Execute Thy Will

Chapter 3

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A group of young stallions and mares were gathered in what looked to be the remains of a feast hall, the roof having long been blown away and the stone walls in shambles. Each one was clothed in light, leather armor, with a knife sheathed within easy reach at their side. They were gathered around a unicorn mare in a black colored cuirasse, watching her like a murder of crows.

The mare, looking around at her charges, pointed at one and stated, "Newborn, look this way and tell me what you see."

The singled-out earthpony stepped away from his brothers and sisters and looked towards the deteriorating statue of Princess Celestia they were examining. He contemplated the Master's question and answered, "I see the sibling of Vulonro Rel, a leader of great power, even if this likeness does not reflect that."

The Master's mouth quirked down slightly.

"Too general of an answer, I want more of your thoughts, not what's been drilled into your skull."

Astral Shadow did not look away from the statue, but stayed silent, choosing his next statement carefully.

"Apologies, I'm in no place to speak of our Princess' Sister in any manner aside from what I've already stated. Were I in a position of greater power, I would still hold my tongue, as is proper."

The Master's frown leveled back to neutrality, and she nodded her head.

"Very good, you live to serve with your life and body, not with your opinions. Let us continue."

Eye lids slowly blinked themselves open as a steady knocking hooked Astral's waking mind, dragging it back to reality and anchoring it there like a tick. His fading dreams flitted away as swiftly as a will-o'-the-wisp, and left him grasping at the airy trail it left, wondering why they treated him so.

Taking a deep breath, Astral rose from his bed and walked to the door of his room, the cold stone beneath chilling to the touch.

Wondering who would need him during his morning of rest, Astral opened the door to find a pegasus mare waiting for him. The mare was dressed in a simple midnight blue cloak with the hood left down, revealing a somewhat attractive mane and coat beneath; on her forehead, a small medallion of a bat's eye. A silver clasp in the shape of a crescent moon held the cloak together, identifying the mare as a Knight of the Order.

Eyeing the clasp, Astral gave a half-bow and said, "May the Night grace you always Kendaar; what brings you here this morning?"

Bowing her head in return, the Knight replied, "And may the Night grace you as well. You are hereby commanded to appear before the Assembly of Masters immediately, under pain of death if refused. You will adorn yourself in ceremonial attire, then proceed to the chambers."

Astral bowed once more and moved swiftly back into his room, shutting the door behind him. He quickly went to the chest at the end of his bed and collected his clothing, donning a midnight blue tunic and robe, as well as fore and back leg guards similarly colored and spit shined to perfection. Checking himself over, the earthpony made his way back out to the Knight, shutting the door behind him and pulling up his hood.

The mare scrutinized him for a moment before pulling her own hood up and, turning, began walking down the stone hallway with Astral following after her. Together, the two silently made their way through the many tunnels and caverns beneath the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters, the echo of hooves the only sound. They met few of their brothers and sisters as they walked, as morning meditation and rest was still being enforced for another hour.

As he walked, Astral neither questioned the Knight nor thought about why he had been summoned; it was not his place to do so. He had learned when he was a colt that to ask the question, "why?" was to bring disaster upon himself. Disloyalty was suspected, treason even, as it was unthinkable to be a sworn servant of Princess Luna, to kill and be killed for her, and ask the simple question "why?".

So Astral Shadow simply refrained from doing so.

Eventually, the two ponies made it to a set of large double doors guarded by a contingent of four Knights. The doors themselves were engraved with half moons, the halves meeting in the middle at the seam of the doors. The Knights on guard let their eyes roam over Astral and his escort briefly then turned to open the double doors, giving neither a second thought. Crossing the threshold, the two ponies slowly walked to the center of the room, the doors behind them shutting with a slam.

The room was a small cavern, lit by torches lining the walls, and inhabited by the eleven Grand Masters of Faal Vulonro Nahlot, The Night's Silence. They all sat in simple wooden, high-back chairs in a semi-circle in the center of the room, each dressed in their ceremonial regalia not unlike Astral's. Their tunics were hidden by the black robes they wore, held together by a crescent moon clasp of diamond and with their hoods pulled back; on their foreheads, a small medallion of a bat's eye.

The faces revealed were creased with age and wisdom, but not decrepitness; only a fool would consider these eleven nothing more then old crones yapping their jaws.

