Gatling Rain on a Steam Filled Morn

Night were standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the vast sands of the endless desert that stretched over teh whole world. It's been a few centuries since the planet were baked dry, and water became a scarce resource. Yet, demand and supply of said water still hasn't ceased to be as large as it has always been. With everything taking to the skies, demand for water skyrocketed. Then magic imbued steam came into play, and it relieved some stress from the demand of the precious resource.

Befor Night flew four large birds. Made of metal. It glinted brightly, flashing many times in her direction. And they circled one object. Endlessly. Like vultures.

Night held her hands open to herself, and she conjured flames like it was nothing. She read Waltz's book. Only for the fire element, though, nothing more. The easiest to master. But she didn't just do it for control over fire. Dissipating the flames in her hands, she focused, held her hands before her, palms turned up, and stayed silent, taking a deep breath.

"Say the name of the item you want to conjure.", Silver explained.

"Sword."

In her hands, a broadsword were conjured, made of metal coated in furious red flame.

"Refine it. Drop the object over the cliff, and try again. Do you want a random weapon every time?"

"No, I want a longsword. With an extended blade."

"Then imagine a longsword with a longer blade, and call for a longsword.", Lilac continued in her lesson.

Night focused again, cleared her mind, held her arms out. "Longsword." In a flash, a blade with a very long edge conjured in her palms, coated in mad red flames. "But what about the color of the flames?", she asked. The flames died, as if they were shy themselves, fizzled out, and the blade slowly burned away into ashes.

"That would be the next part of this lesson. You have to make sure that the first color flame you would see when you think 'fire', is whatever color you desire it to be. Meditate on it.", Silver sat besides the mare. "Rapier." In the mare's open hand, a rapier coated in white flames materialized in a flash, and the flame itself burned bright and fiercely.

Night sat down, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes, sitting up straight. She rested the back of her hands on each of her knees, and took a deep breath. What color does she want to see when she sees fire? What color does she see? Obviously, red. the color she desires is a midnight blue. The darkness of the night is accentuated most heavenly by the color blue. And so she focused on that. "Longsword.", she spoke. In her hands, a long blade coated in ethereal blue flames were conjured. And unlike the fire she just held, and unlike Silver Lilac's own, it licked at the blade softly and slowly. Very calm.

"Good. Now. You told me you desired to wield two. Let it fall. Then stand up." Night did just that. "Hold your hands out to your sides, as if you would wield two swords." Night locked her arms straight, palms up, furthest away from her body. "Now grip those unseen pommels."

Nigth closed her grip on teh blades that weren't there. "Longsword." In each hand, a long blade coated in blue flames were conjured. She held each at the ready for a strike.

"And the final lesson. How hot does your flame burn? It as hot as your will, no more. If you can't see this fire burning metal, it will not."

"Oh, this fire will melt whatever it strikes. Metal, stone, wood, anything."

"A most deadly heat will encompass your weapons at all times. The heat needed to burn straight through metal with such ease is so intense, that if you had your weapon at teh ready, or a flame in hand, anything nearby that can burn can and will catch fire."

"Good! I am as dangerous as the flame I hold! I am as deadly as the heat of my fire! If I desire to cut down birds of metal and armor, I will cut through them like it is nothing!", she leapt forward, wings fanned wide.

"Wait!", Silver called out. "You can't seriously be thinking to fight those golems!"

Night were already soring towards those metal birds at high speed, and the trail of blue flame left behind by her blades spanned a long distance behind her. Those golems noticed her very swiftly, and turned their aimless circling towards Night. It took seconds for them to be upon her, and she met that first golem with a barrel roll, slicing clean through it's right wing right at the joint, and it fell helplessly into the sands. Gunfire cracked the air as the other three shot at her, and they missed, aiming at the spot she were at but a moment before.

