Learning to see Luna, the story of Vivid Colour.

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 3. Needle and Thread
Chapter 4. Sawdust
Chapter 5. To meet a murderous mare
Chapter 6. Soap
Chapter 7. Magic
Chapter 8. Bedsheets
Bonus scene. Drunk ponies
Chapter 9. Dreams
Chapter 10. Friends
Chapter 11. Bitter metal
Chapter 12. Recovery
Chapter 13. Worship
Chapter 16. Serenity
Chapter 17. Losing Faith
Chapter 18. Old friends
Chapter 19. Old Wounds
Chapter 20. New bonds
Chapter 21. The Princess Luna
Chapter 22. The Rural Vivid
Chapter 22. War from the South
Chapter 23. War From Within
Chapter 24. Trials by Fire
Chapter 25. To War
Chapter 26. No more choices left to make.
Chapter 27. Bereft of time
Chapter 28. Capability
Chapter 29. Comfort
Chapter 30. Worship
Chapter 31. Adjusting
Bonus Scene: The Making of a Meal
Chapter 32. Moonset
Chapter 33. Stars
Epilogue
Chapter 1. Seawater
Chapter 2. Feathers
Chapter 15. Vengeance
Bonus Scene: The Founding of a Nation

Prologue

Apace with the tapping sound next to her, Vivid Colour walked properly. Each lift of the leg was a practiced motion, perfect in every way for royal presentation. Her tail was held up in style, and head straight. She could feel her simple dress brushing against her legs, and dismissed the feeling as so much white noise in an environment full of noise.

She could pick out the noises of the two mares walking alongside her, the ponies seating themselves nearby. The judge was not present yet, she could tell, because the judge's dias was hollow and had a particular sound to it. She could hear the bailiffs shuffling in place, their hoofcuffs and heavy uniforms ringing in Vivid's ears like a whole mess of metal being dumped down stairs would for a normal pony.

She could hear sniffling, weeping. It sounded fake to her. The even breaths with slow wails, so practiced, too normal. Grief had many forms, Vivid knew, but she gladly interpreted this form as artificial.

As she passed across a raised ridge that marked a doorway, the occupants of the courtroom became aware of her, and she could hear a few of them gasp and make little, polite and stupid undignified noises. Vivid almost smiled, they sounded like pigeons rustling around on a rooftop, grumbling about the cold.

The two mares flanking Vivid stopped, and she did as well, standing until they sat, at which point she copied them. Each noise of movement gave her a cue on how to act.

"All rise for the honorable Judge White Sail."

They all stood, and Vivid turned her head slightly to follow the sound of the judge walking up the podium and sitting at her chair.

"The court may be seated."

"Before we begin I would like to establish a few things. Ms. Colour, you are a ward of the crown, and by that you must represent yourself, unless you submit to the crown's judgement. Do you submit?" the judge asked, her voice tired but the tone more likely just the calm offered by being witness to so many trials that they no longer shocked her.

"I do not, your honor," Vivid replied quickly, keeping her voice level and strong.

"Very well. Secondly, I have been told that you are fully blind, and this will have some relevance to the case. Is this true?"

"It is, your honor."

"Have you been seen by any medical professional?"

"No, your honor. My condition was from birth, and there have been no examples of it being cured by any method. I only see doctors when I am sick."

"Very well. Representing herself will be Ms. Vivid Colour, representing the Nail family will be Missus Strike. Ms. Strike, arraign the defendant," the judge concluded.

The voice that spoke up next was firm, loud. It was the sort of voice that came from confidence and power. Viv could also hear the low hum of the mare's horn lighting. She was a unicorn, and as she lifted her papers, Viv became aware of the papers themselves, like the echo of an image across her own horn. Thin sheets, slightly wrinkled at one edge, shimmering like the cool of a winter breeze.

"This is the first cause of the year. Paragraph number one: By the authority of the king of Bitain. The appointed court of Suffolk presents in the court of Suffolk that in Suffolk county, Vivid Colour, hereafter styled the defendant, heretofore on or about the first night of the new year, did then and there unlawfully intentionally and knowingly cause the deaths of Iron Nail and Sharp Nail, hereinafter called the complainant, by vivisection with magicks, against the peace and dignity of the ponies of Suffolk. Signed by the forepony of the jury."

The papers were set down which released that awareness Viv had over the magic that had held them up, and Ms. Strike took another breath before continuing.

"A good morn to you, your honor, and to the jury."

"Good morn," the judge replied calmly.

Vivid wondered if they might be friends, as familiar as they seemed.

"Ms. Colour, how do you plead?" the judge continued.

"Not guilty, by reason of self defense, your honor."

There was a spat of angry shouting and cursing from the pews, but they were subdued quickly.

"So the defendant pleads. Prosecution, your opening statement please."

"Your honor, ladies and gentlecolts of the jury, Vivid Colour is a killer," Ms. Strike said as she stepped out from behind her table and into the clear area in the center of the courtroom. "Though she says she is blind, she has considerable skills in hearing and in magicks, and has a heart full of fury. This murderer, sat between assistants, has no need of aid. She has no need for protection, and indeed has lived her entire life without any assistance or attempt to repair her eyesight. When two young colts, alone but for eachother, chanced across the defendant, she unleashed magicks so deadly and powerful that their mother could not recognize them. In this trial, I will prove that Ms. Colour intended to murder these children, planned it out, and did so without remorse. It is the intent of the prosecution to plead the court to enact the greatest sentence allowed by our laws. Exile at sea."

Viv listened to the rich low voice of the mare accusing her of murder. The voice stayed level, never sinking into emotional pitch, but maintaining a volume and tone that portrayed unquestionable fact. It was a practiced thing, and her breaths came carefully at the end of each sentence, setting a rhythm that other ponies probably didn't realize made them feel more comfortable towards her. Viv wondered if that confident tone had been used to sentence innocent ponies to the sea, or if that level of confidence required absolute belief in what she was saying.

"Ms. Colour, this is the time when you give your opening statement."

Viv tried to smile, but she was tense, nodding in the direction of the judge and stepping out into the same empty space, but she ran nose first into a table, recoiling and rubbing her nose as a buzz of muttered conversation rolled through the courtroom. One of the assistants stepped forward and guided her around the table, through the wooden gate that swung on nearly silent hinges, and over a small step down, all of which had remained invisible to Viv's keen senses.

It sprung in her a feeling of helplessness and anger, but she reminded herself that it served a point. It conveniently demonstrated that she was indeed blind.

"Your honor, and ponies of the jury," Viv began, making sure to turn to face each of them, based on the sounds she attributed to each. "Though I will not dispute the facts of this situation, I completely deny that this act was in any way premeditated, or intentional. Most unicorns have a strong control over their magic by the time that they are adult, and I am no exception, however the way I use my magic is unique. Your honor, may I demonstrate?"

"You may."

Viv lit her horn, and then bowed low, until her horn touched the floor. The glow then spread like a pool of water until it surrounded her, causing murmuring and whispered exclamations around the room.

"This is how I may walk safely in unknown places. I use my magic to touch the ground, and it allows me to tell what I may run into, or trip on. As I approach something..."

She walked purposefully back towards the table, feeling along her path until the glow touched the table leg, and she stopped.

"I feel it pressing back, and I know to stop. But my ability to sense is extremely limited. I cannot feel anything in the air. I cannot feel anything that is more that a short distance from me, or that can push my magic away. Though I can survive without assistance, I am not some skilled combatant."

She realized she was facing the table and turned back towards the jury, letting her magic fade.

"The series of events which led to the deaths of the Nail children began with, I believe, a misunderstanding. I have been living in the area most of my life, and the boys have gotten used to seeing me about. But the Nail family is a Pegasus family. For all their childhood, I had been able to sense them, greet them as they passed, and they only knew I was blind by the magic that I used. When one of them learned to fly, by their perspective, I began to ignore them. In fact, I rarely noticed their passing. But they felt ignored, and began to foster resentment towards me in their hearts."

"Objection."

Viv jumped a little at the sudden loud voice, and turned her head towards it.

"She claims she is blind to anything she doesn't touch, but she looks at us when we speak, certainly she could have heard the Nail Colts flying nearby, or if they called out to her. This premise is absurd."

The judge seemed to ponder the objection before clearing her throat. "Ms. Colour, please explain the limits of your hearing."

Viv thought on it and licked her lips, trying to wet them a little before nodding.

"Well... walking, is easy. Or talking. I hear talking from the jury, and to be polite I turn to face them. Or I hear where you walked to and sat down, your honor, and know where to face to address you. But a gliding Pegasus, or even one accelerating, is too quiet for me to hear most times. I can only really hear when they are trying to slow down, or take off."

"Seems reasonable that a young child might not understand that the defendant couldn't see them passing by, if they were used to her responding when they walked past, continue with your description of the events," the judge said.

"Gladly, your honor, but could I have a bit of water first?"

Chapter 3. Needle and Thread

Viv's magic rolled across the cloth before pulling it into a flat sheet, and folding it as instructed. The needle she held in her hoof then lit in the same light, and began a winding zig-zag pattern through the edge of the cloth as she had been instructed. It took an incredible amount of focus to move the needle through the cloth, as both were in her magical grip, it was as though she was trying to pass one hoof directly through the other without flinching. At first, she made crawling incremental progress, every second or so, making a complete stitch. Over time, however, she was able to speed up, she became less disturbed by the feeling of her magical fields colliding and passing through eachother.

Her jaw had been clenched, she realized, and she consciously relaxed, and smiled. Though the work was difficult, it was something she could do, despite not having the claws that the griffins used to sew. Though Viv had sewed before, she'd never done it with her magic. She'd clumsily done it with her hooves to hold the cloth and only using her magic to hold the needle. But with the way they wanted it folded, she couldn't do it alone without using her magic to hold the cloth as well.

"Good, you're getting faster."

When Grace spoke, Viv's magic drove the needle down into the wood of the table, and she had to pause to pull it back out.

"Of course. I will get better, over time. I am just... Not used to using my magic this way."

Grace moved nearby, walking around behind Viv to what she assumed was another table.

"What do you normally use your magic for?"

Vivid focused more on her sewing than the question, idly wondering how she should answer. Eventually she finished the current row and tied it off, laying the cloth aside to pick up the next one.

"Gardening, mostly. A bit of work on my house. For a while I carved and sold suns."

"Suns?" Grace laughed, "Why would you be carving suns? Are you some sort of cultist?"

"I was raised in a church of Sol, so you might say that, though in Bitain it's hardly considered a cult," Viv said defensively, shifting in her seat as she realized she was defending a religion she barely cared for.

"Well, if you ever go to Equestria, don't mention it there. They don't get out much during the sunlight hours, and they certainly don't have churches of soul, or..."

"Sol," Viv corrected. "The mythical alicorn of light and heat who brought the sun to life and crafted all living creatures. I would have thought the country led by Princess Celestia and her sister Luna would know of them."

In between speaking, Viv focused on her stitches. It was a nice pattern, she thought. Straight across, then through the fabric along the line, then straight across back. When she was done, she could pull the thread and it would tighten so she could then sew more tightly to seal the crease that formed the back of the cloak's hood.

"Princess Luna I know, but I've only heard stories of Celestia," Grace sighed. "A bitter power hungry monster who tried to exile her sister to take Equestria for herself, and was banished to the sun for it."

Viv stopped mid-stitch, her jaw hanging open. She couldn't believe it, any of it. It was like having someone tell her that magic wasn't real, or that she'd been made queen of Bitain.

"That's not at all like the stories of Celestia! In fact, I had heard quite the opposite, that Princess Luna was a bitter recluse, while Celestia ruled practically alone," Viv said, setting her work aside to turn and face Grace.

"Well, they are just that, aren't they? Stories. All that would know are long dead and gone, and it is of no consequence."

"That's just not true," Viv said, the pit in her stomach growing deeper, and her heart aching. "The stories of Sol, of his daughter Celestia, those stories mean a great deal. They mean... For some ponies, they mean the world, and hold the lessons that guide their lives. Goddesses should not be just dismissed or forgotten."

"Well that will be a lesson to learn from us griffins then," Grace sighed. "Do not cherish your heroes, or your gods, because they all die eventually."

Viv didn't know how to reply to that. She'd expected to be told to get over her pain, not to have Grace show her own pain from admiring fallen heroes. Viv returned to her work, and after a bit prodded Grace to continue.

"Who was the hero or god that you lost?"

Grace wasn't quick to reply, she clearly still felt pain at the subject, but while she worked she moved over to sit next to Viv so they could speak more privately.

"Your people, the Bitains, were not solely responsible for the collapse of the Griffish empire," Grace admitted. "Though they certainly played a part. We had three kings in a row who sought to take over the world, to make our race the dominant one. Grover was the first. He began a war with Equestria just after Celestia was banished, a war that lasted far too long, and cost too many lives. Our wealth was squandered and for all of it... We acquired just this piece of land where you now reside. One village that acts as a historical reminder that we failed. Then George, who annexed and conquered many small nations, uniting them only in their hatred of us. His son, George the second, had no skill of diplomacy, no love for the poor, and sought only to pleasure himself. After those three, truly the Griffish empire was doomed. Now only a few griffins hold large cities in the mountains where the ponies could not get to us, and throughout all of this, generations of suffering, our gods did nothing."

Grace's voice was bitter and full of anger which Viv understood, the tale was one of historical sorrow and decay, with no redemption in sight.

"Some still believe. But I do not think it is wise to trust all powerful beings, whether griffin or pony," Grace concluded, continuing her work as Viv continued hers by her side.

The pony and griffin worked in silence for a while longer, before Viv heard a griffin approach her from the side. She didn't react, but nonetheless tensed up as she still didn't fully trust them.

"I have clothes for you."

Viv relaxed a little as she recognized the voice as George. She set her work down and moved her magic to the blanket over her back, lifting it off and shivering in the cool air. They did their work in one of the larger buildings, built on the ground though up on a hillside. But the building did not block the wind well, and she was grateful for the coat which was laid on her back and she was able to grab in her magic.

It was composed mostly of furs and feathers, but she didn't hesitate in securing the carved bone buttons and sighing happily as the soft lining settled around the back of her neck and her barrel. It had a fairly long tail that covered her haunches, and though her magic could feel the two long slits that would fit wings if she had them, she was pleased to find that there were flaps that laid over them, likely to keep water from flowing onto a young griffin's back off their wings, but it worked well to seal them for a pony without wings.

"Thank you, George," Vivid said, smiling in his direction as she felt the ends of the sleeves, that seemed wrapped in some kind of fur. She'd have to make sure she didn't get them dirty.

"The Edleweisses lost one of their children last winter, they'd been looking for someone to give it to," George replied, sounding tired, hurt.

"Lost?" Viv prompted while she picked up her work again.

There was more silence, and Viv had to just hope she hadn't offended them, as there was no way for her to tell what their reaction was. Thankfully, George sighed after a bit and sat down across Viv at the other side of the table.

"What do you know about Equestria?"

Viv thought on it for a bit. "Really, not a lot. I was taught of the Alicorn sisters, and of their foundation as a group which fled from Bitain long ago, but nothing recent."

"Equestria is a beautiful land, and the ponies that live there are ever expanding. At times sanctioned by their Princess, at times without that blessing. In the last decade there have been Buffalo forced from their lands, forced to flee and survive on their own as greedy settlers took their lands. Supposedly the Princess has done some work in resettling them, but the southern area has been taken by force, by ponies who claim it as their right to settle wherever they wish. We've had our own problems with settlers. Pegusi find the clouds that form in this land very suitable for building their homes, and last winter there was a fight. We are risking a drought, and they were taking our snowclouds. Galant was a bit of a hothead, and tried attacking them, which... did not end well. Griffins are historically excellent fighters due to our weapons. Without weapons, facing a pegusi alone... Hooves can break bone, and they can fly more nimbly than we can."

“So he was killed by a pony,” Viv concluded bluntly, wondering if she should refuse the gift of the coat, to respect the memory of the young griffin who had owned it.

“Yes. But we are quite aware that the violence of a few ponies does not mean that all ponies are violent. After all, you seem quite harmless,” Grace chuckled.

Viv just tried to smile, tried not to let the needle shake in her magic as it moved through the cloth.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to your work, then. See you when you come home.”

He left, and they resumed their work. Sadly, Viv did not find the work as involving and distracting as it had been before. She could easily sew without much focus with only an hour of practice, and she found her mind wandering.

Back to Bitain. Back to the dusty road named Estend, that led from her home to the town. Back to that quiet evening when she’d felt a sudden blow to her back, followed by a sharp laugh. To the desperate reach of her magic, like a million thin lines, spreading out from her, and the feeling as she sensed them pierce…

She set her sewing down and stood, trying to catch her breath, shaking her head and letting her horn go dark.

“Are you alright?”

“No,” Viv said softly. “Where could I get some water?”

“On that side of… Here, follow me,” Grace said as she stood and led Viv along the mostly empty tables of the hall, to the wall where Viv was able to take hold of the counter, wooden pitcher, and cups with her magic.

Grace went back to her work, leaving Viv alone to drink the cool water, and think. Her magic remaining around her cup and the floor around her, a comforting awareness of her surroundings.

“You’re the pony who wandered into Grace’s home, aren’t you?”

Viv turned towards the voice, surprised she hadn’t heard someone approach. Then she heard the griffin land, and realized there must be a roof entrance to the building where she’d entered. The newcomer with a feminine voice had flown down to her, unheard.

“I am. I cannot see, so I’m sorry if I seem impolite, not noticing your approach.”

“Oh, I know. Grace told everyone that you use your magic to feel things, so we shouldn’t surprise you and stuff. What would you do if you weren’t a unicorn?”

Viv smiled a little more genuinely, and relaxed. This griffin sounded closer to her age than Grace, and curious.

“Some Earth Ponies can feel through the ground, if they practice. Some Pegusi can feel movements in the air. But as I only know my magic, I imagine I would use a stick in my mouth, tap along to see what is in front of me.”

“That would be exhausting! What if you ran into something, the stick would be driven into your mouth!”

“Well the stick would be a curved one, Ms…”

“Aniessa. Aniessa Devorr, do ponies shake hands? Or, shake hooves?” she asked eagerly, moving slightly closer.

“We do, though I rarely get to, since I cannot see when it is offered,” Vivid explained as she held out a hoof, which was quickly taken hold of by the griffin, and shaken gently, with a firm grip. “It is nice to meet you, Aniessa. My name is Vivid Colour.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” Aniessa said as she released Viv’s hoof. “Call me Anie, please.”

“I prefer handsome, rather than beautiful,” Viv said, smiling towards her. “Though Anie, that is a beautiful name.”

Anie hummed, and then stepped closer, her clawed hands on the pool of magic around Viv, letting Viv feel every detail.

“When the sun rises, leave Grace’s house and come to the town square pole. Maybe we can get to know eachother.”

Then she walked away, leaving Viv somewhat confused. She turned to ask what she had meant, but Anie had already taken flight, likely leaving the building completely. She pondered the whole interaction for a moment, the rapid introduction then exit, but all she could conclude was that the griffin wanted to be friends with her. Nasty rumors of griffins carrying off ponies to consume came to mind, but nothing she’d experienced since arriving would lead her to believe that any of those rumors were true. She resolved to meet Anie once Grace and George went to sleep. She’d enjoy being up with the sun anyway, and getting to know a new friend would be an added bonus.

Taking another deep gulp of water, Viv made her way back to the table and picked up her cloth, stitching with renewed enthusiasm, now that her mind was a bit more clear of her past.

“Made a new friend?” Grace asked from her seat next to her. “Be careful, Aniessa is an odd one. She’s… We call them Druids, they live like animals. Though she is an excellent healer, she has been distant since her tutor died, the prior Druid for the area.”

“I’m accustomed to odd ponies, an odd griffin won’t bother me,” Vivid reassured Grace, still smiling.

“Well then maybe you may be able to raise her spirits. She seems not to wish to even speak to most of us, preferring her animals.”

“What sorts of animals?” Viv asked, relaxing into her work and the easy conversation that Grace offered.

They discussed Anie, and the weather in the area. Viv learned that her cold night huddled in her makeshift shelter had been unusual, typically the weather did not grow cold until several months later. There was discussion of how Equestria’s use of the clouds in the area to support new settlements may have caused the sudden cold snap.

Grace also spoke at length about the other work that they needed done, shearing sheep and plucking chickens. Viv reassured her that she would be willing to do both, so long as she didn’t have to kill the chickens herself, and they decided the next night they would switch to doing so, as they had made great progress on the needed sewing.

As the night was drawing to a close, they returned to Grace’s home, and Viv was able to get a better sense of how the town was put together, as Grace described it to her.

“There is the town square, which is square, of course. It has a big pillar in the middle which we put up our names on, and as we run out of space, we put new pieces on top, to add more names. Around the square is the park, just an open place where we can hold meetings and such, or gatherings of importance such as to celebrate a new child, or someone coming of age. Beyond the park is the first ring of homes, mine is there, er… In front of us, then to the right and all the way around there are homes in the trees we’ve grown. It’s a special sort of tree which grows the way we need it to, and which does not burn easily.”

“The big building, it was up on the hill, why not in a tree?” Viv asked.

“Well, all griffin cities have at least one great hall. It… Is supposed to represent the connection we have to the ground, and it is decorated like the first castle, with stone blocks at the base, and carved griffins on each corner, called Gargoyles. They are made of wood here, but usually stone. They protect us from the windagos that chased away the ponies so long ago.”

“I’ll have to extend my magic up there some day to see them,” Viv sighed wistfully, wondering what style they were made in, whether they were detailed or more abstract, with blocky shapes like ancient pony carvings.

“Well, maybe tomorrow. The sun will be up soon, and while you may come from a land that is awake during the day, it is just too uncomfortable for me after all these years,” Grace said before yawning, walking back towards her house.

“You didn’t always sleep during the day?” Viv asked as she followed her up the stairs, careful not to trip, knowing now that if she fell off the sides of the stairs she would fall through the branches of the tree to the ground below without much to break her fall.

“No, we began following the Equestrian schedule when I was a hatchling, I still remember being afraid of the night, it seems almost comical now.”

“Would it be alright if I went outside during the day? To spend some time in the sun?” Vivid asked as she returned to the sofa, only to be struck by the smell of cooking meat.

She couldn’t help it, her mouth watered, and she was suddenly ravenously hungry. Thankfully Grace walked into the other room as she spoke, so Viv didn’t have to hide her hoof going to her stomach, pressing it to try and suppress the ache.

“Of course! We trust you’ll stay at least long enough to finish a week’s worth of work for us, you may come and go as you please, though during the day please try not to be too loud. We all share a nocturnal schedule here. Dinner will be ready soon, though… What exactly are your needs? We don’t keep many oats on hand, we may run out in the next few days…”

Viv laughed softly, rolling onto her side and grimacing at her own conflicted feelings.

“Let me try some of whatever you’re cooking… I might be able to stomach it.”

Chapter 4. Sawdust

With a full stomach, and only slightly nauseous, Viv left Grace’s home as they settled down to sleep. She took her time walking down the curving wooden stairs outside, pausing whenever she felt a little more queasy than normal, and letting her stomach settle.

What truly disturbed her was how much she enjoyed the flavor. Certainly the texture was revolting, even cooked, and the greasiness of it bothered her, but the smoky salty flavor, and the spices they used were delicious. She’d never had anything like it before.

Finally, she found her hooves resting on firm packed earth, and she took a moment to breathe, before finally making her way to the center of the town square, and spreading her magic around the pillar, as though she was anchoring herself to it.

After sitting and waiting for a few minutes, she began to examine the rough surface of the pillar more closely, limiting her magical field to a hoof sized section, and trying to decipher each symbol she discovered. It was clear it was some sort of language, but she could barely understand written Unicorn script when it was clearly defined with printing press blocks, much less whatever it was they had carved into the pillar.

In the middle of her contemplation, Vivid felt a tingling warmth spread down from her ears, then across her face, ever so slowly. She quickly took off the heavy coat and let her whole body experience the slow path of the sunlight as dawn arrived. She couldn’t help but smile. So many mornings were ordinary, but this one felt special. Energetic and hopeful.

What a beautiful thing, she thought, to feel Sol’s sun warm her. Bring life back into tired bones. She didn’t know how the griffins could stand to sleep through it, and she didn’t want to know. Even if just for a short while each morning, she would not let herself forget the sun.

“You really are something special.”

Viv almost fell over, startled by the noise as she shoved her coat back on.

“Ex… Excuse me?” she asked as she turned her head towards the sky, where the voice had come from.

“Special,” the soft voice repeated.

Viv could feel the impact as the griffin landed in front of her.

“Unique. You can feel things with your magic, what about people? Could you examine me with it?”

“Yes… Anie. I can,” Viv said as she finally placed the familiar voice despite her tone sounding different, more serious. “But most beings feel uncomfortable with it, as I then am holding them quite tightly across their entire body. It’s not a gentle thing.”

Anie chuckled and then began walking away, though Viv felt something brush across her nose, which she concluded must have been the griffin’s tail.

“Come! I have to tend to my plants, we can also talk.”

Vivid followed the casual walk of her new friend, easily picking up on the way she would wind to the side just to walk through the crisp dried leaves to the edge of each path. She was fascinated by how every once in a while she would whistle out a bird call, when she heard one in the forest. How each call was just right for the type of bird who had called out.

Viv wondered if Anie knew what each call meant, if it was a language that she had learned. It seemed impossible, but so fanciful.

"Well, come inside."

Viv realized Anie had stopped, and she spread her magic out to find the doorframe, door, and then the thin woven walls they were fastened to.

"It's a garden. Walled, to keep it safe. Come on, now."

Enchanted, Viv followed her into the garden, pulling the door closed behind her. But while she was focused on closing the door, Anie's cheek brushed hers, sending an electric hum through her neck and down her side. It made Viv shiver, almost gasping as her hair stood on end, but she kept her surprise quiet.

"What..."

"You're cold," Anie laughed, as she began to walk away from Viv again. "Maybe you need someplace more comfortable."

"I'm not... not cold, I... why..." Viv mumbled as she followed, still fascinated, as though being led on a leash.

“You are special, and I can feel it,” Anie continued her previous statement as she picked up a bucket that sloshed, and began doling out careful measurements of water to different sections of her garden.

“Special, what sort of special?” Vivid scoffed, finally regaining her senses after being taken off guard by the physical contact that left her heart still racing.

“You don’t belong among all of them. Ordinary, predictable types. You belong in a wild and interesting place, you belong among your kind.”

“Among my kind,” Vivid sighed. “I am quite comfortable being among griffins--”

“Among those who aren’t beholden to men.”

Vivid’s mouth was suddenly dry, and she realized that she had been absconded to this creature’s home, without knowing the way back to grace’s house, and without knowing if this was a trap of some kind. She backed away.

“I’m afraid you must have mistaken me for someone else…” she mumbled.

“There is no need to be afraid, Vivid. If you are not interested in me, I will help you home, and never trouble you again. If I was truly… Mistaken.”

"No!"

Everything was quiet. The birds had stopped singing, and Anie was not moving. It was as though Viv had been dropped in the middle of a forest, alone.

"You are not mistaken," Vivid whispered.

She was almost shaking. To admit to this, aloud, in any company but that of her only friend and in a closed room... To admit to a woman. It was terrifying, she thought.

"Vivid, you said that you could use your magic to see someone. It might be uncomfortable, but you could. I want you to see me," Anie said as she stepped a little closer.

"You will not enjoy it."

"Then mayhap you will enjoy it enough for the both of us," Anie replied, lighthearted and near to laughter.

"It is no joke!" Vivid protested. "It caused other children panic when I was young, and others to think of me a horror!"

She was struck silent when Anie's hand gently wrapped around Vivid's horn. Her magic reflexively spread from that point.

Vivid could define her fingers, the way the scales hardened as they reached her arm. She could feel every ridge and then the spot just before her elbow where the scales gave away to fine feathers. They were flattened out by her magic, but she dug her magic in, letting it wrap around each feather so that she could feel what they were like without pressure pushing down on them. She felt Anie's whole arm, and then she spread her power across her body. The thin muscle over her body, not for strength but making up the curve of her chest, and her stomach. Making the length of her neck. She felt Anie's wings along their entire length as they stretched out, each feather, and the incredibly strong but small muscles that tied them together across her chest and back.

She found the place around her waist where her feathers faded to fur, but then Vivid stopped. She was going to be holding Anie's hindquarters, or her head, no matter what she did. Those seemed to her, to be the most frightening things she could do.

"Continue," Anie said.

When she spoke, the exhale changed the structure of her chest. The way she was sleeker, smaller. Vivid released her grip on Anie's chest so she could breathe, and she moved her magic across Anie's haunches, her legs were stronger than her arms, and Viv was reminded that Griffins were predators, with bodies designed for pouncing and leaping. The sharp claws on her hands and hind legs were designed for killing. The claws wrapped around her horn, were meant to end life. But for now, they were just fingers, a way to interact with the world.

She encompassed most of Anie's haunches and legs, then felt her tail. Long, whip-like with a tuft of course hair on the end. Like a brush. She was careful not to extend her magic anywhere too intimate.

She then finally felt Anie's face.

She wore a necklace. That surprised Vivid, a necklace of smooth beads and wooden charms. Each one was carved like an animal or plant. She swallowed as the magic continued, and vivid could feel the motion of her throat as she did. The back of her neck, and her head were lined in larger feathers that stuck out, forming a sort of mane of her own. Her ears were tufted spikes of feather, which she could move, instanced by the way they twitched when the magic wrapped around them. Her eyes were smaller than a pony's, and forward facing, again a predatory trait. But somehow endearing to Vivid. It brought to mind the thought of Anie focusing wholly on one thing, investigating it, and understanding it, while a pony may wander from thing to thing, or be too focused on taking in the whole world at once.

Finally, there was her beak.

Hard, sharp, and curved to a wicked point, Viv held all of Anie for a few moments, feeling her heart beat, feeling her breathe, feeling every attempt to twitch or move against the magic encapsulating her. Vivid truly understood what a griffin was, for the first time. Not just being told, or stories. She understood now how, unlike a Pegasus with wings twice the width of the length of their body, a griffin could have vast wings three times as wide as their body length or even longer.

She let go with a snap of spent magic, and a smell of charged air swirling around her, and she nearly fell unconscious from the strain, staggering to the side until she collided with a planter box and came to rest on the ground on her side, legs splayed out.

Her ears were ringing, and she felt nauseous. It reminded her of the sea, and for some reason of that damned seagull she’d eaten raw like a madmare.

“Come here, come here.”

Vivid let herself be lifted and carried off. Soon she was being laid down in a soft cocoon-like swaddle of cloth. A mess of different cloths and blankets made it easy to wiggle and find some sort of comfort as they filled in any gaps.

Anie’s hand traced the line where Vivid’s mane grew from the back of her neck. Her claws were gentle, more of a deep comb through her coat than anything painful. It was soothing, and Vivid let herself relax.

“You now know me better than any griffin does,” Anie commented after some time had passed.

“I can never see you. I can never tell what color your feathers are,” Vivid said bitterly.

“Grey,” Anie chuckled. “Grey with white speckles, quite mundane, and I know quite well what I look like, well enough for both of us/ How about… What do I sound like?”

That was new to Vivid, someone asking her opinion on their voice. She thought on it, and smiled.

“You sound like a trick. No, like… You are so certain of yourself, it seems impossible. Like you must have some secret reason for what you do. You sound… Like you are older than you seem. Wiser. Your voice has an edge to it, a sharpness that I am not used to. Like you are ready for something bad to happen.”

Throughout her rambling, Anie’s claws did not stop their combing of the back of Vivid’s neck. But when she stopped, so did the claws.

“How did you know I was… What I am?” Vivid asked, finally.

“What we are, you mean? Well… there’s something about the way you look. It made me think that you were a Butch.”

“I recognize that word, and I think I am, but… what about the way I look?” Vivid pressed further.

“Your mane is short. When a griffin is butch, they grow out their feathers like a crest, but you ponies are backwards. Lots of mane for mares. So it makes sense that you would crop yours short. You walk like you’re going to make someone get out of your way. You talk with a deeper voice than most ponies. I just… Felt something about you, when I looked at you.”

“So…” Vivid paused, trying to understand how she must appear, what things must have made her so confident in her assumption. “Someone else would not be able to tell?”

“I don’t think so. You’d just be a somewhat masculine mare.”

Anie’s claws moved from the back of Vivid’s neck to the side, running from her cheek down to her shoulder. She shivered, the pleasant feeling shooting through her in tingling waves.

“Are you cold?” Anie asked, her voice clearly hiding a laugh.

“I’m not-- That’s why you asked if I was cold, you can see when that happens? The shiver?”

“Your fur stands on end,” Anie explained as she did it again. “And you shake slightly, it looks like you are cold, really. All fluffy.”

She stopped and drew her hand away.

“I can stop if it is uncomfortable.”

“No, please don’t stop,” Vivid replied, trying to turn towards Anie, but instead swaying in the fabric she’d been laid in.

“You’re in a hammock, I imagine these are new to you,” Anie explained. “It is a sheet of cloth suspended between two trees, strengthened by rope. A bed of sorts. It is hung a little bit off the ground, but not so much it would hurt if you fell out of it. I can put you back on the ground, you just seemed to need some rest.”

“I just don’t… I’d rather be on my own hooves.”

Anie picked her back up, and set her down with ease, and Vivid remembered the way those muscles had felt against her magic. Anie was probably as strong as any earth pony. Vivid sat on the wood floor and spread her magic, finding the hammock had padding under it, and there were nearby stairs. Her magic came across Anie’s hands, and Anie played with the edge of it, making Vivid chuckle as she stood.

“You’re so playful, we’ve known eachother not even a day! Or night, whatever your people use to measure time. It’s been no time at all.”

As she spoke she continued spreading her magic, finding the lower section of the home had shavings of wood scattered around the wooden floor, as well as all sorts of small things. Potted plants, and the legs of a table all passed through her magic.

“You will find I know you quite well despite the short time we’ve had together,” Anie said, sounding almost smug.

Vivid’s magic traveled up the table legs down and behind her. It was difficult to maintain her focus at distance, but as long as it was connected to her, she could continue to spread her magic. She realized as she felt more of it, that it was a small table with the highest concentration of wood shavings spilled around it and on top of it, with some sort of carved wooden thing on the table surface.

“I know you are like a griffin at heart, I know that you fled to this place looking for peace, and that I can give you that peace.”

Vivid’s magic sputtered out as Anie nuzzled her cheek, breaking her concentration and surprising her. Her cheeks grew hot again, and she frowned despite being happy for the contact.

“Griffin at heart? I am a pony. What does that mean?” Vivid asked as she stepped away, just a little.

“You are strong, you have the viciousness of a predator in you. You care for yourself first, and are proud.”

“How could you possibly know that about me? I’ve only been in this town for a single night,” Vivid said as she continued to back away, frowning.

“It doesn’t… It doesn’t matter, okay. I just… I’ve been waiting for you for so long, Vivid.”

“I need to know. How do you know about me? How can you be so certain of who I am? How could you have been waiting for me?!”

As the silence stretched on, Vivid spread her magic around herself, her fear making her think that the silence could be more than just a pause.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Vivid,” Anie said, from a bit further away than Vivid had thought. She sounded hurt, tired. Maybe mournful of mishandling the situation. “I’ll guide you back to Grace’s home. Come.”

She started walking away, and Vivid followed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in Anie’s home.

They left the garden, and walked in silence back to the town. Once they were there, Viv heard Anie’s wings spread, and she was gone.

Vivid sat in that dirt path, her head hanging a she sighed. It felt wrong, all of it. How Anie had known her so intimately, and yet also how she’d just flown away, leaving Vivid confused and alone. She wished that she could just make Anie answer, and then know how Anie knew. Did she have friends in Bitain? Friends who would know and communicate details about Vivid, of all ponies?

There were no answers coming, so Vivid stood and resumed the walk back to Grace’s home. The welcome heat of the sun warming her back, despite feeling exhausted. She’d been up for too long, and too much of the world baffled her. She remembered those evenings laying among the herbs in her garden, letting the world pass her by, and she longed for that peace. That calm.

Quietly, she ascended the stairs, slipped inside, and curled up like a child on the straw cushions. She didn’t even bother to draw the blanket over her, as she let her tired muscles relax, and her awareness of the world fade away.

Chapter 5. To meet a murderous mare

Princess Luna strode from her room with smooth gliding steps, noticing but not reacting as four of her royal guards fell in step behind her. Had someone been listening from behind a closed door, they would have been hard pressed to notice the princess’s steps among the others.

After several hundred years of ruling Equestria alone, she’d been stunned to find that her joints had ached. Not from age, but from every little step too hard, every little bruise or bump that followed her along her eternal lifespan. She’d softened in the years between, and she’d become a better ruler for it. Her gleaming silver crown, torc, and boots shimmered in the light of the electric lights that had been installed only a few years ago. They were a new invention, a gift from an eclectic mare who had found a way to turn bottled lightning into energy that ran over wires.

Another sign of progress, another sign of time passing Luna by.

She looked like a princess, now more than ever. She cared for herself physically in large part to project a sense of security and confidence to her little ponies. It seemed to work. But there were times when no appearance could calm her ponies, and this was one of those times. Her guards were slightly out of formation, her servants muttered in the halls, and the newspaper distributed throughout Canterlot had a clearly sensational headline.

“Serial killer to be exiled to Equestria, after slaughter on the border.”

Luna sighed, looking to her assistant who had just trotted up next to her and read the headline.

“I will hear what she has to say, Fine Line. The truth is rarely so bold as the print on the page,” Luna said with a bit of a smile.

“You should meet with her in private then, not in a public court session. The Dusk court, no less! At least switch to the Dawn court, your highness. There will be fewer attendees.”

“I am not fond of my reputation as the queen of secrets, Line,” Luna replied, looking to her assistant, smiling fondly. “We will air the laundry as needed, and then in private we will speak with her again. But so long as the public does not know anything of this exile, it will remain the story of a vicious killer.”

“Very well, your Highness,” Line sighed, shaking her head. “Let us just hope that it doesn’t become a spectacle.”

The great doors at the end of the hall opened, revealing the great hall, and the throne. Two trumpeters sounded her arrival as Princess Luna entered the great hall and sat on the throne.

“Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna of Equestria presiding. The Dusk court is called to session,” the seneschal called out, and Luna was able to watch as the first petitioner entered the hall.

First, two griffins in armor, who stepped to the sides to allow the main group to enter. Then two more who were holding chains that linked to the shackles around the ankles of a pony.

The mare was much taller than the average pony and looked to have been starved, yet she had strong muscles, and a curious shine to her coat that emphasized her every curve. She also had never gotten her wolfteeth removed, which meant that two sharp canines just barely showed when she opened her mouth.

She was a unicorn, her thin sharp horn sloping to a fine enough point that it indicated more than a genetic predisposition, it indicated such heavy use of magic that it had sharpened her horn over time.

Her mane was a thousand hues of blue and cyan, ragged cut and unkempt. Her coat was maroon, deep and without any fading.

Her culture mark showed a circle of six purple darts that matched her magic aura, facing out from a flaming sun.

She faced forward but her eyes were white, without iris or pupil. Clearly she was blind, and judging by the ease with which she walked, this was not new to her.

“Presenting the Griffinstone delegation, and prisoner of the griffin crown, Vivid Color.”

“Colour,” the pony corrected as the griffins drew her to a stop. “With a proper Or sound at the end, not er.”

The seneschal looked to Luna, who just nodded. So, the seneschal re-announced the prisoner.

“Presenting the delegation and prisoner, Vivid Colour.”

Vivid nodded in his direction, smiling, before returning to face forward.

One of the griffins stepped forward and unrolled a scroll before reading from it.

“Your Highness, Princess Luna, and attendant nobility. Today we bring to you an exile from far away Bitain, who had settled in Starcross. Just two weeks ago, she slaughtered every inhabitant of that town, but for a few of the children and one old hen. In accordance with the Starcross treaty, we now bring the accused pony to stand before their own kind, to receive judgement and never again to set hoof in our lands.”

Luna nodded, but was curious.

“Commander… You are Commander Gullet, are you not?”

Once he nodded, Luna continued.

“Commander, For the sake of fully understanding the situation, please list the charges for me, in as much detail as time will allow.”

“Of course, your Highness. Twenty one counts of slaughter, eight counts of orphaning, and… though it is not a crime, due to the culture of your country, we feel that we should mention that she is accused of cannibalism of an equine, and consumption of the flesh of a griffin.”

The uproar of outrage that carried around the room was deafening, and for the first time, Luna wondered if she had been wrong, and she would have been better to make this a private affair. But, what was done was done, and she now had to contend with the accusations. The room quieted when Luna raised a hoof.

“Vivid Colour, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty by reason of self defense,” Vivid replied, the familiar excuse easily rolling off her tongue with barely a thought.

“And in regards to the consumption charges?” Luna pressed.

Vivid smiled, sitting and letting her chains settle around her.

