Night's Lament

4 days earlier

There was a certain serenity in the night, a strange solitude and calm that could give a new outlook on life for any that walk in it's cool light. It was the most desired post but somepony had to do it, patrolling the silver plains with a cold concentration, peering at the horizon and the many small hills and mountain peaks that surrounded them.

Midnight Tryst was more than happy to do it… As captain of the guard you usually had to set the example but the job kind of stuck. But as captain of the guard he got to write up the duty roster, Tyl happened to be Midnights unlucky little brother who walked side by side with him, a wooden spear in hoof as they strolled the plains slowly, the night was spread out like a blanket above them, every star twinkled gently, the moon glowing vividly and lighting the shadows that they all called home.

“How long will you be gone?”, Midnight asked as they made their way across the rugged soil, their hooves squishing lightly into the stodgy ground after the many days of rain.

“Only a day or so, I’m just going to Hollow Shades and back... It’s just a checkup on the new colony”, Tyl repliedwith an amused smile on his face. “You really need to stop checking up on me every time I go away.”

“You're going to see her aren't you?”, he accused with a smug grin, watching his brother bite his cheek and look away.

“And what if I am?”, Tyl asked back with a proud smirk of his own.

“Then I wish you all the best with you and your courting.”, he laughed before nudging Tyl to the side, their amaranthine armor clanging together, leaving a resonate ring in the air. “Just be careful alright… Can’t have my little brother getting hurt… Or better assignments than me”, he said with a grin. “Just be careful alright…”

Tyl rolled his eyes and nudged his brother away. “Fine…”

Midnight smiled and ruffled his brother’s mane, pushing the neat blue mane into a messy bundle. “Bring me back a souvenir...”, he said with one last chuckle.

Present day

“And how are you coping with this?”, A voice asked, breaking the silence of Nights thoughts.

Night looked up from her work, the brown pages covered in lines for her to write with barely any letters written. Night sighed in frustration and dropped her pencil before shaking her head shamefully.

The mare that spoke to her was much larger than the filly, her mane was a light purple fashioned with darker violet strands that faded back near the end, flowing smoothly down her neck, curling at the end of its length with small strands covering her sapphire blue eyes. She smiled, almost amused by the filly’s small struggle.

The class was small, both physically and in occupants. The floor was carpeted in a sea of blue, its silky texture always a welcoming intuition. The wooden walls were all covered in pictures of ponies, students and the mountains on which their ancient colony hid under.

One wall held the many hoof prints of the small students, each dotting the wall in a flurry of color. The ceiling was a dark abyss at a glance, but a field of flickering stars would scatter across the roof if you stared long enough as if the room was always under the black veil of night- another marvelous feat, courtesy of bat pony magic.

“I can’t do it Miss Amber…”, she whined, pouting as she looked up at Miss Amber, her double toned purple mane flowing over her sapphire blue eyes... She smiled at Night, kneeling down and sitting beside her.

“And what can’t you do?”, she asked with a smile, looking down to the empty page in front of her.

“Any of it”, she mumbled and flipped her pencil back onto the table in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m good at…” Night said with a saddened and depressed tone.

Miss Amber giggled lightly at her. “That’s the point Night… You’re not supposed to know, but you should be able to have some idea of something that you like… And then work at that to see what your special talent is.”

Night merely sighed once again, not fully taking in what she had said. “Yeah…”

The mare sitting beside her smiled and looked down to her page. “So what do you like doing Night?”

Night sat in silence as she thought. “I… I don’t know… I like stars… And the sky,” She said hesitantly, her hooves rubbing the silken blue carpet.

“Then start there, anything that you like is a great place to start.” She said as she stood up, trotting away from Night to let her think as she went to help the others in her class. Night sat and thought quietly to herself, staring down at the blank page. She sighed gently and like a writer struggling to finish their art she waited, her mind baulking as she thought on and on, having no clue where to start or where to end.

She groaned in despair “I’m never going to get my cutie mark…” She said softly to herself as she dropped the wooden pencil onto the table with a light clack.