The next to meet Night backwinged to a halt, and she slammed into it's chest, digging her blades straight into it's armor'ed breast. With a loud screech, it began to fall, gears clicking and grinding against one another, stopped by her blades and melting as new metal touched them. The other two stopped above her, and circled with guns focusing on ehr from above. Night kicked off the second golem as automatic fire cut into and tore that golem to pieces, flashing behind her as she leveled herself with the remaining two, and with a scream of fury, hto blue flames burst from her body, melting the two golems into inoperable states. As if they were made of wax held next to lava.

As the remaining two golems dropped to the sands on top the second, the first stood up from a distance, and were met with a rain of magical arrows that pierced straight through it's body, pricking pinholes in it from head to clawed foot, right up until it's core detonated, creating a glass crater int eh sands, scattering twisted and bent metal around it's rim.

Night hovered in midair, gently beating her wings until she decided to drop down to the metal corpses below. She threw her flaming weapons to the sky, and they dissipated as the two melted golems slowly got up, bending their metal bodies by force. Night drew her rapier, grabbed it's grip with both hands, and quickly worked her blade under the loose breastplate of the golem beneath her, bending it open on it's melted hinges, then forced it completely open, exposing the still active core of the golem itself. Nothing could move, she melted any gear connected to it, and thusly, the core were defenseless now. With a sharp plunged of her blade dead center of it's shell, the core's gyroscope ceased movement, and powerful magic locked her in place, wouldn't let her move. Night panicked. It was about to detonate, and she were locked in place!

Yet it didn't explode. Light peered through the cracks around her blade, tearing open the core slowly. As that light broke forth from teh core's shell, the golden light of the magic singularity within bathed her in a powerful healing spell, followed by a pillar of red light, dropping on her from an immeasurable distance above. The magic flooded her senses, even tore her mana pool open, and magic began billowing from her form in the form of the pure embodiment of darkness. Her mane changed to that of a nebula from a system far away, stars detonated to life in her mane as they were created, and her coat glazed over with shadows, eating through her outfit to leave her whole form coated in a skin-tight representation of pure darkness. Last to change was her eyes, and she felt her previous conscience replaced with a new one. If temporarily. She felt...as if she were one with the princess of Night herself. The flood of power was harsh and hard for her to handle, yet it ebbed away, leaving her with a new coat, new mane, and her wings were dripping liquid shadows. the pillar were gone, her blade were tained with a glowing purple edge, and her grip, made of moonlight silver.

Pulling the glowing blade free, she took her stance atop the corpse of the golem beneath her, and turned to teh two golems still left. They both let out a metallic screech, probably from grinding metal vocal cords, and as the first one dove forward for that first strike, Nigth warped forward, dragging her blade alogn it's side, and passed it. In the next moment, the golem were cleaved in twain from the corner of it's mouth tot he tip of it's aerodynamic tail. The core detonated, shining another red beacon to teh sky. The last one, emotionless and unthinking, still tried to kill Night, utilizing every bit of it's arsenal from it's wing mounted chain guns to it's maw's rail cannon, aiming all five of them at her. Nigth conjured a wall of shadows, even in the midst of the day, and it swallowed every round it unleashed, eating everything that came her way until it's chain guns were empty, and it's core were nearly depleted from rail gun overclocking.

Droppign that wall, she leapt forward, and dug her purple blade into the top iof it's snout, dragging it from tip to tail, same as teh previous. It were cleaved in twain, just teh same, and as the core detonated, another pillar of red light shot from the sky, marking it's death.

"Night, are you ok?!", Lilac backwinged before the bat mare. Her jaw hung slack in awe as she feasted her eyes on the bare body of this mare, coated in shadows like a skin tight unitard, her mane flowing like a nebula in the deepest reaches of space, and her wings dripping molten shadow like melting black wax.

"I feel...fine.", Night observed one wing, then wrapped them both around herself, changing them both into a flowing open trenchcoat, regalia shirt and pants, and even boots. All colored int eh purples and blues of nigth, accentuated with glowing moonlight silver metal. Her rapier, which were previously made of celestial steel, were a deep glowing purple, and teh blade a glowing white, same as the accents on her outfit. She sheathed her weapon, and it's glowing edge were hidden.