“Your highness, I consumed the meat of chickens at the encouragement of the griffins I was staying with, and found it to my liking. When abruptly I was alone, unable to forage safely, and at my disposal I had great quantities of potential food about to go to waste, I saw only one option. Rest assured I have never sought the flesh of a sentient creature by choice.”

Luna truly wished the mare knew not to smile, but it was at the least a reasonable defense to the charges. It was enough to cast doubt upon the story of Vivid being a vicious killer.

“Release her. I will determine her fate.”

The griffins unshackled her, gathered their chains, bowed and left as quickly as they had come. Clearly they were glad to be rid of Vivid, though they had left a metal ring around the base of Vivid’s horn, a suppressor that would make it difficult for the unicorn to do any magic at all.

“Ms. Colour, do you need a guide to approach the throne?” Luna asked, relaxing a bit as the griffins left.

“No, your highness. I simply need to know when I have approached sufficiently,” she said as she began to walk, and stopped quite quickly when Luna said “There.”

“Now,” Luna sighed. “You claim self defense, but an entire town, Ms. Colour? It is hard to believe.”

“When an entire town gathers to kill a pony, defending oneself requires to deter all of those gathered. It is singularly unfortunate that I have only one defense.”

“One defense?” Luna asked curiously. “One defense which kills all in your presence? It is no wonder that the griffins have left a suppressor on your horn. Describe this defense to me.”

Vivid hung her head, facing the floor rather than the throne. Luna was about to ask a second time, when she noticed the metal ring hit the floor of the great hall. It rang out and bounced, but before it could hit the floor a second time, Vivid caught it in her magic and set it down gently.

“I would be happy to demonstrate, without hurting anyone of course, your Highness.”

Though the guards had readied their weapons, Luna nodded to them so they could stand down.

“Proceed,” Luna said, though her tone was more brisk than it had been when she’d felt more in control of the situation.

Vivid’s horn lit in pure white, and a moment later, thin lines of magic began to spread out from her horn. The lines became blades more than a meter long in every direction, curving around her to protect every part of her.

“I can extend my magic the distance of four ponies away from me.”

“An impressive and frightening display, Ms. Color,” Luna said as she stepped down from her throne, walking slowly closer to Vivid. “Please, maintain this…”

She paused as she realized it was not a spell, it was a shaped form of pure magic, which was unusual. She shrugged and approached until she was only a few steps away from the blades. She took one of her boots off and impaled it easily onto one of the blades. It pierced the silver and steel effortlessly.

“Hmm.”

Luna removed the boot from the blade and then lit her horn, creating a shield of magic, which she placed against the blade. Though it stopped it for a moment, it ate through and soon blew the shield apart. Curious, Luna cast another spell on her boot and placed it against the blade. This time, the blades all dissolved as Vivid gasped in shock. The boot glowed and warmed up as it absorbed all of the excess energy, and Luna nodded.

“You are a singularly impressive mare, Vivid Colour,” Luna said as she turned and returned to her throne. “And I must say, I believe you. Being blind, and being assaulted and fearing for your life, you--”

Fine Line tapped Luna’s shoulder gently as she sat down, and pointed up at the sky above, growing quite dark. But the sun was still above the horizon.

“Excuse me, Ms. Color. I must set the sun. It will take but a moment.”

Without further ado, Luna lit her horn. But when she began to set the sun, she noticed that Vivid’s whole demeanor changed. Wide eyed, she turned her face to focus on Luna, and her mouth fell open in awe. As Luna set the sun, and then rose the moon, Vivid looked up towards the sky, following the path of the rising moon even as it was out of view. She looked like she was experiencing a religious moment, and as soon as Luna released her grip over the moon, Vivid fell to the floor in a bow towards Princess Luna.

“Rise, Vivid Colour,” Luna said softly, curious how Vivid could have witnessed the rising of the moon, despite being blind. “I did not command you to bow.”

“Your majesty, I… I must apologize, I did not… Understand that you were the… The Alicorn, Luna. I thought it was a name you had taken. I should have…”

“Calm yourself,” Luna sighed. “You grew up in Bitain, correct? So you were raised with an understanding of the alicorns as… gods.”

Vivid nodded and Luna got off her throne again, walking back to stand in front of the little pony, before taking her hoof in her magic and placing it against Luna’s leg.

“I am flesh and blood,” she said as she let go. “Like any pony. I may fail, and I may make mistakes. I have blood in my past as well! Wars, and… times when I was forced to eat things I did not prefer, to survive. I am not a god. Provide me only the respect due a ruler, not that of a god.”

She then went back to her throne, smiling a bit at the thought that she was getting her exercise this court session.

“Now! In regards to your supposed crimes. I believe you are not guilty of slaughter. I believe your claim of self defense. I also would like to note that the consumption of meat or the already passed is not a crime unless the one who passed did not consent or they were killed to obtain it. Since this unique situation begs for some nuance, I will give you a single sentence. You are guilty of a loss of control of your magic. This is usually used to punish unicorns who accidentally cause harm, but due to the massive harm done, it will be assigned to you despite your need for self defense. Your punishment will be training and monitoring here at Canterlot Castle. I will ensure you never hurt another being who you do not intend to harm. I call this court session to a close to further address this in private. All further petitioners will return at the Dawn court.”

She then turned to one of her personal thestral guards and gestured to Vivid.

“Bring her to the chamber, I need to talk to her alone.”

The guard saluted and walked down to Vivid, explaining the plan and then watching as Vivid spread a magical pool on the ground in front of her. The thestral nervously backed up so that it wouldn’t touch them, then guided Vivid to follow Luna out of the great hall, then into the great chamber where Luna had quickly settled. Two guards remained, and the door was closed.

“Vivid Colour, you were exiled from Bitain. Why?”

Vivid stood awkwardly by the door, her white pool of magic around her shimmering. After a bit, Luna used her magic to pull out the other seat, which jolted Vivid into action, walking over to the chair and sitting.

“I… had a similar accident. I accidentally killed two colts.”

“Well, it is fortunate I did not ask that particular question while in public court,” Luna sighed, nodding to one of the guards, who poured them both glasses of wine. “Do you drink wine, Vivid?”

“I do,” Vivid said as her magic pool spread up the table leg, across the table, and then seized the bottom of the glass so that she could then lift it and sip the wine.

Luna watched the whole process with fascination.

“How did you learn to do that?” Luna asked, leaning forward as she watched the pool return to the floor, except for the bit that held her glass.

“My magic? When I was young, I was taught how to seize things that touched my horn, so I could carry things. I then learned how to feel things, when they wanted me to carve. I could… press things with my magic, feel the curves of it. From there, over time, I learned to use it to get around without assistance.”

“Once again, you impress me,” Luna chuckled. “Such unique abilities, developed to circumvent your disability. It is of course unfortunate that you have such skill in offense, but not in defense. If you’d been instructed in the proper use of shielding spells at a young age you may have never injured anyone. That is something which I hold your tutors and environment responsible for, not you.”

Luna lit her horn, and watched as Vivid turned slightly to keep Luna’s horn in her field of “vision.”

“In addition, you seem able to perceive other unicorn’s magic.”

Vivid flushed, her expression confused and surprised as she turned back to her glass.

“Is it not true?” Luna pressed.

“It… It is true, but I’ve never discussed it with anyone.”

“So that is how you witnessed the moon, despite being blind. When I connected directly to it, you were able to see it. To see the moon for the first time.”

Vivid nodded, her head turning very briefly towards the sky before going back to the wine glass.

“I… ponies spoke of the moon, certainly, but as a vague thing. The word silver means nothing. So it is just a disc in the sky. But to witness it, the power that flows through it, the majesty of it…”

She fell silent, cheeks red, and sipped her wine again.

“You compliment me,” Luna said, amused. “You have my thanks. I suppose there is a certain distance you must be from the source of the magic to sense it, or you would have sensed the moon every night of your life. But that is just the musings of an old alicorn who knows too much about magic.”

“Fifteen meters,” Vivid mumbled. “Then I need to know exactly where the source is to focus on it, but it fades easily.”

“So you have the same sort of curiosity in magic. Perhaps shield spells will be second to magical theory in our lessons,” Luna hummed as she swirled her glass, smiling. “You will be kept safe here, Vivid Colour, and unlike in Bitain or in the griffin lands, you may someday find love here to heal your past pains.”

“I don’t need love,” Vivid retorted, far quicker and bolder than Luna had expected.

Luna raised her brow, and thought as she sipped her wine. This was an attitude, an approach to the concept of love that she had not seen in a very long time. A flat denial of the need for it. Not from somepony who preferred independence but understood social love, or from somepony who was nervous or scared, but from a pony that seemed to declare that she had no need whatsoever for any sort of love. It was hard to believe.

“Maybe you are right,” Luna mused as she stared into the crimson wine. “After all, you are a from a land I do not know. Perhaps ponies there are born without the need for compassion, for care. Maybe you and they do not need love, or community, or family. In which case, I would understand your reaction and allow you to retreat to some room alone, untroubled by society, and I would tell my little ponies that you just wanted to be alone.”

Vivid’s expression was conflicted. She wanted privacy, to hide away, clearly. But she was hiding something, lying in a way by misrepresenting herself, and Luna knew that look too well to ignore. Luna wondered if Vivid knew that her emotions were so plain to see by others.

“But perhaps you need love as much as any other pony, but have abstained from it as a way to reject the world in return for rejecting you,” Luna hummed, watching as Vivid curled up a little more, vulnerable and scared. “I see no reason to adjust my plan for you. As a pony who is in need, you will be provided for. A place to stay here in the castle, and opportunities to learn from or teach the other mages in my court."

"Why would you allow me to stay here. For all you know, I killed the griffins I lived with," Vivid said defiantly.

Luna marveled for a moment at the way the mare let her anger control her utterly. She seemed incapable of caring for herself or even accepting kindness. Rebellion and fury were her crutches.

"Did you?" Luna asked simply.

"Why not? I'm a murderer, I must have," Vivid snapped, her tone still brash and full of fury.

But Luna could see the sheen of tears gathering in the corners of Viv's eyes. The slight tremble in her hooves. It was self destructive behavior at its most grand and passionate.

"So?" Luna finally replied, setting her glass aside and gesturing for the guards to step well back.

"So execute me! My land has laws against such barbarism, but I'm certain that your people would allow it. Vivid Colour, the carnivore murderer from a far away land! Vicious and untamable!"

"Is that what you think I aim to do to you?" Luna laughed as she leaned forward, a subtle glow traveling across her body from the tip of her horn down to her hooves. "Tame you?"

"Is that not the goal of every ruler? To bend her ponies to her will? Make them do what she wants?"

"No," Luna said simply. "A ruler should aim to love and care for her ponies, so that they will love and care for her. The only matter in which force of will and desire become paramount are in matters of war, and I have ensured that we have not had such conflict for many centuries."

"Well you can't love and care for me, princess," Vivid said bitterly. "I am a lost cause, so let me leave or execute me."

"No," Luna said again. "See, I don't believe you. Any of this. The bravado, the anger, I've dealt with murderers, I have even been attacked by them, and they do not cry when they call themselves such. They do not insist on being killed, unless they have all the conscience and guilt that any pony would have if they caused the death of another. You are no murderer, Vivid Colour, any more than I am."

The rage in the little pony boiled over, and her magic lit in a thousand brilliant needles of white light. Like a sphere of daggers, the impossibly thin lines of magical energy blasted out from Vivid, piercing drapes and shattering glasses, even piercing windows. But when they met Luna's aura, they dissipated like so much seafoam crashing over a rock. The magic that struck her swirled around her, and Vivid's eyes grew wide.

It seemed that Vivid had lost control in the face of Luna’s goading, and was realizing as the energy from her attack wafted to the floor like so much dust, that she’d just attempted to take the life of a princess.

Luna leaned over the table and grabbed Vivid’s hoof in hers, pulling it so that the mare was forced to lean on the table, instead of recoiling.

"You will be cared for, and instructed in a finer control of your magic, and resisting your anger. You will be provided with the food you are accustomed to. But if ever you are inclined to hurt yourself or others, you will come to me. Do you agree?"

When Vivid nodded, stunned, Luna lit her own horn, and Vivid gasped. Luna's magic wrapped around Vivid and bound her magically to the agreement she'd just made, before setting her back on her hooves. Luna then let the magic around her dissipate, and Viv turned her head down to face the floor.

"I do not force my ponies to obey me," Luna said as she stood and began to walk back to the door. "But I do force my ponies to live, when they wish to die. It is not noble to pass, it is not a sacrifice for the good of others. It is a tacit surrender of the hope for a perfect world."

She paused at the door, lighting her magic and letting it flow across the door itself, opening the heavy doors without a sound.

"A perfect world I will someday build."

Chapter 6. Soap

Vivid awoke.

She only knew that she was awake, because she was suddenly aware of being a little cold. It was a welcome change from sleeping on the ground, or on a straw stuffed cushion. To notice a bit of a draft was to be content with everything else. A soft mattress made with springs and cushions stuffed with wool, and a down blanket laid over her.

It was a far cry from what she expected as a murderer and meat eater, in the land of ponies.

Her magic spread across the blanket and she drew it back so that she could sit up and then stand, before her magic reached the floor and she was able to jump down to a surface she was certain of.

She then paused. She had no destination in mind, no goal. She did not know when or where her supposed training would begin. But as she stood there, she had a sneaking suspicion.

“Have you been watching me sleep?” she asked the room.

The beauty of it, was that if noone was there then the question did not need to be answered and noone would know of her suspicions. However, if someone actually was in the room, it would be a completely valid question, and give them the impression that she was far more perceptive than she really was.

This time, she was fortuitous.

“Not watching you sleep, madam, just waiting to be of service,” a stallion’s voice replied from the direction of the door. “I had only arrived moments before you awoke.”

“In the future, please wait outside the door for me. I don’t know what sort of privacy your guests typically expect, but I expect at the least to be permitted a peaceful waking. Now, you are to be of service. Guide me to a place to bathe, so I can be ready for whatever lessons I may need to learn.”

“Of course, madam.”

Vivid became aware of a path between herself and a bathroom, and she paused to note that the unicorn had been apparently educated in how she perceived the world. He'd grabbed the whole carpet in his magic, which was the closest he could likely come to spreading his magic along the floor.

“Thank you,” she nodded to him before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Free to assume she was alone, she spread her magic across the whole room so that she could inspect the facilities available to her.

It didn't take her long to determine that it was the finest bathroom she'd ever been in. Tile cut with ridges to direct water into drains coated the floor. A sink with a seat and various bottles was near the door next to a basket of folded towels and a rack that held brushes, but furthest away from the door was a spout and a wide bath sunken into the floor. She wondered how the spout was fed as she did not see a pump, but when her magic pressed against a handle on the wall, it pressed in and cool water began to pour out into the bath. She tested it and then found a second handle.

She was stunned to find it provided comfortable warm water. An amenity she'd never had unless she heated her own water over a stove.

Contemplating the bath, she turned and gathered all the bottles in her magic, walking out of the bathroom and facing towards the helper.

“I would like to know your name,” She declared.

“Gloss Sheen, madam,” he replied quickly. “You would like me to describe the labels of those bottles, correct?”

Vivid almost wanted to decline the help out of embarrassment. When she'd lived alone, she had different shaped bottles for each item. Here, they were all nearly identical.

“Yes. Please.”

She lined them up on the floor, and he lifted each one up as he described the contents.

“Lotion for the hooves and face after bathing. Shampoo. Soap. Bubbling soap to be added to a bath. Conditioner.”

“Thank you,” Vivid bowed before taking the bottles and returning to the bathroom.

This time she lined them up in the order she would use them, and then she finally entered the now half filled bath.

Steam swirled around her, confusing her senses for a moment, before she found the edge of the bath again, to orient herself. Bubbling soap would be too much for her, so she set it aside completely.

She found a rough brush, dumped the bottle of soap on her back, and began scrubbing her body, neck, and limbs with it. It was a freeing feeling, to be ridding herself of her overgrown coat and dirt which she'd gathered from living with creatures that licked themselves clean.

Pony tongues and saliva, at least unicorn tongues and saliva, we're not suited for that sort of hygiene.

As the grime was washed away, and a tightness in her shoulders faded, Vivid found a sob escaping her. It was too surprising for her to smother it at first, but she quickly covered her mouth and curled up, head just above the water surface and breathing deep in the cloud of steam as her body shook.

“Where the hell am I?” she muttered angrily between gasps. “Across the damned world and in the castle of a deranged goddess of the moon who's apparently killed your own goddess by all accounts, what the hell have I gotten myself into?”

There was some comfort in just saying it all aloud, but she didn’t speak of the death. She never needed a reminder of that, of all the blood that had been spilled by her magic. That was never forgotten.

Somehow all the excuses and reasons seemed so hollow, when she tried to count them all in her head. It was like being at the base of a mountain, and telling yourself that it was just a short climb. It felt like a lie.

“Train me… Train me in magic,” she whispered as she upended a bottle of shampoo over her head and began scrubbing with a brush. “I could probably teach her quite a few things about magic. I could rip her in half, if I wanted to. She has no idea…”

For all her bluster though, she’d felt her magic fall apart, pulled into Luna like falling into an endless pit. She knew that there was some secret Luna knew that made Vivid powerless. In that moment she decided that she would fix that. She would find a way to defend herself, that the princess couldn’t defuse.

She would have to learn in order to do that, and Princess Luna was offering that education, without a promise of loyalty.

It was an opportunity she couldn’t pass by.

With renewed energy, a determination built from survival, she finished bathing. Cleaning her hair, conditioning it, brushing it out, and rinsing before draining the tub. It was all done with precision as quickly as she could safely get it done. Stepping out and drying herself was just as quick.

“Mister Sheen, I understand that Her Highness wishes to train me in magic, correct?”

“Eventually, you are correct, Madam.”

Vivid paused mid-step, tilting her head.

“Eventually?”

“First, you shall learn the basics with a teacher that she has deemed sufficient to teach you. Then, when you have reached beyond that teacher’s abilities, then Princess Luna will teach you herself.”

Vivid had to fight herself not to grind her teeth. A different teacher, to cover the basics. As though she was a filly who had to be tutored on every little thing, treated as though she knew nothing.

“Very well, take me to this teacher.”

Sheen lit his horn and began to walk, giving Vivid a clear beacon to follow. As she walked, she noticed that other unicorns that passed in the halls also lit their horns. She knew they were there by sound of course, but they lit their horns as they grew near, simply to let Vivid know that they were there. She briefly wondered if it was some sort of condescending gesture to remind her of her disability, but quickly she squashed that thought. These ponies were, for some reason, striving to be more visible to her. She did not know why, but she decided to accept the gesture, and move on.

They reached a pair of doors which became clear to Vivid as they were seized and opened by her guide.

“Lady Line, your student has arrived.”

“Very well, leave her here I will summon you when we are done, Sheen.”

“Yes, m’lady.”

Sheen left, leaving Vivid with her teacher, who had not illuminated her horn to make herself visible yet.

“Vivid Colour, do you want to learn how to properly use your horn?”

Vivid huffed, annoyed by the arrogance of the question. “I use it quite well, I would think, but yes. I wish to learn.”

“Good. The first spell I will teach you, in order to make our lessons easier, will be Aura Vitae. Do you know what that name means?” Lady Line asked as she walked along the room, her steps making it easier to track her.

“The energy of life. I assume this spell is designed to allow one to view magic as I do?”

“A pale imitation,” Line chuckled. “Your ability is unique and powerful, but this spell allows the perception of the wellspring of energy within each pony. Once you know it, you will be able to perceive the faint echo of all living things without requiring them to use their magic.”

"Wellspring?" Vivid asked, nervous to reveal her ignorance but curious.

"Our magic draws from a network of nerves and crystal-like nodes throughout our bodies. That network is called a Wellspring, and is constantly filled with energy. That is why some unicorns grow tired after a few spells but others can use their magic for hours without tiring. It is the size of their Wellspring. It can also grow with practice like any muscle."

"Okay," Vivid nodded. "Teach me this spell."

An incredibly bright circle of magic formed on the ground in Fine Line's pale green magic, making Vivid step back from her a little. Then a smaller circle was formed inside of it, and Vivid observed four half-circles that formed petals in between the two circles. As they connected the two circles, Vivid observed magic flowing through them like loops, forming a circuit. Next, a bright sigil that looked like a circle pierced by two ovals appeared in the center.

"The center of the spell circle is where we place the target of the spell. This symbol is the symbol for self, which designates that the spell will effect only the caster. Leaving the center of a spell circle blank causes the spell to release at the tip of the horn, which in this case would cause it to dissipate quickly, only illuminating your horn before fading."

Next, two symbols appeared in the space between petals, symmetrical with eachother. Each one was a set of two slanted crosses that looked like the letter X.

"Roman numerals are used to designate the duration of the spell, in this case, twenty minutes. To make it hours, the numbers would be circled, days would be circled twice. There are two spots for time in a standard spell circle, in case the spell has two effects. In this case, the spell is very simple so we are making it symmetrical by mirroring every symbol on the opposite side. This keeps it from shorting out, and makes it more robust."

"What about seconds?" Vivid asked, stepping around to get a better look at the spell circle.

"I'm glad you're asking questions," Fine Line said, sounding genuinely pleased. "But let us finish this spell before we move on to more options. Next we need to tell the spell what to do, and how to do it."

A symbol of a circle with a smaller circle inside it and a diamond inside the smaller circle appeared.

"This symbol is representative of the Wellspring. It advises the spell that it will be effecting the Wellspring. This is dangerous if you tell the spell to use a great amount of energy as you can injure yourself."

Then a symbol of a sun was applied.

"This tells the spell that we want it to generate light."

Finally, a symbol of an eye with curved lines above and below it, with a diamond for the iris, was placed.

"This tells the spell that we want it to produce a magical signature, which is what you will perceive."

She released the spell, and Vivid was suddenly able to see Fine Line, like she'd never seen a pony before.

Little dots of light seemed to glow beneath Line’s skin, illuminating her from within. Her soft and perfectly groomed fur was clear to Vivid as a thick plush layer, not the flat mat she perceived when she pressed against fur with her magic.

Line’s clothes draped loosely around her, the dress and vest she wore both comfortably fitted so that she could move easily, little metal buttons and medals on her chest illuminating with the light, gleaming as they seemed to refract the magic.

Her eyes shone blue, like clear water, and illuminated from within. Her horn could have been made of crystal, for how transparent it seemed, with a cone of light within it.

Every muscle within her was like a river passing under Vivid’s hoof, with little nodes of magic power spaced throughout them, glittering softer than the light in her horn.

“It’s beautiful,” Vivid whispered as she moved closer to examine Fine Line’s face.

She could see every expression, every twitch of the eye as Fine watched her impassively. Vivid had never wanted to see. She never wanted to be anything but what she was. But now she found a way to go above and beyond even the sighted. Her perception could be greater than theirs, without giving up her magic and the wonder of it all.

“You must cast the spell yourself as well, to have the full perception of your surroundings,” Line said, as Vivid watched her eyes dart side to side, her face twist in an expression that Vivid was eager to try and identify.

Fear? No, she didn’t sound afraid. Nor angry. Nervousness fit though shielded by practice. The Lady Line was nervous! It was exhilarating for Vivid to know that, and to not have lost what made her… Her. Expressions, without sight. It was thrilling.

“Certainly. Of course.”

Vivid turned away reluctantly, and began casting her magic out onto the floor. Two circles nested inside eachother, with the petals and then the symbols she’d been shown. She verified that the symbols were as they should be, and then… She paused.

“You’ve never cast a spell before, have you?” Line asked, suddenly full of concern.

Vivid stared at the circle, and swallowed her first-day-in-school panic.

“No. It was never… possible, or necessary. I only manipulated raw magic.”

“You want to build the current energy towards the tip of your horn. Like… Imagine you’re pushing the circle off the tip of your horn and out into the air in front of you. Press it out and away, but without adding more energy. It should slide out of your awareness like… Casting a net out.”

Vivid tried, but felt it fall apart as she did. Tears threatened the edges of her eyes, but she rebuilt the spell circle all over again, and was more careful. Finally, she felt the spell complete, and wash back over her as though she was being doused in warm water.

For the second time that day, Vivid experienced the most wonderful change in perspective.

She could perceive her own body as a cluster of lights, dots forming a larger shape.

Everything else around her was cast by how the objects reacted to magic. Metals such as the door handles, candlesticks, and the buttons on Line’s vest all lit up like they were reflecting the light of her horn back at her.

Cloth and wood were faint ghosts, outlines formed by edges that shimmered, barely in view.

But the crystal that she just then realized hung around Line’s neck on a string, hidden under her vest, it refracted the light into thin rays that passed through everything around it. Like a miniature sun.

The glass windows reflected her magic but only at certain angles, making them appear and then vanish as she walked around the room, admiring the way magic interacted with each object.

Line followed her at a distance, but Vivid didn't mind having a companion on her little journey.

“What do you see?” Vivid asked her as she pulled a book off a shelf and opened it, marveling at how the ink attracted magic, glowing slightly.

“An aura, or faint glow of light around each object of magical importance. Mostly you and me.”

“So, you cannot see past the light, you are blinded by your sight,” Vivid concluded.

Line did not deny it.

Chapter 7. Magic

If anything, a year of training only made Vivid more certain of her superiority over those who could see.

She progressed rapidly as a student of Unicorn magic, under Lady Fine Line. Line was a patient teacher, despite making it clear that she would much rather be tending to the operation of the castle. Often their lessons would be interrupted without warning by a guard or servant running in, panicked and squeaking with anxiety, only for Line to set them straight and solve their problem with a few instructions. Vivid respected that power and grace, but found it was not something she was capable of. Many times, Vivid stormed off at the interruption, and sat herself in her room with a few mundane objects which she would examine and probe with her magic to keep her mind busy.

But Line always found her, coaxed her back into the hall they used as a classroom, and got her mind back on the lesson at hoof.

The latest lesson that Vivid was occupied with was a particularly annoying one. Annoying because it should be easy for her.

She was to reach out and grab hold of an object that she could not perceive, without spreading her magic across the floor. She had to keep the location of the object in her mind, the size and composition, and then produce a spell circle that would grab that one thing.

“Is this how you torture me?” Vivid growled, sitting on one end of the hall.

“Whatsoever do you mean?” Line’s chipper voice came from the opposite end.

“By forcing me to admit that being blind has limitations. You will torture me until I break and admit I cannot do it.”

“But I know you can do it,” Line contradicted her, voice full of sincerity. “It is difficult, for any pony, to maintain perfect recall. This is not some simple lesson, it is your final lesson. It is only natural that it would be difficult.”

Vivid paused, ears perking up from where they’d been laid back in anger.

“Final lesson?”

Line chuckled. “That is what I said, yes.”

Vivid thought on that. She’d nearly forgotten that Line would not be her teacher indefinitely, that she was here on the whim of Princess Luna, and would eventually learn under her. She’d barely even heard Luna’s voice since those first few days in the castle. It wasn’t surprising, she had a country to run, but Vivid still felt a pang of envy at how she’d been left to learn and learn all the seemingly mundane aspects of magic, all while regular cityfolk could just come to court and see the princess.

Then again, what claim did she really have to the princess, besides being in debt to her for every bit of food she’d eaten and every day she’d slept through in the last year?

Nonetheless, the envy was there.

“But you must pass that lesson, to move forward,” Line reminded her.

Vivid sighed and turned to take her stance again. She braced her legs firmly before imagining the vase in her mind that was her target. It was an abnormally large vase, really designed to have a bush or small tree planted in it, than flowers. In part it was so large so that she could not accidentally push it off the table or knock it over if she didn’t grab it properly. But also because it had happened to be in the room.

It had designs along the handles, which made the handles look somewhat like dragons, with little spikes and shapes that would be easy to damage. The lip was about level with her head, and it was exactly twenty two paces away from her, on a table that put it’s lip above her head.

She lit her horn, creating a simple spell circle. Two circles, petals, and then distance and height from her horn. Like a web, she wove a spell that would act as a net being cast out into the room, with a very narrow target.

She released, and she felt the spell bounce off something, unable to grab hold of whatever it was, it dissipated, and Vivid stomped her hoof in anger.

“What was that?! It was too close to be the vase! Did you put something in my way?!”

Line sighed before she walked closer.

“Vivid, challenge your assumptions. You were given certain facts, but those facts could change. You found an object, why not use that as a tool to further your goal?”

Vivid frowned, before casting out a net at the thing she’d hit, and catching hold of it. A high backed chair, in her way. She thought about the challenge she had, and how the chair might help. She kept hold of it, and turned it so that the back of the chair was a thin line in her perspective, and she used it as a sight, casting her net across the back of the chair, so that she could know she was shooting for a different spot each time rather than having to guess at the angles.

Finally, she caught hold of the vase, and used her magic to proudly lift it off the table, and set it down on a cushion, panting from the effort at such a distance.

“Bravo, I knew you could do it.”

Vivid froze, that was not Line’s voice. It was deeper, more rich with years and wisdom.

She swept into a bow towards the voice.

“Your Majesty.”

“Highness,” Princess Luna corrected as she walked closer, hooves barely making a noise. “Majesty has the taint of greedier royalty upon it. But I digress, you are due your congratulations for that feat, Vivid. Rise.”

Vivid stood, and felt something settle around her shoulders. A cloak, by the feel of it, but of very soft light fabric.

“Since a time long past, I have had those under my care anointed as Children of the Night. Typically brought to me as children, their ranks have become nobles, royalty in some cases, and mages of the greatest skill. From those mages, a new organization has been born. Known only as the Archway, it is an order of mages which has had it’s members grow thin in the last Century. As you are already under my care, and seem to have an aptitude for magic, I wish for you to become a member of this group, if you will accept. This robe of stars is a symbol of your membership.”

Vivid bit her lip, and stepped back.

“Princess, I am not… I’ve barely passed the basic tutoring that Fine Line could offer, I’ve hardly earned a ranking in this organization you speak of.”

The princess chuckled, soft a without malice.

“Vivid, you have reached the fullness of skill that Line has mastered. Not basic lessons, but all that she could teach you. If you now accept this, I will teach you so much more.”

Vivid nodded, quickly as her heart beat quick and heavy in her chest.

“Please, your Highness, I would like to continue learning, and if that means to be a mage of the Archway, then I will be so.”

“Then come with me, Vivid Colour, and learn of secrets which most ponies would never know.”

Luna led Vivid out of their prior room, and Vivid easily summoned the spell that allowed her to perceive the space around her. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was eager to see Luna again.

As usual, the perception spread out from her in a bubble. It could go out fairly far now, with a year of practice, but she usually kept it to about the length of four ponies. But this time she pushed it out ahead so she could see where Luna was walking, and all of the princess.

But as the magic passed over Luna, she shivered and looked back at Vivid, smiling. To Vivid's sight, the princess was composed of an infinite number of stars, flowing through her like blood. Her crown, torc, and boots all glowed like solid masses of magic.

"I can feel when magic touches me," she explained as she turned back around to face her.

Vivid hesitated, wondering if she'd done something wrong, but Luna continued.

"An unintended effect of examining me, is that you will be capable of perceiving that which sustains me."

Luna gestured up with a hoof, and Vivid slowly raised her head, until she saw what Luna meant. She could perceive the moon in as great detail as she could perceive Luna. Every crater, ridge, and valley. Even the net of magic humming just under the surface, and the points where that power left and reappeared within the princess.

Vivid swallowed her instinctual fear, and looked back to Luna.

"I suppose your ponies do not examine you with magic often, then."

"Oh but they do not benefit from the same purity of sight as you do, my little pony," Luna said as she turned and resumed her stride, Vivid quickly following just behind her. "They would see the ceiling, or the light of the moon much brighter than the light of what the moon and I share. But you can see it all without seeing the distractions. Only one other being has ever seen me as you now can, and she..."

An expression crossed Luna's features and Vivid could only imagine it was grief or pain, by the way the princess's voice tightened.

"She is no longer with us. But that is not of your concern. Now come, we must arrive at the Archway before midnight, they hold themselves and myself to a strict schedule."

She seemed faintly amused at being held to a schedule by somepony else, but they both resumed walking.

Vivid observed the hallway giving way to a rougher but still well crafted tunnel.

“The castle is built into a mountain?” Vivid asked curiously.

“More than that,” Luna said, slowing slightly. “We are perched upon the upper third of the Canterhorn peak. We are nearly two thousand feet above the ground, and seven thousand above the sea. These tunnels go deeper into the mountain, and include the vaults and similar things. The Archway chambers are deep within the mountain so that any magical accidents they may produce are not at risk of threatening Canterlot or it’s ponies.”

“Magical accidents?” Vivid asked, slowing down as she suddenly second guessed joining the group.

“They are researchers of the highest order,” Luna said, stopping and turning around to face Vivid. “They have seperate rooms for dangerous experiments, and are careful, but one of their precautions is to be placed outside of the city. I’m certain they can put your mind at ease once you are officially one of the Arches.”

Vivid sighed. “This is… Perhaps I should have asked more questions before agreeing. I’m just… nervous about it all.”

“This isn’t a prison sentence, Vivid!” Luna laughed. “You could quit the order tomorrow, and I’d give you a long career in the castle. This is not forever.”

Vivid relaxed, and they resumed their walk, Vivid counting pillars as they faded into her vision and then faded behind. Eventually the hallway opened up into a wider and taller room with a stone archway in the middle of it. The room seemed empty besides that.

“Welcome to the Archway,” a soft male voice said from the entire room at once. “Please craft a passway spell using the archway in order to enter.”

Vivid scowled. “Really? I have to create a spell to gain access?”

“Give it a try, evaluate the situation before you give up,” Luna prompted her.

Vivid recognized the same words that Line had told her, when she’d begun to falter in various lessons. She wanted to ask Luna if she’d taught magic to her assistant, but there was a test for her to pass, before she could return to personal questions.

She turned to face the archway, and modified the ongoing spell that allowed her to perceive it. She narrowed the beam of the spell so that it would only examine a single foot wide section of the stone at a time. She also increased the sensitivity of it, and how deep it could penetrate into the stone.

The archway was composed of marble, polished smooth with grooves carved into it and metal wire laid into those grooves in a pattern. It was incredibly ornate, but looking beneath the surface of the stone revealed another layer of intricacy to the archway.

Inside of the stone were four metal rods running up through it. She followed them down and then up, finding the rods not only went through the whole archway, but formed an oval underneath the floor, joining the two legs of the archway.

Inside of the oval was a sort of modified spell circle, with symbols that Vivid did not recognize, but could theorize the purpose of. It was as though someone had formed a conduit, so that any spell of sufficient type or quality would be drained into the arch, and used to activate the existing spell circle.

It was a cheater’s test. Almost any spell would make it work. Vivid couldn't help but laugh, as she returned her perception to the whole of the room, and faced towards Luna, who was smiling politely.

“It isn’t real!” Vivid said. “The test, it’s a fake test! It doesn’t matter what I actually do, as long as I provide enough magical power, it will function, am I right?”

“Oh now, there’s only one way to know if you are right,” Luna said with great amusement. “You have to try!”

Vivid turned back and prepared a spell. It was the strongest spell she knew, a shielding spell. The thick bubble of absorbent magic had been a method taught to her to protect herself if she were ever in danger, a way to avoid using her more deadly skills. In this case, she placed the shield around the gateway.

The bubble began to bow inward towards the opening in the middle of the archway, before it began to be ripped apart as though it were made of wet paper, and being pulled in. The middle of each side of the shield fell into the portal, which began to glow at the edges. The shield eventually was fully absorbed, and a flash of magic almost dazed Vivid. When she was able to perceive again, she found that the inside of the archway no longer was an open space, but was another room. Stone of the same material, Vivid at first couldn’t perceive beyond the impossible dimensions of the other room overlaid with this one. But then five unicorns just outside of her range each cast marker spells, making themselves visible to Vivid.

The far left unicorn was very tall, thin, and old. Her magic and aura were the color of Luna’s, a pale blue. She was dressed in ornate robes with metal fibers woven into the fabric, and gemstones on a bracelet on her forehooves.

The next unicorn was a small stallion, maybe young enough to be called a colt. He wore a simple cape, but nothing else. His aura was a deep purple, vibrant.

The middle was a mare just a little older than Vivid, with a pale yellow aura, not wearing anything special except for two metal bracelets. She was fairly heavyset, and shied away from looking towards the princess.

Next in line was a second old mare, but this one quite short when compared to the first. She wore jewelry to absurdity, dozens of bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and other things that reflected her orange magic to make her glow like a small sun.

Lastly, a figure that Vivid could not easily identify as male or female, tall and thin, in heavy robes, with a gemstone on a ring around the base of their horn. This last figure had magic which shifted. It seemed to be deep green but would have waves of brown that rippled through it.

The first mare, on the left with Luna’s magic, stepped forward up to the edge of the portal, and spoke. Her voice was strained with age and possibly smoking a pipe by the dragging sound of it, but she forced herself to sound confident and bold.

“Vivid Colour, as a member of the Archway, you are welcomed to enter our chambers for the first time, and become one of our members. Princess Luna, we thank you for delivering her here. You may leave.”

Luna chuckled but turned to go, while Vivid was stunned by the crude and inappropriate speech to such a grand ruler.

“Princess…”

“You are in the care of the finest mares upon this mountain, Vivid. We may speak when you are done with your first day.”

She then walked away, and Vivid nervously turned back to the Archway and took four steps, which carried her through the magical doorway.

The moment she was through, the doorway fizzled out with a hum, and she was only able to perceive a wide rectangle room with the empty arch on one end, the five standing around her, and many tables scattered throughout the rest of the place.

“Why were you so rude to the Princess?” Aurora asked sharply, turning to face the mare that seemed to be the leader.

There was a ripple of laughter through the group, but not chiding. They largely seemed amused. But the leader bowed slightly, smiling a little.

“I am Princess Wishing Star. Luna’s great granddaughter.”

Vivid froze, confused beyond reason as she opened then closed her mouth, backing away slightly and then sitting down.

“I… don’t understand. I did not think alicorns could have children.”

“Oh they do not!” Wish said lightly as she led the whole group back to the tables, pulling three of them together into a triangle so they could all sit facing eachother. “Not in the sense you imagine. At least, not that has ever been done. But they can certainly adopt! My grandmother was adopted some hundred years ago, when there was an attack by dragons on a remote village, killing her birth parents. My mother grew ill when I was young so I grew up in the castle for the most part, and I have a very… unconventional way of interacting with Luna.”

“She gives Luna a hard time because they’re family, and Luna gives her a hard time back,” the colt said quickly, like some sort of translator.

He spoke with great energy, but also a sort of sly playfulness that made him seem even younger than he was.

“I… see. So you are a princess,” Vivid gestured to Wish. “The rest of you…”

“I am also a princess, though from a much more ancient lineage,” the orange lit mare with the overwhelming amount of jewelry said quickly.

“This is Princess Sunlight Sol Howl,” the colt introduced grandly before leaning closer to Vivid and adding; “If you translate her name from the original languages, it means Sunny Sun Sun.”

“Yes, well… We are proud of holding the faith,” Sunlight said briskly, crossing her forelegs

“I see, and the rest of you?” Vivid asked.

“I was a shoeshiner, and one day I accidentally turned a client’s shoes into mice!” the colt said excitedly. “So, since they couldn’t figure out how I did that, and I couldn’t either, they brought me here! My name’s Deep Sheen.”

Vivid looked to the shy mare next, who spoke almost too quietly for Vivid to hear.

“I’m Posey Sprig,” she whispered.

Vivid waited for further elaboration, but it didn’t seem to be coming.

“Why were you made part of the Archway?” Vivid finally asked.

“Oh… I’m not sure,” she replied, turning her head away.

“A tower of the castle started to collapse towards a group of guards, who’d been evacuating after a fire. She was a gardener and saw the tower start to fall. So she reached out with her magic and put the tower back together,” Sheen said with a wide excited grin, speaking almost too rapidly to sort the words out..

“Anypony could have done that,” Posey mumbled.

“Nuh uh. You’ve got the highest total energy reserve of anypony we’ve ever measured,” Sheen countered.

Posey mumbled something else, but it was too quiet to hear. Vivid looked to the last of the five, the hooded robed figure.

A surprisingly normal sounding voice came from the figure, though it was still impossible to tell their gender. The voice was gentle, but firm, with a slight breathiness to it.

“You may call me Clover.”

“Like Clover the clever?” Vivid asked, getting a simple nod from the figure. “Very well. I… I am Vivid Colour. I was brought here, because I did not know how to use my magic to defend myself, except by the most violent method… I was brought to Equestria, because my actions resulted in many creatures dying. I hope that in this group, I can learn to be skilled enough to be worth your time, and Princess Luna’s trust.”

Chapter 8. Bedsheets

Vivid woke in a bed that wasn't her own, in soft downy sheets and the softest pillows that swallowed her up when she moved. When she reached out with her magic, she momentarily thought she'd shrunk. She was on a bed that seemed comically oversized, with pillows as big as Vivid's whole body.