The day seemed to race past quickly, the sun racing across the sky. The many inhabitants of the town made their way from the empty plain where the many colored stalls lay, making their way into the cave entrance at the base of the snowy mountain and down deep into the honeycomb of caverns below, aged to ancient stability.

The caverns spread out for miles, all leading to a separate chamber, homes, hospitals and even shops… They had a city… A whole kingdom beneath the snowy peaks that scraped the sky above them.

Night’s home was typical within their colony, carved out by hoof and giving the walls a rounded finish. The furniture, brown wood, had small engravings upon the legs of chairs, tables, the heads of beds, even the drawers.

The small filly sat at the dinner table, its smooth wooden surface brushing against her fur as she rubbed circles into it, her hoof pressed to her face as she sighed gently. She picked up and pushed her fork into her food, shifting it side to side.

“What’s wrong sweetie?”, said a soft voice. Night glanced up to her mother, her own golden eyes meeting hers. She shrugged gently. “I… Just had a boring day.”, she mumbled, her eyes moving back down to her food.

Night’s mother tilted her head softly at the small filly. “Oh, I’m sure that’s not true.”, she said with a giggle as she got out of her seat and sat down next to her. She looked at her curiously, the filly poking her food with a depressed sigh.

“Your father’s not here… We could talk about anything… Stay up late… Read scary stories.”, she said with a smile, trying to entice the filly, wanting her to come out of her shell.

Night smiled gently at the idea, looking up at her mother.

“We can read that story you love... The one with Luna and how she made the stars….”, she continued. “Or I could tell you what a really boring day is up at the Sepulcher… I can tell you about all the ponies that come in to talk... Or ask for blessings for their crops…”, she spoke in a dull manner, causing Night to feign a small gag and to poke her tongue out, her small fangs sticking out lightly.

She giggled at her childish manner and nudged her hoof lightly. “So what’s wrong?”,
Night sighed gently and left her fork atop the mound of food as she sat back in her chair.

“I don’t know what I’m good at...”, she began, her mother nodding and immediately knowing where this conversation was going to lead.

“Ah… You’re wanting to find your cutie mark.”, she said with certainty. Night nodded, her head lowering as she kept her eyes down.

Night’s mother stood up after her suspicions were confirmed. “C’mon… I want to show you something”, she smiled as she trotted away from Night towards a chimney like structure,not far from the table, large enough for two ponies across.

Night followed her mother and she was quickly swept up and placed on her back, her mother extended her large black wings and gave a few careful and heavy flaps, slowly raising further up as they ascended through the ground that protected them.

The stone of the caverns continued to follow them and soon was replaced by dirt. They reached the top of the chute and Night’s mother pushed against the ceiling, letting it creak and come loose, removing a small mound of dirt, attached to small brass hinges.

They were now outside, on top of a small hill, Night clinging to her mother and soon letting go.

All Night’s mother heard was a loud gasp from Night.

“Wow…”

Night said in awe as she sat upon the hill, her golden eyes staring up at the cerulean sky, each corner of the sky was illuminated by a small diamond, twinkling gently. There was no lack of stars, the sky was made of them, like the blue veil of night was pierced with a thousand holes, all peering to what seemed the heavens themselves… It hardly seemed like night at all. The moon hung in the sky, piercing every cloud with a milky moonlight, giving the landscape a tinge of blue and silver.

Her mother smiled as the pair sat above the colony on the small hill. The mountains stretched upwards to scrape the sky itself, the moons light glinting off the very surface of the mountains. She had her black leather wing wrapped around her daughter, keeping her close as they star gazed.

“You see all of those stars?”, she asked in a mere whisper. “How many do you think there are?”

Night stared up at the sky, pointing at a few as she began to count. She became bored quite quickly and groaned. “There has to be a million!”, she said.

Night’s mother giggled. “Close… Luna made as many stars as possibilities… Infinite…”, she said as she stared at the sky. “There are infinite possibilities… When you think of what your talent is… Just remember the stars and you’ll remember that you can do anything, and only you can make it happen.”, she said with a gentle smile.