"What happened to you?", Lilac asked.

"I...don't know. I thought I made a mistake by impaling that golem's core, but...I think I absorbed every bit of the magic that was left in it."

"Thats...and insane amount of magic to absorb.", Silver closed her eyes, took a breath, and when she opened her eyes, they were a pure black, rimmed with glyphs of ancient text. "Oh. Oh my. You look like...an endlessly overflowing well of magic!"

"A what?"

"I'magine a geyser. The size of a volcano. But instead of water or lava, it's pure magic! You look like Luna, herself!"

"I...felt like I was her. If for a moment. It felt...wrong."

"Oh...Oh my.", she blinked, shucking away the magic in her eyes. "If this is just somethign that happens when a machino core detonates near someone...then I can do this too!"

"No, only gods can do this!", Nigth snapped. It wasn't her own voice. "That...that wasn't me speaking...", she admitted warily.

The shadows that adorned her form stretched away from her body, then divided into a pitch black featureless form. It stood taller than them both, had two pure white eyes, and it's mane...flowed like a nebula, complete with the endless expanse of stars.

"L-Luna?!", Lilac gasped.

"In the...shadows.", she hmphed. "Nightmares and Sweet Dreams. My daughter...", her eyes half lidded, as if she were burdened with a minor annoyance.

".......Daughter...??", Night's eyes grew wide. Her voice were shallow.

"That was not a very good idea, little one. That was a terrile idea. You almsot fused us together!!", Luna's ethereal form snapped at her. Then the shadows dissipated by the unseen winds, and Luna herself were standing before them. "Alright. Lets enter this damned derelict...", she deadpanned, waving her hand about the air. They flashed onto the deck, and then slid into the cabin of the derelict have sunken in sand. It was the object which those golems were circling.

Inside were a small myriad of very decorative and very expensive furniture, made of red velvets, and trimmed in golden metals. The windows were all shattered, and sand were still littering the floor and any surface inside. With but simple godly magic, Luna pulled every grain from every surface, funneled it out, restored each window to kill teh wind, and even conjured a tray and several fine china pieces.

"Ugh...I didn't expect to be woken up in the midst of the day.", Luna yawned deeply, pulling the contents of the tray to herself with magic, and lounging in the one decorative chair that sat inside. With yet more fo her magical prowess, she skid the whole chair across the floor, and rearranged everything back to where it all ocne was. It made the cabin a nice living pace. With the last of her spelling, she lit each of the lanterns in the room, casting light upon them. "You may take a seat, or stay standing."

Both Lilac and Night looked at one another, then took their seats silently.

Then, as Luna began fixing herself tea...or cofee...one of the two, silence settled into the cabin. A comfortable silence. Killed only by the tiny spoon ringing against the china cup she were using.

"Uhm...", Night broke the silence. "Sooooo......", she looked around. "Where do we start?"

"I just woke up...give me a moment.", Luna took a big whiff of the drink before her, basking in it's aroma before taking a large swallow.

"Uhm. Sorry to wake you, princess. I hadn't known what I was doing. And...what's this about daughters?", Night raised a brow.

Luna took another sip of her drink. "It's never been done before. The magic inside each core is pure form essence funneled out of the wellspring of the unvierse. The sun and moon are the faucets, my sister and I are the funnels...", Luna yawned. "This was a most unexpected event. And almost killed me in my sleep."

Night flinched. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Luna held a hand up. "No worries. I'm a princess who has seen several wars and many fights, I've jumped up with sword in hand from the dead of sleep before. If I had not had that experience, I wouldn't be talking to you now, and you would have inherited every drop of power I have, and would have been forced to inherit the very responsibility of the night as a whole.", she took another sip of her drink.

"Then...should I apologize?", Night asked.