When her magic spread out past the edge of the bed, she realized very quickly than she was not shrunken, and that she should not be in this bed.

Her cloak and circlet hung on the back of a chair next to a desk, in a bedroom with bookshelf walls and a massive wall of glass windows. Hanging from the ceiling was an ornate candelabra that had been converted to use natural gas, and that was designed in the shape of a Crescent moon.

Once she found that shape, she quickly found it reoccurring all around the room. Moons with the telltale magical signature of silver plating.

She was in Princess Luna's bedroom. On her bed. Alone.

Frantically, she scrambled until she fell off the bed and barely caught herself, panting. She then turned and grabbed the sheets in her magic, making the bed as though no pony had ever been there.

Her cheeks were burning. Her memory had failed her before, but to not remember entering the Princess's chambers was mortifying. She must have teleported in, black-out drunk on champagne from her graduation ceremony.

Becoming the Court Mage was a great honor, and a stunning achievement after only months of training under the Archway, but it was no excuse to invade the princess's chambers.

Once the bed was made, her circlet placed on her head, and her cloak on her back, she began probing the room for a magical way out. But at every turn, her magic was unable to find a way to teleport out. The walls must contain a layer of lead.

Stymied, she pondered how she could have possibly gotten in last night. It seemed impossible.

The doors opened, and Vivid froze, stricken with fear.

The maid, a unicorn, was not surprised to see her. In fact, she seemed quite prepared. She lit her horn and displayed a tray on which a glass, a bowl, a few pieces of bread, and a small pile of herbs lay.

"Lady Colour, her Royal Highness has sent lunch, and a remedy for the effects of last night's celebrations."

Vivid cocked her head to the side before clearing her throat and approaching.

"She... her Highness sent these?" She asked, her voice approaching the vocal range of a young filly, or perhaps a bat.

The maid was unphased.

"Yes." The tray was placed upon a table. "If your greatness is in need of anything further, we shall provide it."

"Greatness, what is that supposed to mean?" Vivid asked in between gulps of pure cold water.

"It is the honorific for a mage of the court," the maid said as she bowed. "Now, if I may be excused, your greatness?"

"Um... of course, yes," Vivid nodded quickly. "Um... thank her Highness for me, if you can."

The maid nodded and left.

"Should have asked how I got here," Vivid growled. "Damn your ego, Viv. You need to know."

There was a flap of leathery wings, and that was the only warning Vivid had before a quartet of hooves struck the carpet nearby. Vivid quickly expanded her magic to observe the figure, as her shield snapped into place around her, pushing the chair and table a few inches away to make room.

The figure was one of Princess Luna's royal guards. But unlike many of those guards, his wings were not an ornamental part of his armor. His eyes were not enchanted, but naturally keen. He had fangs, and armor that hummed with magic energy.

Thanks to the more perceptive spell Vivid was using, she could see the layers of his eyes, not just a smooth sphere but the slitted pupil, and the delicate fibers of his iris. He was focused entirely on her, but did not move. Did not extend the blades on his hooves.

Slowly, Vivid let go of her shield and let it fade.

She could hear rain outside, and her own breathing, but nothing else. The rain lashed the windows, making a continual hiss.

"Guard captain Orion, I assume," She said as she set her cup of water down, proud that she'd managed not to spill it.

He nodded and walked closer to her. It made her skin crawl that she couldn't hear him walk.

"Just because her Highness saw fit to share a bed with you, does not entitle you to my good graces," Orion said, almost whispered.

"She shared a bed with me?!" Vivid replied in shock.

Orion stopped, seeming incredulous, but then nodding.

"Well, that... explains some things," Vivid mumbled, her cheeks hot as she remembered an odd sense of warmth in her stomach when she'd woken up. "But I swear it was not my intention--"

"I care not," Orion interrupted. "I also do not care about your new title. You are a security risk, and a known killer. I will be watching you closely."

The warmth in Vivid's cheeks became hot anger, but she nodded.

"I would expect nothing less. I'll finish my meal and leave then."

Orion nodded, before he seemed to dissolve before her gaze. His form becoming insubstantial and falling apart, but Vivid was able to perceive something nopony else could. The outline of his aura, still visible to her.

He spread his wings and flew back into the rafters, while Vivid decided not to let him know that she could spot him. She turned back to her food, and despite not having much of an appetite, she ate the soup and bread quickly.

She coughed a little, maybe having eaten too quickly, and neatly stacked the bowl, plate, and cup all together so it would be easy to take away. She had no way of knowing if Orion was still watching her, so it could pay to be unusually courteous. She then opened the royal bedroom doors, taking a moment to appreciate that she was indeed in Princess Luna’s private chambers, and slipped out.

There were two guards posted, one on either side of the door. They didn’t react to her presence.

“I hope it has been a good night for the both of you,” she said with a friendly smile.

“It’s Aftermid, about to get off my shift and go home,” one of them replied happily. “Looking forward to some quiet small hours with my children.”

“Well, I wish you a peaceful night then,” she nodded to each of them, before continuing onward down the hallway.

She’d never actually been in this part of the castle, so she had to stretch her magic out quite a ways to know where she was.

Many maids and guards passed her by, seeming to pay her no mind past a polite nod. The hallways this far up in the castle were all wood floored, with wooden ceilings and rolled tin pipes in the corners that carried hot air from somewhere else where it was heated. The lightweight pipes creaked when they began to warm up, the tiny gaps in between them sealing as the metal expanded.

The walls were still stone, even so far above the bedrock that jutted out from the side of the mountain. The stone was secured together not just by gravity but by metal rods running through their centers, and grooves carved into them so they would lock together tightly. She couldn’t imagine them being separated except by some great explosion.

Hung on those walls at regular intervals, tapestries decorated the halls. In between them were doors, small tables, or in some cases alcoves with especially precious decorations within.

Though Vivid hadn’t told anyone, she absolutely despised tapestries. Paintings typically had different metals in the paints, she could perceive those. Writing had ink on paper. But tapestries had so little difference between one color and the other, as far as magic was concerned, that it was just a hanging rug as far as she was concerned.

The first alcove she came across held something that her magic seemed to skip right off of, making her pause. It was like she was looking at a hole in space. She stepped closer and modified her spell. The hole wavered, and she gained a bit of an outline. It looked like a sculpture of some kind, roughly pony shape but she couldn’t determine the materials or the subject.

She frowned, unused to her magic being unable to give her the answer behind the questions she asked. She twisted her spell yet again, trying to pull just a little more information out of the mystery she’d quickly become obsessed with.

The outline all around became more defined, and Vivid was able to tell that it was an alicorn. Not Luna though, the indentation carved into her flanks was of a sun, not a moon.

Though any other pony might not know the name of the figure, Vivid did. It was a depiction of Celestia, daughter of Sol, wielder of the sun. In more of a year of living in the castle of Canterlot, this was the first time that she’d seen any depiction of Luna’s solar sister.

Despite not being able to tell what the statue was made of, Vivid was content to know what it depicted, as she turned away and resumed her scan of the hallway, only to find another statue opposite the first. However, this second statue was easy for her to scan. It was made of metal, most likely copper, but in every other way it was exactly the same.

She frowned, but decided that it was not a mystery that she could solve.

"Do you need any assistance finding your way, madam?"

The guard who had approached her was wonderfully ordinary. He was a unicorn, with the typical armor that had imitation wings on it. She could almost taste the enchantment on the armor, and she knew what it would make any other pony see. Fangs, slitted eyes, and tufted ears. It also made the armor look much more realistic, apparently. But to Vivid, all that magic just made him glow somewhat.

"Well, if you could guide me back to the great hall, I haven't been in this part of the castle before."

"Of course! You're the new court mage, right?"

Vivid nodded as she followed him away from Princess Luna's bedroom.

"What does it mean, being a court mage? We haven't had one since before I became a guard."

Vivid had to work not to sigh. She didn't want to explain her position, but she didn't want to offend the guard either. She had few enough friends in the castle.

"I'm a form of advisor. In magical matters, mostly, I can advise the princess of a recommended course of action, or even demand an audience if she is doing something I feel is improper. But really it's ceremonial. I am here to show the public that we have a strong understanding of magic, and that the ongoing study and improvement of magic is progressing."

"Improvement of magic?" The guard asked incredulously. "I don't think it needs improvement."

"What if every Unicorn could provide illumination?" Vivid proposed. "Theoretically, if every Unicorn could be taught to make a simple light with little to no effort, would that improve life?"

"Well, of course! I suppose I see your point," the guard nodded, as they finally reached the great hall.

"So keep working on improving magic, and let me know if you can teach illumination to me, and every unicorn," he chuckled as he stopped at the doorway. "I'm Smart Guide."

As he held out a hoof, Vivid gasped, making him recoil a little.

"Are you descended from Smart Cookie, from the founding of Equestria?"

"I thought that you were from another country," he said with a nervous smile.

"I am, but recently I took the time to take a basic lesson on Equestria, are you? Descended from her, I mean."

"Yes," he nodded reluctantly. "But I don't have like, a vast family fortune or anything..."

Vivid realized he'd tensed up when she'd gotten excited, and she chuckled, shaking her head. "My fascination with history is not in search of your wealth, I promise. It's just interest. My family history is short and... Vague. So learning of long traced families is fascinating."

"Well!" He relaxed considerably, smiling. "Yes, I am descended from her. It is a long and twisted path up the family tree, but I still have her crest on a banner at home."

"Vivid Colour!"

Vivid froze, turning towards the sound before whispering to Smart. "I'll have to talk with you later. I believe I am needed."

Vivid turned to face the voice, to see Fine Line. The mare was scowling.

"First night of being court mage, and you don't appear until near midnight. Why, exactly, are you so late?!"

"I believe you would prefer that answer in private, madam Castilian," Vivid said with a faint blush, doing her best to stand straight, and keep her ears up.

"I ask a question, because I require an answer, Mage Colour!" Line barked, stepping a little closer.

"I awoke in the royal chambers, Lady Line, and the guards did not appear to have been informed of my schedule!"

Hot in the cheeks with both embarrassment and anger, Vivid was surprised to hear Luna's distinctive laugh, from the great Hall.

She'd clearly heard the exchange, and spoke once her laughter subsided.

"I told you that you would have to ask her yourself, Fine," Luna said gently. "But I did say you may not enjoy the answer."

"W...well, yes, clearly," Fine Line stammered. "There is a matter that you must advise, Mage Colour, report to your Princess's side."

"Of course," Vivid bowed to Line before approaching the throne.

She bowed to Luna, expanding her magic far enough that she could spot Luna's soft smile, and her nod in reply to the bow.

Vivid then walked up the steps and sat on a cushion on the last step before the platform that held the throne. She was facing across the steps, so Luna was to her right and the rest of the hall was to her left.

"Present the plaintiff," Luna said, and Vivid could hear the large doors at the other end of the hall opening.

A group of three ponies entered, and once they walked into the range of Vivid's vision, she could see that two of them were earth ponies and one of them was a Pegasus.

When they reached the spot where the carpet ended, they all stopped and looked up to Luna.

"Present your complaint," Fine Line stated.

"The unicorn named Shade Blossom has cast spells upon our crops, causing them to wither away," one of the earth ponies said loudly.

"And destroys our clouds!" The Pegasus added "we haven't been able to water our crops for weeks!"

"Is Shade here to defend this claim?" Luna asked Line.

"He has refused to attend, saying that his farm is not actually part of Equestria, so we have no right to summon him."

Luna sighed. "Investigate this claim, but for now, what do you think of the spellcraft, Vivid?"

Vivid sat a little taller, being the focus of the court.

"These effects could be accomplished through magic, it is true. But it would take a great deal more skill and power than simply salting the fields. I can go to this place and investigate the magical traces, to see if it truly is spellcraft which is responsible."

"Is this acceptable to the plaintiffs?" Luna asked the assembled group, who looked at Vivid warily.

"I... could somepony else be sent? We've already lost a great deal to a unicorn, we are reluctant to bring another to our farm," the pegasus admitted.

Princess Luna sighed, and in that one sigh, there was enough disappointment to make the three plaintiffs cringe.

"Have you forgotten I am a unicorn as well, my little ponies?" Luna asked, voice even and without threat.

"Uh... No, your highness. Not at all," the pegasus mumbled, looking away. "Of course, we will welcome Ms. Colour to our lands, to search for the effects of Shade's magic."

"Very well. Vivid, if you do find that Shade is at fault, you will have two royal guards at hoof, I trust you will bring them back here safely to face sentencing?" Luna said as she stood and began walking down the stairs towards a side door.

"Of course your highness, but if I could have but a moment..."

Vivid stood and followed her, trying to catch up and then almost running into the princess as Luna stopped at a doorway.

"Yes?"

Vivid tried to find her words again, suddenly she could think of nothing but the curve of Luna's neck, and the strength in her body. Vivid nearly stammered, but kept herself together.

"Would not another Archway mage be sufficient? I have only just gained my post and there is much to discuss about recent happenings and--"

Luna's hoof gently tapped Vivid's lips, silencing her.

"Make camp before dawn, and wait for me to visit. The guards will grant us time to speak then."

A great comforting warmth rushed across Vivid's cheeks, and the back of her neck as she nodded.

"Of course, your highness."

Bonus scene. Drunk ponies

It was a grand event, like a graduation ceremony, Vivid imagined. She'd never graduated before, so imagination was all she had.

Some musicians were playing in the corner of the ball room, while ponies in dresses and suits milled about.

The rest of the Archway mages were present, quite pleased to see the ceremonial position of court mage being filled after so long. None of them wanted the post, for a variety of reasons. But when it had been offered to Vivid, she'd been thrilled.

It was an excuse to spend more time with Luna, after all.

For the second time that evening, Vivid plucked a glass of champagne from a passing tray, carried by one of the unicorn servants.

"Be careful, or you may not remember the ceremony," Clover's calm and persistently genderless voice said from nearby.

Vivid turned, smiling, before freezing in shock. Clover was not wearing their robes. Instead, the pony was revealed to be a fairly young unicorn dressed in a suit, though with a dress-like skirt instead of the pants that a suit typically came with.

They had the skeletal structure of a stallion, Vivid pondered, but all other markers indicated a mare.

"You insist on being perplexing," Vivid commented.

"I do not conceal or disguise, Vivid Colour. I simply refrain from hiding who and what I am. But this ceremony is not focused on me. It is quite focused on thee. As I said, be careful with your consumption, or you may not remember the ceremony."

"I will refrain from asking for scotch then, until after the ceremony," Vivid said with a cheeky grin.

She was surprised to see Clover actually smile a little, before replying. "I believe you won't have to wait much longer."

Vivid turns her magical awareness found a source of power that dwarfed all others in the room.

She'd come to recognize it as Princess Luna, even without trying to recognize the hue of her magic, or the outline of her shape.

Walking next to her was Fine Line, and both wore ceremonial dresses. Large, frilly, with far too many layers.

But Vivid couldn't focus on any other pony, so long as Luna was in the room.

The music shifted to a softer, more subdued rhythm, and all the ponies present stepped aside so that Luna and Line could walk through the room and onto the small stage at the far end.

As they sat, the music stopped completely, and Line spoke.

"In days of old, the position of court mage was held by any unicorn who bested the princess in combat."

Vivid's blood ran cold and she gulped her champagne before setting the glass aside.

"But in this case, and in future appointments to the position, it has been determined that combat is an unnecessary bar to cross, when uniqueness of skill and determination of heart are considered."

Vivid relaxed, cheeks a little red as she detected Clover and Luna both smiling in her direction.

"In those categories, we have determined that there is only one mare suitable for the job," Line continued.

"Please step forward, Vivid Colour," Luna said, her voice so gentle.

Vivid did step forward, and walked up to the stage. It was only one step up, but she knew to wait for the command to take her new position next to the princess.

"Vivid Colour came to us amidst tragedy," Line recited. "Chased by her past, and accused of horrible crimes. When she joined us here, there were many who doubted her usefulness, and who doubted our judgements in giving her shelter. But in the past eighteen months, she has exceeded every expectation put before her. Refining her own magic so that it will never harm another. Teaching other unicorns how to emulate her skills, and by doing so, granting us a more thorough understanding of magic itself. She has been dedicated in her studies, and passionate in sharing her knowledge when possible. This is the sort of mare that we need advising our princess in matters of magic."

"Rise, Vivid, and take your place at our side," Luna said, raising a circlet and a cloak in her magic.

Once Vivid took that step, the room erupted into applause, and the clothing that marked her position was placed on her head and back.

The music struck up again, and the loud buzz of conversation filled the hall.

"Congratulations," Luna whispered into her ear, offering her another glass of champagne, which she happily took.

"Thanks only to your kindness," Vivid replied, raising her glass in a small toast before sipping from it.

"My kindness? Your tenacity and eagerness to learn have served you just as well, Vivid. Do not assume that this is an assignment without merit."

Vivid could hear the slight warning tone, that had a hint of playfulness in it, in Luna's voice.

"Very well," Vivid said with a little bow. "Then as your court mage, I say it would be in the best interests of the magical community for you to enjoy yourself."

Luna laughed, shaking her head. "Incorrigible, truly. You go off to learn under the Archway for a few months and you feel confident enough to order your princess around," she said while snatching up a glass of champagne for herself from a tray halfway across the room.

Judging by Line's expression, she'd likely hoped to keep Luna away from things that would fall under "enjoying herself."

"So... What sorts of things will I actually be doing? I know you said advising... Magical subjects, but... You haven't had a court mage for a while, what role will I fill?" Vivid asked as she sat, watching the party roll on, seeming quite relaxed.

"Well, what do you think that a court mage should do?" Luna asked, quite amused.

Vivid paused to ponder the question for a few moments before sighing.

"See, all I can think of are things like sit in a closet studying, running experiments, and fighting any evildoers that attack Equestria."

"While stereotypical, I think those would all be helpful uses of a court mage," Luna agreed. "There are also times when a princess is forced to cope with situations of great importance, which she may not reveal outside of the court," she said with a somber tone as she looked into her glass at the fizzing golden drink. "In those cases, a princess would do well to have ponies she respects and wishes to confer with in her court."

"Oh," Vivid whispered, realizing she'd just become a confidant for the princess. "Well, at least I'm not so ordinary that our talks are uninteresting."

Luna laughed, a light and airy chuckle as Vivid sipped her drink and grinned. Luna seemed to enjoy talking to her, even when Vivid was somewhat silly. It made her feel like maybe she wasn't so bad after all, if she could bring joy to the princess.

"We have barely had time to speak in the last few months. What sort of training have you been taking at the Archway?"

"Well, efficiency is important to them, and I suppose to our work as a whole," Vivid explained, falling into the comfortable work banter that she'd grown used to with the other mages.

At some point during her long explanation, she acquired a glass of scotch as she'd hoped, and settled into a more comfortable cushion on the stage.

"You enjoy drinking?" Luna asked curiously, getting a laugh out of Vivid.

"I didn't drink at all until I came here. Alcohol was expensive where I lived, and I did not want to be helpless. But here, where I'm safer..."

She trailed off but smiled, shrugging and expanding her magic in rippling waves, so she could admire Luna's form, her sleek wings, the way her crown seemed so delicately balanced, but firm. She also admitted to herself that Luna's other features were quite attractive, in ways that she would not feel comfortable describing.

"I am quite glad you feel safe here in Canterlot," Luna said earnestly. "More than anything, I pride myself in my pony's safety and well being."

"Well that sounds rehearsed," Vivid mumbled, before realizing she'd spoken out loud and flinching, cheeks red.

Luna was staring at her, as well as a horrified Line, but after a moment Luna erupted into laughter, her sides shaking as she set down her glass and wiped tears from her eyes.

"It is!" she crowed. "By the stars it is! Nonetheless, shame on you, Vivid. You gave poor line a heart attack," Luna said, still grinning.

"I will endeavor not to do it again," Vivid mumbled around her drink, looking mostly at the floor.

"Oh please, Vivid," Luna whispered as she moved closer, putting a hoof on her back. "Do not retreat back within that shell so quickly. It is rare I have a pony who can be honest with me, much less forthright. To have a friend who will be open with me would make me very happy."

"Well... If it will make you happy, I suppose I will have to," Vivid said with a small smile. "After all, one must serve their princess."

"Serve your princess," Luna chuckled. "I hear that phrase too often, if I'm honest. It feels as though every pony is looking to me to fix their lives, when my own life is still unbalanced, consisting largely of work."

Vivid tilted her head to the side, looking at Luna in surprise.

"You don't have any hobbies? Things you do besides work?"

Luna laughed as she shook her head, clutching her drink and taking a deep drink.

"I rule a nation, Vivid Colour. If I am not addressing urgent issues across the land, I am dealing with the daily anxieties of nobility and such. It would be exhausting if not for the joy I feel at caring for my little ponies."

"Do you really?" Vivid blurted, and Luna sighed.

"I do. It took many years... and for a long time I did not feel that I deserved to lead, but yes. I do truly feel joy when I care for others."

"I suppose it's a prerequisite for being a princess," Vivid sighed.

"No, actually!" Luna said, suddenly very chipper and almost making Vivid drop her drink as she took a large sip and coughed. "All it takes is creating or embodying a new type of magic."

"Wh...what?!" Vivid squawked. "That's it? I thought... you were granted wings by the nobility of your heart!"

"No, no, no," Luna laughed. "I was a Pegasus. I gained a horn when I connected my soul to the moon so I could raise and lower it, after Discord stopped nature from functioning properly."

Vivid just stared, mouth gaping. She was quite happy to see that Line was just as shocked.

"Create new... so, I've made new magic, the solid magic I used to use to touch things!"

"Zebras use a form of it," Luna said sympathetically, patting Vivid on the shoulder. "That's why I knew how to absorb it. But you are the only pony I've seen use it!"

"Well, at least something is unique about me," Vivid growled.

"Oh there are many things unique about you, Vivid. Your bravery and strength, your innovative mind. The way that you turn towards me when I use my magic, as though I'm a shining light. The way that you never seem to know or care about that mess of a mane you have..."

"You sound as though you admire me," Vivid whispered, her muzzle practically buried in her glass.

"I do."

"Why?" Vivid asked, trying to feel angry. "Why would you admire me in any way? I've done evil, I've hurt others. I have no redeeming qualities."

"Then you know different Vivid Colour than I do," Luna insisted. "The Vivid I know mourns those she's hurt, which shows a good heart. She is determined to help others, and to do a good job. There's that bit of pride, but also humility. She never claims to be the most powerful, or most wise. But always offers her wisdom. She has no idea how she appears to others, and yet she seems more graceful and full of strength than mares who spend hours looking after their own appearance. I smile whenever you enter the room."

Vivid's cheeks felt like they were burning, as she looked up at Luna.

"Every time I see you, I feel joy that I felt like I've been missing for so long," she admitted.

"Princess, Vivid," Fine Line mumbled nervously. "Perhaps this conversation..."

"Ah yes, my precious public image," Luna said with an almost scathing tone as she drained her glass and stood. "Goodday everypony! Sleep well, and I shall see you all again upon the dusk court!"

The crowd was sparse and had barely been paying attention, the remaining ponies having broken into smaller groups to talk. There was a scattered cheer before Vivid felt Luna's magic wrap around her.

It was curious, a sort of spell that pulled her closer as though she was trying to swim through fast moving water. Then, quite rapidly, Luna constructed a spell that Vivid had never seen before. If it had been any pony else, they would have been baffled, but Vivid had been studying magic passionately for several months without pause, and was able to track how the spell specified another location. It then condensed both ponies inside of the spell down until they were almost raw magical energy. Finally, they were sucked out of the room and deposited into Luna's bedroom with a pop and the smell of ozone swirling around them.

"What was that?!" Vivid squealed, as Luna pulled off Vivid's circlet and cloak.

"I don't know what you mean," Luna said as she began to remove her own dress and regalia.

"We've... relocated! Transpositioned! We moved!"

"How remarkable," Luna murmured as she unceremoniously picked up and deposited Vivid upon the wide plush bed in the corner of the room.

Vivid hesitated as she became uncertain as to whether Luna was referring to the spell, her ability to notice it, or Vivid herself.

"Why are we in your bedroom, your highness?" Vivid asked as she realized her glass was empty and her head was all warm and unfocused.

"What an excellent question," Luna agreed. "Except, a moment ago you were calling me Luna. I prefer that."

"Very well, why are we in your bedroom, Luna?" Vivid asked, reluctant to disobey such an innocent request.

"Well, Fine Line suggested we should seek some privacy if we were to continue admitting our love for eachother."

"Th... That... I... That is what we were doing?" Vivid asked, a bit dazed as Luna got onto the bed and pushed Vivid gently onto her side so they could lay, nose to nose.

"I believe it was," Luna whispered, smiling.

An impulse raced through Vivid's heart, and thanks to the loss of control due to the alcohol, Vivid did not resist the impulse as strongly as she might have. She leaned closer, and touched her lips to Luna's.

It was not a spark or shock, it didn't make everything in the world alright, or solve world hunger. It didn't even sate the hunger in Vivid's own heart, but it did grant her a moment. A heartbeat's worth of peace in a life full of turmoil.

Her vision spell faded out with the distraction, and she felt only hot breath on her cheek and silky bedsheets. Until Luna's hoof graced Vivid's side, making her shiver as a tingle ran across her ribs and down to her groin, her legs twitching slightly. Her fur was standing on end, and she felt warmth deep inside her stomach, as though she'd swallowed a bowl of steaming soup.

Luna's hoof then went around to Vivid's rump and pulled her yet closer, so that the smaller pony was pressed against Luna's chest and belly.

"Not... worthy," Vivid whispered, getting only a soft laugh out of Luna as the princess held her close, kissing her forehead and then very gently biting on her ear. It had been laid back in fear, but the nibble prompted them to spring back up, a bit shocked at the sensation, a bit embarrassed.

"No need to hide, Vivid. I want you," Luna said, her breath rippling across Vivid's ear.

Vivid embraced Luna, and the night became theirs together.

Chapter 9. Dreams

Vivid felt like a fool.

Magic was one thing, but a summoning circle for a princess was just superstition, the sort of thing real mages joked about farmers trying.

She checked for the fifth time that the different phases of the moon were represented perfectly, her magic shimmering on the grass despite the sunlight coming over the horizon. Far above her, in Canterlot perched on the side of the mountain, she knew that the ponies of the city were going to sleep. She’d grown used to it, but it still struck her as unusual to sleep through the day.

Abruptly, Vivid became aware of a magical force entering her area.

It began as a beam of energy like concentrated light coming down from the top of the mountain. Then quickly became a sequence of three spell circles, that then folded together into a sphere. She’d never witnessed anything like it.

The light consolidated into points, then lines. They warped into curves and Vivid was able to watch as the outline and then the form of Princess Luna was constructed from solid magic.

“What I would give to witness my teleportation with your vision,” Luna said softly as she turned to face Vivid then paused, looking down.

She seemed dumbstruck before laughing.

“Did the guards tell you that you had to summon me?”

Vivid’s cheeks burned hot, as she tried to smile, and nod. “A… bit of a joke on their part, I’m sure.”

"Breathe easily, Vivid," Luna said as she smiled fondly. "They tease you because they know you have my favor."

Luna approached, but when she lowered her head to kiss the smaller pony Vivid turned away, still blushing.

"Have I caused you pain, Vivid?" Luna asked, her voice full of concern.

"I'd never kissed a pony before you," Vivid said, almost accusing in her tone.

"I am honored to be your first," Luna said solemnly, trying not to smile.

"But I was drunk! I've never kissed a mare before, and then you take advantage of me while I'm so drunk I do not even remember it!"

"Vivid Colour, I know what is in your heart. You do not need to deny it, simply because you are frightened of me. However, if you decide you never wish to see me again, I will accommodate despite the heartbreak it would cause me."

Vivid stopped protesting, scuffing the ground with a good as she wilted under Luna's concerned gaze.

Again, Luna leaned closer, and this time their lips met gently.

Vivid felt like her breath might as well be hot steam, swirling around her face as Luna's face moved slightly away from hers. Her heart was racing. She wondered how, how in the world she could have forgotten having done it before.

"You're crying," Luna whispered as she carefully put a hoof on Vivid's cheek.

"It's... I'm... They are happy tears," Vivid said with a small chuckle. "I have never..."

Luna moved closer, then put her forelegs and wings around Vivid, pulling her close in her embrace, warm and safe.

"You said last day, that you were afraid of making love. Of being with a mare. Something about my sister's retribution?" she whispered, worried.

"I was raised to revere Celestia," Vivid mumbled as she laid her head against Luna's chest, the alicorn's heartbeat soothing her. "Many churches said that she hated Sapphic mares, and those stallions who love their own kind."

Luna sighed, looking up at the sun above.

"I would not know," Luna sighed as she looked back down to Vivid. "When I banished her, it was before I had even come to know what I was, in that sense. We never discussed it. It shall be most... Interesting when she returns."

"When she returns?" Vivid asked, turning her head up and finding the most comfortable spot as her head laid in the curve of Luna's neck.

"Later, Vivid. I only have hours with you," Luna said, laying her head on Vivid's and chuckling softly.

The vibration of the laugh hummed across Vivid's nose, making her feel oddly giddy.

"Time... Time with me, is not so precious."

"Oh but indeed it is!" Luna insisted as she squeezed Vivid closer, her hoof running down Vivid's chest to her stomach, where she made a small nervous squeaking sound.

"Oh! You did not make that sort of noise last night," Luna giggled.

"What noise," Vivid mumbled as Luna ran her hoof down again and got a second whimper from her.

"That noise. It is... quite appealing."

Luna turned Vivid under her grip, so that her back was against Luna's stomach. She then stroked Vivid's sides gently.

"Don't be so stiff and scared, the guards would not dare spy on their princess and her lover."

"They know?!" Vivid hissed, shocked as Luna held her closer, stopping her from squirming too much.

"They protect my very life, Vivid Colour," Luna said sternly, before kissing the top of her head. "They know every step I take, but in return they are wholly loyal. They would protect thy life just the same."

Vivid only relaxed a little, as she sniffled. "It's... Quite jarring to be afraid of all this for so long, then to be expected to allow guards to know of my... desires."

She was then interrupted by her own moan as Luna's hoof drifted even lower, while the other pulled her against Luna's body, surrounded by so much warmth, Luna's whole body cradling the little pony.

"P...Please, I can't..."

The moment Vivid stuttered, Luna paused, her hoof just barely between Vivid's legs.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No! No... No, no, of course not... I just..." Vivid panted, shivering a little. "I don't know how to do this."

"How... My dear, you need not do anything, but to enjoy my attention. I... have not had an opportunity to please another pony in a very long time."

"How long?" Vivid asked, stalling a little because of her nervousness.

"Five hundred years," Luna whispered, suddenly timid sounding, her hooves gentler on Vivid's skin.

After a moment, Vivid pulled Luna's hoof closer again, pressing it against her.

"You're not alone right now," Vivid whispered.

"No... I suppose I am not," Luna agreed as she pressed in a little, Vivid breathing more quickly as her cheeks felt hot. "How lucky I am to have finally found a pony to share some time with."

"You could... have any mare you desire..." Vivid murmured against Luna's arm.

"No, no indeed I could not. See, as a princess I must be better, I must be careful in all things. I cannot love a pony who would not love me in return. I may not love a pony who would feel they must love me due to my status. But I may love a pony... Who loves me in return, and... Who would not bow to me for being who I am. I may love thee, Vivid Colour."

Vivid nearly fell flat on her face as a wave of pleasure rolled through her, and she went mostly limp. But Luna held her close.

"They might hear."

Luna's chuckle, soft warm breath rolling over Vivid's ear, belied that her princess was not going to stop just because a few of her subordinates might be able to hear them. She in fact pulled Vivid closer, until Vivid could feel Luna's heartbeat on her back.

"If they do, I will certainly command them to say nothing," Luna whispered, before gently biting Vivid's ear and making her gasp, twitching against Luna's grip. "They would never disobey an order. Unlike you, my little spirit of independence."

"I am... Not little, and far from a spirit," Vivid said with an attempt at a frown, but she couldn't stay cross at Luna's gleeful smile that showed as though draped in silk netting, Vivid's magic showing her each curve and the glow of magic behind Luna's eyes.

"Of course not. You are a princess, certainly, due the care of a royal," Luna said with solemnity and a gracious nod.

Vivid tried not to let her arousal show, and the deep blush across her cheeks, but her forelegs were trembling as Luna pulled her up off them, and then all of a sudden they were flying. The ground pulled away from them, and Vivid felt like she was on her back, laying on top of Luna.

"What..."

"Relax," Luna said in a near whisper. "Be calm. The sky is my domain, and despite the light of the sun... You can see beyond what others see."

Then, as Luna's magic spread out above them, the stars came out to Vivid's sight, despite the moon being so far away.

They flew, drifted through the stars, as Luna held Vivid close, clinging to her like a piece of driftwood in a vast ocean.

"Vivid Colour... Please do not be afraid of loving me in return. For I know not what I would do, if the one I loved could not love me."

Vivid turned, careful not to fall off of Luna, and she looked into the alicorn's eyes.

It was odd to see them so vulnerable, to see the shimmer of tears at their corners, blurring Vivid's magic. Vivid wondered if a goddess could be broken by a single word. A dark corner of her heart had the urge to find out. But that dark corner never gained any power in Vivid's heart that day.

"Luna... I have been afraid because I know, without any doubt, that I am not worthy of your love. But if you insist it upon me, if you cannot find some better mare to covet... I would be thrilled to be even but a mare passing in the day, gracing your bed for blissful moments."

"You could never be so simple," Luna whispered as those tears were stripped from her eyes by the wind. "So mundane. I've watched you, Vivid. From afar, wondering if I would ever have the chance to tell you this. I saved your ship at sea, and I hoped every day since that you would find your way to me."

Vivid had thought that it was a dream. In a way, it was. It began in her sleep.

A flash of color in the darkness. A feeling of a presence being nearby. Flickers of magic pressure in strange triangles and swooping motion among the swinging of the waves rocking her boat.

She decided she must be having a nightmare, though she couldn't imagine what would be worse than being lost at sea as a sentence for murder.

"Hello?" A young filly's voice called out.

She jolted upright, an unsettling feeling of bobbing and weightlessness coming over her.

"Who is there?" Vivid called out.

"Uh... Lily Blossom. Who are you?"

Vivid hesitated before laying back down on the rough wood of her little boat. She couldn't remember meeting a Lily Blossom, but she'd created other ponies in her dreams before. She must be really lonely to make up a child to talk to.

"Vivid Colour. How did you get here?"

"Um... where are we? I can't see."

Now that was weird. She'd never made another pony blind in her dreams. But she liked the idea. It felt less like the filly was at an advantage.

"Well... I was put out to sea on a boat, to die, because I hurt some other ponies."

There was silence, then the sound of splashing, and then the boat rocked as something climbed aboard. Then a somewhat damp filly curled up against Vivid's side.

"Where did you come from?" Vivid asked, frowning a little.

"The sea. Duh."

Vivid chuckled, going limp again as the boat rocked.

"Why did you hurt other ponies?" the filly asked.

Vivid didn't answer. But her mind played the emotions of the moment. The panic, the feeling of hooves striking her side. The magic spreading out from her in jagged spears, and feeling hot blood steaming as it ran down the points of energy, and dipped onto her muzzle.

The filly clung to her, and Vivid sighed before putting her forelegs around her.

"Were you scared?"

"Yes," Vivid whispered, trying to ignore the tears on her cheeks.

"Why did they put you out on the ocean though?" The filly asked, squirming as she tried to get comfortable.

Vivid was tempted to move away so the filly could find a comfortable spot without disturbing her, but she remained where she was, maybe out of some small kindness, maybe out of a sheer lack of motivation to move.

"If an adult pony does something bad in the isles of Bitain, and the other ponies don't want them there anymore, they are taken out and put on a small boat. That way, no one else has to watch them suffer... or die. It happens far away."

The dream faded abruptly, and Vivid drifted in and out of awareness as the boat rocked in the wind.

But then she thought for a moment she could hear wings. Distant. She sat up, but she couldn't figure out if the sound had been real. She fell back asleep, and when she woke up she had found herself on the shores of southern Equestria. Saved, not by chance, but by intervention of the princess that had visited her dream.

"I am not afraid," Vivid lied. "I simply have a bit of anxiety regarding how others may perceive us..."

"Would you rather not be a royal consort, official and public?" Luna asked as a cluster of stars drifted past, like diamonds packed full of magic, so powerful and close that she barely even needed her light spell to perceive them.

"I am not a public mare..." Vivid said, not quite answering the question.

"So we will keep our relationship secret," Luna proposed, sounding untroubled. "So that you are not bothered by the public or the royals. Would this be acceptable?"

Vivid turned so that she was laying stomach to stomach with Luna, and closed her eyes to rest her head just under Luna's chin.

"If you told me that we would be known by all... I would still love you, despite my pain and fear."

Luna held her a bit tighter before they began to fall, weightless. Vivid's stomach turned and she had to struggle not to lose her dinner, before she was slowly pressed back against Luna, and then carried down to the ground.

"You do not enjoy freefall?" Luna asked with only a little surprise.

"I'm not winged, so no," Vivid replied sarcastically. "Give me wings, and perhaps I will enjoy it as much as you."

Luna laughed and carefully set Vivid down, before carefully kissing her cheek.

"A moment."

Luna walked back into the camp with Vivid trailing slightly behind. Luna then made a gesture with one hoof that seemed to indicate a need for the attention of the guards and soldiers. They all stopped and looked to her, ready to follow her orders, while Vivid hid in the shadows.

"Some of you have rightfully questioned some of my actions of late. Trying to understand why I would assign you certain posts, or give you certain missions. It is entirely within your rights to want to understand my actions, and now I can tell you why. Vivid Colour is to be my Consort. This is a separate matter from her appointment as Court mage, and as she is not accustomed to the public nature of such a relationship, we will be keeping this within the bounds of the court, is this understood?"

The guards all nodded firmly, without hesitation. But some of the soldiers looked uncomfortable, surprised by the situation.

"Well that was stiff and awkward," Vivid mumbled as she and Luna returned to the little clearing with the runic symbol.

"Despite my best efforts in improving the view Equestria takes on lesbians and Gelds, they are slow to change. I expect that in the next century we will remain quite the scandal," Luna pondered as Vivid sat down and settled into her confused expression.

Luna paid no mind as she sat behind her and resumed their cuddle.

"What is a lesbian? Or a Geld for that matter?" Vivid asked, blushing as Luna wrapped herself around the smaller pony.

Luna chuckled. "Poor Vivid, uninitiated into her own culture. Sapphos, a pioneer of our kind, came from the island of Lesbos. Thus, we call ourselves Lesbians. Geld... well, recently a few homosexual stallions I know have been using the word Geld to refer to themselves, to get back at those who use the word to insult them, comparing them to the distant past where aggressive males were neutered."

"They call themselves such a horrible thing?!" Vivid asked, aghast.

"The horror of a word is in it's use, not the definition," Luna cautioned as she kissed the top of Vivid's head. "They have found strength in using the word their abusers once used. We cannot tell them not to, as it is their choice. We can only decide our own identities."

"If you say so, Princess," Vivid mumbled, nuzzling her lover's soft neck, enjoying her warmth and releasing her concern about the issue as a whole.

"Are you afraid?" Luna asked after a short pause.

Vivid didn't reply, her eyes still closed, her perception spell fading out as she tried to keep her breathing slow.

"Vivid, are you afraid of this? Of me, of being with me?"

Vivid chuckled, softly and with a bit of a sad smile. "I... Am terrified. Do you know how I was raised to see you?"

There was more silence, before Luna pulled her a little tighter. "No... I don't."

"In Bitain, you are known as the dark sister. The alicorn of secrets and pain. The alicorn of scheming and lies... It was not a pretty picture. When I came here, I thought you were going to torture me, or sentence me to death. But that's not why I'm terrified. I am terrified because... The last thing I loved, I killed. I killed her. After that, I don't know if I am capable of love."

She could feel the cool of tears tracking down her cheeks.

"Why do you not think you could love?" Luna asked as she brushed Vivid's mane back, running her hoof down her neck.

"I do not feel it. I feel only emptiness. Though pleasure may come in moments of passion, as I've found, there is nothing but physical comfort at other times. Once we are apart, by myself there is nothing but coldness and pain in my heart. A distance from my emotions. I work, I do what I must, but there is no joy in me. No great warmth of love except for when you are holding me, or when we are in a passionate embrace. I cannot love."

Luna sighed but did not release her, still keeping her close. "Love is not a feeling, my dear."

Vivid jerked away, glaring up at Luna as though she'd told her that they were nothing to eachother. But Luna shook her head and pulled her close again.

"Love is not a feeling, it is an act. Warmth, joy, passion, contentment, those are feelings. But to love? To love is to entwine your life with another. To love is to grow better together, to find a new height of life in conjoined life. That is love. To sacrifice or give for another, is a form of love, and love can be so many other things. It can even be the combination of feelings we experience. But for as long as you expect to feel forever full of light and joy because you are loved, then you will feel your love fading away, even though it is still there. Emotions are fleeting. Love... Love is a state of life."

