Clouds Swallow The Moon

XVII. Birthdays Are Overrated

Perspective: Moth

* * * * * *

Five Years Ago…

A cacophony of clip-clops echoed throughout the grandiose halls of Canterlot Castle, breaking the monotonous silence that seemed to encompass the palace. Sunlight beamed through the tall and intricately decorated windows that showcased the royal garden that housed a myriad of different creatures, all of them dear to the two princesses. Several eyes focused on the maid and her accomplice that traipsed through the large, narrow artery silently, avoiding the gaze of the statue-like guards that were on duty. The maid never appreciated the way they stared at her, not once.

I remained quiet and kept my mouth tightly shut, keeping my eyes straight as I followed the maid through the palace. My antennas swiveled around at every sound that was produced, but I paid it no mind, I would go insane trying to figure out where everything was coming from. The maid hummed as we turned a corner, walking into a long hallway that only housed more doors, but they were more like double doors. We approached the end of the hall, and the maid motioned to the double doors in front of me. I’d have to be the stupidest fucking thing on this shitstain of a planet to not know what's through these doors, but I still felt apprehensive. It seems like she's the only one who has that effect on me.

Deep down inside of me, I knew what would happen, the inevitable, the future; whatever you want to call it. Part of me just wanted to forget this notion of honor and respect that was coursing through my guilt-riddled mind, but my vision was still obstructed by the golden doors that laid in front of me, acting as my gateway to my own personal Tartarus. I so desperately wished I listened, stayed that extra hour to make sure she was safe. Check to see if she was tucked in bed, she had enough food in her belly, that she wasn't afraid to close her eyes to go to sleep. It's such a fickle thing, to wish and hope. Maybe hope is the only thing I have left, but even then, I still suffocate from the overwhelming stench of hindsight.

There's not a lot I can do now, I suppose, but it still doesn't stop me from thinking about her. She was my only company, the only sturdy ship that rode through the dark and endless sea of despair and guilt I swam through for years. A single, bleak light, and yet it remains, keeping me from breaking down. It's close to dying, but my own stubbornness keeps it lit, keeps the embers from plummeting too far into the darkness. Even after all that I did to her, she still insisted to stay by my side, through thick and thin. Lost her parents, family, friends, everything she has even known, because I was too greedy. Too lustful for money and to satiate my desire and inner demons. Cliché, sure, but it's the best I can explain it.

So, I stood in front of that tall entrance and sniffled, wiping away the gathering tears. No, crying won't help. It never has. “Fuck me, I’m so… Sorry.” I whispered to no one in particular, but the recipient of that apology was clear in my own head. She may not be able to hear me now, but I swear to Celestia, she will hear my voice one more time before she goes. Goodbyes never were my favorite, neither were greetings, but I guess I never was too social to begin with. Maybe I have her to thank for me actually convincing me to open my mouth. Seventeen years of silence isn't exactly healthy, but even then, every other word I say is a very vulgar term. Bittersweet, was my situation. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

“Are you ready to go in, Miss End?” The maid inquired softly, her expressible eyes glaring at me in worry. I didn't answer her at first, I was too busy preparing for what lied behind those doors. Death? Rotting away in a cell until the day I die? Who knows, but life is unpredictable, and no one ever said it's fair. Although, life is too fair in some ways. Karma, crossroads, yin-yang, they all represent the same thing; the undying need to punish the evil, and to reward the good. Morality isn't something I ever thought about, otherwise I wouldn't have found myself in this situation. I don't necessarily care, either. Life isn't black and white, despite what most ponies would say. Taking a glance at the color of my coat, I finished my thought.

“Sometimes there's grey…” The maid’s ears flickered at my small mutter, but made no comment. Exhaling slowly, I nodded at the mare, gazing into her magenta eyes through my exceedingly long mane. “I’m ready.” Steeling myself for the worst, even if the more rational part of myself convinced me I was overreacting, I placed a lone hoof onto the opposite door, feeling the cold material brush across my fur. Silence engulfed me and all that was heard was the steady rhythm of my heart beating, thumping loudly and reverberating inside of my ears. For all I know, this could be the last moment of freedom I would ever have… I think I had enough freedom for one lifetime, though.