"How about you apologize for shaming your mother with such uncouth conduct. You can be a warrior if you so desire, but to so brazenly and stupidly attack a golem core with your blade...", Luna sighed.

"Mother.", Nigth said.

"Yes?", Luna responded, taking yet another swallow of her drink.

"You'rr....you're-you're....my...", Night's jaw hung slack. Luna nodded. Near immediately, her expression turned to pure ecstatic excitement. Night suppressed a screech, and instead let out a tiny squeal.

Luna smiled with a small laugh, "I haven't seen you do that since you were but a month old."

"I don't knwo you were my mother!!", she burst. "Oh my goddess, I'm so excited to have finally foudn my mommy!! And it's Luna no less! that means I'm a goddess, right?!", Night asked.

"Yes, it does. Another goddess of the night."

"Eeeeeeeee!", Night screeched.

"Calm down, little one!", Luna giggled. Then her expression changed to one of seriousness. If still happy. "I've missed you so much."

"How come you never-", Night paused. "Where have you been?", her expression changed, near to panic. "How come I've never seen you before?"

"Law."

"Law?!", Night quipped.

"Oh yes. Even we gods and goddesses have laws we must follow. I would say this would be a valid exception to that law. You're fully grown, you should know that you have birth rights. And so forth."

"That means I'm royalty!", Night realized.

"Yes, yes, and all that jazz. But royalty means nothing. 'Tis but a title.", Luna downed teh rest of her drink, then pouered more hot water into her cup. She traded her bag of herb grounds for a fresh one. "Night, I'll explain everything in detail. Each Golem core powering these mechanical monstrosities is made by me and Celestia both. It is either made by the sun, or the moon. Never both. There is one that exists made with both, and it is absolutely massive. It powers our Pleasure Gardens, and keeps it afloat a near infinite distance into the sky realm, and it's armored heart's width is teh same as that of the full wingspan of one of those golems you so effortlessly tore to pieces but moments prior."

Night tried to imagine such a large golem core. It had to be massive, with a giant gyroscope attached to it, slowly pulsing with life and spinning without end.

"S-so, uhm...", Lilac piped. "Are my parents gods, too?"

"Have you met them both?", Luna asked.

"Yes."

"Then no. By law, one, or both of your parents, if they are gods, must leave you before three months time."

Silence settled into teh room. If for only a moment. Night broke it with a question. "Why?", she asked.

"Because. It is our law. Mine and my sister's. Enforced by us for millennia. It is to keep gods from being mass produced. See, we had a quarrel with someone like this once. By magical law, which my sister and I do not keep or enforce, any god or goddess born into this world has a lock placed on their power. They are your average mare or stallion, sometimes exceptionally strong in their magical might. When they discover that they are gods, their might is unlocked and they are no longer bound by this old magic. One time, a stallion of ill repute found out he was a god. And then he abused that privilege. He locked up a mare. Raped her. Constantly. Forced her to bare many children. He was stronger than them, being a god of pure magical might. And he created a force of twenty gods and goddesses. He began an empire then, attempted to claim the world as his, copied his process fifty fold on a harem of mares that he chose. My sister and I stepped in. It was quick. Under the guise of a solar eclipse, we bore down on his castle. Where he and every one of his offspring lived. We left a lake of ever-burning magic there. Two days later, it dissipated. Needless to say, allowing this to get out of hand...we fear a repeat will happen. And we cannot have that."

"I respect this law. My children will enver know of me.", Night declared.

Luna didn't smile. "That makes me proud. But it is still a terrible law. Most godly offspring are homeless. Mortal mothers sometimes die at birth. Mortal fathers are sometimes forced to fight in a war that is not theirs. Assassins and theives, anything that can take that second parent from their offspring, can end with a god or goddess being lost to time. We are eternal, we are immortal, but we cannot escape death."

Night sighed, then began observing herself. "So. I''m a goddess. Of the night. What is this stuff, anyway?", Night rubbed her black-covered arms.