"I do not care for that answer, your Highness," Vivid said angrily as she tried to pull away again, reactivating her perception spell as she began to walk away.

"You cannot ignore that which you disagree with, and embrace only that which you already know! Not only is it the surest way to become blind to progress, but it is the finest tool to delude onesself into believing only the darkest inner voices!" Luna called after her.

Vivid stopped, and as she growled she turned back around to face Luna.

"Blind?" she hissed.

Luna paused, uncertain how badly she had misstepped. "I meant it metaphorically, Vivid. I did not--"

Luna had only a split second to erect a shield before a magical bolt splashed off of it in a small explosion.

"Blind?! You call me blind? I see more than you! I see the truth of the world, in which you are a lie and your sister, banished forever, is the holy light lost from this world! You are a dark temptress that is a rot upon all around you! You are not worthy of the title of princess, nor of my love!"

Before a second bolt could be let loose towards the alicorn, three of the royal guards slammed into Vivid, tackling her to the ground and messing her aim up. But just as quickly as they had met her challenge, they were backing away, Luna's magic pulling them off her.

"Stop, stop it. Vivid poses me no true danger, and this is a personal matter. Between lovers."

Vivid got back up and scowled around at the guards as they slowly returned to the camp. Leaving the two alone.

Luna tried to approach slowly, concern resonating in her words.

"Vivid... I did not intend to hurt you."

Vivid could feel her hard practiced exterior failing. Her years of practice in preventing her true emotions and weaknesses from showing, all starting to buckle under her desire to fling herself back into Luna's embrace. But her pride was stronger.

She began charging her horn with magic, crackling and popping with unstable connections that she had never tried before. Luna's eyes went wide as she spotted the shape of her personal transportation spell, which could take Vivid nearly anywhere.

"Vivid, don't run--"

With a roar of magic, and arcs of energy scorching the ground around her, Vivid vanished before a clap of thunder rang out from the spot she'd vacated, leaving Luna alone in the dark.

Chapter 10. Friends

Suddenly unsure of herself, Vivid tried to determine where she'd landed. She couldn't feel the ground, but she wasn't falling. She couldn't activate her perception spell, meaning either she'd burned out her horn for the moment, or she was in the clutches of something designed to nullify magic. But she didn't feel pain or pressure.

She shifted, but only managed to wobble, without feeling anything change.

"I didn't expect you, of all ponies, to be here."

Vivid immediately placed the voice as Clover. Her fellow archmage, and violator of gender norms.

"And where exactly is 'here' Clover?" Vivid asked as she turned her head towards the sound of hooves.

"A trap for windagos," Clover chuckled. "A Web of magic that grabs onto spirits of disharmony and malcontent, and keeps them there. So I wonder, are you truly Vivid Colour at all?"

Vivid frowned, crossing her forelegs. "I'm not a spirit, that's for certain. You have a thousand ways to determine that I am me, I don't see the point in entertaining the question. But clearly something is wrong with your spell, if it fetched me, mid trans-location."

"Ah, but that would explain it," Clover agreed as Vivid felt herself start to descend. "If you found a way to trans-locate, and were particularly emotional at the time, your thaumic signature would be warped by the emotions. You would appear a being of emotion to my sensor. I will have to adjust for that, make a spell to avoid creatures with a heartbeat or something."

Vivid huffed as she touched the ground, and her perception spell came to life. She was in a spherical stone room. Bizarre, to be on the inside of a sphere, but particularly powerful for forming a spell meant to contain. She could also perceive Clover, in their robes as usual, though with a flower tucked in their mane.

"I know, an odd look for me, isn't it?" Clover chuckled as Vivid stared.

"Well, just unusual. Not bad at all. But I've grown accustomed to you being serious."

"Ah. Well, a strict approach does have its advantages. One of which is getting right to the point. Why are you here and not on your way to that sleepy farming village?" Clover's whole demeanor changed, suddenly so much more blunt and confident.

Vivid nearly cursed, having hoped to leave before that came up. But she calmed her outer appearance.

"Her royal highness, Princess Luna, felt it necessary to visit me during my mission, and I needed some time alone to think."

"You actually love her!" Clover said in shock, making Vivid jolt backwards in an equal measure of surprise.

"How could you know that?!" She snapped.

Clover cleared her throat and shook her head before chuckling.

"I'm sorry, a... an ability I have. I can feel certain emotions. When you spoke her name... well..."

Vivid looked at Clover as though she was a new sort of monster that might lash out. "You can feel emotions? That’s absurd."

“Of course it is, I simply guessed,” Clover corrected herself, but Vivid was uncertain.

Her friend’s nervousness was uncharacteristic, and she’d seemed so certain when she first spoke out. But Vivid did not want to address the issue, she shook her head and turned away.

“Regardless, that love may be futile. I may as well begin planning to flee Equestria.”

Much calmer once her misstep was being ignored, Clover sighed and grabbed Vivid with her magic.

“No, nonono, stop this. Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Clover,” Vivid replied as she charged her horn and dissolved the magic holding her, but her tone wasn’t as acidic as her magical energy, and it did not drive Clover away.

“You are correct. You do not owe me anything. But as a friend I’d like to know why you are now preparing to leave, when before you had been quite happy with your new position, and this home.”

“Because she believes she is superior to me, and can tell me what to do,” Vivid scoffed, turning back to the door and climbing the wooden slats that formed a diagonal sort of ladder up to the entryway.

“Have you contemplated that, as a seven hundred year old alicorn, she might be worth listening to?” Clover asked as she followed Vivid up and back into the Archway complex, all stone walls with air shafts in the ceiling that let fresh mountain air circulate.

Vivid focused on following the hallways, matching the markings on the walls with her knowledge of how the Archway’s home was arranged. She didn’t reply.

“Besides, I can’t imagine the dark brooding princess stating that she’s better than you,” Clover scoffed, still following behind.

“Please, just… Leave me alone. I’ll pack my things and be gone before moonset.”

“Then what, we get stuck with a moping Luna, no Court Mage, and a bunch of public questions?” Clover replied, her voice stained with sarcasm, or maybe scorn.

Vivid chose to hear it as scorn.

“That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” Vivid asked as she turned to face Clover. “How it will effect you?!”

“No, but it got you to reply to me, and stop acting as though I was a ghost following you around,” Clover snapped in reply before getting right in Vivid’s face. “You’re running on emotion, pure emotion. It’s several hours past moonset, it’s almost midday! You’re talking about leaving before whenever, so determined to vanish, but you don’t actually want to leave. I know you don’t. We’ve talked enough about your past life that I know this is the closest thing to home you've ever had. I'm not going to let you destroy it in a fit of emotion!”

Vivid didn't have an answer to her. She was angry, she was emotional, but it felt more like she was being ignored than like she was overreacting. She wanted her life to fall apart, for everything to decay so she would be proven right. So she could say that all those who had cared really were lying.

But something about the honesty and concern in Clover's face gave her pause, and as tears started streaming down her cheeks, she turned away and took a shaking breath.

“I won't leave.”

“Good mare,” Clover whispered, putting a hoof to her back.

She then guided Vivid to her private room, and helped her into bed, before Vivid was alone, and could cry herself to sleep.

As Vivid drifted toward unconsciousness, she felt feathers brush across her whole body, and she felt a warm presence around her, warming some deep ache in her heart.

"Go away," Vivid whispered, but she didn't mean it. Silently, she was begging for Luna to stay.

Her silent wish won out, as the warmth grew and she was surrounded by comfort.

When she finally drifted into dreams, Luna was there, smiling.

It was as though nothing was wrong. The world had no pain, and Vivid laughed as she ran up and tackled Luna into the grass, rolling down a small hill entangled.

“Take me flying!” Vivid said quickly, far more excited than she would feel comfortable being when awake.

“Oh? Are you not afraid?” Luna asked as she picked Vivid up and put her on Luna’s back.

“Never! I know you wouldn’t drop me,” Vivid declared as she charged her horn and cast out a net of perception that extended far out beyond her normal sight, allowing her to see the ground and trees as Luna spread her wings and they began to fly upward.

The moon far above them cast a magical glow across Vivid’s own magical net, and Vivid looked up to it, the shimmering silver sphere.

“Is it you?” Vivid asked curiously.

“Hmm?”

“Is… Is the moon, you? Is it your heart?” Vivid clarified.

Luna laughed softly as they swing in the sky to form a wide circle. “No. Not in such a sense. It existed before I did, and will exist forever. But for as long as I am tied to it, it is a crucial part of me. I can see through it, I can even transport myself to its surface if I so wish, though there is no air.”

“No air…” Vivid said, in awe of learning so much, as she lay on Luna’s back, gently running her hoof down Luna’s neck, before she giggled. “But we could bring air! We could grow a tree! On the moon!”

“Yes,” Luna agreed, grinning with amusement, “I suppose that we could, if you would like to.”

They flew in silence, Vivid humming as she watched the stars, her mind creating swirls of color among them, and thin branching lines to form constellations. Then she paused and nuzzled the back of Luna’s neck.

“Yes, Vivid?”

“I’m going to wake up, aren’t I? And you’re going to be gone. I’m going to be alone. Floating in a boat, out in the water.”

Vivid’s voice was faint, and it pitched up as she spoke, as though she was having trouble breathing, panic coming in towards her.

Luna exerted her control over the dream to prevent it from returning to that memory of the rocking boat and the saltwater spray. It was difficult, that memory clearly tortured Vivid, and she’d never resolved it. It still held much power over her. But Luna was the princess of dreams, and she would not let it drown her love.

“When you awake, you will find me near to you, Vivid,” Luna insisted gently. “You will not return to that place. You will not be alone.”

“Yes I will.”

Storm clouds began to mask the stars and moon above, and cold wind whipped past them as they flew, but Luna did not hesitate. This was a change in the dream that Vivid had created, and it would hurt her to force it.

“Why do you say that, Vivid?” Luna asked.

“Because I am evil. I am a killer. Noone stays.”

The wind began to claw at Luna, as though trying to rip her mane from her head, but Luna couldn’t resist it. This wasn’t just a memory, this was a belief that Vivid had. It was potent and filled with self hatred that Luna hadn’t seen before. Then again, she had not visited the dream of someone who loved her before. She wondered if that made it easier for her to be tied to the emotions present.

“You declare such things as though they were fact,” Luna said loudly so she could be heard over the wind. “But yet I remain! This past year within my castle, and I have kept you close, perhaps you are not so cursed as you believe!”

Luna felt a sudden gust, and the weight of Vivid leave her back. Then she was falling, and lost in the winds, unable to find Vivid.

Then she was waking up from the dream, holding a struggling Vivid who was whimpering loudly as she thrashed.

Luna could see that Vivid’s brow was slick with sweat, and her face contorted in anger and pain. With a powerful spell, Luna banished Vivid’s dreams and cleared her mind of emotion for a moment, allowing her to awake from her state of panic.

Luna had grown used to Vivid’s movements and actions, and was comforted to see Vivid’s horn light and her perception spell expand around them, making Vivid’s mane ripple as though in a light breeze. Luna blushed a little, as she admired the glow that filled Vivid’s eyes and then faded to a slight shimmer.

“I was having a dream,” Vivid began to say before looking to Luna and frowning, standing up. “Then you…”

With the accusatory tone in her voice growing, Luna sighed and grabbed hold of Vivid in her magic. She lifted Vivid off the ground and began carrying her through the hallways.

“Put me down!”

“You are one of my ponies, Vivid. I can take you into custody as I see fit. One of the nastier aspects of a monarchy. Tell me, Vivid Colour, why are you angry with me?” Luna asked calmly.

Vivid spluttered, struggling to free herself as they exited the Archway chambers and began walking down the long hallways back to the castle.

“You called me blind!”

Luna paused, thinking on the claim. “Well, but you are. If I remember correctly, you are quite proud of that fact aren’t you?”

Vivid actually growled before she cast a spell, but Luna absorbed it without her magic failing.

“Do not attempt to hurt me, Vivid,” Luna said softly. “You will regret it, for you have a conscience even if you do not listen to it. Now, why are you angry with me?”

Vivid struggled to put her roaring emotions into words, until finally she hisses out an answer. “You act like you know me, like you can control me. When I know that once you decide I’m too broken for you, you will leave.”

Luna sat down, and gently set Vivid down, looking into her eyes.

“Vivid Colour, I am experienced in this fear of loss you have. I am… old. Perhaps not as wise as many mares who are only a century old, I have a unique experience that they and you also share. Over the years, countless times, I have grown close to somepony only to watch them fade or grow distant, or even if they do not, they pass on. To the place I will never go. I am left behind, to continue onward without those I loved or cared for.”

“I don’t care about your pain!” Vivid shouted at her, stomping a hoof on the stone floor. “The fact that you hurt has no bearing on my own pain.”

“But it does, for I have continued on despite loss!” Luna replied just as loudly. “What you imagine as a final sort of ultimate pain which you cannot conquer, I have suffered and survived countless times! I have grown from it, become more wise and a better pony, not because I spent my entire life dreading what would come next, but because I memorialized and cared for what I had, when I had it, and was thankful for what I had when it was gone. If you continue obsessing over pain yet to come, yes. You will be filled with pain. Constantly. But that will not prevent me from remaining by your side. I’ve loved only once before, I will not give up on loving you just because you are determined to drive me away!”

Vivid wanted to lash out, she didn’t know how to cope with the assertion that Luna would stay by her side, despite Luna also criticizing her. The criticism made her angry, so angry she wanted to run away, but Luna could go anywhere to find her. She wanted to be alone, but the only time recently she’d been alone was at sea, and that was a nightmare she did not want to return to. She was trapped, and as tears began to spill from her eyes, she slammed her hoof into the ground again, and again.

“Let me be right! Let me go! I hate you!” Vivid screamed.

“That’s not true. I know it’s frightening, but letting yourself love will not result in me dying. It will not result in you being alone again. You can trust me, not to be perfect, but to be your love.”

Vivid collapsed, sobbing as she lost control of her magic, and daggers of magic shot out from her, but Luna was unaffected. The magic dissolved when it touched the alicorn, and she moved closer to wrap herself around the little pony on the floor, holding her.

“You’ll leave me,” Vivid sobbed.

“Do not look into the future and dread, Vivid. Look to the now. Look to the love you have, and my promise to care for you,” Luna countered.

“Promise?” Vivid sobbed, feeling like the word was almost foreign to her. “What… does a promise do for me?”

“It is a bond on my honor,” Luna said as she lifted Vivid from the ground and began walking again. “It is a bond between us. To inspire confidence in you. So that maybe you can learn to trust me.”

Vivid shook her head hard, in rebellion of even the idea, but she didn’t struggle as she was put onto Luna’s back and carried through the castle to Luna’s private chambers.

The great doors closed behind them as Vivid let herself sniffle, feeling hollow and spent, draped over Luna’s wings and back like a sack of flour. She certainly didn’t feel like a court mage.

“You must believe in something positive, in order to build a new self that is not constantly decaying, Vivid,’ Luna said as she poured a glass of water for the little pony, and provided a cloth kerchief to blow her nose and dry her face.

“I don’t want to change,” Vivid murmured as she dried her tears, blew her nose, and finally drank the whole glass of water.

She had to struggle not to cough, but she didn’t want to seem weak.

“Then why did you keep learning with Line? Why did you join the Archway, and learn so much about magic? It is all change, Vivid. It is the change of pride and self hatred that you avoid, which are most crucial to change, in the end.”

Vivid grit her teeth, but she felt herself breaking.

It was, in a way, worse than when she'd felt the blood of two innocent children running down her back. That time, when she'd first broken, it had been mindless. She had been crushed by the weight of her actions, and the lies she'd had to spin to continue living, and her heart had broken by the facts. Feelings had come later, in a boat in the middle of an ocean.

But now she felt her heart breaking like a bone being re-set. Her emotions ripping her open, as she dared to feel. Like a drowning pony gasping for air, lungs burning and no promise of respite, she was breaking the surface under which she'd been buried for far too long.

But oddly, she did not cry more. Her tears abated, while her mind and heart took the pain.

"What could I possibly believe in?"

Luna gave it some thought, as she held Vivid. Briefly, she was distracted by thoughts of how strong Vivid had been. In only a year, coming so far from where she had been. In only one day, accepting Luna's love even though it had thrown her world into turmoil. She remembered when Vivid had first arrived, and Vivid's childhood. What she knew of it, anyway.

She smiled.

"You worshiped my sister, did you not? When you were a child?"

Vivid was momentarily shaken out of her dazed state as she looked up at Luna. She'd never heard Luna speak of her sister except for in very somber tones, now she almost seemed to be referring to Celestia as the goddess that Vivid had seen them both as for so long, worthy of admiration. It was at odds with how Vivid thought Luna saw her sister.

"Yes... Yes I did, but I've noticed very few revere the sun in your nocturnal land, Luna. Fewer still wear the sun sign."

Luna sighed, nodding in agreement. "This is true but it is not by my command that it is so. It is due to a mistake many years ago. A weakness of pride exploited by those loyal to me, to extinguish my sister's flame. But now, after... maturing, I have found it is a bitter thing indeed to realize that few even know her name. Few even know why my old castle is called the castle of the two sisters. If her memory could bring you comfort, could help the one pony I love, then I will unseal long kept vaults, find her old books, and give you all the permission you need to care for her memory. Perhaps that would let her care for you as well, in a way."

Vivid tried to steady her breathing, her grip on her emotions still unsteady.

"The teachings of Celestia... A crucial portion of it all, if I am remembering correctly, was that one must worship with others. Never alone. Is there a church still to her? Or those who would worship if they were permitted?"

"I am certain they exist," Luna nodded. "I could give you their information, so you may contact them. Worship together."

Vivid cleaned her face and blew her nose before standing and nodding.

"When I return then... I have a task before me, as you commanded. I must complete it. Then, I will begin the new church."

"I can take you back to the camp, Vivid," Luna offered.

"I believe... I need to do this myself," Vivid declined as she lit her horn and began forming the teleportation spell.

This time it was very careful, methodical in how she formed her spell just as Luna had, and then she vanished with a pop of magic, reappearing in the camp at the base of the mountain.

Chapter 11. Bitter metal

Vivid walked into the small farming town, with a line of guards behind her. It was clear she was not welcome.

A stallion hurried his two children away and into one of the buildings before drawing the curtains, and a group of mares in dirty farming clothes watched them warily from a copse of trees next to the pond that seemed to mark the middle of the town.

The cluster of buildings formed a ring around the pond and park, and then two half circles around the inner circle, with farmland spreading out beyond as far as the guards could describe.

Vivid wasn't certain if the wary reception was due to her horn, as most if not all the locals were earth ponies, or if it was because of her guard escort. But it mattered little to her. For the first time she was on orders from the crown. Orders to investigate, determine the cause of several farms' reduction in yield, and ensure that the responsible parties were brought to court to answer for their actions.

The first thing she noticed were the cloud banks. Stored precisely over the hills, and in neat fluffy stockpiles, they were not short on water. It looked as though rains had been scheduled recently, as the grass and trees were vibrant and small puddles still stood in potholes.

The second thing she took note of were the roads leading out to the farms. There were two main roads, and the disparity between them was striking. One was well maintained with clear tracks from the wagons, shaded with trees, and lined with fencing so that even a half asleep pony would pull a cart straight. The second road had stones in the path, led towards rocky hills, and looked rarely traveled. No fences, and no wheel grooves. Next to the path was a marker sign, but whatever it had once said had been scraped clean leaving only a wooden plank on a post, askew.

Vivid could guess that the lesser used path was the way to the local unicorn's farm. It was squeezed up against the hills whereas the other road led out into plains, rich farming lands with likely a dozen different farms.

It was interesting to see the racial politics so far from Canterlot or Bitain. In Bitain there was a slight scorn of Earth ponies, but it was politely hidden in public. In Canterlot, it was almost impossible to find Earth ponies, they were welcomed if they were rich, or if they held some significant political post such as Prince or Governor. But otherwise they were shunned with enough force that they had their own sections of cities, and their own towns.

But now to be in one of those towns and to see how the Earth Ponies defended the few places where they were in control was a little jarring. Vivid wondered if this was what Earth Ponies felt when they entered Unicorn cities. Except they did not have much power even when they retreated to their own towns.

She supposed, as she walked to the small store that advertised fertilizer and nails, that she deserved the sort of mild shunning she was experiencing now. Not for being a unicorn of course, that would be as unfair as the way earth ponies were treated, but for never having rebelled against the system that had allowed all of those Earth ponies to be treated as though they were not ponies at all. But a job to do was a job to do.

So she opened the door and walked in while the guards waited outside.

There was a cowbell over the door, letting out a soft low tone when she entered and made her way to the counter at the far wall, behind which an earth pony mare sat and watched her approach.

"Greetings," Vivid said as she nodded to her respectfully. "I am seeking Shade Blossom, I understand she operates a farm nearby?"

"If you could call it a farm," the pony behind the counter retorted with a smirk, leaning heavy against the counter and looking right at Vivid's horn. "Unicorns don't farm. They water plants and hope they grow. Nothing like what a real farmer does."

Vivid bristled, but maintained her calm. She was an intruder here, and she reminded herself that the locals would be treated far worse in Canterlot.

"Regardless, I have come to ascertain her role in the loss of crops in fields nearby, claimed to be her fault. So I would appreciate some direction to her location."

There was no point in going down the road she had thought of as the road to Shade's farm, if she did not know for certain it was the right path. Every minute spent on the wrong path was a minute wasted.

"Ascertain..."

"Tell me where she lives," Vivid interrupted.

The mare behind the counter snorted, shaking her head in disgust.

"Won't do you no good, you're clearly blind. Where's your caretaker?"

Vivid grit her teeth as she lit her horn and sized every object on every shelf in the store, lifting them slightly before letting them settle. "I assure you, good madam, that I am capable of perceiving my surroundings just fine. Now unless your directions consist entirely of colour, I would like to have them."

The mare was rattled by the display, almost cowering behind the counter as she nodded.

"Well... if you go back out and turn left, down the old Mill Road... there's a blank sign at the start of it. Half a mile down the road there's a stone on the left. A thin path through the grass is behind it. That'll take you there."

"Thank you," Vivid said with a small courtesy before dropping a silver coin on the counter. "For your troubles."

She then turned and left the shop, the guards falling into step behind her. But before she could even get to the road, she was stopped.

"Hey! Hey you're the court mage, yes? Why won't you come look at our fields? Going to go see the hag before even seeing her handiwork?"

It was the Pegasus who had come to Luna's court to complain, and started the whole process. Vivid sighed before turning towards the Pegasus with a smile.

"I thought to ascertain this unicorn's skill first, to see if she was even capable of such complex magic that it would take to prevent crop growth. Unless that is not satisfactory--"

"By the moon, of course it's not satisfactory!"

The Pegasus flew down to stand uncomfortably close to Vivid, the cool night air from his wings washing over her as he landed, bringing back uncomfortable memories of two Pegasus Colts flying by her head.

"She'll just pretend to be daft, unable to use magic like she always does! But we know better! She left a magic powder on our land, it's good as seeing her do it herself!" He shouted as the guards stepped closer and interrupted him.

For the first time he seemed to notice them, and backed away as he calmed down. But he'd gotten Vivid's attention, and she suddenly wanted to know more.

"Magic powder, you say? Take me to your crops at once," Vivid said as she gestured as though to shoo him away.

"Finally," he huffed. "Some urgency to the matter."

He took to a hover and led the small group down the much nicer road and then immediately to the right, cutting behind the small town's houses and out into the fields.

They didn't have to go very far before he stopped and gestured.

"The dust is heaviest in this field," he said as he pointed out past a fence. "It shines in the moonlight."

But he did not have to tell Vivid. In her magical sight she could see each speck as though it was a star in the sky. It was not just his field either, but spread out across the ground for hundreds of pony lengths. She jumped over the fence to land in the soft tilled dirt on the other side. The glittering dust immediately clung to her hooves and she peered close at them, unable to discern the dust itself beyond the glow it gave.

As she realized that she could not perceive crystalline structures or the signature of a unicorn on the dust she began to feel a pit in her stomach, uncertainty clawing at her.

She looked up and spread her magic out until she could see a pattern to it, an area where it was denser. She began to walk, each step sinking her clean hooves deep in the soft dirt, but her mission and her curiosity drove her forward.

Eventually, she came to the epicenter of the spread of specks. A spot of disturbed earth that looked just the same as every other tilled row. But she could feel something beneath it. Something as wrong as a broken bone.

She had trouble breathing, as she used her hooves to force up the dirt, to dig until she uncovered a metal object. The slight touch with it sent a shiver of revulsion through her, and she recoiled to gag before trying to use her magic to pull the metal from the ground.

When her magic touched the metal though, it was as though she tried to touch a twig to a massive bonfire, expecting to move the fire. She was sent reeling and away, shaking her head violently to try and dispel the horrible feeling of having been overwhelmed by the object.

"Madam Colour, are you well?" One of the guards asked as he gave her a shoulder to lean against.

"No," Vivid croaked. "There is a thing in the ground over there which must be removed but my magic cannot touch it. Fetch... anything, anything to carry it securely."

The guards quickly emptied the chest used to carry their camping supplies, dumping it's contents onto their cart before walking in a group of three out to the spot Vivid had indicated. There, they dug up the object with their swords before putting it into the chest and then loading the chest back onto the cart, now with its strange cargo.

"Is... that what she put in our fields? To make them wither?" The Pegasus asked as Vivid tried to still her racing heart.

"I know not, whether it is the cause or if it was placed there deliberately. The investigation will continue," Vivid barked angrily in reply.

She turned away from the farmer, and for the first time he seemed to believe her as he watched them leave with the cart carrying it's odd cargo.

They made their way back through town and then down the run down path, avoiding speaking with any other ponies. Vivid felt tired already, despite the night having just begun. Her horn ached from the feedback she'd experienced when trying to grab the metal from the ground.

She almost walked past the rock she'd been told about, and marveled for a moment at how tiny the winding path through the trees was. It certainly didn't look like a path to a farm, more like a trail to a campsite or small cabin.

"Stay here," she told the guards. "Make sure nopony opens that chest, I shall return as swiftly as I can."

She then set off down the path, the cool grass sweeping her legs as she walked.

It took nearly five minutes for her to realize she was walking through a crop, not just a swath of overgrown vegetation. The neat rows weren't visible from the road, but along the path she could see them. The dirt in between each row was damp and dark, clearly fed with a stream somewhere nearby.

Some sort of long grass with little tufts at the top filled the whole field, growing higher in some places than Vivid was tall. But she turned a corner and was suddenly no longer among the grass. Instead she was facing a small building constructed against and around an old willow tree. The stream flowed right past the structure and a small roughly constructed bridge allowed her a way across. But in order to get to the bridge she had to cross through even more crops, but luckily these were small and quite varied. A garden about ten by five pony lengths held every herb and vegetable that Vivid could imagine, even Tomatoes which she'd heard a rumor were poisonous.

Finally, she reached the door and knocked.

"Hmm? A moment!" a feminine voice called from within.

Vivid waited patiently, until the door opened.

The mare who was revealed when the door opened was a bit of a surprise to Vivid. She was very small, short enough that she had to look up to look at Vivid. She was a unicorn indeed, with bright eyes that gleamed with magic and a dark mane which draped along one side of her head and neck like a curtain. She wore a cloak, and a wide brimmed straw hat.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I have come to investigate the blight that has befallen some of the other farms," Vivid explained as she took a wave of dizziness in stride, refusing to let it show. "I am here to ascertain whether you are responsible."

"Oh!" Shade replied simply, eyes wide in shock.

She didn't appear to be faking her reaction, as she looked around and tried to come up with a response to the declaration. "Well, I have nothing to hide. You are welcome to my home," she told Vivid as she backed up to allow her inside.

Vivid took a step before the world swam around her, and she felt her legs collapse. The world grew dark, and she felt somewhere far away the mind of her princess becoming aware of her fitful dreams.

Princess Luna suddenly looked to the side in the middle of a sentence. Though none in the room knew it, she was looking through walls and floors, down to the valley floor so far below. To where she had just felt an odd sensation of fear and confusion before feeling Vivid's mind entering the dreamscape.

"Your highness?"

Luna looked back to the griffin. She was small, barely adult by their people's standards, but already a military commander. The first military commander to reside on the same continent as Equestria in near to five hundred years since their king had led them into a fruitless war.

"I apologize," Luna said with a steady smile. "I became aware that my court mage may be injured. Now, before I leave I would like to say I agree. The settlement of Starcross at our borders is disconnected from both our peoples, which prevents it from growing as quickly as it could. But I do not feel that it would be efficient to arrange shipments from across the sea. I believe that as part of our new treaty we could arrange open trade and support for Starcross. At the very least, seed and weather patterns can be sent South to assist. Is this agreeable?"

"The treaty would include provisions ensuring that no more ponies would attempt to settle in the area?" the griffin pressed.

"Of course, and punishments would be given if they were to cross the border improperly," Luna nodded as she stood and signed her name in ink at the bottom of the provisional document.

"Then I agree, I do hope your mage is unharmed," the griffin said as she signed as well. "I will stay in Canterlot until you return to sign the final version."

"My thanks to thee," Luna said with a bow of her head. "Farewell, and please have dinner at the castle, our chefs pride themselves in having a wide variety of dishes for visiting dignitaries,"

Without waiting for a response, Luna vanished in a small pop of stardust, and reappeared in flight over the farming community where Vivid had been sent.

She began a wide circular glide as she tried to feel where Vivid was. It was difficult to associate a dreaming pony with a physical location, but she’d managed to do it once before with Vivid so she hoped to do it again. Under the moonlight she found herself drifting towards Canterlot mountain. Away from the wide open fields and towards the smaller farms that were squeezed against the base. She quickly noticed the glint of armor, and flew down to the guards who were standing around their cart. Two of the guards seemed to be unconscious, while two of the others were trying to revive them, shaking them and trying to get them to drink.

“What has happened?” Luna asked sharply as she landed within a few steps of the group.

“I don’t know!” the leader said as she looked up to her princess in horror. “They said they felt warm, and then they collapsed! It must have something to do with the stone Mistress Colour had them dig up!”

“Stone?” Luna frowned. “What stone?”

“It’s in that chest,” the lead guard said as she pointed to the cart.

Luna backed away before casting a spell which enhanced her sight far beyond what even Vivid could see. It gave her the ability to trace the movements of magic itself around her, as well as the ability to spot on sight many toxins and dangerous substances. What she saw chilled her to the core.

A fine powder of magic itself was scattered across the two sick guards, but this magic seemed to sap the life energy from the ponies. Like a siphon that was turning them almost visibly grey as they were slowly killed by the insidious substance. Luna could see some of it on the chest as well, and she could see all the magic in the area being slowly drawn into the chest, like a whirlpool drawing in tiny ships.

“What did you discover, Vivid?” Luna whispered in horror before looking back to the guards who were in most need of her help. “Step aside.”

Once the healthy guards were away, she began casting every cleansing spell she knew, trying desperately to remove the substance from the guards. Physical effects did not help, and neither did magical attempts to blow them away as the little specks simply absorbed the magic. Then she noticed during the casting of yet another spell, that some of the motes of light had winked out once they absorbed enough of her energy.

Cursing, Luna bathed the guards in as much raw magic as she could muster, watching the motes flare out and vanish. Eventually, the guards seemed to be stable. They were still weak and unconscious, and some magical burns on their hooves would have to be tended to, but they would live.

“Where… Is Vivid,” Luna asked the others, gasping for air after the exertion.

They pointed down a path, and Luna took flight, shooting above the grass fast enough to send a wave of air rippling through them behind her. She landed in front of an open door and peered inside the small hut she found.

Vivid was laying on the floor, but there was a smaller mare in the hut as well, hunched over a stone bowl on the ground as she rapidly pounded a poultice out of a green goop and several powders. She was mumbling something frantically, as she worked.

“Who are you, and what are you doing?” Luna asked as she entered the building, not even tall enough to raise her head without piercing the ceiling with her horn.

The little unicorn looked up and gasped, dropping the bowl and spilling some of the mixture.

“Stars! Stars and curses, I am sorry, your highness, but I am attempting to heal this mare! It must be ground fine enough to seep through her fur, and to be consumed!” the unicorn declared frantically.

Seeing the motes of light almost completely covering Vivid, and knowing that she was already dangerously low on energy, Luna seized the mass of goo in her magic, and used a spell to quickly turn it into a smooth paste. She then applied it to Vivid everywhere she could see the motes, which nearly covered her whole body. She was shocked to see the lights winking out as the goo contacted them.

“More,” Luna demanded.

The mare nodded quickly, measuring out the ingredients into a bowl and then letting Luna grind them before resuming her work.

“She should drink a quarter of it, your highness,” the mare suggested, still frantic in her expression.

Luna picked Vivid up in her magic and carefully fed her the goo. Vivid didn’t even resist, which frightened Luna more than any threat she could have been facing. Any dragon or war.

She fed Vivid the rest of it before sitting down and sighing, closing her eyes. “Your name, good mare. Please.”

“Shade Blossom,” she said as she sat as well, watching Vivid with palpable fear.

“How did you know how to treat this, miss Blossom?” Luna asked.

“It’s… It seemed like magic poisoning,” Shade said, biting her lip. “Something that I’ve seen Minotaurs suffer from, if they fight a pony. But I’ve never seen a pony succumb to it. Never.”

“You have treated minotaurs?” Luna asked incredulously, examining the small mare in a new light. “Where did you come from?”

“I lived far to the West for many years,” Shade explained. “Across the sea, there was a small community of minotaurs near the village where I was born. It is treated by boiling seawater until you have a white powder, mixing it with very hotly burned charcoal, rinsing it, drying it, then mixing it with clay and seaw--”

“I believe you,” Luna said as she held up a hoof. “But I am no alchemist, so the recipe has no meaning to me. I may have you provide it to our alchemists indeed as it is so effective. You said that Minotaurs could become sick like this after fighting a pony, why?”

“Well, we produce magic,” Shade explained as she gestured to her horn which she hadn’t used the entire time Luna had seen her. “Passively, we are a sort of… font of magical energy. This energy can be toxic when in the blood of some creatures.”

Luna frowned, this was the first she had heard of such a thing, though it was not surprising that minotaurs would be reluctant to reveal this information to ponies, especially as they were such a small nation now. But the question remained of what could cause a similar effect in ponies, who thrived on magic. What could that stone possibly be made of?

She looked down at Vivid, her spells quickly assessing her as no longer being contaminated by the mysterious lights. She was dangerously drained of magic and energy, but she was breathing and she was alive.

Luna picked her up in her magic, laying her across her back without worrying about the goo that smeared on her. She was thinking only of Vivid.

As she turned to leave, Shade stood. “Your highness… I am certainly going to be blamed for this. All of this. Could I come with you so that I am not assaulted?”

Luna sighed before shaking her head. “I need to travel quickly, and I need to leave many of my guards here to protect the object that may have caused this. They will protect you as well.”

“Of course, your highness,” Shade said softly, nodding.

Luna then left, walking through the gardens and back to the cart where she lifted the two sickened guards before turning to the others gathered around.

“Protect this cart, let none touch it or get near it. Protect Shade Blossom as well, at least prevent harm from coming to her. I shall return soon with additional assistance and troops.”

“Of course, your highness,” the lead guard said as she saluted.

Luna charged her horn, and again vanished, this time appearing in the Archway chambers.

“Gah!”

As Luna appeared, a small midnight lunch was interrupted, the mages gathered around the tables looking up in shock and a few of them hiding behind the tables. Noone was supposed to be able to enter the chambers so easily, much less using magic to do so.

“Luna! What has happened,” Wishing Star asked as she stood and quickly swept over, lifting Vivid and the others off her back and examining them. “It is as though they’ve cast spells beyond their means, but this guard is a pegasus…” she mused.

“They were poisoned, by some material found in a farmer’s field. These two, I scorched with magic to remove the particles, but Vivid was healed by the unicorn she was there to investigate. With seaweed, charcoal and other ingredients. She is being guarded so you can interview her,” Luna explained as Wish squinted at Vivid, and cast several spells.

“We will have to see the material, do you have some of it?” she asked.

Luna shook her head. “It drains magic from its surroundings at an extraordinary rate, I would not want to attempt a translocation while in possession of even a minute amount of it.”

“Sunlight, Posey, come with me,” Wish said as she grabbed several things and shoved them roughly into her bag.

“I would like to come,” Clover said, as they stepped forward.

Everyone paused. It wasn’t like Clover to volunteer to leave the Archway. But Wish nodded after a moment.

“Very well, Sunlight and Clover will come with me. Posey, you can stay.”

Posey was clearly relieved as she returned to her seat.

“You will travel by chariot, speak with one of the flight commanders, I authorize you to bring equipment and a dozen guards. Whatever this is, we can’t have it spreading,” Luna spoke quickly. “I will stay here to observe their recovery, Have any others afflicted treated by Shade Blossom then immediately transported here.”

“Of course, Luna. We will take care of this,” Wishing Star said quickly before waving for the others to follow her.

They left immediately, and then Luna sighed while she picked up the three unconscious ponies.

“Here, let me help,” Posey offered as she easily took the guards from Luna’s grip. “I know she’s important to you, your highness,” she continued quietly as she followed Luna, walking back towards the Archway that allowed them to exit.

“Word spreads faster than a pegasus,” Luna chuckled quietly, but then she paused just before they would pass through the portal.

“Deep Sheen?”

“Yes, your highness?” he replied quickly, standing from his seat.

“You and Posey are Vivid’s friends. Please, stay by her side until she recovers.”

The last two members of the Archway quickly nodded and followed so the group made their way through the hallways and back into Canterlot Castle, headed for the infirmary.

Chapter 12. Recovery

When Vivid woke up, it was to the sound of quiet talking in the distance, and even further away a fountain trickling.

After listening for a moment, she realized she was so tired that she didn't even want to move, much less cast a spell. So she continued listening, laying on her side in a curled position with a pillow between each of her legs and under her head for maximum comfort, as her ears twitched back and forth, taking everything in.

She was in a fairly large room with hard walls and at least one open window. She could hear breathing from nearby, at least two sleeping ponies. The bed sheets she was on were extremely clean, leading her to believe that she was in an infirmary or something similar.

Now why would she be in such a place?

The last thing she remembered was feeling dizzy as she entered Shade's home... she must have been assaulted by that same mare, it was the first thought to spring to her mind. Then the guards must have rescued her, and brought her back here. It was a logical enough deduction.

"Vivid?"

She turned her ears towards the voice. Posey, such a soft and nervous pony. Nearly delicate in her behavior.

"Mmm?" Vivid replied, feeling almost too tired to speak.

"Oh good, you're awake... I should get Sheen... Oh, I should tell the princess..."

Vivid sighed and shifted slightly, finding a deep ache in her muscles before she stopped trying to move.

"No... Tell me," Vivid whispered. "What happened."

"Oh... I shouldn't... Too many things have happened, it'd be better if--"

Vivid growled a little as she lifted one hoof.

"In front of me Posey, please, and tell me."

With a whimper, Posey did as she was told.

"Well... Clover stole the stone you found and ran away."

"What? Wait, I'm... Start at the beginning! I don't even know how I was knocked out, or why I feel so terrible!" Vivid groaned angrily.

"I'm sorry," Posey sniffled.

Vivid went limp and sighed again. "Please... Please do not apologize, Posey. You... You have been through a great deal. But please tell me what happened to me, from the start."

"Okay... So, the rock you dug up, and all it's particles had a negative thaumic draw," Posey explained, implying to a knowledgeable mage that it did not just take in magic when exposed to it, but would take in a theoretically infinite amount of energy.

"So I was being drained completely," Vivid whispered in horror. "I could have died! The guards, they--"

"They recovered more quickly than you," Posey said quickly as she put a hoof to Vivid's side to calm her. "They didn't... Grab it with their magic, and they didn't dig it up by hoof... They're already home with their families."

Vivid relaxed and huffed angrily. "Good. I don't want to be the cause of a guard's death."

"So, um... Once you fell into a coma, Princess Luna flew down to find you, because she... She said she felt you fall asleep? Anyway, she found you and the guards, and brought you all back here. To investigate what had happened, the Princess sent Wishing Star, Sunlight, and Clover down to the little farming town."

"Then Clover... She did what?" Vivid asked incredulously.

"Well I don't really understand," Posey admitted. "Why or what happened, but... They were cutting samples off the rock and testing them, and then she was gone and so was the rock. Noone really knows where they went, but Star was injured when she tried to search for Clover..."

Vivid remained quiet, frowning as she thought about the situation. But Posey wasn't finished.

"They came back after they cleaned up the remains of the stone, and they determined that the stone had caused the blight on the fields. If you hadn't gone down there, Vivid, a lot of ponies would have started dying of magical depletion."

"I just did as I was told, Posey," Vivid mumbled as she struggled to sit up.

But Posey gently pushed her back into the bed. "I need to get Princess Luna," Posey insisted. "She said to come get her when you woke up, but you need to rest, okay?"

