watching curiously at how quietly such a large pony could move.
He stuck his ear against the door as soon as he reached it. "Password?" he called loudly, making Alouette jump.
"Password?" came the sound of a familiar monotone. "I wasn't aware of a password."
Alouette had quickly leapt to her hooves at the sound of Esteril's voice and darted towards the door. "Password? Really?" she muttered to Lio.
"No," he snorted, unlatching the door and opening it. "I was just having a laugh."
"This is hardly the time for comedy, Aurelio," Esteril whispered, moving slowly into the room with what looked like a bundle of blankets attached to his back. "I had to keep her covered for the journey." He turned his gaze upon Alouette and smiled with relief. "It is good to see you safe and sound, my dear. Your flight had me immensely worried."
Alouette's eyes darted to the blankets. "Is that... Eclipse?"
"Indeed it is, my dear," he replied, levitating a small bundle from within the blankets and placing it gently on the floor. "She was exceptionally quiet on the journey. I believe she is still asleep."
There, wrapped tightly in a bundle lay the pure white filly of the moon. She couldn't help but feel relief at the sight of Eclipse despite her reservations about her. She regarded just how beautiful Eclipse looked when her eyes were shut.
"Did you encounter any difficulties in retrieving Alouette for me?" Esteril questioned.
"N-nothing too out of the ordinary, sir," Lio replied, shifting his hooves guiltily.
Alouette glared straight up at him. "Nothing at all. Besides the fact that you murdered three guards right in front of me."
Lio shuffled in annoyance. "Gee, thanks," he hissed.  "Yeah... about that..."
Esteril looked as if he had been slapped in the face. "You killed city officials? What were you thinking? Do you not realize how much is already at risk?"
"Yes, I killed city officials. But these ponies were already bought by the Figurehead's family. You know exactly which side of the fence they're on. I had to act."
"You seriously misrepresent the point of our entire existence," Esteril continued. "Our mandate is to defend our followers, not incite violence. This very act contradicts everything we stand for."
"Well it won't matter much now," Lio rebuked. "The entire city will be a warzone come morning."
Esteril's usually calm expression had once again cracked under the scale of his true feelings. This time, all Alouette could see was fear.
"I never expected Cepheid would go this far," he mused, trotting past Lio towards the musty curtain and dragging it aside with his free hoof. "Are you truly so afraid of an old text that it would force your hoof thus? What were you thinking, old friend?"
Lio seemed to know what Esteril was talking about and spoke up quickly. “You can’t possibly believe the head of the chapel would-”
“Oh but I do, Aurelio,” Esteril interrupted, turning to face him. “After what I had shown you all those years ago, I would have thought it obvious.”
“But it was so long ago,” Lio tried. “You’ve seen how peaceful he’s become. He would never have a hoof in burning their temple.”
“My reason for visiting was not to convince you one way or the other, Aurelio,” Esteril remarked. “But to return a foal to her mother.”
Lio looked as if he was nowhere near finished speaking, but held his tongue on the matter nonetheless.
Alouette had no idea who this Cepheid character was and was less even inclined to care. All she had realized was just how furious she was with Esteril. She slowly levitated Eclipse from the carrier and rested her neatly upon her back. "How could you lie to me?" she blurted, trotting towards the old stallion.
Esteril turned to face her. "Lie to you?"
"You've known everything about me. You've looked out for me when I needed you the most. You've been like a father to me and all this time I never knew who you truly were."
"Who I truly am?" he responded with uncertainty.
His confused response only infuriated her more. "This!" she hissed. "That you're some secret crusader for some religious belief. I thought you were a pony of reason and here I see you're nothing but a militant zealot!"
"That's completely out of order!" Lio called from behind her. "I told you he had nothing to do with-"
"That's enough, Aurelio," Esteril interrupted. "You have every right to question me, my dear. But you must simply continue to trust that all I have ever done is insure the wellbeing of yourself and now your filly." He motioned his hoof to Eclipse snugly on her back. "It may be difficult for you now, but in time you will grow to love her as your own."
Love her as your own.
Alouette immediately recalled those words uttered by Luna in her dreams. "Wait," she piped up. "You told me you didn't believe that Eclipse was Luna's child. That my story of being a surrogate was ludicrous."
Esteril had realized too late that he had said the wrong thing. "Alouette, I-" he stuttered, glancing at Aurelio. "This is not the time."
It was Lio's turn to look confused. "Luna's foal? Eclipse?"
Esteril stomped his hoof to silence them both."Alouette," he said with an air of finality.  "There will come a time when I will explain everything to you. Until that day, you must understand that you and your filly are of vital importance."
Alouette shook her head. "But I told you she was! I told you about the dreams, about Luna-"
"That's enough!"
Alouette stopped talking immediately. Shocked by the sudden outburst of such a usually calm and collected pony.
"Aurelio will remain here to watch over you and Eclipse until I return," he said with finality, crossing the room and heading towards the door. "I have to be somewhere where I can perhaps salvage some form of peace in this city. Do not open this door for anypony but myself. Is that understood, Lio?"
"Yes, sir," Lio responded dutifully.