"Shadows. You can wear them like clothes."

"And I noticed that I can turn my wings into a cloak."

"Or whatever you so desire."

"Cool! I can wear a dress made of my wings! But...I'm not so keen about them being a liquid dripping mass of pure darkness."

"Your wings can be whatever you desire. Your form is bound by nothing. You even have my mane!"

Nigth felt her mane, which had...an odd texture to it. Then she willed it back to the way it was, and it changed to that exactly. "Thats better."

"Awe. I was hoping you would take after me."

Night smiled. Then stood up, fanned her coat back into wings, and closed them around her form once more, giving herself regalia similar to Luna's own.

"You look like royalty."

"I can be nice to my mom. You do have good tastes in clothes. And although I'm no fan of a rolling mass of nebula being my mane and tail, I could keep something akin to you."

"Thank you. You make me happy."

"Princess Luna.", Lilac piped.

"Yes?"

"Would you please remove these magical locks on me?"

"If another god has put magical locks on you, then you deserved it."

Lilac's heart sunk. "I...I don't...This is torture...I have no magic! I can't...I can't even defend myself...The onyl thing I have is the attunement of flame I got from the Book of the Mages..."

"Which is a magic on it's own. Oh, and I should say something before I forget. Silver Lilac. Night only survived teh onrush of magic released by the detonation of a machino core by pure chance. She is a goddess, but she did not know prior to this conversation.", Luna set her drink down. "Her well of magic could have ruptured, and she herself would have experienced a temporary magical might, then would turn to ashes from the inside out. I want you to know that if a mortal were to do as she did but minutes ago, that mortal will experience that exact fate."

Silver nodded. "I'll remember that."

"Although, as a goddess, you can split as many cores as you desire, Sweetie.", Luna informed.

"It's...not gonna be something I'll do constantly. That was a rush! It felt amazing! but this seems sketchy and not so much a good idea."

Luna focused on Night's lap. Moreso, her artificial limb. She could see he magics and curse gripping the metal. "I see you've had a run-in with Davy Jones."

Night stayed silent.

"And your silence tells me a bit more. Perhaps under ill-repute."

Nigth closed her overcoat over herself.

"Lilac, you and my daughter seem to be workign together. Do you have knowledge of this?"

"We've both had our encounters. We've both done some terrible things."

"I see. You didn't shake his hand, did you?", Luna asked.

"No.", they both responded simultaneously.

"Good. Never shake his hand. His version of immortality overwrites that of the immortality gods have. As a god, you will never age...as one of the dutchman's crew...you will age until you rot into nothing but bones..."

Now, Night were glad she didn't take his offer.

"I was in the dead of sleep before your...overflow woke me up, and bound my soul and body to yours. Keep in mind, that if you do this again, the same thing will happen. I will be jerked into your body. This is the Reclaimer's doing. If you flood yourself with enough of my magical might, I will effectively fuse with you. Thing is, the younger of us has dominant control over the results. If you decide to split a core once more, pay attention to it's casing. Each core is one of two kinds. Silver, or gold. And I'm sure you can tell which is which from that info. You can line up fifty golden cores, impale and rupture each, and gain magical might five hundred times stronger than Celestia and I combined. It will hurt very much so, but it is possible. Yet, split just one more core, and we will go through that separation again."

"I'm sorry, mom..."

"No worries, Sweetie. I am unharmed."

"What if another god does the same thing?"

"Nothign will happen. They must be the offspring of either me or my sister for there to be a chance of this happening. And Celestia has no children. Even to today."

"Whaaaaaat!", Lilac grew slack jawed.

"Oh yes. Gossip amognst fillies!", Luna leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper, "She's stilla virgin!"

Night's jaw fell slack, then a smiled curled on her lips. "Oh, it's so great to finally meet my mom!", Night screeched again cheerily.