Vivid groaned, but considering how much her muscles hurt from being drained completely of magical energy, she didn't really much want to object.

"Okay, I'll be back soon."

Vivid could hear Posey leave, but she still heard a second pony breathing, no longer asleep.

"Is that you, Sheen?" Vivid whispered.

"Yeah," the young colt's voice replied, dejected and barely audible.

"You okay? Did you get hurt?" Vivid asked.

"No..."

"Did... You got pretty close to Clover, didn't you? As a good friend," Vivid concluded, searching for a reason for the hurt and anguish in his voice.

"Yeah..."

Vivid sighed again, she felt like it was all she was doing tonight, sighing. But despite the world going crazy, she had to take care of those she cared about.

"Come here, Sheen. Lay behind me, so you can feel. I'm still here. Luna will be here soon, and she'll take care of you as much as she'll take care of me."

After some shuffling, the weight of the colt was added to her bed, and his back rested against hers, as he sniffled.

Only a few minutes later, Vivid could hear Luna striding into the room, with Posey walking behind her. She could tell it was Luna because of the long strides, the elegance and strength in her steps despite the metal shoes adding weight and slowing her down.

Vivid felt almost embarrassed by how much safer and happier she felt in just hearing Luna approach, and she nearly gasped for joy as Luna's hoof softly brushed across her cheek.

She felt a bit silly, but she was happy to be helpless enough for once to just let it happen.

"Vivid, Posey tells me that you know what happened," Luna started softly, leaning low to kiss Vivid as her hoof moved to reassure Sheen as well, resting on his shoulder.

Vivid felt a pang of jealousy until she felt Luna's lip brush her cheek. No pony else could have that except for Vivid.

"I don't understand what happened with Clover," Vivid admitted, shifting a little to get more comfortable.

"Well," Luna hummed a little, and Vivid could imagine she was conflicted or maybe even openly frowning. "Clover... seems to have been some other pony in disguise, though I know not who. They have been quite genuinely content to carry on research and cooperate with us all, until they found the properties of the stone you found. They then wished to take it for themself, and attacked Wishing Star to do so. Guards are combing the area but I am not hopeful for their search. Clover is an extremely skilled mage."

Vivid sighed, and shook her head a little. "I don't understand... what about this stone could be worth what she's done?"

"It can drain magic from its surroundings, and store it," Luna said simply. "Theoretically, that stored energy could be retrieved."

Vivid gasped as she realized the potential. Spells could be cast without a horn. A unicorn could cast with the power of an alicorn. An earth pony could force entire fields to grow a hundred times faster. It was a wondrous but terrifying thing.

"If she hadn't taken it, there's so much that could have been done," Vivid groaned, all that lost potential evaporating before her.

"We have a thin sliver of it, broken off by Wish when testing it. Also some powder, we can at least study it," Luna reminded her as she put a hoof onto Vivid's side to calm her back down. "We simply will have to be prepared to defend ourselves against whatever use Clover may put the rest of it to."

Vivid nodded in agreement, as she steadied her breathing and let the warmth of Luna's hoof ease her side. As a mage she was quite aware that ponies carried magic, and generated more when in close proximity or in acts of friendship. But it was still surprising to feel Luna's presence rapidly soothing aching muscles and clearing her foggy head.

“Shade Blossom’s name has been cleared?”

Luna chuckled a little. “Indeed, and with her help and our funding we have cleansed those fields of the dust left by that material. We will also be sending guards down there once a month to check for signs of similar materials being unearthed. For a unicorn without magic, Ms. Blossom was quite knowledgeable about it. Oh!”

Luna lit her horn and cast a spell, and Vivid smiled as the room flowed into view to her, Luna’s magic substituting her own in being able to etch her surroundings in magic.

She shifted a little to face Luna and reached up weakly to gesture her closer, before gently kissing her.

“Thank you. I am pleased that it has all ended well. Is Wishing Star going to recover?”

“Noone could prevent her from returning to the Archway,” Luna said proudly. “But I am certain she will be happy to hear that you are recovering.”

The door opened quickly and Sunlight Sol Howl rushed inside and up to the bed.

“Vivid, you’ve recovered, thank the sun!”

Vivid smiled a little wider, appreciating the sentiment more than she had in the past.

“Not quite recovered yet, Princess Howl,” she sighed. “But I need to speak with you about a church.”

“Aaaah yes,” Luna chuckled a little nervously. “I will need to provide you both with the old books and records I had hidden away.”

“Wh… What?!” Sunlight said as she looked between Luna and Vivid. “Church? Books and records? What are you talking about?”

"Sunlight, you know I grew up in Bitain, right?" Vivid began.

"Of course I do. Your accent stands out quite a bit," Sunlight nodded. "But I don't see what that has to do with a church."

"In Bitain, the legends of the Solar court and Luna's sister were never hidden. In fact, there are still churches to her there. As I've struggled recently, Luna thought it might help me to be able to practice that belief again."

"Daybreaker," Sunlight said breathlessly.

"Her name was Celestia," Luna corrected. "Daybreaker was... an identity which she took up briefly and in rage. I'd prefer those names be separate."

"So you will finally allow the mortal court to call itself the day court again?" Sunlight asked boldly.

Luna just shook her head.

"Until my sister returns to fill that throne, it shall remain the mortal court, and your family shall care for it. The legends and records will provide a greater history. I will return with them," Luna said as she turned and left.

Vivid frowned. She felt like she'd rather have Luna there by her side at the moment, but Sunlight's pointed questions had clearly made Luna uncomfortable, and Vivid couldn't command her love to return. At least she had said she would come back.

"This is a wonderful opportunity," Sunlight said eagerly. "I can compare the records with my family's own, verify their contents, and bring the glory of the sun back to the ponies of Equestria!"

Vivid groaned. "This isn't a political tool, Sunlight! This is a meaningful and religiously important moment but I do not think that it should be seen as a way to reverse the effect that Luna's rule on Equestria has had! Those effects are not detrimental either, they are largely passive. The church we form should not confront them or decry them. We can still worship the sun during Dusk and Dawn before the moon rises, without trying to make our congregation go back to the ancient diurnal sleep cycle."

"You're barely a worshipper of the sun," Sunlight scoffed. "Now that you are in love with Princess Luna, you seem to bow to the moon."

"We've never even spoken of religion before this night!" Vivid groaned. "Why are you now so determined that there is only one way to worship, and mine must be wrong?! Be reasonable, Sunlight."

Sunlight scoffed and turned away, stomping her hooves like a bratty child. "Reasonable! My family's ancient lineage to Daybreaker herself is being ignored and you tell me to be reasonable!"

"Yes! Of course I do, because you're being quite emotional and unreasonable!" Vivid said as Sunlight stormed out of the room.

Vivid sighed and slumped against her pillows.

"That was dramatic."

Vivid squeaked in surprise and almost failed off the bed as Sheen spoke, right next to her ear. After a second she calmed down and laughed a little.

"I forgot you were there," Vivid admitted. "Good job at being quiet."

"I can be a sneaky mouse," Sheen said, with a little bit of pride.

"Yeah..."

Vivid sighed. She'd managed to be at odds with the princess of the mortal court, who would be her greatest ally in forming a church of the sun. Instead, she might have to fight her so that she did not turn the whole religion into a political pawn.

The doors opened again, and Luna's long stride approached, before stopping short of the bed.

"Did Sunlight have somewhere else to be?"

"She became upset with me when I refused to agree with using the recovered records as a political tool," Vivid muttered. "Hopefully she will get over herself."

"Oh, that is all?" Luna sighed as she put a large ornate wooden box on the floor next to the bed.

"I would have thought you'd be upset," Vivid admitted, relaxing a little.

"Well I'm disappointed in her. I'll have to have a talk with her mother. But overall that's a minor setback. Sunlight has always been brash and almost spiteful of me and my rule. I wouldn't be surprised if she was on her way back to have a secret meeting with the other court nobles, to talk about how these documents will vindicate them."

Luna sighed again but shook her head before opening the wooden box and taking out something that caught Vivid's magic like a prism and reflected it in beams around the room. She perked up a bit and Luna laughed, almost a giggle really as it was so light and soft.

"I thought that might catch your attention."

"What is it?" Vivid pressed as she tried to focus her magical sight on it, but having trouble doing so.

"A lense carved into the shape of the sun. If you held it in sunlight, it would scorch the paper or wood below it in that symbol. A seal, of sorts."

"A dangerous seal if it can focus light so precisely," Vivid pondered while Luna brought the lense closer and laid it in Vivid's hooves to examine in more detail.

"Indeed, it certainly can be. There is a cloth cover for it so that it would not accidentally start fires," Luna said while looking through the box. "I will have to assign somepony to you, to read these. Doing so with your magic might damage them. They are quite old."

"What is on them?" Vivid asked curiously.

"Well, a book of commandments, of sorts. They are scrolls that detail the religious laws that my sister held dear. Most of them still remain in pony society in some form, but there are a few that have aged poorly and should not be enforced."

“Like what?” Vivid mumbled as she squirmed to sit up a little bit, the pain in her muscles making it difficult, but ever easier the longer and closer Luna was to her.

She admitted, as she settled onto her haunches, that having Sheen nearby likely helped as well. Proximity of anyone with good intentions was known to improve magical fatigue. It had to do with the radiative energies given off by each sympathetic magical field that surrounded the pony, and was accelerating her recovery considerably.

“Well,” Luna sounded nervous as she gently unrolled the scrolls and laid them flat on a nearby table to read them. “This one here that I’d thought of right away is a good example.”

She cleared her throat, before pitching her voice a bit higher, and putting on an accent that made her sound more like Vivid than she normally did.

“Wherever dost the toilers of the fields reside, nought but the toilers and below shall find bed. Slumber those twixt toil and royalty only below beam borne clay, wood, or slate, never thatch.”

Vivid tilted her head a bit to the side as she tried to figure out what had been said, and then squinted as she tried to interpret it in her own words.

“So… From an age when a caste system was still in effect, the casts above farmers weren’t allowed to sleep under thatched roofs?” she asked, looking back to Luna, who nodded as she rolled the scrolls back up.

“Indeed. Thought the law also gave permission for those below the farming caste, the untouched and unclean, to reside in similar places and structures as farmers. Believe it or not, this was once a step towards kindness to those poor ponies. It also, despite isolating those of the lower castes, prevented the higher from demanding lodging.”

Vivid huffed, shaking her head. “I see what you mean. Some things will not… Should not be applied to modern ponies.”

“Well, not to say that modern law would fare much better given five hundred years,” Luna sighed while packing things back into the chest. “I can already tell you that given time, perhaps a dozen years, we will find that the public will not suffer any other pony to be homeless, and our entire concept of housing will need restructuring…”

Luna had noticed Vivid looking at her strangely, and she paused, sitting a little taller. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no,” Vivid said quickly, frowning a little. “I just… hadn’t thought of the reality… That you would have to plan for laws decades or even centuries away… Entire social movements, and changes in morality… It isn’t something I truly grasped. How different were you, six hundred years ago?”

Luna smiled just a little, and sighed as she closed the chest and looked up at the ceiling and her moon beyond. “Well… Quite different I’d think. Very… new to the idea of being responsible for others. New to the idea of inner strength, though I thought I was oh so strong.”

“I can’t imagine you not being responsible,” Vivid scoffer, though she shared a bit of the smile. Reminiscing was something she hadn’t seen Luna do much. “The princess of all of Equestria, not doing her duty?”

“No, far too busy laying on cushions and pouting,” Luna said as her grin grew wider. “Throwing myself about a half empty castle while crying out to any who would listen, ‘Woe is the princess of the night! Alone and ignored by her ponies!’ Now I just wish my ponies could survive a week without me,” she laughed. “It would be wonderful to know I wasn’t holding it all up from falling apart.”

“What would you do with that week?” Vivid asked, smirking a little. “Lay about on cushions and pout?”

“No, no, that wouldn’t do at all,” Luna said as she stepped closer, coming nose to nose with Vivid. “I’d take you somewhere… There are islands that have been seen by no eyes but my own, beauties I would show you, oh Vivid…”

“I’m still here!” A young male voice squeaked from behind Vivid, startling Luna and Vivid almost to the point of jumping as their cheeks burned and they looked away with a bit of humiliation.

“Ah! Sheen, yes, well…” Luna mumbled.

“We were just talking,” Vivid protested feebly.

“I’m nineteen, I know what you were just talking yourselves towards! I’ll see myself out!” Sheen squeaked as he hopped off the bed, clearly embarrassed. “Your Highness, Vivid,” he bowed slightly before scampering away.

They were silent for a moment, before Luna snuck a kiss on Vivid’s lips, now that they were alone. “There. Got what I wanted,” she mumbled, cheeks still hot, as Vivid grinned.

Chapter 13. Worship

Luna stepped out onto a balcony, decorated in unique styles, considering her history. It not only had the moon, the stars, and her profile decorating it, but also the sign of the sun. In pairs with her own sign, and in equal prominence. The balcony was old. In fact, the stones had traveled from the Castle of the Two Sisters, so far away. The castle she’d ruled from before Canterlot even existed, the entire city she now looked over had been a thought, a tiny settlement clinging to the side of a mountain, daring each earthquake to wipe it from the face of the earth.

Then, due to the heartache of walking familiar halls without Celestia and without her Castelian of that age who was the closest thing she had to a partner, Luna had abandoned the ancient castle, and let the forest reclaim it. She had moved her life, the five thousand ponies around her, and several pieces of that castle all the way to the Canterlot mountains where she made Canterlot city a reality.

She’d crafted metal anchors a hundred feet long, and mounted them into the hardest rock. She’d used magic to fuse each stone together, so that the foundation of the city was as firm as any upon the ground. She’d worked complex magic so that if the worst was ever to pass, the city would still not fall, but instead would float in place for hours, giving the citizens time to escape, and after all of that work she’d mounted her old balcony onto the tallest tower, and refused to answer questions as to why it held such significance to her.

She knew the answer would only anger others, or hurt them.

For the balcony was where she had first set the moon, alongside her sister, who had raised the sun. All those who saw it assumed the profiles were of her, but in fact the side-facing profiles of a horned pony were depicting the Lost Unicorns. Hundreds of unicorns who would ascend to the balcony each day, and give up their magic to give the world one more day of light. Their magic, forever blackened. Their horns, sometimes even shattered. To give the world the sun.

The moon, was almost an afterthought. But if only those unicorns had known, that the moon was a balance, and like carrying two pails on a long stick it is ever so much easier to heave upon one’s shoulders when they are matched, instead of alone.

Hundreds of unicorns could have been spared, if they had focused on harmonizing the two, instead of letting the moon drift freely.

She breathed slow, deep, and let her emotions fade. They wouldn’t help her do what she had to do, after all. It was nearly Dusk and ponies were beginning to wake, court would begin soon, the night held so much to do.

Her horn lit, and unlike every other magic she pulled upon, she felt the silvery light spill over her face and neck like cool water. Not an effort, but a blessing from above bestowed upon her.

It was foolish, she knew. It was a skill. Practiced and practical, but the romance of the thought, of the moon anointing her, was too pleasing to abandon even after seven hundred years of life.

Her magic swept out from her, invisible to all but Vivid if she was paying attention, and it touched on the moon so far away like a breeze brushing against a bell. It resonated.

Then, with a bit of effort she pulled it above the horizon in a slow arc before turning her attention to the other. The one that was not hers to control.

Heat in her heart, and anger. She almost screamed, just like every time she touched the sun. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel anything but rage. She knew, it was her sister’s heart she grasped and not her own. So she buried the snarl that rose to her lips, and she wrenched the sun from it’s resting spot. Slowly, it responded. Burning down, towards the opposite horizon from which the moon was rising. It was as though she was watching a star fall in slow motion, and despite knowing she’d done her part properly she imagined the sun impacting the earth, and a great wall of fire consuming everything alive.

Not for the first time, she remembered the calculation. Four hundred more years. She had only four hundred more years before her sister would return, and no clue how to prevent her return from being a disaster.

She slowed her breathing, hung her head, and let the heat fade as Dusk passed, and Night began.

“Bring me a copy of the dusk paper, and my breakfast in my study,” she said to her guard as she exited the balcony and stepped back into the castle, which felt so much more at home when the halls were lit by moonlight and magical crystals along the walls, instead of the bring glare of the sun.

“Yes, your Highness,” the pegasus disguised as a bat-winged Thestral, as all her guards were in respect to her original honor guard, said with a nod. “What would you like for breakfast?”

Luna paused. It wasn’t a question she was used to, as she typically receive whatever the chef felt like making. She wondered if this particular guard was new, but decided to play along.

“Well, whatever the chef is making will be fine, though please bring me tea as well, I don’t like that new ground bean juice he seems fascinated with.”

“Of course,” he replied before ducking away and heading off into the castle. Leaving Luna with one of her other guards as they resumed their walk towards the study.

She noticed that the other guard seemed just as surprised at the question, and decided that indeed it must be a new guard, before putting it out of her mind.

Her study had evolved over the years, from a simple stone room with a desk, to a place she could feel comfortable delving into the depths of history, legislation, philosophy, or even spending time with Vivid if she so chose. It had been a year and a half since Vivid’s discovery of Alicornium in a farmer’s field, and consecutive collapse. She’d recovered swiftly, and they had led somewhat separate lives since then, though still meeting at court sessions where Vivid was needed, and at Dawn before going to sleep. It was a hectic life with their desires for time together constantly under threat from all sides, the church that Vivid was forming taking a great deal of personal attention to guide in the correct direction, and away from Princess Sunlight Sol Howl’s angry rhetoric.

The day Luna had received her resignation from the Archway mages, she’d known it wouldn’t keep her out of trouble, and had almost considered refusing the resignation, but she had no good reason to do so. Then, almost as though Luna had predicted it, Howl had gone to the streets and formed her own church, opposing the reasoned and graceful fine that Vivid’s own church had started to spread.

Anger always was such a wonderful motivator, Luna knew, but she couldn’t step in the middle of this particular conflict. She would have to let her ponies sort it out between themselves.

She sat at her desk and admired the plush rugs which had been brought in from far away lands, and the floor to ceiling bookshelves, packed full of books and other trinkets. At least Howl couldn’t take this away from her. Luna still ruled Equestria, and despite her past, her ponies looked up to her. She did not have to fear them abandoning her.

“Your breakfast.”

Luna looked up as that same new guard laid the silver tray of food on her desk in front of her, still steaming.

“That was… quick,” Luna noted as she watched the guard move back to his spot next to the door, before she took the cover off, and removed the teacup to sip it.

On the tray lay a decent enough meal for the ruler of a country, poached eggs on some sort of bread with basil, tomato, and a sauce over it all. There were also slices of some sort of fruit, and a few leaves of spinach in a dressing. She wondered in the chef put spinach in all her dishes because he knew she didn’t care for it, or if it was just coincidence since lettuce was often seen as too plain to serve a princess.

She ate the tiny spinach salad first, before quickly eating the rest of the food, and setting the tray aside.

“Tell the chef I approve,” she said as she pulled out a stack of scrolls and began unrolling them all, so she could begin reviewing their contents.

A full half of them were from Yakistan, a country they had only recently come into contact with, in the frozen north, who were by far the most pretentious and traditionalist bunch she’d ever met. Each diplomat, head of state, and noble had sent their own scroll, detailing their own demands, and introducing themselves. She would then be expected to compose an individual response to each of them, as well as have her diplomats do the same, multiplying the number of replying documents exponentially.

She laid her head on the desk, and sighed. She didn’t want to be filling out diplomatic letters. Not in the slightest. Luckily, she had a large list of other things she could do until she was in the right mood to write for eight hours straight.

“Read for me the List of Pastimes,” she said with a wave of her hoof towards the guards.

The new guard practically snatched the scroll from the other, who glared at him as he read it aloud.

“Supervise the restoration of old paintings. Oversee the harvesting of the Lavender gardens. Visit Wishing Star at the Archway. Appoint a new judge to the pegasus city of Cloudsdale. Visit the Church of Celestial Grace--”

“Ah!” Luna said as she stood quickly, picking up her tea as she put her crown back on. “The church, yes. I’ll visit the church. You can go back to check in with the captain, I’ll only need one guard for this little trip,” she said as she pointed to the new guard, getting a wonderfully crestfallen look out of him before he gave the scroll back to the other, and left.

“Thank you, your highness,” the remaining guard mumbled as she stowed the scroll.

“No need to mention it,” Luna scoffed. “He… was being a bit odd. Your name is… Lyra, yes?”

“Lyra Major, your highness,” the guardsmare nodded.

“I’d like you to be my personal guard for the next few days, I’ve seen you around but I’d like to have somepony whose name I actually remember for once,” Luna said as she left her study, locking the door behind her. “It’s quite tiring to always be learning new names and forgetting them, if I’m honest.”

“I would be honored to serve in your personal guard,” Lyra said with a bit more bounce in her trot.

“Good. I have a good feeling about tonight.”

They left the castle and made their way down the wide main street of Canterlot, nodding to the ponies they passed, and giving them permission to rise if they had bowed. Halfway between the castle’s fence and the empty courtyard the marked the cliff-like edge of Canterlot, a church was under construction. Nearly complete, only the bell-tower at the height of the roof remained unbuilt.

“Don’t worry, it’s ceremonial, I won’t actually ring it at midday,” Vivid said as she stepped out of the brass-clad doors, smiling warmly.

“I would hope not, the complaints would be many, and likely tied to stones through the church window,” Luna replied with a similar smile as Vivid approached and they embraced.

They were not public in their affections, but the embrace was something excusable for any noble, and court mage certainly was a noble title.

Vivid still wore her grey cloak and circlet, marking her as part of the Archway, and Luna still admired the way her white eyes seemed to shimmer with magic as she perceived the world in a way Luna had only been able to witness in Vivid’s dreams.

“It is coming along quite nicely though,” Luna added as they turned and entered the church.

She always had to pause as she saw her sister’s visage portrayed in stained glass above the altar. So young looking, so calm. Such a stark contrast to what Luna experienced when she touched the sun each Dusk and Dawn.

But she pushed past painful memories and entered the bright place.

Unlike the cool blue light in the castle, lamps lit the brass, gold, and white of the temple. The walls hung with white cloth to hide the tan plaster, and brass fittings turned the end of every chair leg, the edge of every pillar, and the outline of each table into warm molten light. It was almost enough for Luna to miss being awake during the day, until she remembered how incredibly hot this temple would be at midday in summer. She preferred a cold night to a hot day, and also was of the opinion that the whole temple looked nicer lit by lamps at night, than it would lit by sunlight during the day. But she was biased, she knew.

“Where on earth did you find so much brass?” Luna asked in amusement.

“A new settlement called Appleloosa, to the south,” Vivid said as she sat down in the little alcove set aside for the priestess of the church.

Luna sat quite close to her, now that they were more private. “They have been able to mine the area?”

“Yes, though only after some significant struggles with the local Buffalo population,” Vivid sighed. “I’m still not entirely certain whether the merchant was honest when she told me that they eventually reached an agreement. The issue seems too complex to just resolve itself.”

“You can always trust on ponies far from the cities to do whatever they want under the guise of surviving,” Luna sighed. “But I’ll at least look into it.”

She looked to her guard, who quickly wrote it down so she wouldn’t forget. She then looked back to Vivid.

“Maybe one of these nights I’ll stay awake long enough to attend your morning services.”

“Oh please,” Vivid chuckled. “You’d fall asleep during the prayers. You belong in the night, Luna. Don’t force yourself, just because I go to sleep at midnight, instead of midmorning.”

“Yes, well it would be most amusing for your congregation, to watch their princess snore during somber prayers,” Luna said with a smirk.

“Amusing, but a bit against the atmosphere of reflection we are trying to cultivate,” Vivid said with only a hint of scolding behind her smile. “I could always reenact our services for you.”

“Aaah, no thank you,” Luna replied, looking away as she bit her lip. “I have a feeling that I’d much rather spend our time not talking about my sister.”

“That’s fair.”

Vivid’s gentle touch to Luna’s back calmed her down immediately, and she put a wing around the smaller pony.

“You haven’t asked about her. Through all this.”

“Well,” Vivid said as she took a slow breath, seriousness coming back to her bearing. “One of the first books I read from that chest you gave me was the account of the Daybreaker. I… You don’t need to relive that for anypony, Luna. You shouldn’t be made to even think of it.”

“A princess is expected to be dispassionate,” Luna said dourly. “To calmly and without emotion lead her nation into the future. I should be able to speak of it whenever asked.”

“And for all we know you are!” Vivid objected. “But why put you through that trauma, just to prove your worthiness? You are already worthy, my love.”

Luna’s cheeks reddened, and she pulled Vivid a little closer, glad they were not in public. “Well… Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, Vivid. I suppose I needed to hear that.”

“You need to hear a lot of things,” Vivid said, smirking and prodding Luna a little in the ribs. “But I think that many of them will have to wait for you to grow up a bit more.”

Luna mock-gasped, still smiling. “I’m seven hundred years old, how much more growing up could I possibly do?”

“Oh a vast amount,” Vivid continued, acting as though she was talking down to a child, though they were still both smiling at the whole situation, of a pony admonishing her princess for immaturity. “For only one example, have you yet assigned yourself an assistant? A proper assistant? Your Castilian has told me that you haven’t had a proper assistant for near a hundred years, since her position was made administrative. You may think you can soldier on, without help, but the mature princess would recruit an assistant.”

“It’s on the list of things to do,” Luna objected, looking only slightly cross. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Vivid looked to the guard, because she knew better. “Where on the list is it?”

Lyra grinned as she pulled out the scroll and unrolled it, looking quickly to confirm what she already knew. “Second from the bottom, m’lady.”

Vivid smugly crossed her forelegs and looked to Luna, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

“Alright, alright. I shall find myself an assistant. Now am I mature, Madam Colour?” she asked.

“Not quite yet, there’s also the matter of your own church.”

At that, the fun and smiling was abruptly over, for Luna, and she retracted her wing. “I do not have a church, Vivid,” she said sternly.

Vivid held up her hooves in a gesture of surrender. “Very well, I won’t mention it again.”

But the subject had been broached, and Luna knew that she wouldn’t be able to feel comfortable again until she addressed it.

“Where did you find out about that cult?” Luna asked, still frowning.

Vivid stood, and began to walk. Luna followed.

She went down into the basement of the church, which made Luna quite nervous, and then she was into a second level of the basement, which Luna thought really is not a good sign. If anypony takes you to a basement below their basement, they’re likely plotting your demise, or looking to trap you to torture you about how irresponsible you are.

A final door revealed a small natural cavern, that must have been formed when the first foundations of Canterlot were laid against the side of the mountain. Inside was a simple shrine, over which hung a silvery sphere marked with every crater of the moon in perfect detail, a few mage lights hung on string around it gave it a glow.

Near to the altar, sitting on chairs and seeming to have been interrupted mid-sentence, were four mares in black robes, who were staring at Luna as though she was about to strike them down. Around each of their necks was a silver crescent moon on a chain.

To be fair, a hundred years before, she had come across a similar room, and their fear had been justified. Her reaction had been to burn their books, wreck the place, and exile the practitioners.

But now Vivid was watching, and somehow that changed the equation vastly.

“Hello,” Luna said, as she buried her rage and indignity as deeply as she could, and attempted to sound untroubled.

The four immediately got off their chairs and bowed low, which only aggravated Luna further.

But Vivid seemed to have a hoof on the situation, as she turned back to the others and clicked her tongue. “Come on now, she’s used to being treated like that by everypony else. Like we talked about, you have to show that you’re not fanatics.”

The four stood and nervously stepped forward, looking very very nervous.

“I thought you’d… Tell us, let us prepare,” the lead mare said softly as she stood next to Vivid.

“And give you more time to set up decorations, prepare some elaborate ritual, and make it a thousand times more awkward? No. No overthinking it, none of that. You lot need to grow up, and treat eachother like grown adults who can interact with eachother without looking and sounding like a cult.”

One of the mares in the back cleared her throat and everyone looked to her, making her practically cower in her robes. “Um… Definition of a cult, a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object… We are a cult. Definitionally.”

“Not helping,” Vivid said simply before looking back to Luna. “They’re awkward, and weird, and they don’t know how to talk to other ponies without coming across as creepy. But they’ve got good hearts and they want to find a way to help, instead of sitting in a cave and praying all the time.”

“Isn’t that basically all a religion does?” Luna asked in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “Sit around and pray? It should be the pinnacle of achievement for a religious individual, to sit, and to pray, endlessly.”

Vivid reached over, and slapped Luna’s leg. “You’re being purposefully dense and mean, to try and fulfill your own prejudgments. Give them a chance.”

Luna sighed. But she couldn’t dismiss Vivid. She couldn’t dismiss the points she was making, or the fact that these four mares had worshipped her despite the threat of exile, and were still standing in front of her. Maybe… Maybe they would be willing to change, so she wouldn’t dislike them so much.

“Fine. I'll give them a chance to reform,” Luna decided. “But I'm not acknowledging them publicly.”

“Why… why do you want us reformed?” The leader asked Luna. “what have we done wrong that needs to be corrected?”

Luna looked among the group before looking to Lyra, who was doing her job and watching the cultists for signs of danger, while pretending not to hear anything they spoke about. She then walked to where the chairs were, sitting between the mares and the altar, quite purposefully. Their model of the moon felt comfortable to her, and she wanted to be closer to it.

Once she sat down, she asked a question to the group.

“What is my title?”

“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Luna of Equestria, sovereign of the moon, stars, and dreams. Keeper of secrets and rightful heir of the midnight p--”

Luna struck the ground with her hoof, making the four mares jolt in surprise.

“No. My title is Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna of Equestria. That's it. Nothing more.”

“But… you are the sovereign of the stars, moon, and dreams!” One of the quieter ones objected.

“Certainly, but it is not something I wish to trumpet. Besides, Queen has been a tyrannical term since the days of Discord, Sombra, and the dragon queen. I will not be a tyrant, and I will accept my title as Princess,” Luna decreed, as she stood and began to pace side to side. “No mention of the Midnight pact should ever be made, either! It is the most glaring rotted stain upon my past, and I will forever wish I'd destroyed the evidence of it after that night.”

The four were sitting quietly, looking chagrined. But the leader seemed determined to continue a conversation.

“We will do these things… your Highness. But we don't understand why you have so much shame regarding the Pact. It was a reasonable last resort…”

Luna’s glare stopped her from continuing, then Luna looked to Vivid who seemed concerned.

“You've never heard of the pact, specifically because I buried mention of it,” Luna told Vivid. “It's one of the reasons I did not approve of this religious group. They misunderstand it, and would make it public.”

“Well, what is it?” Vivid asked while walking closer, frowning.

Luna groaned, rubbing the side of her head with one hoof before speaking.

“Before Daybreaker rose, I had become so determined that the ponies were neglecting me, and my position was being ignored, that I decided I needed a way to force them into admiring me. I created a pact, a magical seal of sorts which I would be able to break in order to bond myself to the darkness of all the nightmares I had been curing from our ponies’ sleep for so many years. It was a source of power I could then use to seize control of the throne. It was a rash, impetuous, immature plan which I am thankful I never enacted.”

She looked at the cultists, still frowning. “They have come across this history in a twisted form, and believe that the midnight pact was benevolent, and justified. That finding the pact would increase my power and help me shape the world as I see fit. Something I oppose.”

“But what is it,” Vivid repeated. “You keep avoiding the question.”

Luna scowled before lifting the cloth covering off the altar, spreading it wide to show a hexagonal design with symbols forming a circle around the edge and a full moon in the middle, magical symbols forming the craters on its surface.

“This, basically, but made of gemstone fused into a solid block, about four hooves wide. I don’t want it found, so I refrain from describing it.”

“You mean you don’t know where it is?” Vivid asked, aghast. “A thing that stores a great deal of power but could alter you in a way you don’t want is just… out there? Lost somewhere?”

“I entrusted it to a guardian, who hid it away. I didn’t want to know where it was, and once he died, I assumed it lost completely,” Luna nodded. “So no. I don’t know where it is, and I don’t want anyone else to either.”

Vivid looked to the cultists, frowning a little. “And you all have been searching for this Pact for a long time. Why?”

“I guess… We thought the princess would reward us if we restored her power… At least, that’s what the old books say.”

“The creature that would be created by that power would reward you,” Luna sighed, shaking her head. “It would… remake me, full of that anger and pain. I don’t want to be that creature. Especially now that I must care for Equestria. Please, give up this quest. I will find something for you to seek, some new quest, and I will respect your admiration for me, so long as you do not seek the pact.”

The four looked between themselves before the leader stepped forward and bowed. The other three did the same, and some great weight was lifted from Luna’s back as she realized that she could use these four ponies to do good, instead of fighting against them constantly.

She looked to Vivid, smiling. Vivid had made this possible. She returned Luna’s smile, and Luna felt like all was right with the world, for a short time.

Chapter 16. Serenity

Nothing frightened Vivid, and nothing was beyond her.

A blast of void-energy narrowly missed Chrysalis, who was barely able to get out of the way in time due to her injuries. Casually, with the absolute knowledge that she would succeed, Vivid tried to form the void energy into a spell. A sort of negative-spell since it drew in energy instead of expanding it.

A moment later she was stepping out of a ring of black fire at the other end of the hallway Chrysalis was fleeing down. The flames were caused by the air itself being consumed by her spell.

“How,” Chrysalis gasped as she skidded to a stop, eyes wide in horror.

“Because I’m better than you,” Vivid drawled lazily, as she formed a shield of nothingness behind Chrysalis, preventing her from heading back to the great hall. “Stronger. Smarter… I’ll kill you, and then you’ll never be able to hurt anypony again.”

Chrysalis gasped and flung herself through a window next to her, out into open air a hundred feet or higher above the ground. As Vivid casually walked to the shattered window to watch Chrysalis flee on gossamer wings, falling more than flying, she let loose two blasts which collapsed distant buildings in the Canterlot city below the tower. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t care.

The world was a bleeding seared steak, and she’d have it for herself no matter how much others recoiled.

Chrysalis got away, but she didn’t care. There were so many more possibilities, so many more things to do.

She dismissed the wall of void and stepped through space to reappear near Luna, smiling gently which was a stark contrast to the expression of apathy and pride on her face.

As Luna watched her warily, Vivid picked up Luna’s crown and admired it, before putting it on her own head.

Luna gasped in horror as she realized how badly affected by the amulet Vivid was.

“Don’t be alarmed dear,” Vivid drawled as she looked around the great hall. “Just a change in leadership. I’m more capable of protecting our little ponies, you see.”

“Vivid… Please, take the amulet off, you aren’t thinking clearly,” Luna pleaded as she stood on shaking legs.

“WHY?!” Vivid screamed in a sudden burst of rage.

Her horn lit and the whole room was engulfed in black fire for a moment before resolving into red magic which changed everything. The tapestries were remade to show Vivid looking regal and strong. In the depictions she was an alicorn, like Luna.

“Why,” she repeated. “Would I do that? Weaken myself, expose our ponies to danger, just for that disgusting bug to come back and hurt them? Unless…”

She paused, frowning as she approached Luna, almost stomping.

“Unless she never left. Are you really Luna at all?”

Luna looked a little scared, as she backed away slightly. Vivid was amazed at how small the princess seemed, how ordinary. How weak, and in need of protection.

“I am Princess Luna, Vivid. I am your love and I would never hurt you. But you are scared of me. Please, take the amulet off.”

Vivid chuckled as she looked around before frowning. The tapestries looked wrong. Too much, too focused on her. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, like they were all staring at her, watching.

Another flash of anti-energy, and they were transformed to reveal her and Luna facing eachother wearing matching crowns.

“Why?” she asked as she looked back to Luna, frowning. “I finally have the power to do anything I want. Noone can stop me. You should want this for me. You should celebrate it!”

She walked closer until Luna had backed against a wall and looked slightly scared. Vivid traced her chin with one hoof.

“I can see you, I can change myself, change you in any way I wish.”

Luna whimpered before locking eyes with Vivid and cowering as she realized something she hadn’t noticed before.

“I… Vivid, your eyes. It’s changing your eyes.”

Vivid recoiled before creating a magical reflector, and realizing that she couldn’t see anything through it. She wasn’t using magic to see at all.

Shivering in fear she stumbled back before summoning an actual mirror, and she could see.

Ruby red irises in her eyes, not magically red but the color red. She could see that her maroon coat almost matched the red smoke floating from her eyes, and that her blue mane was falling over part of her face. Blue, but with many different colors of blue. Shifting in chopped gradients. But most of all she noticed the rictus-stiff cruel grin on her face. The grin which she did not feel herself making. It was not in her control.

She ripped the necklace off and tossed it to the ground, her chest heaving as her vision faded back to comfortable black and tears began to slip down her cheeks.

A few moments later, she felt a touch, which she pushed away, turning and stumbling a few paces.

“It’s just me, Vivid,” Luna whispered.

The tears only flowed faster, as Vivid tried to hide her grimace, her pain, and pushed Luna away a second time.

“Get the guards,” Vivid hissed. “Get the guards and lock me up. Now.”

“I’m not going to lock up the mare that saved me,” Luna said incredulously.

“You should!” her breath was coming so quick but she had none of the confidence and strength of before. She felt sick. “You should.”

“Why?”

“Because that thing only gave me a push, those were all things I wanted, and that… That is treason,” she said with a stomp of her hoof for punctuation.

There was silence again. Vivid could tell where Luna was, but didn’t know what she looked like, what her expression was. It was freeing. She could just not care.

“Fine,” Luna whispered before walking away and grabbing the amulet, not putting it on but holding it tightly. “Fine, I’ll get the guards. Let’s sort this all out.”

It took a long while, for the guards to arrive. They spoke in hushed tones with Luna before gently guiding Vivid back to her room. Not a jail cell, not the dungeon. Just her room.

There, alone, she sat and weeped. She’d nearly hurt Luna terribly. She’d nearly destroyed the nation, and she had given into that terrible power with so little hesitation. She’d become evil.

When the door opened she quickly dried her eyes before turning around, and waiting for the pony to state their name. The door closed.

“Who is there?” Vivid asked, sitting up with a stiff back.

There was a sigh. It sounded like Luna, and Vivid was soon proven right.

“Why… why would you call yourself a traitor?”

“Because it is what I am,” Vivid snapped. “Execute me and be done with it.”

There was quiet again for a moment, until Vivid felt herself being grabbed in magic, and lifted. Then laid down on her bed. She was confused until Luna joined her, smaller than she normally was since she’d lost her power, Vivid was able to hold her. It was disconcerting.

“Vivid, you understand magic. You know it can affect the mind, change how we think and feel. Those actions were not your own, and this level of anger at yourself… It’s just a performance, and there is no audience for it. Just me, and I need you now. Not to punish you.”

After a moment of hesitation, Vivid embraced Luna and held her close.

“She got away,” Vivid whispered.

“I know. But without that amulet, I don’t believe Chrysalis will bother us again anytime soon.”

Vivid shivered a little, and Luna drew the blanket over them.

“What if somepony else gets the amulet?” Vivid asked.

“I put it somewhere safe,” Luna said, as she scooted tighter against Vivid. “Please… hold me.”

Vivid did as she was asked, but it did not help her. She put her arms around the princess but remained numb until she felt the shaking. At first, she thought Luna might be cold. But the soft sobs that Vivid slowly recognized, muffled but still present, revealed the truth.

Princess Luna was crying.

By Vivid’s recollection, she couldn’t think of a time she’d heard Luna cry like this. She’d spoken emotionally, but always with a poise and distance that kept her from being seen as weak or emotional. Now, she made no attempt to maintain it.

“Luna,” Vivid whispered.

“She almost killed me,” Luna replied tearfully. “Equestria almost fell, because I didn’t notice. I didn’t see the signs of guards becoming strangers, I didn’t hold Equestria safe… I failed my ponies.”

“No,” Vivid said, softly but earnestly. “No, you did not fail them. You could not have known such a thing was possible. Now, now we will be more careful, we will make sure this never happens again, but you are not at fault.”

“We… Will you be there, Vivid? Will you be by my side to face a world where our enemies may wear the faces of our own guards? Will you be there, despite your own guilt?”

“I will.” Vivid realized she meant it only after she said it, and she pulled Luna closer. Tighter. “I will be by your side, not as a court mage, but as an adviser and consort. Damn what the public may think, I shall not let this happen again.”

Luna grabbed hold of Vivid’s arms and pulled them tighter against her chest. “You do not have to do this… You do not have to become so entrapped in the things which ensnare me already. My world, my life.”

“It is not being trapped if I choose it,” Vivid replied gently as she turned Luna onto her back and stood to be over her protectively. She then kissed Luna, hoping it was reassuring in some way. “And I choose to be yours, and be by your side no matter what we face.”

Chapter 17. Losing Faith

Vivid Colour stood between two warring factions. Between the two opposites of her world, warriors who would sooner lash out than offer a hoof to each other. She stood as the last defender of order and rational thought. The only thing preventing complete chaos from reigning supreme.