Pushing the door open so I could barely make it through the small crack, I slipped inside and the door slammed shut behind me with a resounding bang, courtesy of a guard to my right, who wore that neutral expression that hid their true emotions. I don't know how they did it, but I don't think it's healthy to repress their feelings like that… Kettle, meet Pot, you are both black. Sighing to myself, I stepped onto the lush red carpet that lead to the large throne in the middle of the room. Two more guards stood guard at the base of the throne, watching over the white Alicorn that finally took notice of the approaching mare that was me. She didn't look happy, but neither did she appear spiteful.

It seemed like an eternity as she strode towards me, and I could feel her stare into the very essence of my soul. “Wicked End, I am glad you've made the correct decision to surrender,” she said, her tone of voice kind. I was expecting a more harsh approach. “You are sentenced to be my servant until the day you die. There's that, or if you prefer life in prison...” The Princess waved her hoof at a pair of shackles a guard was holding in his hooves to the side. Shaking my head, I chanced a look up at the benevolent leader, my thoughts muddled and incoherent.

“No, princess. I’ll work for you.” I managed to say, keeping my sights set on the princess instead of the shackles that seemed to call my name. I don't want to go to prison, there might be too many ponies in there that know me, and too many ponies that would be awfully glad to kill me in my sleep. I’m not exactly the most trustful pony around, and I had my share of betraying ponies for my own benefit. Time to make a change, even if it's for the wrong reasons.

Celestia smiled gracefully before motioning to the two guards behind me. “Good, thank you. Gunnery Sergeant Dusk, please escort Miss End to her room and then return back to your post,” she ordered to the stallion guard that stood by the doors. I turned towards him, and he saluted to the princess before opening the doors, traipsing through them. Without a word to anyone, I followed him outside and the doors closed, slamming shut at my back. To my misfortune, the nice maid that lead me here was gone, and was now replaced by this butt-fucker. I have a dislike for the Royal Guard, they caused me too many problems in the past to count. Sucks that I have to see the assholes everyday, now.

Well, here I am. Still very much alive, and technically free. I mean, I have to kiss Celestia’s round plot until I keel over and drop dead, but at least I’m not going to rot away in a cell for the rest of my life, worrying if I’m going to get stabbed to death whenever I go to sleep. Although, maybe a guard will grow some balls and attempt to kill me while I’m here, but that's unlikely. So, I’m left with one option; stay here and work for the oh-so great Princess Celestia forever, but I suppose things could be worse. Now that I think about, I actually came out all of this in a better situation than I was before. I am just going to have to keep my inner kleptomaniac from stealing too much. No biggie, honestly.

“Wicked End, huh? That a nickname or something, buggy?” Gunnery Sergeant Dusk asked, swiveling his head to look back at me. I rolled my eyes at him, opting to ignore him. Last thing I need to do is kill someone right as I turn everything around, and I doubt the princess would enjoy finding a corpse in the garden. It might help the flowers and plants, but it won't help me. But, he brings up a point… My name sucks, it always has. Unfortunately, my parents were a little too obsessed with Nightmare Moon and the end of the world.

Pursing my lips, I thought for a moment before catching up to him as we turned a corner into a much larger hallway. “Call me… Moth, that or I break your kneecaps.” I suggested, internally groaning at the fact that I’m actually talking to this poor, deluded fool. Moth, huh? Nothing more creative? Meh, sue me. I’ve never been one for creativity, especially when it comes to making up names for the sake of throwing the guards off of my trail. I’m good at disguises, though, I’ll pat myself on the back for that one if I could reach that far.

The guard chuckled as we passed more guards that were standing at attention, and I was the brunt of their scrutinizing looks. “I have hard kneecaps, and I have access to a weapon. Might want to change that attitude fast, prick.” Scoffing, I kept my vision concentrated on the walk ahead of us. I don't know how anyone can stand this castle, it's just one gigantic maze of bullshit. If I ever get hungry, I’ll probably starve to death before I find a kitchen or something. Whatever, like the alleyways of Canterlot are any better. I may not know where I’m going, but at least I’m not stumbling into a swarm of rats or a pile of rotten trash that reeks of death… Speaking of that, I may smell like that, actually.

“Fuck off, statue-stallion,” I murmured as we entered what I assumed to be where I’ll be staying. It was, what a surprise, another hallway, but there was dozens of hallways with multiple doors. I passed a few, and some had tags on the doors, like ‘Dusk Storms’, ‘Solar Eclipse’, and ‘Sithiis’. Great, guess I’ll be living in the same area as we these bloody pricks. We slowed to a halt in front of an unmarked door and Dusk waved his hoof at the door. Rolling my eyes once again, I pushed the door open and was met with a room that appeared more luxurious than anything I ever resided in. Surprise, surprise, the convicted felon gets a glorified hotel room, plot twist right there. Fuck me, why does this feel so wrong somehow?