Night smiled and continued to stare up at the sky, its silver stars beckoning down to the land below. “Why can't we come up here every night?”, she asked curiously, looking to her mother.

“It's far too dangerous on the surface.”, her mother explained simply, “We’re safer underground… We always have been.”

At that point a gust of wind blew past them, blowing their manes gently to the side. “Hope I didn’t miss anything?”, said a familiar tone. Night smiled and got up and charged at the stallion behind them, her father.

He smiled and let her jump at him, throwing himself back onto the ground to give Night the illusion of victory. He feigned a grunt as he hit the ground, his armor clanking on the ground.

She giggled happily as she lay on top of him, her hooves pressed gently to his neck.
“Ahh! You got me!”, he yelled playfully. She giggled and gave a yelp as her mother came from behind her and lifted her up off of him, jabbing and tickling her sides gently.

“And I’ve got you.” She snickered evilly as Night squealed and laughed as her mother tickled her, pulling her to the ground with a light thud.

“Now what might you two be doing up here?”, Midnight asked, raising a brow at the two who merely grinned back guiltily. “Troublemakers”, he muttered.

There was always something that woke Night up in the morning… Usually something irritating but there was always something that pushed the filly from her unconscious state.

The knocks always echoed into her room in the part of the cavern Night called home, always seeming twice as loud.

She groaned and slowly lifted her head up from her deep blue pillow, scratching at the shields of her bright gold eyes. She regrettably got out of bed as she heard her name being called, yawning wide as she scratched the rest of her tired self away, peaking her head around the door.

“Night… Your friend is here to see you.”, her mother called to her, her purple mane loose and drooping over her tuffed ears. Night smiled when she saw another small filly at the door, her mane was an electric blue and her eyes a dull purple, she smiled giddily as Night appeared.

“Starlight!”, Night said happily as she pranced up to her friend happily. Starlight quickly came up to her as well, smiling happily.
The two sat opposite each other and performed a series of high hooves before letting out a few giggles together, letting them ring harmonically through the room.

“Starblazer and the others just started a game of Hide and Seek, wanna come?”, she asked, her voice becoming higher and more playful with each word.

Night looked up to her mum pleadingly and bit her lip. She needn’t say anymore, her mum smiled and ruffled Night’s mane gently before pushing her along. “Go on… Have fun, but don’t tell your father.”, she said in a warning tone before cracking a joking smile, letting the two fillies charge off through the caverns in search of their friends.

The caverns were ancient… Some still say magical.

At the subjugation of their people, after helping their goddess Luna, they had retreated, ran, collapsed as they fled from a hatred for their kind and they retreated beneath the solid confines of the earth itself.

There used to be many of the gifted, those born with the greatest gift of Luna herself, magic. They used to be in the hundreds but after their defeat in the war, they had sacrificed themselves to form the great caverns and sanctuaries beneath the earth, fighting and dying to protect their kind.

They could still feel the magic they used to carve out the earth… a definite slow yet gentle warmth… A feeling of security and a sense of peace, some say they can still see parts of the walls glow gently with the many colors of the gifted.

Yes they had formed the many caverns and took care of the great temples but the architecture and designs came from those with only their hooves and chisel.
The archways through each pathway, each tunnel was adorned with a small crescent moon at the top of the archway, stars dotting downwards, each blessed and bound with magic causing each small indent to glow a silvery white.

The houses were carved out by hoof, smoothed to create a round finish on the walls. Their houses were large enough for a family of four, each having several rounded rooms within them, the furniture was wood but it was as if the wood moulded together, like each part was separate yet it was sturdy as the walls around them. Wool adorned every chair, wrapped in coloured fabric and bound together by thread. The beds were no less fine than the chairs, the mattress made of large amounts of wool, wrapped in a soft cloth.

Their colony was special, it’s caverns not only spread down but up through the core of the mountain, reaching to the top where their great temple sat, the ceiling dotted a silver white all the way up, the higher you climbed the sharper and more brilliant they were. The flames that adorned the torches on the way up are said to turn a bright purple.