Keeping her head low and eyes to the ground, the Knight stepped forward and proclaimed, "Here be Astral Shadow, the yunkiin that was commanded to appear; see that I have completed my task according to the orders given unto me."

There was an aching silence, then the mare on the left end of the circle stated, "We hear and see that you have done as commanded, leave us now and speak of this to none."

The Knight bowed low to the ground, making sure to keep her hood up and her head down, before quickly exiting the cavern with a slam of the doors. Now alone, Astral waited to be called forward, as was proper for such formalities.

"Newborn, come forward."

Astral obeyed immediately, coming to stand where the Knight had only moments prior; he made sure to similarly keep his head low and eyes down. He said not a word, but continued to wait patiently; he did not have to wait long.

A mare's voice addressed him from somewhere to his right, "We've called you before us today to be assigned."

Another mare's voice from the left, "Though you may appear to be mediocre compared to others of your age in our Order, you seem to have caught the attention of a Master searching for an apprentice."

A stallion's voice from in front of him, "She has shown her aptitude for changing ponies into capable warriors acceptable for our Princess, so we are confident that you'll be no different from the rest of her pupils when she's through."

Silence. Then, wing-beats as a pegasis landed right in front of Astral; a small gust of wind sent his was ruffled his robes.

"I am Swift Rain; get up and raise your eyes to me, I wish to see you for who you are."

The voice was stern, but not unkindly so, tempered by a strange softness.

Astral slowly rose from his bow and lifted his head to meet his new Master eye-to-eye; she was a lunar mare and a surprisingly young one at that. Her hood was down, showing off her silver mane and grey coat, as well as the medallion on her forehead; a gold clasp held her cloak together. Leathery wings, protruding from openings in the cloak, were splayed out in a show of dominance. Her head was held high and her mouth was set in a barely noticeable grin, a pair of fangs peaking out from beneath her lips. Her slit eyes bore into his own with the intensity of a roaring fire.

Astral returned the gaze with one of neutrality, focusing his thoughts on the sound of his own breathing; to move or take his eyes away would be a grave insult to the Master. A full minute and a half passed before Swift Rain nodded her head, folding her wings back to her side, and went to stand at Astral's side.

Facing the Assembly, she stated, "I accept this yunkiin as my own; if you will permit, I will take him to perform the Rite of Searin'."

A stallion replied, "Go then and speak of this to none."

Pulling her hood up, Swift Rain bowed low then turned to leave the room; Astral quickly followed suit and hurried after his Master, the great doors slamming shut behind them. The pair made their way through many passages, slowly but surely heading towards the surface. They emerged from a wall inside the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters, hidden by rubble and overgrown vegetation. Swift Rain did not stop there, however, but led her student out of the ruins and into the bowels of the Everfree Forest.

It was just after dawn and the sun had been raised to it's quarter mark in the sky, it's rays barely able to peak through the dense foliage above.

They continued to walk for some time till they came upon a stool in the middle of a clearing of scorched earth. Going to stand in front of the stool, Swift Rain pulled her hood back and looked around the clearing, as if to ponder what to do next. Astral stopped behind her, taking a moment to survey his surroundings, trying to note anything out of the ordinary and anything he could use to his advantage should the need arise.

A few minutes passed, then Swift Rain turned sharply around and bolted to Astral, tackling him to the ground and latching her jaws around her student's throat. Astral, cursing himself, desperately got his legs underneath her and managed to throw her off him; blood trickled down his neck from prominent puncture points on his neck. Landing a foot away, Swift Rain grinned deviously, running her tongue over the tips of her teeth. Walking slowly back to her student, she noticed Astral tense and fall back into a combat stance, waiting for an attack.

Instead of pouncing him again, she went nose to nose with him, daring her student to retaliate and challenge her assertion of natural dominance.

"Your reflexes need work; remember, hesitation isn't a crutch to fall back on when startled; it's an enemy to be murdered brutally, as brutally as I would've ripped your throat out just now. If you're goin' to serve faithfully and well, and be somethin' other than a walkin' corpse waitin' to be buried, you'll need to start expectin' everyone and everythin' to kill you at a moments notice. Includin' me."

Swift Rain continued to grin, drops of blood shining on her fangs, and pulled away from Astral, snorting in his face. The young stallion wrinkled his muzzle, cursing himself again for relaxing around his new Master, a lunar pegasis no less. It would not bode well at all to fail too many times while being taught by of one of his Princess' Chosen Folk; death would be the only appropriate response, by his own voluntary hoof or her's unseen. Taking a breath, Astral refocused his attention on his Master, a new sense of paranoia taking hold of him.