She took a deep breath, and looked to the left. “You can’t wear that in court.”

The small group of worshippers who wore dark black robes and silver moons on necklaces around their necks, all wilted under her gaze.

“But it’s traditional…”

“Luna doesn’t like it. Simple clothes would be better, even if black, the necklace is fine,” Vivid interrupted the whining cultist before turning to her right, her magic straining to show her every facial twitch and color of clothes the ponies around her had, so she could properly evaluate them.

“And you,” she sighed. “The white is too jarring. Our church has many special colors, pastel red, green, and purple would do just as well and be more colorful, not just a counterpoint to Luna’s black decorations.”

“If… you believe it is best,” the priest said, looking quite put off as he examined his own clothes.

“Okay,” Vivid said as she looked between them. “Now that clothes are sorted, marching order. You will all march alongside during the ceremony, and take equal stance.”

She cringed as both sides erupted in objections and fury.

"Quiet!"

Both of the groups stopped immediately, and turned to face Vivid. She rubbed her ears as she thought about how to get these two groups to cooperate for the greater good of Equestria.

"Why... why don't you want to march alongside? Leaders only."

"You are our leader, Ms. Colour," the priest of the solar temple said softly.

"Not for this struggle. I see no reason for the sun and moon to be opposites. They can work together. Why does the Solar Temple believe that walking alongside the Lunar Temple would be anything but equality?"

"They aren't the Lunar temple!" the priest objected. "They are a cult, the temple is known and is not present here, they are a small mostly overlooked group which is largely composed of astrologers and the like, not... not this group!"

"So you see them as invalid, why? Princess Luna has acknowledged their existence and allowed them to take part in this ceremony as your counterpart, and they have agreed to abandon many of the practices which gained them the title of cult. They're being redeemed while the church of the sun rises up to meet them, this is a thing to be rejoiced, not scorned!"

The priest shrugged a little before nodding. "I... suppose."

"And you all, why don't you want to walk alongside your siblings of the sun?" she asked the Lunar group.

"Well... They worship a tyrant. Day Breaker," the lead Lunar worshiper pointed out.

That gave Vivid pause. She hadn't thought about the current state and history of her goddess. She hadn't dealt with that simple fact that Celestia was no more. The groups shuffled nervously, and Vivid cleared her throat.

"I need to think for a moment," she murmured before turning and walking away.

Vivid went to a nearby meeting room and locked the door behind her before sighing and resting her horn against the door.

After a moment she touched her hoof to a ring around her right foreleg. Within seconds Luna appeared in a beam of moonlight streaming in through a nearby window. She went to Vivid and set her chest against Vivid's back, holding her.

"You called, my love?" she whispered.

Vivid whimpered before turning to press her cheek against Luna's neck. "Tell me... what she was like."

Luna paused, before tilting her head. "There are several individuals you could be referring to. My sister, my past love, or a number of others. Which should I tell you of?"

"You had a past..." Vivid paused and shook her head. "Nevermind, your sister. I want to know about your sister."

Luna hummed softly to herself, looking out the window at the starry sky. She wanted to deflect clearly, and avoid the question. But she could not deny Vivid.

"What of her do you wish to know?" Luna asked, looking back to the mare she was cuddling.

"Was she a good pony?"

Luna couldn't help it, she chuckled and got a frown from Vivid.

"I apologize, my love, but it is... a question out of time," Luna explained as she stood and led Vivid through the castle hallways and into her own room.

She then led Vivid up a set of stairs hidden in the corner. She'd known they were there but Vivid hadn't been up them before.

"A good pony... A good pony... Back six centuries ago, she was the definition of a good pony. She was powerful, kind, and the bringer of light. In that age, an alicorn had no allowance for humility or personal interaction. If she came to this time unprepared she would seem aloof and coldly commanding. But you are asking not just of my critique of the definition of good. No, you are asking for my personal view on my sister, and I will give it to you."

They arrived at the top of the tower, and the door on which Luna's moon was depicted alongside Celestia's sun. Luna unlocked the door with a key she pulled from within her crown, and pushed the door open.

Within was a bedroom completely unlike the one below, which was royal and fine in every way. This one looked like it would fit in a cottage out in the plains near the coast of Equestria. The mattress was stuffed straw, and the linens were plain. On the walls were paintings, drawings, symbols, tapestries, all depicting either the alicorn sisters together or Celestia alone. Luna looked around for a moment before lighting an old and ordinary candle on the table to bring it a little light. Vivid realized there were no windows. The room must be as black as tar for anyone else that would come in.

"She looks so much like you," Vivid said as she examined one of the carvings that showed the two together, standing side by side. She could see the family resemblance but could still clearly see Luna's features setting her apart.

"Like the night and day, most thought of us as opposite as could be," Luna sighed. "But I suppose your perspective strips that color and the history away to see the truth. Yes, She and I were much alike. Though she took comfort in her education while I took comfort in skill. Similar enough but it led to my use as a military leader and hers as a true ruler. Our first true opposition."

"You were a military leader?" Vivid asked, smiling a little as she found a woven tapestry and enhanced her vision spell to pick out the different colors, revealing Celestia with a white halo above her brow, eyes closed as she held a scale in one forehoof and a scroll on the other.

She looked so noble, and Vivid took comfort in how similar to her young imaginings of Celestia it was. Good, pure, powerful.

"I was," Luna sighed, her embarrassment clear in her voice. "Five hundred years since my last war has not been kind to that skill however. Besides, Chrysalis took me by surprise."

"I know she did, love," Vivid said softly, trotting over to nuzzle her. "You must truly be a powerful warrior when you are prepared."

"Well..." Luna murmured. "I may need practice. It has been a long time and I have been focused on being a diplomat, being a princess. I may wish to possess fighting skill again to prevent such an attack."

"Could I train with you?" Vivid asked curiously.

Her magical gaze continued sweeping the room, finding small details. The old bed had a sun carved in the headboard. The sheets looked hand woven based on how fine the threads were. The ceiling had a massive candelabra hanging from it, unlit, clearly large enough for a grand hall. Gold and glass formed the rays of a sun spreading out from the center and down toward the floor. Luna's horn would touch the lowest ones if she reared up even a little.

"Yes. You know... It used to be standard for Court Mages to learn to fight outside of just magic. Though those requirements were changed to allow a more... relaxed position. What weapon would you use?"

Vivid paused before shrugging. "Just give me some needles, I'll hold them in my magic."

"Oh ho! I see somepony does not understand the concept of physical combat!" Luna said grandly as she picked up Vivid in her magic, a disorienting but enjoyable feeling, and dumped her on the bed. "A sword, a dagger, something you could hold in your mouth or hooves."

"Sounds barbaric," Vivid huffed. "Doesn't play to my skills either."

"That's why we grow our skills," Luna said before kissing her softly on the cheek. "Or grow our horizons. I never would have imagined showing somepony this room before I met you... Yet I feel it is a sort of growth. Showing you how much I actually miss my sister."

"While I enjoy your secrets and your intimacy, I'd prefer we not become too intimate under the eyes of your sister," Vivid replied quickly, cheeks hot.

"Are you... scared of her?" Luna asked, pausing as soon as Vivid showed her nervousness.

"No! Not at all," Vivid quickly shook her head. "I just... she's holy. Important. It feels like... I guess rude to be... close to you while images of her are watching."

Luna nodded and gently picked Vivid back up before setting her down on her hooves, standing firmly on the floor. Then, she looked up and around at the room for a few more moments, while Vivid stayed still and quiet.

"Good day, sister," Luna whispered, and then they walked out of the room.

Down the stairs and then back into Luna's bedroom, locking both doors along the way.

"You came to me asking about my sister," Luna continued. "Did you find the answers you were seeking?"

"Some of them," Vivid nodded, turning her head away. "But more than all that... Well, those were all things that I wanted to know, but what I need to know is... Daybreaker. What was daybreaker like?"

Luna sagged a bit, and so quickly she looked hurt and old and tired, and Vivid regretted asking the question.

"I'm s--"

Luna held up a hoof to stop Vivid from apologizing.

"You should know more than just our written history," Luna sighed. "You should know what happened from my point of view."

She paused, and thought for a moment. "You know that before that event, I was largely seen as a second princess, yes? The lesser?"

Vivid nodded, slowly.

"Well, while I was focused on my own pain and loneliness..." Luna grimaced. "She was running a country in it's formative years. Sleeping for only four to six hours a night, pouring every bit of energy she had into making her ponies happy and building a future for Equestria."

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, and she tilted her head up, voice wavering.

"No wonder they loved her so much. She gave them everything. She was... in so many ways... perfect. Then she broke under the pressure."

She looked back down to Vivid, and the pooled tears ran down her cheeks even faster. "She collapsed, just another troubling thing broke her resolve, and she gave into the dark anger that had been circling the both of us. She gave into the Horror of it all and she killed so many before I was able to banish her using the elements of harmony."

Vivid sat, listening to Luna breathe and thinking. Taking in the description of the goddess she'd worshiped ‎for so long, sounding more like a harried and weary monarch than the scion of nobility and purity that Vivid had grown up picturing.

She felt Luna move closer, and leaned against her.

"What about the three miracles?" Vivid asked, dreading the answer. "The taming of the Zebras, the discovery of the tree of harmony, and the first raising of the sun?"

Luna sighed, knowing Vivid would not like the answer. "The zebra race were quite friendly when we found them. To say we tamed them would ignore the harm our ponies did to destroy their culture without our blessings. When Tia found out that some had been enslaved she nearly burned down the city responsible. The tree of harmony was known by our teacher, Starswirl the Bearded before we ever visited the Everfree forest. The sun though..."

She looked down to Vivid, smiling fondly. "It was not the first sunrise, but it held so much more meaning... before my sister and I raised the sun and moon, it took ten unicorns a day, giving up their magic forever, to do the task. But Tia and I broke that cycle. Then, with her healing magic she gave back every bit of magic those unicorns had lost. She kept the world from going dark forever."

"So, one miracle, that you both shared. For everything else, she was...a normal pony?" Vivid asked.

"Well, as normal as royalty can be. She was still a princess like myself, still revered and seen as a great leader. But from my perspective she was quite normal. She had her own fears and weaknesses like any other pony," Luna said, putting a foreleg around her.

"So she would likely be just as uncomfortable with my church as you are with your worshippers," Vivid concluded quietly, before shaking her head. "It's not just one side that is worshipping the wrong thing, it's the core idea that we should worship either of you, which is wrong."

‎"I suppose that you could see it that way," Luna said hesitantly, taken aback by the sudden switch in approach. "Though-"

Vivid held up a hoof and stood, forcing Luna to let go of her.

"I'm sorry, but I need to think about this. I'll be taking leave for a few days. I'll need to cancel the joint ceremony."

Luna could only gape, not knowing what to say.

"Good Twilight, your highness, I hope I'll return soon," Vivid bowed, showing a formality that felt distant and heartless to Luna after so long treating eachother as lovers.

Then Vivid was closing the doors behind her and walking down the hall. She felt like a great storm was raging in her heart, and it was destroying the firm foundations she'd built everything on. Her love, her confidence, her magic was all distantly founded in her faith and now that faith was dying.

"The court is cancelled, as are all services at the solar temple, you will report to the Castilian," she said numbly as she reached the opposing groups of worshippers.

Before they could object she lit her horn and cast out her magic far far away. She was seeking something that didn't exist and yet demanded it of her magic, forcing it to seek the one place she needed in that moment, one whispered word before she became a nimbus of magical energy and was carried to the other side of the world in a bang of released energy.

"Home."

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay, I'm still working on publishing my book, but I wanted to post this chapter since I know a few people are still following this story.

Chapter 18. Old friends

The air had a different feeling to it, Vivid realized. The air, the magic, the dirt under her hooves were all older, softer.

The whispered exclamations of surprise from all around her were accented with the same lilt in their voice as she had, some had an even stronger accent and she imagined her Equestrian friends would have difficulty understanding them at all.

She knew her magic had been stretched to it's limits. It seemed to be a habit of hers to impulsively throw magic at a problem until she was depleted. She'd have to work on that.

"Vivid?"

She turned towards the shocked voice. Best she could figure without using her magic and risking a horrible headache, she'd relocated herself back to her birthplace. The small town of Fain in Suffolk county, Bitain. Across the ocean from Equestria.

"It is I," Vivid confirmed. "And who speaks?"

"Lemon. Vivid, it's your friend Lemon!"

Hoofsteps approached as Vivid smiled.

"Lemon Tart, you're still in this little town?" She chuckled.

"And you're still alive apparently!" He rebutted. "Where did your boat land? How did you survive?"

"I think that is a tale for just the two of us and not the crowd. Guide me to your home," she said in a commanding tone. "And I'll reveal all my secrets."

Lemon obliged, taking Vivid along a familiar path from the park at the center of town to his cottage at it's edge. Along the way, Vivid could hear whispered conversations about her, most of them seemed to be focused on her clothes. The circlet and cloak. Only a few could tell who she was.

"So!" Lemon said as he closed his door behind Vivid. "The mare returns victorious! Well, alive. Alive is victory 's far as I care. Sit down, I'll get you something warm to drink."

Only then did Vivid realize how much colder it was here, compared to Equestria. Bitain didn't have pegusi controlling their weather, it was left to it's own cycle.

"Appreciate it," Vivid said as she found the old worn couch that she'd slept on so many nights as a filly, and flipped unceremoniously onto her back with her legs up in the air. "Ahhh... how's your couch so soft? It damned near rivals Luna's bed!"

"Luna bein' the name of a mare you've slept with?" Lemon asked curiously.

"Well, yes. But that's not the whole story."

Vivid paused, thinking, until she felt a cup tap against her horn. Instinctively, she wrapped her magic around it. The way they'd interacted years ago felt so natural. She sat up just enough to sip the tea, as she tried to piece together what to tell her old friend.

"Luna is Alicorn Celestia's sister," Vivid finally said.

"What?! The devil mare herself, dark sister of the goddess?" He asked, aghast, as he returned and sat in his own chair nearby. "I knew you liked troubled mares but this takes the cake, Colour!"

"She's not like that!" Vivid snapped. "And besides, they're not goddesses. Alicorns might have more power than you or me but their normal ponies who don't want to be idolized."

"Oh. Well 'course their normal ponies," Lemon said sarcastically. "After all, so normal to be immortal, in control of moon or sun, and twice the size of another pony. How incredibly normal."

Vivid took her cup in her hooves and sipped her tea as she illuminated the room in magic so she could see, and picked out a pillow on the couch to toss at her friend with quite a bit of force.

"Well your aim is certainly better," Lemon mumbled as he removed the pillow from his face. "But you've got to agree that it's a bit air headed to think that the Alicorn sisters are just normal ponies. Just as air headed as thinking we're normal. Me, a lonely gay stallion in a town so small there may not be another for me to even meet, yet i don't leave. You, exiled to the sea and come back in an explosion of magic, apparently from the land of alicorns-"

"Equestria, I came from Equestria where Luna rules," Vivid interrupted.

"Ah yes, come back from the land of dark and stars in a silvery cloak and apparently romancing the most demonic creature in history bar Discord or Tirek. They're not normal, Vivid."

She huffed. "Fine, not normal, but not goddesses. That's where i draw the line. And Luna isn't evil by any measure. She may have been jealous and reclusive hundreds of years ago when they last visited Bitain, but Celestia broke beneath the weight and nearly killed Luna before being banished to the sun."

They were quiet for a little while, both sipping their tea as they mulled over the subject.

"Any chance she's lying? Banished her sister to take the spotlight?" Lemon asked weakly.

"I got to know her pretty well. Don't think so. She looks forward with hope to her sister returning in a few hundred years," Vivid replied, just as quietly.

"So... The goddess Luna controls the sun and moon, and--"

"She prefers Princess. Or just Luna. Please, it makes me very uncomfortable," Vivid insisted.

He sighed, and rubbed the side of his head with the tip of one hoof. They both sipped more of their tea, and he resumed.

"Luna controls everything. The nation of Equestria as well, and Lady Celestia--"

"Not a godde--"

"I said Lady, just a shred of respect from my end, alright?" Lemon shouted, clearly full of frustration and reaching the edge of his discomfort with discussing religion. "Lady Celestia, she's stuck in the sun, right? Banished?"

Vivid nodded.

"So then why hasn't Luna plunged the whole world into darkness?" he finally concluded. "She's the lady of darkness and the moon, why bother keeping the sun around?"

"Because she loves her sister, and her ponies!" Vivid declared. "Regarless of how good or holy she is, she cares. I know that as sure as I know my own horn."

"Then what of the church? All those prayers to the sun, just a waste?" he asked incredulously. "Are we-- they praying to a devil now?"

"I don't know. I really don't know," Vivid admitted, sighing as she huffed the warm fumes from her cup. "It's all so... I started a church to Celestia in Equestria. I started a church, had access to all these manuscripts, then one argument uncovered all this... All this 'they're not goddesses' thing, and now I don't know what to do, I don't know how to cope."

"So, did Luna know that you were raised in a church before she dropped that bombshell on you?" Lemon asked dryly.

Vivid shook her head, curling up a little and feeling very very small.

"I don't believe anymore," Vivid whispered.

"What don't you believe in, Lady Celestia?"

"It's more than that," Vivid shook her head, eyes focused on some far off point. "The concept of good was based on her. My ideals. My hopes. I'm losing my faith and the way I saw the world, and i can't talk with the one I love about it without wounding or angering her. This is the loneliest I've ever felt, and it's my fault for thinking these things through."

"Have you... tried talking to her about it?" Lemon asked after a few moments.

"Of course! She didn't want to be worshipped, she didn't think her sister would want to be, either!"

"No, no, not her... I mean religion as a more general subject. Have you... Theological debate. That's the word I was looking for," he said proudly. "Have you tried having a theological debate with her, without focusing on her and her sister specifically?"

Vivid paused, before finally shaking her head. "No... We... don't talk about difficult topics like that. She's... a princess, a ruler of a nation, I can't take her time to have complex difficult conversations that might sway the way she leads her nation," Vivid tried to excuse.

"So, maybe you need to actually speak with her about this, instead of letting your entire worldview fall apart," Lemon proposed tentatively, smiling a little.

Vivid laid her head down and thought on it, sipping her tea and enjoying the familiar smells and sounds of her childhood while she thought of what she could do.

"How about you, Lemon? Found a colt to ease your loneliness?" Vivid asked to break the silence.

"Oh, definitely not," he sighed. "No others like me in the town, and I'm not about to move. So I'm content to being alone."

"Why can't you move? You could come to Equestria, I've heard of other queers like us there, and I'm publicly known as Luna's consort, so it's certainly more kind than Bitain."

"Is that why you wear that cloak?" Lemon asked. "You have a dress code as consort?"

"No, not at all. This is from being court mage," she said with a laugh as she flipped up the corner of her cloak in her magic. "To be fair, it's a post I don't think I would've got if not for her interest in me."

They shared a chuckle, then Lemon abruptly switched topics.

"We could file for mistrial, you know."

Vivid's smile faded and she turned back to her cup, hunching her shoulders and tucking her legs in close, closed off.

"Vivid, I'm sure it's a sore subject, but you've got clout now, and you survived the exile. If we filed for mistrial then you could be here legally!"

"I've always been illegal in one way or another," Vivid said with a bitter tone. "Why stop now? Filly fooler, butch, illegal gardener, murderer, I'm sure I've gathered more titles while i was gone, haven't I? Liar perhaps? Thief?"

Vivid... your pain because of all that... Why would you just charge onward, trying to make it worse instead of working to make it better?" Lemon asked.

"Because it won't make it better," Vivid muttered. "There's not promise that I'd be forgiven, and I might just be kicked out again. At least in this I can have control. I can come and leave as I wish."

"But if you can prove that you didn't kill--"

"But what if I did?!" she asked, setting her tea aside and standing, gritting her teeth. "What if I did kill those boys? What if I deserved that exile, do I get exiled again? Put to death? What if they can't.... stop me?" she had walked up to him until she stood with her nose to his, rage in her eyes,

He actually looked scared, and she felt a thrill in her heart, stirred by the power over him and forcing him to see that she was right.

"Stop this, Vivid. I know they've hurt you. I know those boys hurt you, but you never meant to kill them," he whispered, standing up to her for once.

Vivid backed down, stepping away and visibly drooping.

"It'd make more sense if I had," she muttered.

"You were sobbing, shaking so badly you couldn't stand when they found you," Lemon whispered. "If it wasn't for that big shot lawyer, you never would have been exiled," he insisted as he stood and put a foreleg around her in a hug.

"I was also covered in their blood if you remember," she continued.

"They were flying over you when it happened," he sighed. "They also found dirt all over you, and on the kids' hooves. You never mentioned it but they were tossing dirt on you, weren't they?"

Vivid didn't answer. She didn't like thinking about this, about her past as a whole and even more she didn't like thinking about the event that had led to her trial.

"You don't have to talk," Lemon finally admitted. "But you need to stop building yourself up as some kind of monster. Feeling tough isn't worth the pain."

"It's worth it if I can keep putting one hoof in front of another. Celestia knows the truth anyway," she muttered.

"And if Celestia isn't some all knowing being, and just another pony like you and me, then..." Lemon led her back to the couch, tone so gentle with her.

"Then I'm screwed. Then everything I've done doesn't matter, and I'm just a run of the mill monster. When I die, I'll rot in the ground and the only ponies who will remember me will spit on my name."

Her tone was bitter and angry, but the tears on her cheeks showed how much it hurt her.

"I'll remember you as a heartfelt and quiet mare who loved the world but was too scared of it to live in it," Lemon whispered.

Vivid's body shook as she sobbed, and Lemon held her.

"How gaily a poem could you write of a life of sorrow?" Vivid rasped.

"Not as bright one as you deserve my dear friend," Lemon insisted. "Not as bright as your future could be, if you put forth the effort."

"Effort," Vivid seethed without pushing him away. "Another word for suffering, for embarrassment, and public shaming. My trial was bad enough, and it has been how many years? I have not gotten better at speaking in public."

"Haven't you?" Lemon asked, pulling away enough to look her in the eyes. "Court Mage, consort to a princess, and you cannot speak to ponies you do not know?"

Vivid bit back her more aggressive response, and sighed.

"When I have power. When I can control the situation, I... I feel better. I can demand things, enforce my will."

"Then gain diplomatic immunity. Simply gain Luna's blessing to act as envoy and ambassador of Equestria. Then, even if they don't pardon you, they cannot seize you. You'll still be able to return home," he proposed.

Vivid grimaced. She was still conflicted, and did not yet want to return. On top of that, she still hadn't resolved her conflicts with her religious roots.

"I'd like to visit the church first," she said softly, turning her head away from his. "Just... see where I grew up with my magic. No reason to see my home though, I'm sure it was given away."

Lemon shook his head. "I bought it. Kept it clean."

She sat up, wide eyed as she tried to find the words, finally whispering "Thank you," as she pulled him back into a hug. "I'd like to go home. Right now."

Lemon helped Vivid up, and made sure her tears were dry before going out. It was a comforting remnant of her past, when Lemon would make sure her appearance was in order. He understood being picked on for one's appearance, his own body was more feminine than most stallions.

They then left the house and made a straight path through the meandering dirt roads until they came to the familiar path flanked by bushes, where Vivid had walked so many times. She froze,as the smells and the dirt under her hooves brought back the memories of the last time she'd been in that spot.

The dirt on her back, the blood pooling around her hooves and running down her legs. The screaming.

"Vivid. Vivid, I'm here. You're safe."

Vivid sat, and shuddered before spreading her magical sight wide. She could see there was no pegusi overhead, no blood around her. But she could see her garden, like she'd never seen it before. Rich in vines and flowers. She could see her little cottage and the tree in front of it.

Her breathing calmed, and she stood, walking up to her door before pushing it open with the gentleness of a mare that thought she might break the very memories the place held.

Chapter 19. Old Wounds

Vivid was laying on her bed, the bed she'd built the frame for herself. The straw inside had been changed recently but the sheets and home had such a familiar scent.

"Falling asleep on me?" Lemon asked from the bedroom door, voice light with mirth.

"I just may," she sighed. "As comfortable as the royal bed in Equestria, I daresay..."

She hugged her pillow close and sighed into it, feeling the warmth flow across her muzzle.

"I'm glad I grabbed it. The Nail family petitioned for ownership but was denied, thankfully."

Vivid huffed, and rolled onto her stomach, setting the pillow aside. "Of course they'd want to take even this from me."

"Careful now, that anger will not serve you," Lemon cautioned.

"Maybe I don't care if it will serve me, I like being angry at them. The Nail family has never been kind to me."

She stood and hopped off her bed, using her magic to examine her shelves and all the little carvings and statues still on them.

"But you didn't intend to kill their children."

Vivid paused. The question hadn't been asked, or insisted, so directly before.

"No," she admitted, voice low. "I did not intend to kill or even hurt them... I just... was scared. I was so scared of them."

"it's near sunset," Lemon said, resting a hoof on her shoulder. "Get some sleep. In the morning we can figure out what to do. But you should rest in your own bed."

Vivid nodded, and leaned against him.

"Through strange lands I've been, my friend... And I find it strangest to return to what was once ordinary. Even as moonrise becomes sunset, and waking shall be sleeping, I see such distance yawning between this moment and whatever strangeness may come."

Vivid was laying on Luna's bed, with Luna's forelegs wrapped around her. The warm glow of the sun came through heavy curtains, just enough to light the room in gold, as Vivid could only perceive when in one of Luna's dreams, seeing through her mind's eye.

"I miss you."

It was a statement, not a question, and yet it was delicate and prodding from the princess. It almost sounded like weakness.

Vivid might have pounced on that weakness in past years, but she now felt a protective fierceness rise in her. She was entrusted with the heart of a princess. The chance to comfort it should not be ignored.

"And I, like the tides to the moon, ache for you," Vivid whispered.

Luna embraced her a little tighter, but the feeling in a dream was emotional, not physical.

"Where did you run to, my brightness? I cannot find you, even to the shores..."

It was surprising to Vivid that Luna had limits. That there was a distance great enough to hide from her.

"Bitain, my old home," Vibid whispered. "My past... I must settle it, I think. I must settle it to be free of some things."

"Is there anything I can do, anything at all to make this journey easier for you?" Luna asked, voice thin with the sorrow inspired by distance.

Vivid turned and looked into Luna's eyes, the worry there making her wonder why she was so far away. But she didn't have to wonder for long. She knew this was to heal very old wounds.

"Would it be... beyond my rights to ask to be assigned ambassador to Bitain?"

"Not beyond at all, in fact it is nearly already yours," Luna said quickly. "If you send to me a gemstone of any kind, I can use it to return papers to you when the moon next rises. Papers which prove your position." She nuzzled Vivid's cheek and sighed. "Is that... all I can do?"

"For now," Vivid nodded. "For now, that is all. But... your love, that is still the bedrock that is supporting me."

Luna held her close, and gradually the dream faded.

When Vivid woke, she stood and began walking around her home. The sun was rising. It was so odd to be waking up at this time rather than falling asleep. She didn't normally notice the differences. It was warmer during the sunlit hours, but she could fall asleep just as easily when the sun was up as the moon.

She scanned over the things she'd crafted when she was younger, until she finally found what she was looking for. A carved wooden sun with a simple crystal set in the middle.

She surrounded it in her magic, and teleported it away. Then she sighed and walked back into the main room.

Lemon was asleep on the couch, covered in a hoof woven blanket.

She smiled a little, and walked out the back door into the garden, breathing in the smell of the flowers and sweet grasses. Laying down on the grass, she remembered days long past, the simplicity of her life. Growing flowers and grasses to eat, Trading carvings for any food she couldn't grow, or for wool, or anything else.

She'd been called the blind filly, as much as her name, but it had all been so very simple.

She could hear Lemon wake up and check her room before finding her. She liked listening to him walk through the house.

"Couldn't sleep in your bed?" Lemon asked as he stifled a yawn.

"I did. Just woke up a moment ago."

Lemon sat nearby and they shared a comfortable silence for a time.

"It's strange to be out during sunlit hours again," Vivid said, feeling the grass on her cheek.

"The ponies of Equestria either sleep during midday and midnight, or the sleep during the day," Vivid explained. "Farmers typically the first, city dwellers the second. Court is held during the twilight hours, so it makes sense that all would wish to be awake for those times, and for the hours their leader is awake."

"And Princess Luna has made no effort to change her own sleep patterns to be awake during the day," Lemon stated.

Vivid couldn't say he was wrong, exactly. "She controls the moon and stars, and is princess of the night. How could she still do her duty while asleep?"

"She manages to control the sun well enough while asleep," Lemon huffed. "I just don't understand how she expects to interact with the rest of the world when she would be asleep during our hours of waking."

Vivid sat up, and then stood. "We've adapted to fit her style. I don't... I can't imagine her ever being a good leader if she was forced to sleep at night, and I believe we can find ways to make all this work," she insisted. "You haven't met her yet, but... Maybe some day soon you will."

Her horn lit, but surprisingly she wasn't using her magic consciously. It reached out and formed a sphere of light from which a thick scroll appeared, and then dropped to the ground as her magic fizzled out.

"Huh," Vivid said flatly. "That was fast."

"What did you just do?" Lemon asked, peering at the scroll suspiciously.

"I didn't do that, Luna did," she said as she broke the official looking wax seal and unrolled the scroll to find it was much longer than she originally thought.

Moving back inside and to her living room table, she rolled out the full length of the scroll, found it was two long papers and separated them, and found a brass seal for sealing letters, two candles for sealing, a necklace, and pendant that had been hidden inside.

Casting a quick spell, Vivid was able to perceive the ink on the paper, and then she paused. As the color of the ink appeared, so did Lemon. For the first time she was seeing him in color, and he was absurd looking. Without color, he was just another stallion who presented himself well, but his neon yellow coat and red/pink mane was so bright that she found herself staring.

"What, do I have something on me?" he asked, before frowning. "How are you... What are you looking at?"

"You're very... bright," she finally concluded, smiling. "I've never seen your colors before."

"Oh," he ducked his head and blushed. "I'd forgotten that you hadn't seen me before... Must be powerful magic to fix your blindness."

"Not fixed. I have to bypass it briefly to read inked paper, but I don't like it," she sighed. "It's not me. Not who I am. Now, let's see this."

She examined the documents and found about what she expected. One of them was directed to her. It was officially instating her as an ambassador, and explaining the limits of that position when combined with her existing positions.

The second page was directed to the current ruler of Bitain, from Princess Luna.

Vivid sighed. "Looks like going to the court may be too low... We need to go to the capital."

As the nervous stallion and unusually bold mare walked into the castle, they could see that a court was rapidly assembling itself around them. Guards slipping into place as a seneschal stopped them, talking briefly about titles before trotting back to her place by the door. In the distance, they could see a procession ascending the grand stairs and settling in at the top, the queen dressed in an absurd ruffled and billowy dress that took up as much room as the mare herself four times over.

Vivid had a moment of appreciation for Luna's simple tastes and aversion to pomp and ceremony. There were certainly areas in her life where she would be picky and quite the royal, but Vivid was comfortable with rich decorations and a romantic idealization of the roles ponies played in the structure of government if it meant she could wear a simple cloak and count as well dressed.

She'd stopped by a town on the way, a journey of two days, and acquired a new silvered cloak that Lemon assured her looked much more royal than the one she'd worn before which had almost been worn to tatters.

"You think they'll know who I am?" Vivid asked Lemon as they waited for the court session to begin.

"I doubt it," he sighed. "It would take a very long time to find those records, but if you let them know, then it won't take as long. Her Majesty, Queen Victory is quite a stickler for honesty and forthrightness. I'd recommend bringing it up immediately."

Vivid hummed to herself before nudging him with a hoof. "How do you know so much?"

"Thought about being a scribe for the castle, spent a whole year up here," he grumbled. "Didn't make the cut though."

"Presenting Lady Vivid Colour, Ambassador and High mage of Equestria, the land of Alicorns, and her assistant, Lemon Tart!" the seneschal announced loudly, and they walked forward at a calm pace.

"Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victory of the united kingdom of Great Bitain and Ireland presiding."

Both Vivid and Lemon bowed before the queen who leaned forward, looking down her nose at them.

"Greetings, to Equestria, from the great land of Bitain," the queen said quietly, but just loud enough to be heard. "Please present yourselves and your country, which has been but a legend."

Vivid stood proudly, and was glad she'd learned enough about Equestria to present it properly.

"Equestria is more than a land of alicorns in these times, your majesty," Vivid began. "Ruled by Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna, Equestria is a constitutional Monarchy which has expanded to rule the entirety of the Equus continent, though largely settled in the farm-able land. In a census three years ago, the population of Equestria was over twenty million."

There was a soft murmuring throughout the room, and the queen smiled a little, amused.

"Excellent facts, but what are their ponies like, Ms. Colour? You are from Bitain, correct? You have the sound of it."

Vivid knew it would come up, but she didn't yet want to introduce her past to the conversation. Yet, Lemon had said she valued honesty... She hesitated, briefly panicking over whether or not to tell her right then.

"I grew up in Bitain, your Majesty," she confirmed. "Until the age of nineteen when I was exiled to the sea."

Queen Victory raised a single perfect brow. "Interesting. We shall return to that subject later, but the subject at hoof was the nature of the ponies of Equestria I believe."

"Yes, your Majesty," Vivid said, tension fading for a little bit. "The ponies of Equestria are creative, thoughtful, and full of perseverance. They have settled deserts and frozen wastes, and everything in between. They have a habit of befriending those who reside in places they may go, but when they are wronged they have an iron hoof. The griffons were pacified when they attempted an invasion many years ago, and have been settled into a cooperative part of their society."

She paused, standing a little taller.

"I love the ponies of Equestria, your Majesty. They see a potential for a perfect world, and strive for it. I believe they are worth becoming allies of the great nation of Bitain."

"Such a declaration is taken in the best of faith, and it shall be taken under advisement. To Equestria we send our regards and well wishes. In every history we know, the land of alicorns was a place of possibilities and grace. Such things it seems persist," the queen said, it was partly scripted in a way, but genuine enough.

"But now the matter of your past history in Bitain must be addressed," the queen continued. "You were exiled to the sea and such a thing is a serious matter, as it is near enough to the modern capital punishment which we employ to imply a severe crime. What were you convicted of, Vivid Colour?"

"Your majesty, I wish to speak," a voice dripping in malice said from the clustered mares around the queen.

Clearly it hadn't been expected, as the queen twitched in aggravation and frowned while looking to the mare.

"Speak then."

The mare stepped forward and Drew her hood back, revealing Lacquer Nail, mother to the colts that Vivid had run into on that dusty road so many years before.

"Vivid Colour killed my sons," she hissed, eyes locked onto Vivid and full of rage. "And she should be resentenced to death, as the sea failed to do the job."

Chapter 20. New bonds

Vivid was quickly bustled into a side room with Lemon, and guards at the door. The queen and the rest of her retinue seemed as shocked by the sudden revelation as Vivid was, and it made sense to split everypony up and sort it out to avoid another outbreak in a public court session.

But Vivid was almost alone now, Lemon patting her back in a cold room half a world away from Luna. It felt like she'd only made mistakes, coming here. All the lauded effort Lemon had guided her to had only gotten her here.

"I wish Luna was here," she finally admitted out loud.

"Could we contact her?" Lemon asked, hid voice betraying that he was as uncertain and nervous as her.

"I don't... maybe. But I shouldn't bring her right now. Even if I do ask her to come here, I should wait until the court is back in session and the queen allows it," Vivid explained, putting her head between her hooves and sighing.

"It's like being in purgatory," Lemon said, moving closer to her.

"No, no, remember? No purgatory," Vivid said bitterly. "No heaven either if Luna and Celestia aren't gods."

That took the last bit of wind out of Lemon's sails and he started sniffling, crying quietly. Vivid put an arm around him after a bit, and held him. They were both lost, but at least they'd see this through and she'd see Luna again.

It took quite a while before the door opened. Long enough that Lemon stopped crying and dried his face.

"The queen shall see you privately, Lady Colour," the guard said.

But Vivid paused and put a hoof to Lemon's side. "I need my assistant."

The guard looked between them before sighing and nodding.

They were led down the halls to a separate room, in which Vivid and Lemon found the queen sitting on a cushioned seat.

The queen gestured, and both of them sat down to face her.

"You have been sentenced to death, Vivid, but that death was avoided. I have made the choice to commute your sentence as served."

Vivid felt a horrible weight vanish from her back. Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes, and she smiled just a little.

"This decision has not been popular among my assistants and advisors," the queen said before Vivid could speak. "But I've grown accustomed to following my intuition. My intuition tells me that your story has more to it than the impulsive murder of two colts."

Vivid's stomach dropped, her mouth suddenly dry. "Of course, your majesty..."

The queen arched an eyebrow. "Elaborate."

Vivid, feeling very small, and very hurt, looked down at the floor before speaking quietly.

"The Nail boys were only kind to me until I stopped giving them sweets," she started. "When I moved into my own home, I no longer had the coins for sweets, you see... Grew my own food. Sold carvings for the rest. I'm blind and back then my magic could only let me see a small distance around me, so I could not do many kinds of work... They thought I was just cruel. No longer giving them those gifts. Such a small thing..."

Her voice was trembling, but noone stopped her, as she caught her breath. She had to continue.

"They took to dropping clods of dirt on me when I would walk by. I never knew when it would happen. By my house or middle of town, none stopped it so I was alone in it. I struggled, yes, I asked them to stop, but they just laughed..."

She fought against tears that threatened to fall, and Lemon's hoof gently rested on her back.

"That day, they decided dirt wasn't enough."

Her fearful expression had turned to rage, and her shoulders hunched tight as though she was being pummeled again.

"Stones. pebbles first but then larger. They wouldn't stop and I'd heard of unicorns casting out shields before. Shields that would make them stop, that would protect me like no pony seemed willing to do. So I sent out my magic in a bid to make them stop and... And it made them stop," she concluded with a bitter tone of finality.

"So you didn't intend to kill them, and were acting in self defense," the queen concluded. "But you did not use that line of reasoning in court, why?"

Vivid sighed, hanging her head. "I... felt that it would be even worse for me if it came out that they were bullying me for a longer period. Their mother may have then brought up the reason they were bullying me. I'm..."

She found it physically hard to speak. So many ponies knew, but this was the queen of the country she'd grown up in. This was the mare that had made the laws that Vivid was breaking, just by existing.

"I prefer mares to stallions, and the boys heard a rumor, and took to bullying me for it," she said nervously.

The queen frowned, regarding her with something close to disdain, until she finally asked a question that Vivid had not expected.

"Why have you chosen to remain as such, even now? You have power, position, and magic powerful enough to have brought you here, why have you chosen not to find a stallion? It seems such a waste."

Gaping, stunned by the queen's lack of understanding, Vivid shook her head. "Your Majesty, I... It is not a choice I've ever made. It is the calling of my heart, the only love I've ever known has been to mares, and with stallions I feel... Nothing but friendship," she insisted. "Lemon here, is a fine stallion, and as a friend he has helped me greatly, but I have no interest in that form."

The queen's frown faded to puzzlement, and she stared at Vivid as though trying to understand a very complex puzzle. Vivid let her vision fade slightly, so that she couldn't see the queen's stare in quite as much detail. It was a pale blessing.

It seemed like ages until the queen spoke again.

"I need to understand this better, clearly. You've tried associating with stallions before?"

Vivid grimaced, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Sort of. But... He held no interest when I was with him. It was miserable, painful to my heart, and despite being so young I knew in that moment that I was not made to pleasure males."

"And the harm of this sin, it has not caused you grief?"

Vivid huffed, shaking her head. "The only grief I know from my nature is the grief caused by laws and poor view on my person. Even Luna, who I once worshipped, finds no fault in it and in fact supports me. She... Is similar."

"Well that is hardly a shock," the queen said with a coy smile. "The books tell of this Alicorn, Luna. The dark sister, who gave herself to spite and bitterness. That she would give herself to mares as well is not so much a stretch."

Vivid felt her nose twitch, nearly into a sneer before she regained control of her anger.

"May I suggest that we summon Her royal Highness, Princess Luna, and then you may ascertain for yourself if she is as sinful as you believe, your Majesty."

"An excellent proposal," Queen Victory nodded, gesturing to the door. "Summon her, and we will have ourselves a meeting of leaders."

Vivid stood, bowed and left with Lemon following nervously.

"Um... Are you actually going to summon her?"

Vivid just nodded.

"Is that... Normal? Is it safe?"

Vivid shrugged wordlessly as they walked out of the castle and into the garden.

"Do you want to... Talk this over?" Lemon asked, a hopeful tone only making him sound more nervous.

"No," Vivid replied before finding a large enough area and lighting her horn.

With a crack of lightning, her spell formed a viewing pool on the ground in front of her, two pony lengths across. In the surface, depicted in magic, was Princess Luna.

"You have called out to me?" Luna said softly.

"Her Majesty, Queen Victory of Bitain requests an audience with Princess Luna, as soon as convenient."