"Now, I'm awake. I won't be for long, but I am.", Luna set her drink down on the tray, relaxing on the chair she sat.

"This is so sudden. I came out here to hone my magical skill, enjoy a fight, even loot this derelict. Metal vultures were circling it endlessly, there's gotta be something of value here."

"Hmm. Depends on what ship this is. I don't know the interior of every old ship dropped into the sands, but there are a few by name I recall.", Luna held her hand out to the wall opposite the other two, and the metal loudly peeled away, then whisked to her, flipping over to display a name. She set it back in a flash, sealing the hole back. "This is the derelict Sand Mistress.", she smiled. "An armory holding my person weapon, the Cresca Tra Lurae. I once adopted the visage of a reaper. That was the weapon I chose to use."

"A scythe?", Lilac asked. "M-may I?"

"If you can find it, it is yours. That is, if it's still here. But my daughter has first choice, not you."

"She can have it if we find it.", Night glanced at Silver. "Her favorite weapon is a scythe."

"Oh yes!", Lilac held her hands out, conjuring the weapon in question. The blade were pitch black, and the handle, made of deep blue lunar metal.

Luna furrowed her brow. "Thats it! Odd. How coincidental."

Lilac looked at the object in her hand. "You mean to tell me that this is the Cresca Tra Lurae?!", she asked.

"Thats her name. And she can be one bitchy weapon if she doesn't like you. We fought for a whole decade."

"It...she...talks?!?!", Lilac grew slackjawed once more.

"You mean to tell me that all this time that you've wielded this weapon, you've never once heard her say a word?", Luna raised a brow, a grin spreading on her features. "Oh, I do wanna know what she has to say now. Either someone put a silencing spell on her, or she just doesn't like you.", Luna held her hand out. The weapon jerked from Silver's grasp, and ended up in the princess's own. With that, she pulsed her own magic through the weapon.

"YOU UGLY WITCH!!! HOW COULD YOU LET ME BE SHATTERED LIKE A COMMON PIECE OF GLASS?!?!?!"

"Oh, this is going to be entertaining.", Luna levitated the weapon back to Lilac.

As she gripped the blade, the ruccus began anew. With a scoff. "You woudl let this harlot still wield me, even knowing that she let me be shattered like glass?! They had to reforge me! I was reforged! How could you let her keep possession of me after that?!", the blade complained. "I went through a reforging process! The heat was unbearable! It is an absolutely horrid, terrible, and painful experience to reach temperatures of twentt nine thousand degrees!! Luna, do something!"

"I entrust this weapon to you formally. If you had her before finding this derelict, you are extremely lucky to have found her."

Lilac smiled. "You complain so much, yet I broke down to my knees because you were shattered. What do you say to that?", she quipped.

"I...I!!", the weapon replied, shocked.

"Lurae~!", Luna sang. "Is this true?"

"...Yes...", the weapon replied sheepishly.

"Then I am impressed that you would have such a heart for a weapon. I would say that no better person exists in thsi world, aside from me, to wield this weapon. May your friendship end only the day that you fall for the final time."

"I trained endlessly for weeks with this weapon so to be a force to be reckoned with. Knowing that you were alive all of this time, I can say we've already created a bond. And you can't tell me that you didn't enjoy those polishings."

"Oh she dost love being polished. Like stroking a mare or stallion in the most perfect sexual way~", Luna giggled.

"Shut it, Luna!", the weapon barked.

"Cresca Tra Lurae.", Silver Lilac repeated. Then held the weapon closer. "Well. Now, I'll keep this weapon closer than I once did."

"So, does the flood of power feel as wondrous as it looks?", Luna asked.

Night nodded. "I will use this power to my advantage. And spread the idea of this new practice to my lover."

"Oh?", Luna raised a brow. "And who would that be?"

"His name is Cloud Waltz. God of the wind."

"Son of Smaragdos Frangoventus. You do know that the simple fact that you are both gods may mean that the love you have for one another could be fake...right?", Luna asked.