The temple itself was the finest part of the colony, at what was the top of their world, closest to their trapped God Luna.

The entrance to the temple was adorned with mighty pillars, carved spirals span round it like hair. The steps were a bright white, but under the great torches at the entrance they were a brilliant purple. The arched door was wooden and stretched four whole metres above the floor, each half of the doors bearing a part of the crescent moon.

The sound of music always flowed down from the temple, the gentle chorus of those above, bouncing off the many halls and down into the heart of the caverns as many continued with their day, the two fillies running into one of the many cavern chambers.

Night huffed and pouted gently as the group formed a small circle.

“Sorry Night, you were last here… You’re it.”, said a small blue haired colt.

“I’m going to find you first StarBlazer!”, Night threatened as the whole group backed away slowly.

The colt smiled “30 seconds… GO!”, he yelled as they all stormed out in all directions away from Night, leaving her to count silently to herself.

“1…2…3…”

“29… 30! Ready or not here I come!”, she yelled into the caverns as she began to trot around the chamber that she started in, torches hung from stalactites that pierced down through the stone ceiling, the flame a blaze of red and orange, dancing upon its stand and through the shadows splayed over the cavern chamber.

Night searched the stalagmites sticking from the floor, scanning the dark recesses of the cavern gently with her eyes, quickly moving through chamber to chamber, clambering through small cubby holes and tunnels to reach the next, moving her way up.

She trotted past many homes, the houses all carved out, barricaded by a door and furnished with the simple necessities.

She made it to a much larger chamber, the ceiling just a dark abyss, the floor crowded as ponies trotted back and forth. The market place… It was obviously raining outside. Many colored stands adorned the floor as ponies went back and forth, taking the goods they needed.

Everypony in the colony worked together, everypony influenced another in some way, whether it be food, trade, skills or mere conversation. Night had often heard stories of places that used tokens that you had to earn to get things… Here it was much simpler and much easier, you earned your keep in the colony and everypony was happy that way.

Night darted through the many legs of the ponies going through the marketplace, crouching low as she tried to make her way to the other side in search of her friends.

As she passed a stand that had ointments to be sold she heard a scrambling, a hushed whisper. Night grinned and crouched down, slowly prowling towards the stand before peaking her head round the stand, seeing StarBlazer and another colt, both looking around the opposite corner.

She grinned widely and slowly went forward, coming up behind them and. “RAAAAR!” She let out behind them, causing the both of them to jolt and turn around as quick as a blink.

The second colt lost his balance and began to topple, crashing into part of the stand.

“Niiiight!”, StarBlazer whined “You know I scare easily…”, he complained as the two began to giggle.

The stand wobbled precariously and the three of them looked up at it in horror as it tumbled forward and crashed, sending bottles of ointment all over the cavern floor.

As quick as anything the three of them recovered and galloped as fast as they could away from the stand, hearing a few shouts and a roar of laughter as they all watched the fillies run from the scene together.

They all giggled and huffed as they darted through the caverns tunnels to run from the stands. They all slid to a halt within the steam room.

The steam room was by far the most Interesting. Their caverns had dug down so deep they came to a steam vent, sitting within the center of the room, spewing forth flameless fire. Surrounding the vent was a series of holes dug into the floor, filled with water, steaming with great warmth. They could only see two hoof lengths in front of them. A few ponies were relaxing in the springs of water, floating in the warm water.

They all sat down, huffing and puffing, giggling between breaths.

“Her… Stand… Always falls over...”, StarBlaze gasped with amusement. They all agreed with a soft nod.

Suddenly the rising and splashing of water was heard, followed by a heavy gasp as Starlight emerged from a spring, glancing around and spotting Night who grinned at her in triumph.

She pouted and slowly got up, the water dragging her blue mane down and trickling back into the water, the rest of them giggled as Night sighed in relief.

A voice broke through the steam like a whip upon the air. “NIGHT VELA WATCH!”, echoed her father’s voice, they all looked to her.

“Uh oh…”, Night mumbled to herself.