"Good." He turned to Alouette before leaving. "Take care, my dear."
She didn't respond. Instead, she continued to glare at the place he had been before he closed the door and disappeared from view.
Lio continued to stare blankly at the door. Still as confused as he was a few moments ago. "I... Um... What was all that about?" he asked slowly.
"Guess the Soldiers of Harmony aren't too big on sharing information," she snorted, turning on her hoof and making her way towards the bedroom door.
"Why did you say Eclipse was Princess Luna's child?” he called after her. "Don't you think that in our current situation that information would have been important?"
"You heard me," she responded, turning the knob and walking into the dimly-lit room. "It was just a dream."
Aurelio was hardly given time to answer, watching her disappear from view and close the door behind her. "Okay," he called. "I'll just stay here, then... Watching the door."
Alouette felt the weight of everything that had happened to her fall upon her shoulders the moment she was finally alone. With a heavy sigh, she proceeded to a small musty bed in the corner of the room and levitated Eclipse carefully upon the mattress. The tiny foal shifted peacefully in her sleep, gripping the blankets she was wrapped in.
"None of this is your fault," she whispered, stroking her hoof across the filly’s cheek. "It's mine. If I had in any way known how terrible I was at being a mother, I would have never challenged nature. I would have never forced the burden of something I could never be on the life of another. I behaved like it was because of you that I had lost my husband. How stupid I was."
Eclipse shifted once more, yawned silently, and fell back to sleep.
"I always thought foals would be such a nuisance," Alouette chuckled. "Not you, though. You always seem so content with everything. So quiet." She blinked a tear from her eye. "What was Luna thinking? Giving such a precious gift to such an unworthy mare? All I've managed to do is bring misery upon everypony and drag an innocent foal into it."
Eclipse's eyes cracked open and began to stare up at her. For a moment, Alouette felt herself recoil at the sight of them, but quickly regained her composure. The longer she spent just looking at the filly, the more her misty white irises began to seem less absurd. Now that she had come to think of it, the pure white unicorn was the most stunning thing Alouette had ever seen.
A tiny smile formed on the foal's face. It wasn't until this moment that Alouette finally felt herself coming to pieces. The strong feeling of regret and loss, the shame of being tossed out of her mother-in-law's home and the violent deaths that occurred in front of her were simply too much to bare. All of this and it only took the innocent smile of the last thing she had left in the world to bring the tears streaming down.
She let out a sequence of mournful sobs as she shifted into a fetal position on the bed next to her filly. "Mommy's okay," she cooed, keeping her eyes on Eclipse and trying to hold back the sobs. "All she wants is to keep you safe." She swallowed. "And hope that you'll forgive her for being so neglectful."
The filly continued to smile at Alouette. Reaching out of her wrappings and curiously tugging at her long black mane.
"You like mommy's hair?" she chuckled once more. "An inquisitive child just like me." Alouette continued to silently let Eclipse play with her mane until finally speaking up once more. "Eclipse... if you can one day find it in your heart to forgive me, I'll be the best mom I can be. I'll always be there for you. That a deal?"
Eclipse sneezed in response.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Alouette continued to lie quietly with her foal until the wave of both physical and mental exhaustion finally caught up with her. She could feel how heavy her eyes were, her body sinking into the mattress and her thoughts becoming incoherent. The arrival of long desired sleep had finally come.


***


Aurelio crept silently towards the bedroom door. For a pony so large, he had a remarkable amount of skill in moving stealthily. With bated breath, he leant his hoof against the door and pushed it slightly ajar. Peering in, he glimpsed at the mother and foal sleeping snugly together on the bed. If he could just see the foal, he might understand. It all could have been worth it.
He swallowed hard and slowly pushed forward. Each step sounding louder than the last as he made his way towards the bed. How much further was too much? What if Alouette were to wake and panic? Alouette was her name right?
As if to save him from over thinking any further, the little filly in her bundle had shifted to her side. The blanket that had encased her fell to the side, revealing half of her tiny body.
Aurelio stopped in his tracks and held his breath to stop himself from gasping. She was like nothing he had ever seen before. Her white fur glowed in the pale light of the room, giving her an almost ghostly appearance.
She was the foal from the prophecy, he thought, taking a step back towards the door. There was simply no other reason for Esteril to painstakingly keep this mare and her foal from harm. He had intruded on their privacy for long enough and decided it was time to leave them be.
Closing the door behind him, he made his way towards the old sofa and climbed up onto it. So many things had finally started to make sense in his mind. He remembered the night that he and Esteril had met at the base of Chapel of Harmony all those years ago. Even then he could tell that something was brewing... something was out of place. Yet only now had he truly realized what was at risk. How important it was for him to keep both mother and filly safe.
The only thing that seemed wrong was how Esteril had managed to keep him out of the loop. Why had the old stallion been so secretive about Alouette's foal? Had he known she was destined to be the surrogate from the start? Or was there some other force at play?
The prospect of theorizing his role in these situations was never his strong suit. Esteril always had his reasons and despite not being as open as he would have wanted, Aurelio knew that he was probably the only pony he could trust.