"W....what...?", Night stuttered.

"Oh. Poor baby.", Luna sighed. "There is an ancient magic that plagues any and all gods and goddesses. And yes, it affects who you fall in love with. The more anceint gods before me and Celestia hated the idea of intermingling with mortals. So they cast a spell on all gods. A powerful one still felt to today. Gods and goddesses are naturally drawn to one another. It could be a glance from afar, meeting eye to eye on a dance floor, even getting drunk and finding that other gender in the same bar. Gods fall in love with one another very easily. So, be wary of that, daughter of mine. Love isn't fickle for gods. It is influenced. Keep that in mind, and spread the word."

Night stood up without a word, and left the cabin, leaving the door open. She didn't stop on the deck, either. She walked. Past the stairs to below deck, allt eh way to the bow.

"They have been together for a short while, but have shared a few trades of affection.", Silver piped. "Even if the love they have for one another is fake, or influenced, would it be wrong to separate them?"

"Yes and no. Love is something that can happen any way shape or form, any time, place, between any two species, even with an object. Lurae is no exception. She loved me and had no bounds. In my young days, we did pleasure one another."

"Luuunaaaaaa!!", Cresca whined.

"It was...an odd relationship to say the least, but love knows no bounds, and I know this down to the letter. Oh, and by the way, she is not enchanted with that famous spell, which's name I forget. Something something, whatever. My experience with this weapon is eight hundred years strong. But none of my skill will be inherited by anyone who wields this blade."

"The Denizen Yesterday, Hero Today spell. I know it well."

"There you go, that one. Anyways. If you can tell it's the godly influence taking hold of their hearts, I advise taking action. They deserve love. But they do not deserve to be forced to love one another."

"I...I like her...", Silver admitted, her grip tightening on the scythe's handle.

"You do? Hmm. Silver Lilac, if you have the desire to romance my daughter, I will tell you only one thing. Do not manipulate her, do not take advantage of her influenced love for this other god. If you want my blessing to fall in love with her, then you ahve it. But if we meet again, and you are in a relationship with my Sweet Dreams, then I will search your mind. Any wrong doing that you have done to push her away from this god, I will know about. And it will result in you continuing to have my blessing, or having your emotion of love being taken from you by force. I will not lock it away with magic, I will not suppress it with an enchantment. I will grab your heart with my bare hand, and wrench the emotion of love straight from your chest. You will never be able to love anything ever again. This threat is very real. Do not wrong my daughter. If you wrong my daughter, you do wrong by me as well, her mother. Am I clear?"

"Crystal...", Silver answered.

"Good. This tea is really going to help me sleep, and I can feel it.", Luna held her hand to teh front of the ship, and pulled Night back to the cabin.

"Mother, let me be in peace!", Nigth snapped.

"I'm leaving.", Luna announced, standing. Then held her arms open. Night hesitated for a moment, but ultimately embraced her, hugging her tightly and pressing her face into her stomach. She shook. "It's ok."

"It's not.", NNight parted. "For all I know all fo this affection I feel for him...it could be fake."

"I did not say that the affection between gods is forced. I simply said that it is influenced. But what you may be feeling may not actually be real. You can never be sure. However.", Luna knelt before her, bringing herself to eye level. "If you want to love him, don't let this misguide you. You can if you want to. Even if it is influenced by something else, it's still you. Every bit of it."

Night looked down. "No. It's fine, mom. I'm just gonna...break this off when we meet again. Thats my choice."

Luna nodded. "Do you want this ship? I can restore it to mint condition, if you'd like."

"Actually...Do me a favor. Change someone's mind for me. Her name is White Rose. She's a racist bitch, and the mother of the most heroic stallion I've ever met. The world would be ebtter if she weren't."

"Is that all?", Luna asked.

"..........Yes."