“Listen, me and some other guards are going to a bar later, would you want to go…?” He asked, standing outside of the door and looking in. I turned towards him and scoffed, slamming the door shut in his face. “I’ll take that as no, then.” His voice was muffled by the closed door, and so was the receding clip-clops of his hooves. Yeah, like I want to spend time with a bunch of pillow-biters that nearly killed me, no thanks. Sighing, I took in the sight bestowed before me and I whistled appreciatively. Giant bed, check; giant dresser, check; giant desk, check; and whoa… Gigantic bathroom, check. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Serving tea and other shit is fine by me as long as I keep this room.

Then I realized I was here for a reason. “Alright, let's see where this fucking maid uniform or whatever is…” Grumbling to myself, I started searching high and low for something that I must wear. I mean, I’m a servant now, apparently, and usually means you have to wear some kind of frilly outfit or something, right? Oh well, I looked everywhere, there is none. “Might as well see what there is in the desk and,” Glancing around, my eyes landed on a closet door. “Closet.” Rummaging through the desk, I found paper, a bowl of ink, and a quill. Useless, unless I ever feel in the mood to draw dicks. “Closet it is, then.” I walked over to the closet and threw it open, and I was greeted by the sight of a large chest.

On top of the box was a note, and I picked it up, reading its contents aloud. “Inside this chest, you will find everything necessary to begin your servitude. Details on your first mission will come in time, right after your training. For now, become familiar with your new environment and make some friends! Signed, Princess Celestia,” My eyes lowered at the sight of some more words. “P.S. Welcome to Moonlight XIII, Wicked End.” Crumpling up the paper, I chucked it behind me somewhere and unlatched the lid of the chest, opening it. “Huh. I can't tell if you're stupid or incomprehensibly smart, princess.” Using my hooves, I gripped part of the cowl and brought the cloak out of the box, studying it fully before continuing.

“What in the absolute fuck is this supposed to be?” I exclaimed as I struggled to lift the foreign object out of the box, my hooves brushing across its wooden surface. It appeared to be a wooden cylinder with some kind of lever on both the top of it and the bottom. Placing that to the side, I grabbed the last remaining thing inside and it was a golden pendant with many engravings and intricate designs on it. This went from ‘Serving tea in a frilly and understandably sexy outfit’ to ‘Looking like a badass’. When I went to place my new belongings back in the chest, I caught a whiff of my scent and I smell like utter garbage. Yeah, secret bullshit later, shower now. I can deal with all this later.

After searching for a minute, I found the bathroom and swung the door open, and took in the nice scenery. Better than bathing in a cold river, that's for damn sure. Switching the shower on, I stepped inside and relished the feeling of the warm water cascading down my body. Grabbing a nearby bottle of shampoo, I went to work on getting rid of my awful pungent odor. Chancing another smell, I was satisfied when I no longer reeked of shit. I cleaned myself up to the best of my ability and shut it off, snatching a towel off of a rack next to the shower space. I draped it over my body and exited the bathroom, a sudden thought resurfacing in my mind.

“Fuck… It's my birthday.”

* * *

Present Time…

“Here, here!”

The sounds emanating from a single table in the sparsely populated bar died down, fading from the air, leaving a comfortable silence that held only celebration; no fear, no regret, nothing. The occupants of the table allowed the ghosts of smiles to grace their lips, their well-used mouths curving upwards into grins at the sight of a certain white stallion. I placed my mug down gently, and it clacked against the wooden texture, the liquid contents settling into a calm pond of mind-numbing awesomeness. Accepting the silence, I swallowed and raised a hoof to point at Dusk, who was now a little tipsy; a happy, content blush flooded his cheeks and he had a cute, goofy grin on his muzzle.

“We gather here today, graciously may I add, to the celebrate the birthday of one Dusk Storms, a clusterfuck of a stallion,” That earned a half-hearted kick from the colt in question and relatable laughs from everyone gathered around. “I don't know what lies ahead in the coming minutes… Hours… Days… Weeks… But, hopefully, we can all look back upon this day and smile. For once, all of us pricks are here, together, sharing this joyous occasion.”

“So, with that, let's drink!”