Tears of Harmony

"I'll never leave your side, Twilight. Immortality is a curse disguised as a blessing, but to be in a position where I can use it in your service fills me with such a pride and joy I've not felt since you ascended. To squander it would be grossly irresponsible."

I was outside of The Dome.

That was the simplest way to put it. True to Mortis' word, the temple was very far from The Dome. Up in the mountains to the north, as a matter of fact. Part of The Dome had a cliff in it(the road Koss' apartment was on ran along this cliff) but it was more of a large hill that came up just East of the center of the sprawling city. The Dome was big enough that it was all one continous glass bubble, the edge of which was on flat ground, but that didn't exclude it from having hills and even some small valleys.

To the North, however, was a true mountain range, and it was here that the Temple of Moonlight was located. It had its own enviroment bubble, and even a tunnel that led straight back to The Dome. I surmised it was probably once the property of one of the pony scientists that had lived in The Dome, far back when it was just a fledgling pony research colony. Before it became the Tartarus that it was today.

"Quite the magnificient view, isn't it?" Mortis asked me. We were outside, on a small courtyard, The Dome a few miles away. The environment bubble here was a bit thinner and smaller than the towering ceiling of the bubble that gave The Dome its name, and thus allowed one to better appreciate Draconequus's atmosphere.

Of course, that atmosphere was no different from what I've already described it as: a Tartarus in our realm. Draconequus was almost permanently blanketed in dark clouds, that rolled and thundered across the sky. This cloud cover shaded every inch of Draconequus's blood-red soil, making the whole place really just miserable. I hadn't seen one living plant in all my time here thus far. It was all red and gray, with some yellow and white from assorted streetlights. I hated everything about it, but there was a kind of effect it had on you. We were several thousand feet up, and the land around and beyond The Dome stretched on for miles. It was all barren and featureless, but it was certainly something to behold from so high up.

"I understand it's no Garden World, Great One, but in time most come to appreciate Draconequus's unique beauty. If I were a more scientific sort I'd likely take great joy in studying its soil and rock types. There was once an Equestrian science colony here, if you weren't aware. I suspect that's what they studied" Mortis said.

"It's fascinating" I finally said. After leaving the dining hall Mortis had taken me down the hall, to the door at the very end, which opened out to this small courtyard. The whole temple's exterior was ringed by flat gravel, though with some magic it could've once been all grass and flowers. Most of the grounds were hemmed in by rising cliff faces and vertices, part of the mountain range, but this side of the grounds was on a cliff that commanded that sprawling view over the surface of this unforgiving planet. Maybe under different circumstances I could've appreciated this world, but as it stood it'd always be little more than a lawless pit in the middle of the Serpent system.

"Have you lived here long?" I asked Mortis, turning to face him. He smiled and nodded, and turned his gaze out over the uneasing horizon of Draconequus, his vision unfocused.

"I was born on Cadenza, and lived there for over thirty years. It was the most beautiful world I've ever seen, Great One. Majestic, beautiful cities spread across her landscape for miles and miles. Her capital, Endless Shining, was said to hearken back to the design of the Crystal Empire, back on Equus" Mortis explained.

My heart leaped up into my throat at the mention of the Crystal Empire, what was once meant to be my kingdom, before Twilight's Ascension put an end to kingdoms and princesses. Thoughts of mother and father returned with a violent vengeance, and I felt another episode coming on.

"You will be the protector of Equus and all Her colonies."

"Our daughter will carry Twilight's Will across the world and stars, Shiny. I think she can be allowed to stay out after dark."

"'A Thesis on the Nature of the Lesser Races and their relationship with the Greater Equestrian Empire', by Flurry Heart."

Stop I thought. Focus. I couldn't afford to dwell on it anymore. It all happened centuries ago. It wasn't worth thinking about any longer. Mom and Dad, my time as the Royal Hunter, my years spent studying and training, it was time to move on from it all.

"Great One?"

Mortis' voice brought me back to reality, and I shook my head. "Forgive me, I was lost in thought, wondering what your home planet must've looked like. I've never seen a Garden World, you see. I was born here in The Dome" I lied.

Mortis nodded glumly. "It's a shame what has befallen us, that we are forced to live on worlds like Draconequus. Indigo, myself, you especially. This world is no place for Great Ones, it pains me to know that this world is all you have ever known. I would give all I have to return to Cadenza. The same is true for most of us here at the Temple, I think."

"What brought you here, to The Dome?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"A bit of a pointed question, Great One. Twenty-something years ago I was a magician, a showpony, in one of Cadenza's more modest cities, but like any pony I had private interests. Hobbies, even. It just so happens those hobbies fell outside the scope of the law. Truly, I intended well, but as I once read in a book, the portal to Tartarus is opened with good intentions" Mortis explained.

I know that all too well.

"In the end, I escaped to here. I spent a few years just surviving among the Equine underground of The Dome, and then I learned of this place. It took some time to find it, but when I stepped in through its doors I was left in wonder. The temple had been remarkably well preserved for a building that hadn't been inhabitated in, supposedly, centuries. With the help of a few friends I repaired what little damage there was and restored power and running water to the building, and thus I established the Order of Moonlight. Our modest ranks are composed of all types of ponies, from all sorts of worlds. We even have one who was born in Canterlot itself. We seek out those spurned by their own kind for their unorthodox interests, and seek to provide them with as normal of a life as we can on this planet."