Luna raised an eyebrow before leaning out of view of the spell and speaking with someone, then leaning back.

"I am available. She insulted you in some way, didn't she?" Luna asked grimly.

"The laws of Bitain are quite inconsiderate of filly foolers and fops," Vivid said sarcastically. "So some minor disagreement was had."

Luna sighed and leaned in closer.

"I'll not start a war over it, Vivid. I do hope you know this."

"I do," Vivid snapped, ears flat back against her head. "But I do not have the right words or weight to counter what the queen believes. You know better than any I've heard, how to speak on the subject."

Luna hummed and then nodded.

"Ten minutes, I will relocate to the source point of this spell."

"Thank you, your Highness," Vivid said quietly.

Luna chuckled. "Do not begin referring to me as such now, thank me as you should."

A hot blush grew on Vivid's cheeks.

"Thank you, my love," she said more quietly, more earnestly."

Luna blew her a kiss, and the spell ended.

"She... Adores you," Lemon said softly. "I don't know why I expected anything less. But to see it... I will look forward to meeting her," he said with a smile.

When Luna appeared, the moon briefly blacked out the sun, winds sprung to life around the castle, the air suddenly cold.

The sun burned like a ring of flame around the black moon and, with the roar of the wind and silvery light, Princess Luna appeared in front of the castle doors, accompanied by a scribe, two guards, and an attendant.

Vivid stepped forward as the moon passed the sun and returned to the horizon, and Luna embraced her.

"You are safe?" Luna asked.

Vivid just nodded, not wanting to speak.

"Good. Now let us sort this old law from the books," Luna said firmly before leading the procession up to the door and then knocking.

As Princess Luna, her retinue, and Vivid entered the hall again there were audible gasps from every corner of the great hall. Ponies hidden behind tapestries and peeking around door frames as a living god, straight from their history, entered the castle.

Queen Victory stood, on her throne, and still just barely stood over Luna's height. Vivid wondered if Luna was magically enhancing herself, but with a quick glance at her love, she could see nothing had changed but her bearing. Princess Luna stood proud, and walked with such grace and sureness that every hoofstep's sound seemed deliberate. The swirling cloud of stars that served as her mane and tail seemed to billow out behind her like a banner, and her simple gleaming silver regalia seemed to outshine the impressive jewelry and shining gems that covered the queen.

They stopped at an appropriate distance from the throne, and Princess Luna smiled ever so slightly.

For a bit, the queen seemed frozen, before finally blinking away the shock and nodding to Princess Luna.

"We welcome her royal highness, Princess Luna of Equestria, to the great land of Bitain. This session of court will now begin. Princess Luna, you are permitted to speak."

Luna bowed, just a little, before looking back up to the queen.

"The land of Equestria greets you and yours, fondly and with hope for the future, Queen Victory," she said with smooth and untroubled tone to her voice. "In this visit it is our desire to address three matters of importance to ourself and our country. Firstly, and of the greatest importance, is the peaceful and beneficial relations between our lands. Secondly, we would like to endeavor to change your mind in regards to certain laws of morality which may be unjust. Third, we should become friends. Equestria is a place of friendship, of care and love for eachother."

She looked briefly to her assistant, and Vivid realized it was Fine Line, her Castilian. Fine stepped forward with a scroll and passed it to the Queen's assistant, who delivered it to the queen herself.

"This document outlines a proposed limited alliance between our lands," Luna continued. "One which will not require any military intervention between us, but will establish trade regulations, communication methods, and normalization of certain diplomatic laws. In this way we can begin bringing the world together in harmony under our joined banners. For the good of all peoples."

Chapter 21. The Princess Luna

Queen Victory reviewed the paper quickly, speaking with her advisors before turning back to Princess Luna.

"We receive this proposal gratefully, and with the hope that we will find a middling point at which we may be allies. But you did mention a desire to convince us of the unjust nature of some of our laws. Am I correct in the assumption that you refer to the laws regarding deviant sexuality?"

Luna seemed so calm, but Vivid felt like her blood was boiling, and had to look away so that she would not meet the queen's gaze with a glare.

"Firstly, to better understand the subject, we would request the court refer to the trait as Homosexuality, a word recently created in Equestria to refer to those who love and are loved by the same sex as their own. We are certain you will recognize the Latin inspiration," Luna said smoothly, diplomatically.

"Very well, so you refer to the laws regarding Homosexuality," the queen nodded. "This would be counter to Heterosexuality, the normal course," she said, showing off her own understanding of Latin.

"Indeed," Luna nodded. "Homosexuality is a trait of a pony, which is as natural as the color of their eyes. In the seven hundred years of my life we have seen many ways to define or understand it and the things which fall near it in our minds, but none perfect. The best we can say is that in no case in our sight has the existence of such persons been a detriment to the society in which they live. Rather, a vitriol that springs up around them, given different natures and excuses, is what causes the harm. It were not so many hundreds of years ago, after all, that the same reaction was had when a unicorn's magic had a pale hue, said to be a lacking characteristic. But now we see that such a trait has no harm on society, but is rather a noticeable difference."

"A noticeable difference which blurs those lines upon sex which allow ponies to behave properly in society," Queen Victory said sternly. "For if a mare were to act as garish and overblown as a stallion, surely the mare would not be worthy of the dignity our sex holds upon the world."

"Ah, but your definitions don't hold up when you have the time to observe them," Luna said. "Sometimes they are even the opposite of truth as you see it. Even my sister Celestia acted like a stallion by today's standards, and at times dressed like one, but from what i hear your people don't deride her for that. If we make every definition include any spare similar things we want, the definition becomes meaningless. For now, can we concern ourselves only with Homosexuality and not the other behaviors connected to it?"

Queen Victoria hesitated, and clearly the court held its breath as the queen pondered Princess Luna's words.

“So, to consider Homosexuality in isolation,” the queen said hesitantly. “One could punish as they see fit, were a stallion to behave as though he were a mare, but refrain from punishing the bare act of intimacy with another of the same gender.”

Luna hesitated, clearly ill at ease with the proposal.

“In our mind, even that behavior is not so troubling, but they are separate, yes.”

“Then we will change the wording to our laws, and allow your homosexuals to exist without the law’s guidance in that matter,” the queen nodded. “We thank you for your candor, Princess Luna. Certainly it would not be a simple thing to discuss, when it applies to you and your consort as well.”

Luna hesitated a moment before gesturing for Vivid to step closer, and putting a wing over her back.

“We endeavor, in all things, to remain impartial,” Luna said, in a slightly more gentle tone. “It is a leader’s duty, and an Alicorn’s charge from birth that they will not use their power to enforce their own desires. In this subject we have spent many years of thought, and study. Of nations and cultures beyond all ponies, and even beyond all creatures who now live. To know our past, to know the complex tapestry of the world, is a far more enlightened way of living than to see only… in Black and White. Or in Day and Night.”

She sighed, and brought forth a golden crown, which Vivid had never sensed before. It was dense with magic, as though it had been soaked in it for decades.

“This crown once graced the brow of our sister. Our sister, who held such high regard among your people that she was nigh unto a goddess. In a gesture of faith, I pass it back to this land she once admired for safe keeping, and in the hope that we can also share the truth of her absence, and the hope for her return, rather than relying on legend and myth.”

The court session became a history lesson, as Luna provided the truth of her sister’s disappearance to Bitain for the first time. She phrased it more gently than how she’d told Vivid, explaining that Celestia was saddled with far too much responsibility and stress for any one pony, and that she had attacked Luna, only for the mythical elements of harmony to seperate them, putting Celestia into exile.

“Some day, she will return,” Luna said firmly. “And it is up to us to ensure that the world she finds then is one she may be proud of. It is our estimate that this return will occur in about four hundred years. Within fifty years of the event, we shall begin preparations in earnest, alerting the world to the potential danger and the exact date. But rest assured, Equestria has not forgotten Princess Celestia, and neither have I.”

There were tears at the edges of most of the Bitain ponies, and the queen dabbed hers away with a silk cloth before nodding and speaking softly.

“We believe you, Princess Luna, and we shall strive to cease more cruel rumors of you in our land. This act is truly a sign of great things to come between our people.”

As the crown was delivered to her, the queen looked into the sparkling gemstones and ancient gold with wonder, before setting it back on it’s cushion and nodding.

“Our laws shall be changed as requested, we shall sort an alliance within the day, and welcome you and yours to Bitain with open hearts.”

The court session was concluded, and Luna was led, with the rest of her retinue, to a room specifically for visiting royalty.

Luna relaxed quickly, setting some things aside and looking to Vivid, who had stopped just inside the door and was standing there, frozen.

Luna had known that Vivid’s pain would not vanish through the court session, and she braced herself for Vivid to lash out or cry out, but she just sat there.

"You're innocent now," Luna said softly. "Proven and ruled."

Vivid felt her lower lip quivering as she turned away and tried to hold herself together.

"Could we be alone?"

Luna nodded, dismissing the guards, Lemon, and Fine Line before taking a few steps closer.

Vivid gasped for air, before whimpering, shoving her fears and pain and guilt away frantically like a filly trying to outswim a tidal wave.

"Vivid, you can rely on me. I'm here."

Vivid cried out, a sob, low and guttural as she hung her head. She felt small and hurt and angry, and all at once like she should be able to just walk away from these emotions she'd buried for so long.

But then Luna's arms wrapped around her, and feathered wings filled all the gaps. The warmth, the protection only easing the panic as Vivid drowned deep in her despair.

But somehow just that presence assured her, she would resurface.

The ragged sobs slowly abated, leaving Vivid drained and slumped limply against Luna's chest, But calmly and with practiced ease, Luna kept her mane out of her eyes and kept drying her tears and nose with a seemingly endless supply of cloth handkerchiefs.

"You must think me a foal," Vivid whispered, her voice so raw she could barely be heard.

"Never," Luna sighed. "My most mature nights have been spent in the grip of great emotion. I would not neglect it's meaning."

Vivid buried her head against Luna, and Luna took that as a sign of defeat. Vivid would not be waging any more war against her heart that night. Despite being used to sleeping during the day, as her moon rose she guided Vivid into the bed provided to them in the royal visitor's suite, and tucked her in, sitting next to the bed as Vivid tried to get comfortable. After a bit, she seemed to calm down and Luna thought she was asleep, until she spoke.

"Could you hold me?"

Luna didn't hesitate in climbing into the somewhat too-small bed, and wrapping Vivid up, her moon peering through the window and bathing them in silvery light.

"Better?" Luna asked, smiling a little.

Vivid huffed, but nodded, as she finally was able to sleep.

Luna smiled the softest fondest smile as she nuzzled the top of Vivid's head, and let her drift into dreams.

When Vivid woke, Luna was sleeping still, her head rested on top of Vivid's. Her breathing was slow and one wing draped across her comfortably. She stirred a little and Luna huffed but didn't wake, allowing the smaller unicorn to slip out of bed and look around the room.

It was beautiful, of course. Richly appointed and comfortable, but she noticed how everything was sized for normal ponies. They'd never had an alicorn visit in living memory. This castle could have been built after the alicorn sisters stopped visiting.

Vivid sat in the plush chair in front of the mirror, mostly unimportant for her, but she did find a brush and began to tend to her mane as she thought about how much had changed in the course of a few days.

"Perhaps I'll take Luna to see my old home," she whispered, running her hooves over the glossy surface of the desk. "Show her my garden."

She paused, a sinking feeling, the familiar depression in her chest.

"Though it'd be nothing compared to the gardens of Canterlot... Not worth her time..."

"I thought I decided what was worth my time," Luna mumbled from the bed, still not opening her eyes.

Vivid turned and frowned towards Luna. "You've been awake this whole time?"

"No, not quite... Drifting in and out," Luna said before yawning, still with her eyes closed.

"Well... Well I suppose you do get to decide if you want to see my garden."

Luna finally opened her eyes, and smiled. "Of course I do. I want to know your garden, your home, your life before we met."

"You will be sorely disappointed by their plainness," Vivid sighed. "I lived an ordinary life, and one unworthy of you."

Luna snorted in open derision. "Do you know what I was, before I was a Princess? Before Star-swirl the Bearded selected me and my sister to raise the sun and the moon? A curiosity in the eyes of my fellow villagers, malformed in shape and without a cutie mark, who did her best to help with the movement of clouds but ultimately did a poor job of everything."

"I cannot believe that," Vivid scoffed, standing and walking over to the bed. "You have far more skills than just control over the moon."

"Ah yes, Princess Luna's great skills that do not pertain to being a princess, or Luna, or her magical skill, or any of the education she's received," Luna said with a slight tone of sarcasm. "Such as being temperamental, demanding, and reclusive."

"You're... a kind and good pony," Vivid insisted, kissing Luna briefly as she stood next to the bed.

Luna nodded, still smiling. "Indeed! In a time when Kind was not reason enough for employment, and employment determined those who lived or died. Celestia may have been the meeker of the two of us, but by far she was the harder worker. I actually was declined from a scribery for drawing poorly made birds in the margins of the texts. If the birds had been at all visually enjoyable, they wouldn't have cared, that is just how bad my drawings were," she said at the verge of laughter. "Your simple home will be fine to see, Vivid. Please, don't fret."

"Very well... Though I still find it hard to believe that you were anything less than amazing," Vivid mumbled while Luna stood and quickly dressed herself.

"Then I will have to work very hard to uphold that view of me that you have," Luna chuckled, leaning down to kiss Vivid on the lips, and then stroke her cheek with one hoof.

Vivid blushed, but gestured to the door, and Luna followed.

The guards opened the doors for them, and then outside their door a second local set of guards snapped to attention. Luna nodded to them and waited for them to speak.

"We are to escort her Royal Highness, Princess Luna, in her visit to our nation of Bitain," one of the guards explained.

Vivid stepped forward. "We will be visiting Suffolk, the village of my foalhood. Will you accompany us that far?"

The guard nodded. "We will simply need to fetch a cart of supplies to assure you are both supplied for, in the two day journey."

"It only takes two days if you follow the road, there's a shortcut which cuts it to a single day, but it's impassable by cart," Vivid insisted.

The guards looked to eachother before the one who had been speaking repeated himself. "We will simply need to fetch a cart of supplies."

Sighing yet again, Vivid tapped her hoof on the stone while the two Bitain guards checked the loaded cart yet again. Luna's guards had added more equipment to it, and then Fine Line had added in another small bag to the load.

With each change to the load, the guards diligently resecured and organized the cart.

Vivid was seriously considering just walking away when finally one strapped into the harness and they started off.

"We aren't on a schedule, dear Love," Luna said softly, a slight mirth in her tone.

"No, I suppose not, but I will not live forever," Vivid grumbled. "They waste precious minutes."

Luna brushed her wing across Vivid's neck oh so gently.

"Yes, but it is for a cause I find worthy."

Vivid blushed and slowed her angry stride. Slowly she drifted closer until she was walking side by side with her.

“I still don’t understand it.”

“Love?” Luna clarified.

Vivid shook her head, stepping over a rut in the road as the guards struggled with it. “Your determination to spend precious time with me when you could be doing literally anything else. Running a country, meeting new ponies…”

“And what makes you think I’m not also doing all of that?” Luna asked playfully. “You do not occupy my every waking hour, and on the nights when you do, it so happens that I prefer an occasional time to my own desires rather than the endless machinations of a seven hundred year old princess. Much simpler.”

Vivid rolled her eyes. “Seven hundred years old. It’s hard to even tell it, if not for your clear appearance and the legends. You speak just like anyone else.”

“And how much time doth thou regard it hath taken for me to wot to speak thus?” Luna asked in a vastly different accent, that took Vivid off balance with how similar it was to the Bitain accent she’d grown up with.

“What… What was that?!” Vivid asked, astonished, as Luna smirked.

“I wot nought of what thou speak, yet thou seem confounded,” Luna continued on in a tone of complete innocence.

The guards looked back at her with raised brows.

“Did people really speak like that?” Vivid asked incredulously.

“For a very long time, though honestly that was quite modern six hundred years ago. Only twenty years before that… Well, you wouldn’t understand it at all.”

“Try me,” Vivid dared her.

Luna looked at Vivid, before looking straight ahead and speaking with a low and even tone. “Duguð ðêode orgilde ûser wita gnêðen hwæðere elðêodiglic.”

Vivid was completely lost.

“How could it change so vastly, so quickly?” Vivid asked, astonished.

“Mostly the land of Prance having a language our king fancied at the time, and the two intermingling in a bizarre way,” Luna shrugged. “It happens.”

Vivid took to staring at the road ahead, suddenly thankful for the cultural and linguistic stability that was enjoyed by the two countries she’d called home.

Chapter 22. The Rural Vivid

Princess Luna watched carefully as they entered the town of Vivid’s birth and childhood.

She paid careful attention to each glance shot their way, to each expression given when Vivid was spotted. Luna also was careful not to meet the gaze of any pony who looked her way.

In a tiny town such as this, far from her control or influence, she was a myth walking carelessly into a rural story. Her attention, her expression could incite jealousy, fear, or even violence.

It wasn’t all that much different than when she entered a rural town in Equestria, though in that case she could enforce some amount of civility, and trust that the ponies involved had been raised into some degree of skepticism when it came to the myth of Luna. They knew her as a ruler more than an Alicorn.

But the fear in the eyes of these ponies was striking. It didn’t fall below Luna’s notice that Lemon Tart, Vivid’s quiet friend, had fallen well behind the group as to not appear to be with them. When Vivid left, he would still have to live here. He would be asked why he was in the presence of the Night Witch at all.

Luna let the slightest sigh slip her lips, and Vivid quickly turned to her. With such sensitive ears, it was a surprise that the dear pony didn’t hear Luna’s inner monologue, she mused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, my dear. Just calculating the cost of my visit, on the myths that will be born from it,” Luna said with a slight air of casual amusement.

It helped to sound amused, it encouraged Vivid to forget that Luna had the same emotional troubles and fears that any mortal pony would.

“Myths. Why would anypony develop myths of this? We aren’t fighting a great battle,” Vivid scoffed.

Luna smiled, just a little. The perspective of mortal ponies, and how they took the legends they heard at face value was so fascinating when she'd watched a small party with friends become a storied tale of intrigue and romance among her ponies in decades gone by.

“I could imagine it,” Luna hummed as Vivid led them down a road split off from the main one. “The evil queen of the night is summoned to a small town in Bitain by the vengeance of a former resident once shunned. Her presence alone spelling misfortune and woe for the small place for decades to come.”

Vivid scoffed again, but Luna looked to the two Bitish guards pulling the cart, and they averted their eyes, one flushed with embarrassment.

She'd told a story they were already imagining.

“It's nothing more than visiting my home. We aren't even doing anything to them.”

“Presence alone can do much, Vivid,” Luna insisted gently as they rounded a bend and came into view of a grove of trees that had been hidden by a hill.

The grove was of rough gnarled oaks with thick roots, nearly impossible to remove, the land was useless for farming. But a short dirt path sloped down to a simple gate which guarded a simple home.

Plain wood walls with bark still on the logs, a single window in the front with no glass, but shutters. A chimney, and shingled roof.

But all around it in every direction was a garden to rival the royal ones in Canterlot.

The bushes of roses stretched up over the heads of the average pony, forming arches for Luna to bow under to reach the door. The grasses all around were of an edible sweet variety that had a soft smell and bent easily under hoof before springing back.

Random patches of other flowers huddled around the roots of the trees that hemmed in the home, forming bright splashes of color.

Luna wondered how it was that a mare who could not see had created such a wonderful garden, before she realized that it was all organized by taste.

The sweetest flowers in one bunching, the bitter in another, and so on through to the more savory wheat sprigs sprouting up in one corner with basil clustered round their base.

Luna grinned

It was a restaurant for a single pony, bred for self sufficiency.

“Luna?”

Vivid was looking in her direction with concern, and Luna smiled, showing her that her awestruck contemplation of the place wasn’t a bad sign.

“It’s wonderful, Vivid. Beautiful.”

“Well you haven’t even seen inside it yet,” Vivic said, cheeks darkened as she opened the door.

Luna had expected a small simple place, and she wasn’t wrong. But most surprising was the quality of all the furnishings, and the symbols of the sun hung all around, almost all in wood, some painted yellow or white with rough strokes.

“Bedroom’s through that door,” Vivid said, sitting in the middle of the living room which also contained the wood fired stove and a washing tub.

Luna was careful to duck her head as to not hit her horn on the roof beams, but even the beams looked clean and near the walls they acted as shelves or spots from which to hang things.

“You lived here alone?” Luna asked, walking around the home carefully to peek into the bedroom at the hay stuffed bed and shelves of more sun carvings.

“I did,” Vivid sighed. “Though Lemon visited when he could. Kept me from being too much of a recluse.”

"Sounds like a good friend," Luna said softly, smiling to Vivid's friend who was standing in the doorway of the front door.

Lemon blushed and turned away.

"He is. Lemon, where did you put the moon I carved?"

Lemon trotted over and helped Vivid find the large white painted full moon, with random pockmarked craters in the surface. It was clearly innacurate and she'd probably made it off a rough description of the moon, but Luna teared up a little at the fact that even younger, Vivid had carved her moon in admiration, or possibly in a sense of equality. Vivid took down an ornate metal-decorated sun from the wall and hung the moon in it's place.

"You're far too kind to me, Vivid," Luna mumbled as she walked up next to them to examine it.

"I didn't know you back then," Vivid said simply. "Now I do, and I believe that necessitates a change."

Luna kissed Vivid just below her horn, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the Bitain guards looking away and her own guards shooting them dirty looks. Just another reminder that this was not her land.

“Well, it’s a beautiful ornament. We will have to return here on occasion. It’s an incredible place.”

“It’s a simple cottage with a simple garden,” Vivid scoffed. “You’re simply biased by your feelings.

“Oh woe is me, having feelings and such,” Luna chuckled in response.

Vivid huffed before turning to Lemon. “Would you like to live here? I know your home is small, and you own this one now.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” Lemon said timidly.

“Nonsense, you’re the best friend I have, and I insist that you move in. You can put all my things on this side of the living room, and take the bedroom. If Luna and I visit, we can sleep on the couch.”

Lemon turned slowly to look Princess Luna up and down, before turning back to Vivid. “You’ve measured her, yes? No offense to her highness, but the couch is smaller overall.”

Luna tried very hard not to laugh as Vivid just shrugged. “We shall sleep in the garden then, well enough for us. She’s very warm.”

Lemon’s cheeks pinkened as he looked to Luna then back to Vivid.

“I’m quite sure she is, but… Is that proper.”

And there, Luna spotted, was that anxiety of the unknown. This poor stallion would likely never feel comfortable kissing a pony he loved within sight of another pony, just because that love was given to other stallions.

Luna stepped up and placed a hoof on Lemon’s shoulder.

“How would you like to visit Equestria, and see why Vivid is so calm about expressing herself?” she offered gently.

Lemon looked between Luna and Vivid, working his jaw but not quite having anything to say.

“It’d be a good experience for you,” Vivid agreed. “See what it’s like to live in a land where activity is done in the night and sleeping during the day. I’ve come to somewhat prefer it.”

“Wait, Equestria sleeps during the day?” Lemon asked more incredulously than even when he’d been considering Luna trying to lay on a couch smaller than she was.

Luna nodded. “Indeed, I’ve held my court sessions at midnight for more than eight centuries. When my sister fell, I simply added court sessions at Sunset and Dawn for the joint court. The midday court has… not been held in a long time,” she chuckled to herself. “Once Celestia returns, certainly it will resume.”

“So you did not force it, all of your ponies simply chose to follow your preferred sleep schedule because of convenience?” Lemon clarified.

“Well, it certainly helped that I spread the wide usage of magical light crystals, subsidized by the state, and regulated weather so that most rain would fall during the day,” Luna said smugly. “Yes I’ll admit that I have shaped things to my preference, but famers still tend towards sleeping through both midday and midnight, and there is nothing enforcing a nocturnal schedule. Some specialty restaurants stay open throughout the clock in Canterlot.”

Lemon shook his head, wide eyed. “I appreciate the invitation, your highness, but it is too different, I think, for me to easily enjoy the visit. I’ll stay here for now.”

Luna nodded. “Very well then. If you change your mind, a room at the castle will be available.”

“Or perhaps a job…” Vivid murmured as she stepped up to face Lemon. “You wanted to be a scribe in the castle, did you not?”

Lemon shrunk back a little.

“I did, but you do not have to take advantage of your position of power to give me the job I seek, Vivid.”

“But we could bring you to Equestria on the day of the hiring. No pony involved in the hiring will know that we brought you there, or that you know us,” Vivid insisted. “A fair chance in a land where your accent and bearing have no effect on your chances of being hired.”

Lemon hunched his shoulders a bit more and sighed. "Fine, Vivid. If it'll put your mind at ease, when that chance is up, I'll go to Equestria, and see if I can make it there."

"You sound as though I'm sentencing you to the gallows," Vivid said sadly as she stepped closer and touched her cheek to Lemon's, a gentle comforting motion. "Why?"

"Maybe you have the fire in you for this equality, for this new land. I gave up long ago on being anything but a curiosity, Vivid. This all sounds like a false hope, and even if it all turns out to be true, I don't know if I'll ever believe it's really happening, in my heart."

Luna watched the friends comfort eachother, and she knew that she was witnessing the damage of the isolation and shame the queen and her predecessors had been enforcing for so many years. One could say that a society would advance regardless of the pony in charge, but here Luna believed she saw a distinct comparison between the two nations. Her own, led by a pony who demanded acceptance of the marginalized, and Bitain led by one that had swept it all under the rug as though barely even there.

“Maybe someday that can change,” Vivid said softly.

“I don’t see how it can, Vivid. I’ve maintained your garden because I have to eat here. They won’t even sell me food in town anymore,” he sighed.

She patted Lemon gently, and then gestured for Luna to step outside with her, into that beautiful garden.

“What can you do about this?” Vivid asked, pleaded.

Luna feared in that moment that her cynicism and knowledge of the workings of governance would break Vivid’s hopeful tone, so she had to temper it cautiously.

“We’ve begun the path towards healing, Vivid,” Luna insisted, putting a wing over her, a now well practiced motion that brought the smaller pony enough comfort that Luna felt it might help.

“Started… Not being illegal, is hardly healing,” Vivid said bitterly.

“No, but it’s on the path, the first step no matter how small is necessary, and the next may be made,” Luna insisted.

“So negotiate this into trade,” Vivid begged. “How many bushels of wheat or bags of sugar is it worth, the lives of the hurt?”

Luna sighed. The only hope in it was for her to be honest.

“Vivid, what do you think of the state of worshipping my sister? The recent changes?”

“Well, I see a slight parallel in it,” Vivid sighed, rolling her eyes. “But hardly. It’s a law you could have changed at any time.”

“There was never actually a law,” Luna said softly. “Never once did I outlaw worshipping her. I just insinuated it. So, were the laws here to be changed, how much damage could be done by insinuation and by the quiet actions of a populace who feels they are being forced into it?”

Vivid paused, curling in slightly.

Luna embraced her tighter. “These people. The Bitish, they are now exposed. Their leader has made a step on our path, and they have seen a strangeness presented as not so strange. For now, we hope it is enough to change stray minds, to shape the quiet masses. They may all believe that they stand on principled beliefs, but their principles are often ill defined and lacking reflection. They will be swayed by the movement of culture, if fate wills it.”

“I thought once that alicorns… That you and your sister could bend fate to your wills,” Vivid whispered. “Then it thrilled me that you could not… Now, it saddens me. Because I would actually wish for you to have such power.”

“I’m flattered,” Luna said with a bit of a smile. “Truly. But I don’t believe any one creature should wield the power to overtake the minds of others and force them to act as desired. There is no path to that power except for tyranny.”

“No but perhaps you could inspire a love for others in their hearts?” Vivid asked, leaning on her and looking up to her, the slight silvery glow in her eyes showing to Luna that she was using her magical sight to examine her, to see her expression. Her smile grew.

“A shame there’s not another alicorn to take the moon then,” she said with false sorrow. “To be the alicorn of love, now that would be an enviable position, I think.”

Vivid sighed, and nuzzled Luna's side before drying her cheeks. Luna hadn't even noticed she'd been crying while she was pressed against her.

"I suppose we have, truly, done what we can... A sad thing to realize when it seems like so little."

Luna kissed her softly. "We keep pressing, and things will improve. Now come, your friend is likely sitting awkwardly with a large gathering of guards."

"So that we could escape them for a moment," Vivid said wryly.

"I don't mind, overmuch. Time alone with you is precious."

They walked back into the house, and Vivid began a proper tour of her home, culminating in a dinner served from her garden, the last truly calm night they would have in several years.

Chapter 22. War from the South

Vivid Colour walked down Glacier boulevard, one of the largest streets in Canterlot. It ran neatly from the castle to the platform overlooking the drop-off of the waterfall. Gated and protected gaps in the middle of the road occasionally showed the meter drop to the surface of the river it was named after, a placid seeming surface beyond which Vivid could not perceive, but she knew the measurements well. The channel was three meters deep and ten across, and the road covered all of it except the small windows.

Long long ago when Canterlot was built, the river had been diverted so that the massive foundations of the city could be driven into the bones of the mountain without risk of erosion. The river fell nearly a thousand meters before impacting the Glacier Break, a large pile of dense stones moved to that location to take the impact of the enormous stream of water.

But before she could reach the lookout platform and the small garden there, she turned left on Rail Road. A playful name, but an honest one. It had once been the path rail took to cut through the city itself and then head up to the peak, but now the rail lines had been split and the city had filled in the middle, all full of life and laughing ponies, homes and shops blending together with a charming sort of ease that Vivid found more in these more mundane parts of the city, than the riches and opulence in either the Castle district or near the edge, where the wealthy sought views in defiance of gravity and fear.

Unless they were Pegusi, of course, in which case they would often request extensions to their homes that would stretch out over the railings into the air. Requests which Luna denied on principle, to prevent a second city from growing off the capitol.

But the Rail Road still led to the station, and Vivid's destination. The train was just pulling in as the station came within range of her spell, and she caught the appearances of each pony exiting the train, one by one, as she approached and then finally stepped onto the platform to meet Lemon Tart as he settled his bags on his back and stepped out of the train car.

Silently, they embraced.

He had a beard, she noticed. Tightly trimmed. A mustache too. He wore glasses, and wrinkles around his eyes reflected a smile. Five years? Six years? It had been five, since she'd seen him in person. Two since they'd spoken through a spell she'd been crafting. A month since she'd sent a letter. He'd aged into himself, and seemed stronger in the way he stood, and Vivid wondered if it was a confidence born only from travel.

"Where is he?" Vivid asked with a coy smile.

Lemon laughed softly, before gesturing with his head back at the train car. Inside, a slight but tall stallion was doing his best to balance a pile of four suitcases on his back. Suitcases! Not saddlebags like sensible Lemon had, not even soft bags which could be laid atop eachother, but hard covered suitcases all bound in fabric.

Vivid snickered, and lit her horn, lifting all of the suitcases up and floating them out the door, quickly followed by the stallion, who huffed.

"Coulda got it, truly," he insisted with a slightly more dramatic accent than either Lemon or Vivid, distinct as coming from the Londos region.

"Vivid Colour, please meet the love of my life, Sharp Tack."

"A delight," Vivid said as she took Sharp's hoof and kissed it softly. "Welcome to Canterlot."

Sharp giggled, sitting back to put his un-kissed hoof to his chest. "The pleasure's mine, through 'n through. Charmer atop bein near the most legen'ary creature produced by Suffolk, that sleepy place."

"I do try," Vivid said with a little bow. "Now please, I've arranged rooms for you both. Together."

The stallions both had pink cheeks immediately, but Vivid didn't notice as she turned and began leading the way, bags floating easily behind her.

"So! You told me you'd cast that spell again, to chat! That was... how many years ago?" Lemon asked curiously.

"Two," Vivid sighed. "And I'm sorry, I didn't even tell you why I cast that spell, did I?"

Lemon shook his head, still smiling.

"The last... four years? For the last four years we've been dealing with incursions by the griffins. They've allied with the dragons and formed a force along our southern border. For the first time in three hundred years it was necessary for us to post troops in the Buffalo lands. It's been a constant game of diplomacy and slow troop deployments to fend them off, which necessitated long range communication--"

"And what's more long range than Bitain," Lemon finished, nodding. "Put me to some use, I don't mind that."

"Yes, but I should have made the time to contact you again," Vivid insisted. "But I became so busy. As various members of the castle have retired or moved into the military, I've taken on more responsibility, and had less free times. Would you like to know all my titles?" she asked sarcastically.

Sharp ran forward to trot next to Vivid, wide eyed. "Oh, please!"

Vivid blushed, and sighed. "Lady Vivid Colour, Mage of Equestria, Consort to the Lunar throne, Arbiter of the Arcane, High Magistrate of the Court, General of the Unicorn Offensive Division, and Archway Mage."

Sharp seemed genuinely impressed, while Lemon giggled. "Poor shy Vivid, right in the sunlight."

"No, it's quite dark, even at court. Easy to hide," Vivid muttered, her blush deepening.

"But you're so noble! So much effort, leading ponies of Equestria onward!" Sharp said with stars in his eyes.

Vivid groaned, and Lemon laughed. "You'll come to love him," he said with a gesture towards Sharp. "There's something quite nice about such awe."

"Maybe some day I'll agree," Vivid grumbled.

"Some day you must agree," Sharp insisted as they turned onto Glacier Blvd.

"I must do no such thing, but I shall become accustomed to it," Vivid corrected before Sharp drifted over to the viewing holes that dropped to the river.

Vivid slowed and stopped as Lemon and Sharp admired the construction. She smiled.

"The river, it's the waterfall?" Lemon asked.

Vivid nodded, and then started leading them to the lookout.

It was a small crescent moon shaped park, and the reverent quiet that fell over the place was enough that the roaring below could be heard constantly.

Lemon held Sharp's hoof tightly as they gazed over the side, at the streaming water shimmering in the moonlight. She relaxed a little, watching them. Taking in the wonders of Equestria.

"Thank you, I know you're busy," Lemon said softly as they finally turned back and returned to Vivid's side.

"I have enough time to let you two see the falls," she said with a little smile. "At least that."

They started walking again, and soon they were walking into the door of the inn, the nicest inn that she'd been able to afford. The red curtains filtered the magical light through as a glow onto the street, and once they were inside a comfortable warmth settled in.

"Lady Colour?"

"Just Vivid," she said with a bit of a smile as she stepped forward.

"Of course, Vivid, we have your room, one large bed, full service?" the receptionist said with a soft smile as she stepped out from the counter with a key floating in her magic.

Vivid nodded, and let her lead the way up two flights of stairs. The room had a balcony looking out over the boulevard, the moon low in the sky, the bed draped in silks.

With a smirk, that's when Vivid realized that she was fairly wealthy, as Lemon and Sharp openly gaped.

Vivid stacked Sharp's bags and stepped up next to Lemon.

"Yours, for a week," she said casually.

"By Celestia's breath, you're joking me," Lemon said breathlessly.

She laughed and turned to leave, but Sharp gently stopped her with one hoof.

"And... Is a'right, is a'right innit fer ponies ta know, round ere?" he asked anxiously.

Vivid turned back and steadied him with her hooves.

"You can be yourself, and let others know whatever you wish for them to know," she said firmly. "I... I hold my Luna, but rarely kiss in public. But when we do, I am not shy of others, just of my own timidness. You are safe here."

"Thank you," Sharp said, embracing her quickly, before she slipped out of the door, down the stairs, and out into the dark streets of Canterlot.

The streets were busy now, as the moon rose higher in the sky. Plenty of wealthy ponies bustling through Glacier road, now that it was 9, most ponies were awake. Vivid pulled up the hood of her cloak and moved quickly to the castle, ignoring the crowds and the occasional pony who would wave to her, trying to get her attention for a variety of unimportant reasons. Usually asking for a ruling on some minor issue that they would just have to wait for.

Once she passed the wrought iron gates and entered the gardens, she put down her hood and relaxed, her steps slowing.

Like a compass needle turning to the North, she found her steps carrying her to the side rather than into the castle itself. Deeper into the trees and the soft magical lights that glowed along the path borders.

She found Luna sitting next to a reflecting pool, staring into the mirrored surface with a contemplative expression.

"Love?" Vivid said softly as she approached.

Luna put out her wing, and Vivid found her spot under it, leaning close against her.

"Are you well?" Vivid asked, a bit worried.

Luna smiled just a little and kissed her on the cheek. "Your concern is touching," she whispered. "Just reflecting on missed opportunities."

Vivid Tilted her head, confused. "Missed opportunities?"

"Before you, I had one relationship," Luna admitted. "Just one, and... I waited too long, I was too nervous, thinking more than acting, and... I regret that."

Vivid thought on it for a bit, frowning, before looking back to Luna. "How long ago?" she asked.

"Six hundred years," she sighed as she looked up to the stars above.

"And you... haven't met anypony you've loved since then, was she... like me?" Vivid asked, now curious about this mare that Luna was occupied with this night.

Luna chuckled a little, and tilted her head. "I don't believe so. In some ways of course, all ponies share some traits, but she was a quiet mare that lived a quiet life. You have had a fire in your heart since you came to Equestria. Burning, determined."

Vivid blushed and smiled a little. "You think so?"

"I know so," Luna said, her smile growing. "It's incredible, you know. I spent five hundred years coming to terms with my essence, who I am and who I love. Then you come from a place of darkness, a place of pain, and over how few years, you admit your love to me and you make that love a reality we can share."

"If you'd told me how much work I'd take on, I would have kept it between us," Vivid joked, and there was a moment of concern in Luna's glance before she relaxed and chuckled.

"Surely it isn't all bad. Once Griffinstone calls off their offenses, things will settle down, and you will not be so busy."

"You mean I may even have a chance to take a few days off?" Vivid asked with false eagerness. "I can use that time to catch up on the paperwork that I'm not doing because I have so much paperwork!"

Luna sighed and pulled her close. "Some day soon, we will have days where you need not even read a page or scroll. I swear."

Vivid hesitated, suddenly nervous as she leaned into the hug, and frowned. "I don't take promises lightly, Luna..."

"I know. But I believe in this," Luna whispered. "I believe in us."

"I haven't visited her tomb in so long..." Luna sighed. "I was just remembering the last time I visited, that's what had me occupied."

"Where is she?" Vivid asked.

Luna pointed off towards the Southwest. "The forest has overgrown the old castle, but it is in the Everfree, a wild forest near the farmlands."

Vivid looked off into the distance, pondering the length of travel. "You could teleport there? Just the two of us?"

"I could," Luna nodded. "But it's a dangerous place. I would bring at least one guard, and would not recommend you attempting the transport."

"Why not move her here?" Vivid asked, annoyed by the growing complexity of such a visit.

Luna shifted a little, tightening her wing's grip on Vivid while ducking her head to be on eye level.

"That is where she fell," Luna said firmly. "And where she served me. I would not remove her from it. Some day, were the resources available, I would prefer to see a town established nearby, that could tame the area enough to make it an easier journey, but there is too much happening now for such a thing to take priority."

Vivid did not give up though, instead she was more motivated. "Then let us arrange this trip. Tomorrow night as soon as we wake."

"Tomorrow Evening is the latest command court," Luna sighed. "I'll be up early for that and then busy with the results for hours."

"Then let's go now!" Vivid insisted, tone sharp. "It's nearly midnight, and I know that we are unoccupied, as I'd scheduled much more time for my friends, before I realized they needed more time for themselves."

Luna was quiet, pondering the idea until finally she nodded.

In only took minutes to round up a guard, and inform the castle staff where they were going. All too quickly, Luna was charging her horn and they were vanishing, to reappear in an ancient castle courtyard, lush grasses growing up in every bit of dirt where flagstones and shifted. Vines and fully grown trees sprouted up through old structures, once mighty courtyard walls having fallen long ago, leaving open gaps through which Vivid could see a black forest, the moon overhead shedding only enough light to reveal the vague shape of the trees which were taller than some of the towers that still stood.

Luna looked around, and sighed, before continuing through the nearest door, inside.

As she walked, and Vivid followed next to the bat winged guard who carried a spear under one of her wings, soft blue magic touched upon gemstones set into the walls, lighting them up with a glow that just barely illuminated the path ahead, and the room it led through.

The doorway they had entered through was once two doorways. The first had fallen long ago, then a short entryway had passages to either side that entered the walls themselves, before a second doorway which still held against the elements. Swollen wood strained against rusted iron bands, and the lock had rusted away.

But when Luna pushed the doors open, Vivid and the guard both gasped softly, as the magical lights spread.

Vast skylight windows had fallen in so long ago that the frames had fallen as well, and been cleared away, leaving rectangular holes in the roof that let in shafts of moonlight, starkly outlining the thrones in black and white, as all the little magical lights revealed tattered tapestries along the walls, and other passageways.

But most astonishing to the two smaller ponies, as the Princess proceeded to one of the side passages, was the very fact of their being two thrones. The banner behind one held golden wheat in a sheaf, while the other held the moon and a scroll.