Seeing her student had learned his first lesson, Swift Rain reached into her cloak and pulled out a white pendant. Keeping her eyes on Astral, she clasped it around her neck, and noticeably relaxed; that grin of her's did not vanish though.

"We'll drop the formalities for now," she said, "I like to steer clear of the ancient traditions and such when I take a new student. I've brought you here for many reasons, most of them personal to be quite frank; we'll leave those for later though. For now, I want you to balance on that stool with a front hoof."

His composure back under control and paranoia shot to new heights, Astral cocked his head and, noting the subtle change in speech, went to the stool and did as instructed. He briefly wondered about this odd mare, her odd tendencies, and whether he wanted to know what made her so odd, what made her tick.

He quickly decided that, no, no he did not want to understand what made the mare so stimulating.

As he balanced, his Master slowly circled him, the devious grin still on her face, her tongue darting out every so often to lick her lips. Astral, for his part, remained perfectly still, finding the experience strangely uncomfortable and fascinating. The glint in Swift Rain's eyes was anything but sexual, yet the hunger that it reflected from the depths of her soul was intoxicating. Astral was becoming more than a tad confused as she circled, feeling as if she were drinking in all of the power she now had over him.

After a while, she switched directions and began asking questions as she went. "Tell me apprentice, who authored Fin Rah Uth?"

He answered them as he had been taught to do for many years, "The sacred text was penned by Star Swirl the Bearded, First Priest of the Cosmos and Steward of the Throne before The Benevolent Sisters ascended to rulership. It is referred to in common speak as 'The god Command'."

"And why was it written?"

"Their Majesties, the Princesses, deigned in their wise judgment to have mercy upon the ponies of Equestria and spoke ancient truths to Star Swirl, who recorded them in the sacred text. They saw the sufferings of the righteous, the contempt of the wicked, and the shameful way that Unicorns were treated as equals, and so were moved to set things right, as many Alicorns before them had not done."

"And how is it that we know this?"

"These revelations are recorded in Fin Rah Uth, as are the rest of the truths that the Princesses spoke; the national histories also reflect these truths, as they were first penned by Star Swirl the Steward, then by the nuns of the Unicorn Range Monasteries."

"Hmm."

His master was silent for a few moments after that, coming to stop in front of Astral, who was still balanced upon his hoof; it was about mid-day. Swift Rain's devious grin had slipped away as time went one, settling into a relaxed state, but that glint- that dangerously hungry glint- had not yet fled her eyes.

Standing in front of him, she caught his gaze and asked, "You seem well educated in at least the basics of our faith, but have you studied enough to know the Rite of Searing?"

He slowly shook his head, feeling somewhat confused at the fuzziness in his memory.

"Interesting." She paused, then, "Have you noticed the scorched earth? How controlled it is? How the edges never touch the rest of this dismal forest?"

Astral nodded, he had spent much of his time on the stool looking around the clearing.

"Fire did not cause this blot, fire is too wild and unpredictable, even in the horns of the most skilled mages. No, this was caused by the Rite, and the joiner. You see, apprentice, every member of our Order who has gone on to serve our Princess has had to first master the unrefined power of the soul. The medallion you see on my forehead? This is the focal point for the Rite, what you will attempt to bond with."

Swift Rain went to reach a hoof up to touch her forehead, but caught herself and shook her head, stating, "Sit on the stool". Astral did so, and she continued, pulling out another medallion from her cloak, "This will be yours; if you can control yourself and the power the Rite will bring, I'll teach you all I know. I don't need explain the consequences for failure."

She held the medallion out to Astral and he took it, slightly confused and apprehensive at the lack of clear direction.

"Master, what exactly am I suppose to control?"

She breezed by his question, walking towards the edge of the clearing and calling back, "When you're ready to begin, hold it to your forehead, the medallion'll do the rest for you. I'll be at the edge of the clearing, making sure you don't destroy this place."

Astral looked down at the medallion on his hoof, feeling a sudden chill come over the metal; he looked back up and found his Master already at the edge of the burned clearing, waiting expectantly for her student to begin. His eyes slid back down to the medallion, and he took a deep breath, smashing the sliver of fear trying to whisper in his ears to nothingness.

Raising his hoof, Astral placed the medallion against his forehead and waited.