"I see" I said. It was patently obvious at this point that Mortis was hiding something from me. Both him and Indigo had been forced to leave a pony-dominated world because of some crimes they'd committed, but both had declined to share the nature of those crimes. If Indigo's had been bad enough to warrant the intervention of the Royal Hunter then something was certainly wrong. "How many ponies live here, anyway? What is it that you all do?"

Mortis smiled, and I knew what was next. "Oh, Great One, that's hardly something to concern yourself with. So long as you stay here, you will not have to perform any work or tasks for us. Your mere presence enlightens us all."

Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with this place. They lived in seclusion from The Dome(admittedly, this wasn't as suspicious), some of their number had been transporting soul gems back to here, and all of their members had been exiled or escaped from their civilized home worlds. I was well and truly convinced at this point that I was dealing with some potentially dangerous individuals, and I decided then that I wouldn't try to recruit them to my cause until I knew for absolute certain they could be trusted. I was already putting too much trust in them by staying at their temple.

"Thank you, Mortis" I said. If I couldn't get a direct answer, I'd have to find out some other way. If I'd lost everything else, then at least I still had time on my side. I'd always have time, even if I was tired of wasting it.

"Think nothing of it, Great One."

That night(again, what passed for night on Draconequus) I found myself sitting in the grand bedroom I'd first awakened in, bored. There was a bookshelf against one of the walls, but none of the tomes on it had been particularly interesting(though a few had been allegedly written by Twilight Sparkle herself). I climbed out of the bed, taking care to be gentle with my leg, and trotted over to the door, intent on seeing what Indigo was up to.

The hall outside the room was empty, so I checked the common rooms and dining hall, all empty. There were bathrooms at the end of the hall, right next to the door that led out to the courtyard, but I decided to leave them be. Turning back I trotted towards the other end of the temple, coming up on the grand central foyer. There was a set of double doors to the right that led out a small lawn(what used to be a lawn, I guess) and to the left there was a large stone mural, beautifully cut and depicting some manner of wizard or mage pony looking to the skies above. Next to this was a small staircase, leading down, and a heavy steel door, which was locked.

That left the East wing of the temple, which was where the Unicorns here at the temple practiced their spells and performed magical experiments, the nature of which I still hadn't ascertained. I shrugged and trotted down the hall, and scanned each nondescript door. I could hear horns lighting up behind each, but decided not to bother with any of them. I noticed that every door in this wing was closed, in contrast to the West wing where doors to common rooms and the dining hall would be left open, which I found interesting.

As I neared the end of the hall I heard a dull *whump* from behind one of the doors and some shouting. The door opened after a few moments and thin tendrils of black smoke leaked out into the hall, dissipating in the air. Indigo stepped out of the room, coughing and waving at the air. She saw me and sputtered, and I trotted over to her. "Is everything alright?" I asked.

She nodded in the midst of her coughing, and gestured for me to follow her as she made her way to the bathrooms at the other end of the temple. I patiently waited outside as she recovered from whatever mishap had occured, though part of me said I should take the opportunity to gallop back and see just what she'd been experimenting on.

After some time Indigo came out of the bathroom, her fur still lightly blackened from the soot, and she let out a sigh. "Goodness me, that was something. I certainly won't be trying that again. Did you need something, Great One?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I was merely having a trot about, stretching my legs" I said. Technically true.

"Mmm, is your leg bothering you still? It'll still be a few more days before it's fully healed, I'm sure" she said.

"It's fine, only mild discomfort. I'm more worried about you; that sounded like quite the blast."

"Bah, it was foalish. An improper chemical mixture, is all. Mortis tasked me with crafting a few restorative potions to replenish the ones we used on you, and I'm afraid I'm a bit out of practice when it comes to alchemy. I'll just have to--" she wavered in place, bracing herself against the wall. "Ooh, goodness, excuse me. I'll just have to try another mixture."

"You don't look so well. Perhaps you should lie down" I said. I thought she was about to deny it when she nodded, pushed away from the wall, and headed for one of the common rooms.

"I'll do that for just a moment, thank you, Great One. That blast must've knocked me a bit more than I realized." She sat down on one of the bunk beds and remained upright for just a moment before she collapsed, though still conscious, onto the mattress.

I took the opportunity to canter back down the hall and across the building to the room she'd had her mishap in. I quickly darted in and took in my surroundings. True to her word there was an alchemical set on one of the counters against the right-hoof wall, partially blackened with soot and some of the jars shattered. The rest of the room, though...

Sweet Celestia...

In the center, left-side, and far-end of the room was a large table and various tools and apparatuses around it, along with a few counters. I approached the table and there was a dish of cracked and smashed soul gems on it, the table marred with old blood stains and countless nicks and cuts. To the average eye, it appeared to be a surgical bay, but the black books and runes on the table told me everything I needed to know. I calmly trotted out of the room and shut the door behind me, though mentally I was in an alarmed stupor.

The ponies here were necromancers.