"Here.", Luna held her hand to Night, and a small orb were conjured in her palm. It swirled with shadows on the inside, like a sea of roiling clouds. "Throw this at her. That racism you speak of will be gone instantly." It were no bigger than a small ball.

Night took it gingerly. "Thanks mom."

"Don't mention it, Sweetie. I just wish I didn't drop the ball so hard on you like that."

"No. It's fine. Better sooner rather than later."

"Now. Would you like a quick teleport back to your ship?"

"How'd you know I have a ship?"

"You jsut told me. Plus, most people fairing the sands nowadays have ships."

Nigth sighed. "Yes...And thank you. Can I visit sometime?"

"Anytime you'd like. I'll still be in the capital. But I sleep during the day."

Night smiled a small smile, yet it faded away almost instantly. "I will visit. Frequently."

"I look forward to having dinner with my daughter. Next you see me, I'll have a feast ready."

"Love you.", Nigth hugged her again.

"Love you too, Sweetie.", Luna snapped her fingers. Next moment, Lilac and Nigth were on the Brass Beauty.

Rose immediately noticed her as she climbed the steps out of the ktichen. "The hell are you doing back on my ship?! I said no flying rats allowed!!", she shouted angrily.

Night tossed the small ball of amgic in her face. "Whatever. Waltz!"

"Here! Hey Night. What brings you aboard the Beauty?", He calle from teh railing above the cabin.

Night fanned her wings, changing her regalia into appendages, and flew to his side. "Got some good news and bad news. And some info you might like."

"Lay it one me. Also, nice outfit. Cool wing thing you're doing."

"Yeah, we're about to talk about that. So. I found out my mother is Luna herself. And I also found out that the love we feel for one another is fake. Old magic, she says. Gods will always be attracted to one another. It was never real from the beginning."

Waltz's smile faded. "You would believe something you were told?"

"From Princess Luna, no less."

"We could have had a future together."

"It wasn't meant to be. Better to break it off sooner than later."

Waltz were speechless.

Night folded her wings about herself, adopting her regalia outfit once more. "And , I just fought four machino golems. They were birds, don't know what kind. Had four chainguns, each mounted on their wings. And a cannon in their mouth. They ech fell in but seconds."

"Did you destroy the core?"

"If I didn't, they would get right back up. Thing is, I pierced one with my sword. It was a mistake. Long story short, it flooded my mana pool.", she drew her rapier, displaying it's glowing purple blade and silver white grip. "My sword looks different. And I gained the power of a goddess before it was bestowed upon me. You know you're mana pool isn't being stressed anymore, right?"

Waltz thought on this info. Indeed, he didn't feel like a radiator anymore. "True."

"Yeah. Because you found out you're a god, you inherited the power that is rightfully yours. Next chance you get, split a machino golem core. Hell, split as many as you like.", Night sheathed her sword.

"Night-"

"If it's about us, there is no more us. I'm sorry Waltz.", she interrupted.

Waltz shut his mouth.

"Now, I'm gonna go ahead and ask you to at least give Silver one of her schools of magic back. She taught me what I needed to know to be able to fell those golems. I would appreciate it if you would do this for me."

Waltz sighed. "Send her to me. I will.", he responded silently.

"Hey, Lilac!!", Night shouted tot eh amre on deck giggling to her scythe. "Waltz has a present for you!", she parted from the stallion.

Sivler Lilac took wing and flew to Waltz's side. "Whatcha got, captain?"

"Magic.", he taped her chest center. "A favor for Night.", he walked off solemnly.

Lilac gasped, then squealed.

"Oof, seems that the break up was a little rough on him.", Lurae spoke.

"Well, Night didn't take it well, either, by the looks of it.", Lilac sighed satisfied, then held her hand out, conjuring a familiar dragon. It hovered before her, flapping madly until it perched on her left houlder, nuzzling into her cheek. "Awwwwwe! Didja miss me, little gy! I missed you!", she nuzzled the dragon back, even gave it a tiny kiss on it's snout. It cooed happily.