In Canterlot, a single throne stood, with a council room for Luna to meet with her advisors. The solar court was, even now, a minor thing. A very old tradition. To see it placed on par with the Lunar was jarring.

"Coming?"

Vivid broke her gaze from the solar throne and sped to catch up, the guard following her just as quickly.

They went only a short way down a hallway before turning through a still locked door which Luna managed to open without a key. A spiral staircase then led down and brought them to an antechamber with several doors. This time, the guard stepped forward and unlocked the appropriate door with an old key, which was returned to a velvet pouch after use.

And though the room beyond the door had once clearly been a vault, the back wall had been sundered, cut away with magic into a smooth tunnel which led about a hundred feet before ending in a circular chamber twenty feet high with a domed ceiling, pillars along the walls, and between the pillars directly opposite of the entrance there was a stone sarcophagus.

They were very quiet, as they approached. Every hoofstep seemed too loud so they stepped with grace.

Carved into the lid of the sarcophagus was a statue of a mare laid out on her side, sleeping. The mare had a very old style of mane, but Vivid could see her features. A softer rounded face, the sturdy build of a pony from a long line of hard workers. She was a unicorn, and her carved cutie mark was of a seal of nobility.

At least, Vivid was fairly certain it was of nobility. In the same style but not of a family she recognized.

Draped over her middle was a fine blanket. Just as much stone as the statue of the mare but the edges of which were actually gilded in gold, to imitate lace. It didn't make sense to Vivid why it would only cover her middle, but it must have some significance, she thought.

Luna stepped up next to the sarcophagus and touched her hoof so carefully to the statue's cheek.

"Hello Primrose," she whispered, smiling a little as a tear wet the corner of her eye.

Vivid hesitated nearby, but Luna gestured for her to come closer.

"This is Vivid Colour," Luna said as Vivid sat next to her. "You would have liked her, I think. Though certainly you wouldn't have approved of how much work I've given her to do."

"I don't mind," Vivid protested weakly, blushing. "I really don't."

"Ah, but I haven't made you Castilian yet," Luna hummed. "Primrose was Castilian in her day. Ran the entire castle."

"She must have worked very hard," Vivid said respectfully, but still nervously.

Luna leaned down, and kissed her on her cheek, before laughing a little and looking back to Prim.

"Ah yes, I do that now. In public, no less... I'm sorry I did not fight harder to give you that opportunity."

They fell silent again, Vivid leaning against Luna as they sat and focused on the statue in front of them, the pale lights all around them providing such a steady light that everything seemed to stand still for a while, just their breathing interrupting the silence.

"She looks like a farm pony in build, was she not from a noble family?" Vivid whispered.

"She was one of the first ponies that was not of Noble blood that gained such power," Luna nodded. "It took us far too long to embrace all of our ponies equally, and though I would like to think that I did so nobly, it was in part to annoy the nobility that had my sister's ear."

"You gave her a position of power out of spite?" Vivid asked incredulously, an eyebrow arched.

Luna's cheeks darkened, but she nodded. "It was an auxiliary position of sorts. All Lunar court positions were considered secondary to the Solar ones. So I did not actually care overmuch who took them. Just that they would actually serve me rather than my sister."

"Things were tense between you," Vivid observed.

Luna just sighed, and nodded, before stepping forward and kissing the statue on the cheek, then using a cloth to dust and clean her.

"I'm... Curious," Vivid started, waiting for Luna to look to her before continuing. "Why is her blanket so small?"

Luna looked back to the statue before smiling a little. "Yes, I suppose it would look odd to a modern pony. It's a saddle blanket. Not usable of course, but ornamental."

"Saddle?" Vivid asked with a raised brow. "You had a blanket just to cover the saddle?"

"Not the part of our back," Luna shook her head. "It is so called due to... Long ago, near to a thousand years, there was a period where tribes of ponies were ridden by two legged creatures that now reside far far to the South. Beyond even the buffalo lands. I don't even know if they still live. But the ponies that served them well would be rewarded with saddles, a back brace which would act as a seat as well. More comfortable to be ridden. It became a sign of servitude even to other ponies. And as she served me well.... It was engraved to show that."

"Well... It looks beautiful," Vivid said with a smile, as Luna stepped to the center of the room and looked around.

"I'm glad. I had hoped some day this place would be special in the histories of my ponies, but I fear Nopony besides us will see it. And my guards of course."

She smiled to the guard that had accompanied them, who bowed a little and smiled in return.

"We could make it known," Vivid pondered aloud. "Tell her story in a book, and make it available to Equestria."

Luna nodded, before grimacing. "Only half of Equestria is literate at all, sadly. So the reach would be limited."

"You have no public education?" Vivid asked, concerned that she'd missed such an important part of this country.

"It has been beyond our means for so long due to disparate control of various regions. It is just now becoming possible."

"Then name it for her," Vivid proposed, an eagerness in her voice. "So her story is spread even more. The Primrose program. Teaching every pony to read and write."

Luna pondered it, looking back at the sarcophagus. After a minute she smiled and nodded.

"She would have liked that. Yes, I think you're right. Thank you, Vivid."

"Somepony has to keep you from falling into a funk," Vivid said proudly as the trio started their walk back through the castle.

The last sounds the tomb held as they left were the laughs of Vivid and Luna, and a minute later the magical lights dimmed and winked out one by one, leaving the chamber dark once again.

Chapter 23. War From Within

The months passed even more quickly than before. Lemon got his position, through hard work and a passion for the respect given to words. He was a low ranking scribe but still paid well enough to live in an apartment in the city, and to support his partner's eccentric budget in which silk often ranked above food.

Vivid freed up just enough time for the new Primrose Program, and would many days alternate education standards and military reports on her desk, sorting which ones needed Luna's eyes immediately.

It was when the Griffin forces broke through the Southern border and took the buffalo lands, that she finally gave away control over the project to educators, and had more time to focus on military subjects, and on Luna.

After a grim meeting with a Pegasus General, in which the number of dead was mentioned far too few times, and the number of enemy troops far too many, Vivid strode out of the castle in a daze, before coming to a stop on a grassy space that overlooked the courtyard, and beyond, the city.

The edge of the sky in the far distance was brilliant pink over the far off hills of Eastern Equestria, beyond which the sea was hidden.

She closed her eyes, they ached terribly, and as tears started slipping down her cheeks, she could hear Luna approaching.

There was no fanfare or change in tone, Luna simply say down next to her and draped a limp wing over her back.

They were spent. Luna gave the slowly rising sun a baleful unimpressed look before lighting her horn, and seizing control of it, along with the moon. With a sharpness in the motion she wrenched her moon out of the sky and let the blazing sun rise above the horizon. She then let her horn fade out, and hung her head.

"I'm forty," Vivid said, simply.

Luna did some math in her head before nodding. "And you have been for three months."

"I'm under the age limit for the draft."

Luna slowly rose her head and looked at Vivid with a bit of anger in her frown. "Are you trying to say something? Castle staff are exempt."

"I'm the most skilled unicorn combatant that you've ever seen. I could pass off the Archway to Deep Sheen. Fine Line is too old to be drafted but she's a fine Castilian, and could take some of my duties up. Add in two young staff to help you, and I could go to the front. I could turn the tide."

Luna withdrew her wing.

"And you would leave me here alone," she said bitterly.

"Apologies but three hundred, Luna?!" Vivid shouted, turning on her. "Three hundred Pegusi. Just the Pegusi! In a week's time, we've lost three hundred of them, I feel like I'm going mad because they only mentioned the number once and everypony else just moved along!"

"I did not just move along, Vivid!" Luna roared in return, facing her with a scowl. "This is not my first war, and will not be my last."

"Well maybe that is your problem," Vivid retorted, tone sharp and suddenly low. "You don't see the horror in front of you, and I do. I'm willing to sacrifice myself to stop it. But before I go, I want to construct an insurance policy. A way to keep you from falling to shreds when I'm gone. Whether from old age or war. To do this though, I need a powerful artifact to put my magic into. So find one, give it to me, and I'll be off to fight this battle."

Luna, confused and hurt, stared her down despite tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I'll go to war as well, then," Luna whispered.

"Fine, but let me do this magic first. Defy death so that you'll not favor me in battle."

"There's always a steadier path. A better path than to run into the dark, to head off an enemy that stands at the gate," Luna insisted, but Vivid had seen the reports, and could hear the desperation in Luna's voice.

"Perhaps. But we aren't finding it, and hundreds are dying, and we aren't making progress," Vivid said bitterly. "What artifacts do you have access to?"

Luna hung hear head, and gritted her teeth.

"There are a few dozen. The Amulet of Alicorn metal. Starswirl's hourglass, and cloak. The Tome of Ambition. The Dewar of Duplicity. Mage Meadowbrook's eight tools of healing. The Elements of Harmony. Those are the most potent of all I could locate if so motivated."

"And which do you feel would be most exactly a match to my spirit?"

Luna's tears began again.

"Do not make me participate in this, Vivid. I beg you," Luna whispered.

But Vivid just watched her, and eventually she broke.

"The Elements of Harmony," Luna whispered. "The Element of Loyalty or Bravery, to be exact."

Vivid nodded, and looked down at the grass. "It's late," she said softly as the sunlight poured over her shoulders. "When we wake, I'll start working on the spell."

"Immortality has never been achieved, I don't see what you will gain from this," Luna mumbled.

"In no way will this be immortality," Vivid said firmly. "It will be a preservation of my magical signature and brain in a static form, able to be powered as needed, and animated for the sole purpose of providing you with solace. I have no allusions of grandure. I will not live, in this. But just persist. For you. Because I love you, and that love matters to me. Deeply."

Luna nodded, but didn't look up.

With a sigh, Vivid stepped over and lit her horn, wrapping Luna's middle in magic and lifting her off the ground.

"I could obliterate you," Luna said, so weakly that it didn't even slow Vivid down as she carried the princess through the hallways, to their bedroom.

Finally, once Luna had her crown, torc, and boots removed she was laid into their bed.

Vivid crawled in with her, and Luna pulled her close.

They both cried silently, shuddering as Luna lit her horn and Drew the curtains to darken the room, so they could sleep.

When they woke up, the sunlight was low, but still bright enough to etch the outlines of each peice of furniture and every painting on the wall.

Vivid didn't move. The fire was drained out of her, and every extra moment that she could steal from the night was a relief from the sudden detour in her life.

She turned slightly in Luna's grasp, tucking her nose under Luna's leg, and sighed a little as she closed her eyes.

Luna gently pulled her closer, and for a while they laid there as the sun got lower and lower in the sky behind the heavy curtains.

Finally, Luna sighed and gently separated herself from Vivid before striding to the balcony door.

She opened it, and Vivid pressed her magical vision for every detail.

The vast webs of power Luna was seizing. The way dried tears had left tracks on her cheeks. Her mussed coat along her side where she'd been laying.

Vivid had to appreciate her, with so little time left.

But she knew Luna would go on. The moon would rise each night. The sun would set. She would continue, and in Vivid's mind she imagined the second's tick of a clock becoming a day. Each moment another rising of the moon, stretching out into the future. A month passed before Luna closed the balcony doors. A season before she returned to bed and pulled her closer, and Vivid forgave Luna just a little in that reflection.

"You have a meeting in only minutes," Vivid reminded Luna in a whisper. "Up while it's light out still, just for that..."

Luna nodded, and kissed Vivid on the back of her neck, before laying her horn against Vivid's shoulder so she could rest her nose against her back.

They were silent and still for a bit.

"I was so frightened by losing Primrose. So I shut out love for so long. If I'd tried, if I'd allowed it, there could have been a dozen. But... I couldn't. I couldn't take the pain I knew I would feel."

Vivid turned her head just a little and kissed Luna's horn. She knew there wouldn't be any sensation, but it was the most available part of her.

"If I do well, this failsafe will only occur when I pass of old age," Vivid said with thin hope.

Luna pulled her tighter still, as though she could keep her safe by wrapping her up.

There was a knock on the door.

"Coming," Luna called, before climbing out of bed, brushing her coat smooth, and dressing with crown and boots.

"Where can I find the Element?" Vivid asked, sitting up in bed.

"Go back to the castle, take three guards and teleport to the exact same spot I did," Luna said as she applied a light dusting of eyeshadow. "Wait ten seconds before proceeding into the castle, and take the same path, but open the vault door to the right instead of the left. The key is in the pocket of my old torc," she gestured at her closet, and then stopped halfway to the door.

"Come back whole, Vivid Colour. I'm not ready to lose you yet."

Then she was gone, and Vivid slumped in the vast bed, neutral expression fading into sorrow.

After a few minutes, Vivid got out of bed. She had things to do, and she couldn't let the emotions of it all drag her down.

She readied herself and made sure she looked as she always did in the morning, silver cloak and circlet all in place along with her mane and tail pulled straight and tight to keep them out of the way.

She then found the hidden key in the old oxidized silver-black torc, and set out to locate the guard that had gone with them the night before.

"A mare about this tall," Vivid said as she held a hoof just over her head. "Pale blue mane, grey coat, yellow eyes?"

The two guards she was talking to exchanged a glance before looking back to her.

"Ma'am, we all look like that as long as we wear this armor. Um... Let's go check with the captain to see who was on duty past night, find her that way."

Vivid sighed but nodded, and followed them deeper into the castle, to the guards barracks.

The guard captain was actually a general, but was serving in the post since nearly every qualified guard had been deployed. She was an Earth pony with enough muscle to prove to most that she was a soldier, just by looking at her.

But she was sitting behind a desk and a mountain of paperwork, and giving every approaching pony a scowl that made clear just how she felt about being stuck in the castle, looking after the royal guards.

"General Flame, Ma'am, Lady Colour is looking for which guard went on the trip with the Princess Yesternight," the escorting guard explained.

The general gave Vivid an annoyed look before turning her focus to a schedule board on the wall behind her and examining it.

"Lieutenant Ever Shade. She's currently on detail on the roof. If you need her I'll have to cover her position."

Vivid stepped forward. "I'll need her and two others, General. I'm returning to the same place that Luna took us to yesternight but without the princess there she advised me to bring additional guards along."

"And the purpose of this trip?" the general asked, raising a brow and tilting her nose into the air as she judged Vivid's request, despite Vivid technically having the rank of general as well.

After all the Unicorn Offensive Division, or UOD, was a separate military group from the Honor Guard, which General Flame was in control of.

"Magical research," Vivid said with a soft sigh. "The Elements of Harmony are a set of ancient artifacts which have not been properly researched, and my goal is to examine one of the set's pieces and cast some experimental spells on it."

"And you want Ever on this?"

"She was with us, so even if the other two are unicorns, I trust her readiness," Vivid nodded.

General Flame hummed softly, before turning back to the schedule board, shifting a few things around before dispatching an assistant to gather and rearrange the guards as needed.

"You'll have Ever, and two unicorns that I trust to at least be able to relay what you do. In case something goes wrong and we need to know why," she said briskly.

"Of course," Vivid said with a thin smile. "I'll be happy to have them along."

Only an hour later, they were walking out into the gardens, Vivid focusing on the coordinates for the destination, and planning out the best location to teleport from, she barely noticed the looks that passing maids gave her, until Ever spoke up.

"Ma'am, are you well?"

"Hmm?" Vivid hummed, looking up as she stopped her rapid stride.

"You're crying."

Vivid blinked rapidly as she recognized the sensation of wetness of her cheeks, and quickly scrubbed them dry, trying not to see the concerned expressions all around.

"Are you well?"

Vivid sighed and resumed her walk, finally locating the stone circle she was looking for. Flat, open, and without anything breakable. Her teleport was not as elegant as Luna's and could cause collateral damage when used to move multiple ponies.

"I'm well enough," Vivid said sharply. "This is more than just a magical research mission, this is a mission relevant to Luna's long term needs from me. I may be emotional during the mission. Gather close please."

The three guards arranged themselves so two of them were flanking Vivid and one was directly in front of her, turned sideways so that they formed the tightest possible formation around Vivid's horn. She charged the spell, mentally checked her math yet again, and released the spell.

In an explosion of light which lit up the dark courtyard and forest beyond, they appeared in the Everfree Castle.

The grasses and shrubs all around smoked, and the stones directly beneath her front hooves were charred black. Vivid took a deep breath and consciously relaxed her jaw, tense from the sheer effort.

The guards silently spread out in formation around her, and Vivid waited ten seconds exactly before proceeding into the castle and into the depths below.

Vivid got to the antechamber, and looked at the door that went to Primrose's resting place, wondering briefly if she'd be buried there as well, before turning to the second door.

Opening it with the key she'd taken from Luna's old armor, she was faced with a long hallway ending in a wall of gears and stone, briefly disorienting her. But upon examination she found that the circular room contained a pedestal with arms poking out from it, arranged so that gears could lift the whole arrangement without the arms hitting the sides of the square opening above.

But on the ends of those arms, hovering silently, were gemstones unlike anything Vivid had ever sensed with her magic.

The moment she brushed her magic against one, she felt every ounce of her strength leave her, like she'd tried to lift a mountain with her magic. It was beyond her, in every way, and the moment of weakness made her feel very very small.

"Ma'am?"

"Stay in the hallway," Vivid barked. "These are extremely powerful, I don't need any interference."

She listened as their hoofsteps retreated, and then reached out with only her hooves, gripping the jewel and pulling it off the arm it had been sitting on. Then she paused, she had no way of telling which of these gems was the element she'd been told to use. Bravery.

With a soft sigh, she lit her horn again, but this time only enough to touch the gem as though she was picking it up, instead of using her magical vision. As soon as she picked it up, she could perceive it a small amount. The shape, same as the others. But also a feeling. An odd feeling of discomfort. This wasn't her element. She couldn't explain why, but it just wasn't.

She put it back on the pedestal arm, and felt her way around the room to the next one.

When she touched it, she knew.

Tears came to her eyes again and she could feel it work it's way into her heart immediately. Bravery. She was throwing herself into the darkness every time that it was presented, wasn't she? She was taking every risk, so someone else didn't have to. She was willing to tear her soul, if she had a soul, into pieces so that Luna could have a talking gemstone to keep her company.

She sobbed quietly, body shaking as she held the gemstone tight. Her life was too full of pain for her admission to be comfortable, for her acceptance by this vast artifact to feel normal.

The image of a crowd of griffins came to mind, and in that crowd a single face, tears in her eyes. A single face mouthing "I'm sorry" even though Vivid should have been sorry. Even though that poor griffin hadn't done anything to deserve her fate.

A river of blood, surrounding her in that sharp memory, but she hadn't run. The element reminded her, as cold but firm as an eternal law. She hadn't run, she'd done the horribly brave thing and buried her victims. She'd waited there, hoping to starve to death, until the ponies had found her. She'd gone to trial, and she'd accepted damnation no matter how unearned.

The element of Bravery pulled no punches in it's cold examination of her life and her pains, but that wasn't it. It demanded. It knew she would not lay there and give up, and it wouldn't let her waste time pretending like she would.

She took as many deep breaths as she needed and stood on shaking hooves, before setting the gemstone down in front of her, stone wall on one side and machinery on the other, it was cramped and claustrophobic by the feeling of her sides bumping into things. She stood and left, walking past the guards with the element floating in her magic, then turning to the other door.

Locked, but Ever opened it wordlessly and Vivid walked in before pulling the door closed behind her. The guards didn't object. She must have frightened them.

In the tomb, she set down the element and lit up the whole place in her magic to make it easier to move around. Then, she began performing magic that the Archway mages had outlawed and forbid the study of long ago. The study of the soul.

She'd dabbled, after the Alicorn metal Amulet, and she'd come to the conclusion that there was something there, something in her which created her consciousness. But it was not unique or powerful. It was more like a cloud of desperate magical energies tangled together. But the numbing of it reliably produced a coma in test subjects, and the empowering of it enhanced the subject's personalities and memories. So that part of her became her focus.

First, she formed a magical net around the Element of Bravery, to capture a small amount of it's energy. Then, she enchanted it to be able to generate illusions, sound, and to edit a large buffer of text so that the trapped spirit could store information in an internal form. Finally, she cast the spell which had never been tested or written down. She cast the spell to rip her soul from her body, copy it, link the two copies, and place one into each vessel, her body and the element.

The pain was enormous, and as she screamed she lost the ability to perceive her surroundings, and then even her ability to think.

Chapter 24. Trials by Fire

Everything hurt, even parts of her that she'd never consciously felt. The muscles which could move her ears, the skin of her legs, all burned horribly.

Vivid tried to blink away the red haze across her eyes, as she rolled onto her stomach. Something touched her side, helping her up and to a standing position. The guards were surrounding her, but staying away from the element of Bravery which laid in front of her on the stone floor.

Everything was eerily silent, but when she looked at the guards their mouths were moving. She shook her head and tapped her ears, wincing at the pain as the silence resolved into a high ringing.

Ever took her shoulders and moved her so she was staring eye to eye, then mouthed "What happened" in the most exaggerated way she could.

It was odd not to hear herself speak, but she did her best to explain.

"The spell worked, I think, but I can't tell. Ask the Element if it is conscious."

Wide eyed and confused, Ever turned to the gemstone on the floor, but before she could open her mouth, and image resolved from it, hovering in midair. Vivid, in red hues and transparent. The image opened her mouth, seemed to realize that Vivid couldn't hear her, then looked to Ever, speaking, before vanishing.

As though they'd seen a ghost, Ever and the other guards herded Vivid quickly outside and back to the courtyard, where they forced Vivid to lay down while the two unicorn guards discussed something nearby. Vivid could only hear the softest humming when they spoke, and she began to pray silently to Celestia that her hearing would return.

When a paper was presented to Vivid, she read it with half lidded eyes.

"The gemstone said that it worked, and we should leave. Can you return us to Canterlot?"

Vivid nodded numbly and moved to the spot they'd arrived, waiting until the guards surrounded her before lighting her horn and taking them back to the castle, before blacking out.

When Vivid woke up there was a cold pressure against the sides of her head, uncomfortable and disconcerting, but she could just barely make out a conversation nearby.

"--Recovery."

"And the interviews?" Luna asked, voice tight.

"The guards have been sequestered for you, until you are ready. Two of them are unicorns trained for combat."

Luna sighed and moved across the room, the sharp taps against tile easy to discern.

"I'll figure out what happened."

"Or you could just ask me," Vivid said, voice a thin rasp.

There was a rush of activity, and the cold things on her head being pulled away so she could actually hear. She could tell just by the ache in her head that it would hurt to use magic, so she left it alone and enjoyed Luna's hooves taking hold of her own.

"Vivid, you returned in quite a terrible state," Luna said in the tone of a doctor delivering bad news.

"Mmm. But I was successful. When will I be sent off to war?" Vivid said as she tried to sit up but was effortlessly pushed back down onto her back.

"When you're recovered, we will both go," Luna sighed. "But don't let that take away these moments of love as we still have them. Don't deprive me of this because of a grim tomorrow..."

Vivid grimaced, feeling like she was being scolded, before she felt Luna lay her head on top of her, resting on her side.

"Could tomorrow be a night for us to be together?" Luna asked gently. "I miss you, Vivid... I miss you terribly."

"You have all of a nation to keep you company, my love," Vivid muttered, a bit of her bitterness coming through in her tone, and glad she couldn't see Luna's expression. "Why would time with me matter?"

Luna sighed, and then shifted to put a hoof to Vivid's cheek. "You are important to me, Vivid. You are my love for a reason, because I chose to open my heart to you, and you opened yours to me. Why now... Why now are we so stiff, so separate?"

Vivid slowly moved one hoof over Luna's holding it to her cheek as tears started slipping from her eyes, the aching in her body now mostly faded besides her head.

"I... Feel like an ending to all the good in the world is looming over me, more and more of late, as though there's nothing left for me to do, as though I am doomed. I am... frozen in my heart, bracing for this horror approaching. I do not know how... how to not crumble under it."

Luna held her tighter, and kissed her on the cheek.

"If an end shall come, I will be there, Vivid," she said with a bit of hope, and a bit of fear. "I... Perhaps am in denial, of this ending approaching. Wishing ever for more time, for less strife. But I will brace it with you. But please, please let your heart open to me for a few more nights."

Vivid felt some hurt in her get much worse, as she nodded, sniffled, and embraced Luna. As she opened up to the pain she was feeling.

They cried together, and that night they shared a bed. By the next sunset Vivid could cast her seeing spell, and could spend the whole night with Luna, the rest of the schedule having been cleared.

She did her best not to think of the cloned copy of her essence, in that gemstone back in the crypt below Everfree castle. But every once in awhile she would have a strange sensation of being separated from her body, just long enough to stumble or twitch before it passed. Luckily Luna did not seem to notice it, as it happened so rarely. But Vivid worried over it.

"The guards told me that you were successful."

Vivid looked up from her midnight meal, the topic change jarring her. They'd been talking about the gardens, she thought.

Vivid just hummed and nodded, before going back to her food. Luna watched her.

"Vivid, where did your fire go?" Luna asked in as gentle a tone as she could. "You used to be so determined, with vigor. Now I worry you just have anger to fuel you, and the rest of the time you drift about doing your duties."

"My work fuels me," Vivid answered quickly, though she knew Luna was right in part.

Vivid had spent so much time and effort, all on becoming less remarkable, less noticeable. She'd become noticed by standing out and found it disconcerting. So she'd done her best to become a fog which could not be criticized or questioned.

"Then your work must be lacking in some way, for you to seem so drained of late."

Vivid sighed and put her fork down. "There is a war, in case you haven't noticed, and it is somewhat draining to view it as we are. You as well have lost some of your emotional color, Luna. It is an artifact of the times, not of some failure of mine."

"I'm not blaming you..."

"I know but it feels like you are," Vivid groaned. "It feels as though... as though you've given to me the keys to the kingdom and asked why it is not running well, and I am... just as concerned, just as lost, and know not what to do. If I could bring back my fire, I would."

They were quiet for a bit, before Luna moved her cushion to sit next to Vivid, and wrapped a wing around her.

"I believe you," Luna said. "I do. I was thinking, you haven't been to your church since the time you went to Bitain..."

"Celestia's church," Vivid chuckled. "Not mine. And... It would be disingenuous, I think, to worship there."

"Not worship, no, but perhaps we could just visit it? The church of the moon has established itself next door, we could visit both. There's beauty there at least for us to admire."

"That... alright," Vivid said as she leaned into Luna's embrace and smiled a little. "Alright, Luna. I can see if they've kept cleaning the place as I instructed."

"Oh I'm certain they have," Luna said eagerly. "They attend nearly every court session, sitting near the back with my own worshipers, and they always seem so proper."

Vivid sat up, shocked. "You... do not call them cultists?"

She could feel Luna tense a little, and heard her sigh.

"I... when you were so hurt by your crisis of faith I realized I had been perhaps cruel. The faith these ponies have in me is so similar to the faith in my sister, and truly I cannot justify crushing or disparaging one, without the other."

Vivid hummed and reached over, blindly searching until she found Luna's cheek and pulled her head down to kiss her.

"I appreciate your thoughts of kindness. Perhaps that is a type of bravery, to allow the strange within its boundaries, and to give it space to improve."

Luna huffed. "They had better improve. I cannot hear their prayers, and neither may my sister. Eventually, they will have to face their own desires as they are, and not as signs and desires from some old and tired alicorns."

"You are not so old in spirit," Vivid said as she nuzzled Luna's neck and sighed.

"No? Perhaps I am skilled in hiding it then," Luna chuckled. "Or I was extraordinarily immature at the start, and it took me this long to mature."

"If so that would be quite a sight," Vivid said, her grin growing. "A young Luna, with no maturity to speak of, commanding an army."

"Oh hush, I had enough maturity to understand war. It's brutally simple," Luna said as she stood and helped Vivid stand as well. "Back then, we had no allies, so I was quite free to do as I wished. A favorite tactic from that time was to have a flight of pegusi carrying four spears a piece fly overhead and drop them, and then I would relocate behind the enemy and start executing their leadership."

"What does allies have to do with it, that sounds like fine strategy," Vivid said, wincing as one cramped leg stiffened, until she worked it loose.

"Well we are fighting flying creatures this time around, for one," Luna sighed, Vivid increasing her magic vision a little so she could pick up facial expressions, and taking in Luna's frustrated frown, her brow creased and the corners of her mouth turned down.

She continued. "But my tactic of executing leadership was one which the Buffalo and Deer both agreed was unacceptable to a civilized battlefield, and in the terms of their incorporation to Equestria they required that I cease to do so. It showed a brutality and unjust circumvention of the normal ponies which had waged the war in the first place. If they'd been able, they would have demanded that I never enter a battle myself, due to my nature as an alicorn."

"Let not the gods interfere in the matters of mortals," Vivid sighed. "That is in the legends of alicorns, isn't it?"

"It is, and one which hounded My sister and I from the very first moment we dared speak our mind or touch the sun and moon," Luna nodded in agreement, letting Vivid lean on her as they walked back to the castle and through it to the front gardens, where a carriage waited.

Luna helped Vivid into the carriage so she wouldn't have to walk all the way to the churches, and they started rolling, Vivid letting her magical vision fade away as she relaxed in the rocking motion.

"I've missed you the last year or so..." Luna whispered.

"I've been right here," Vivid mumbled.

"In the flesh, but... We have been so occupied, so torn apart by the things going on. I've missed this. Going somewhere not as princess and advisor but... as a couple."

Vivid could feel her cheeks warming at the thought, but it helped that she couldn't see how many ponies were on the streets, she could just imagine it was the two of them.

"So maybe it's a good thing I was injured. Gives us an excuse."

"But why do we need an excuse, Vivid?" Luna pleaded. "All this time, if we... If I had just made the time..."

Vivid turned a little so she could embrace Luna. "A lesson learned... For both of us."

They stopped, and once Vivid had been helped down to the street she renewed her vision and took in the twin buildings.

To the left was a gleaming brass and glass three story edifice that Vivid knew well. She'd helped design it after the churches from Bitain, the one she'd grown up in, and descriptions she'd been given of the head church in the capital of Bitain.

It was comforting. Just to look at it, to contemplate the warmth and familiarity. She could remember days of sunlight on her back as she cleaned wood floors, long before she'd become nocturnal.

Then to the right, she found a monument to Luna, to the night. The moon carved from wood and plated in silver, adornments of bats and wolves, with magical lights winking like stars from within, too many to count and smaller than the typical lights which would be blinding in such quantity.

At the door, there sat a stallion in a simple robe, with a table on which he had bread and water.

Occasionally when a pony would pass by, they would be offered. No preaching, no entry required. Vivid knew well that the church of the sun had food and wine within, but it was kept within. A method of drawing in ponies that she'd been taught and passed on to this new church. Now, she wondered if that had been in error.

"They're both beautiful," Luna said simply.

She didn't see it. None of that struggle or contrast, Vivid realized. Luna saw representations of her sister and herself, standing side by side. In harmony.

Vivid silently chastised herself for her complicating angle, and took a step towards the black church. Luna followed, but the church member only nodded to her and smiled. If Celestia herself had descended on her church when Vivid was a child, she could only imagine the frantic and jubilant celebration that would have immediately ensued.

As they walked through the doors, Vivid notes that there was no profile of Luna upon them. Just the moon. Perhaps they did not worship Luna directly then, as the mare.

Inside the church, a vaulted ceiling held so many tiny lights that it truly took on the appearance of the night sky at the winter equinox. The constellations were all in place and lovingly recreated, and then the moon, enchanted to glow, hung in the middle of it all and gave enough light for the church to be well lit.

"I can see the stars," Vivid whispered, face turned up so she could take it all in.

"Can... Normally, you cannot?" Luna asked, suddenly hesitant as she come across an unexpected difference in the way they viewed the world.

"They are too far away. I saw traces of them when you raise the moon, and I see drawings. But this..."

Vivid took in a deep breath, sat down, and sighed. She smiled, tears gathering at the edges of her eyes, and Luna sat with her as she took it all in.

The little gemstone lights flickered ever so slightly, and the dim light was barely enough to be seen around the glowing sculpture of the full moon, but they sat there for what seemed like ages until Vivid's magic faded out, and she leaned her head against Luna's shoulder, smiling.

"Princess of the night. I see it now. Not just the moon..."

It was Luna's turn to feel a hot blush rush to her cheeks as she chuckled softly and hugged Vivid. "The night is just part of nature. I guide it, but you say my title with such reverence, I feel I haven't earned it."

Vivid reached up with a hoof, tracing Luna's neck and head before gently tapping her on the nose. "Stop it. You're plenty important, and just... My final understanding of that importance isn't a bad thing. It's... It's wonderful to finally understand what people are talking about when they speak of your stars..."

Luna wriggled her nose before sighing, and finally nodding. "Alright, that... Yes. It is important, I agree. I'm... glad you finally could see them like this."

Vivid laughed softly before gesturing around at the building. "No pews?"

"I told them if they started preaching my words from a pulpit, I'd rip the thing off the floor and pitch it through a window."

"Awww," Vivid crooned, nuzzling Luna. "I missed that."

"What, me being petulant?" Luna huffed, hugging her.

"No, no," Vivid sighed. "You being.... You don't want to be out of reach, you know? You don't wanna be a god."

Luna grimaced, looking up at the image of her moon. "Who would want to be? Nopony willing to talk to you, I already have most ponies afraid to meet my gaze, just being a ruler. Being a god? That sounds horrible."

"I'd order everypony to wear clothes," Vivid declared.

"What?!" Luna snorted. "Wait, if you were a god?"

Vivid nodded firmly. "Absolutely. I wear a cloak, and wish everypony else would too. Don't like having to see everypony's teats and--"

"Surely this must be something you were taught in your church to Celestia," Luna said incredulously.

"No! I simply have a bit of propriety," Vivid objected, cheeks hot.

Luna chuckled a little "You don't have to see anything, this... Wait, this is because of your magical sight, isn't it?" she realized. "You grew up not having to see other ponies, and now you're able to see their bodies in great detail! Your embarrassed!"

"I am not!" Vivid said sharply, but her cheeks were burning. "It's just... exposed! Improper!"

"Very well, then maybe I will have to wear some clothes for you," Luna said, her tone more sympathetic. "Give you some comfort."

Vivid just huffed and softly jabbed Luna in the neck with her horn, getting a laugh out of the alicorn, before she stood and waited for Vivid to follow her.

"They've made a new addition recently," Luna said as they navigated the halls into a back room and Vivid relit her horn to see where she was being taken.

They came to a doorway that cut through the wall. Beyond was a familiar office.

"The two churches are joined?" Vivid asked curiously as she peered through.

"To encourage cooperation and unity," Luna said reverently. "Between those who follow myself, and those who follow my sister."

Vivid nodded. "I hope that they become fast friends."

"Friends... That's a nice thought," Luna said before embracing Vivid and turning to go back to the castle, seized by thoughts of friendship and a hope in the future, cautious and trembling though those thoughts were.

Chapter 25. To War

The first thing Vivid heard as she neared the front was crying. The care tent was along the road and furthest from the battle.

It struck her as a sort of cry that she hadn't heard before, that of grown mares and stallions weeping from pain. Nothing to be done for it, but to give them whatever temporary comfort could be given, and let them be.

She got off the wagon among the smell of dust and blood, and lit her horn to get a view of the camp.

The care tent was large enough to fit a dozen wagons, with an entrance on each of the four sides. A dozen unicorn healers with jars of poultice and alcohol made their rounds among four times as many injured.

A hill blocked the view of the front itself but as she expanded her vision outwards she could spy the clouds compacted into fortifications above it, to keep the Griffins and dragons from flying over.

There were many tents around, and the only circular one was her destination.

Bundles of sage and mint hung from the awning to block out the smell of the care tent, and a thick rough carpet was plenty enough to clean the hooves of those who entered.

"Report," a slightly built stallion behind a desk said quickly.

"Vivid Colour, reporting," she replied, well aware that she wasn't familiar enough with military etiquette to impress anyone.

"Reporting to whom?" The stallion replied, looking back down to his desk and shuffling the papers.

Vivid could pick out her own name and information in the indentations on the paper, thanks to her magic, but he clearly wanted to confirm it.

"One star general of the UOD, Mage of the Archway, and..."

She hesitated.

"Consort to her royal Highness, Princess Luna," the stallion finished. "I suppose you don't know who I am?"

Vivid shook her head, deciding not to give an excuse for her ignorance.

"I am five star general Humble Pie. You will report directly to me since I'm not going to be sending a blind pony into battle directly, Archway Mage or not. I'll be using you for special missions and such. You're the one that made the distant speaking spell?"

She nodded, burying any reaction she had to his name or declarations.

"Well thanks for that. It's been a great tool. Now, as a unicorn who can do all sorts of things the enemy might not expect, the first thing I want you to do is use your little spell to listen in on the enemy. Find out what they're planning. They've fallen back and seem to be waiting the last few days."

"Of course, sir," Vivid nodded. "I'll need an object to focus on."

"We'll have you hold a rock and get to know it before we launch it over there," he says quickly. "Anything else you need?"

Vivid pondered the question. She wanted to do something that would matter, but knew this pony would be better at strategy than her.

"No, sir. I'm just happy to help."

He nodded, and directed her to her bunk. She would be sharing a tent with another officer but she wasn't there when Vivid settled in and laid out her own blanket on the cot.

In the distance, far off and away some drums started and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end, making her shiver before stepping outside to sense ponies rushing by. She waved a hoof until one stopped.

"Y-yes ma'am?" The soldier asked quickly, saluting.

"What's going on. I just got here," Vivid said by way of explanation.

"They drum when they attack sometimes," the young mare said, eyes flicking to look back towards the front. "But the last few days they just drum but... Don't. We have to be ready in case they do."

"You can go," Vivid said, nodding as the mare ran off to do her job.

So there was an amount of psychological warfare being used, she decided grimly. This did not bode well for a straightforward combat where superior tactics would save the day.

Deception and spywork may be needed.

She tossed her bag on her cot, put on her cloak and circlet, and headed back to the tent she'd first arrived at, determined to get started immediately.

"Do you have that stone for me yet?" Vivid asked as she ducked into the tent to find the general speaking with several other officers, all of who looked to her with similar expressions of aggravation with being interrupted.

Vivid paused. "I'm sorry, I can come back."

"No, Mrs. Colour, come in. I have something for you to use. Just so all of you know, I'm utilizing her skill at remote viewing to gather some information," General Pie explained as he held up an ordinary looking stone.

"Seems cowardly. The sort of thing that a unicorn would specialize in," a pegasus mare said, all full of scorn.

But none of the other unicorns in the room, at least half a dozen, paid her any mind.

"Once you've prepared, we will launch this along with some larger stones on a catapult. We hope it will go far enough for you to listen to them."

"Thank you, sir," Vivid said as she took the stone and sat off to the side, magically studying the rock so that she could magically identify it at a significant range.

But once she was settled, the ongoing conversation resumed.

"If we make a direct charge in the air and draw them off the ground, then the ground forces can charge and take their encampment," the brash pegasus from before said, standing tall and with gleaming armor covering every inch of her.

"We would lose half our force in such a charge," a unicorn said grimly. "It wouldn't be worth it unless we won the war then and there. What have the spotters seen?"

An earth pony sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly, all we know at this point is that there is transportation of great objects by large cart. Heavy enough that they require two large dragons to pull the smallest of the carts. Our speculation is some sort of weapon or supplies. Something heavier than water and under tighter guard."

"Well, speculation is still better than nothing," General Pie mumbled. "The chance of it being supplies is good, they are holding back, so it may be dense rations. Dragons eat gemstones right?"

The mumbling and nodding seemed to indicate that most present believed that dragons ate gemstones.

"So for now we operate on the assumption that these are shipments of rations to supply the overextended dragon forces," General Pie declares. "We aren't making a charge, but I'd like to instead I'd like to push firmly on our Eastern flank. Being closer to the water and with neither of our enemies liking the water, we can take the beach and start to encircle them."

Plans and diagrams were created, and they were all dispatched, until the General and Vivid were the only ones left in the tent. Vivid stood and walked over to him, offering the rock back.

"I'm ready."

"And you'll be able to do this?" Pie asked, sounding more tired than Vivid had heard from him as of yet. "Listen in on those close to the rock?"

Vivid nodded. "I've done much further range before. This should be easy for me."

He set the rock down and rubbed his eyes. "Then maybe we can finally have answers instead of conjecture. This is a nightmare, Mrs. Colour. Neither dragons nor griffons fight like ponies. Our military was built on fighting other equines, and now... It's not going to go well, I can tell you that."

With those ominous words, the general dismissed Vivid to rest after her travel, and she slept.

When she woke, as the sun was going down, she could hear the snap and whoosh of catapults being fired, flinging rock towards the opposing forces. That meant that she was about to become more useful.

Getting up and dressing quickly, it wasn't until she spoke that Vivid realized there was another occupant in her tent.

"Gonna say hi?" The feminine voice asked, with a faint tone of annoyance.

"Oh! I'm blind, sorry, let me..."

Vivid lit her horn and gained the view of a heavily built Pegasus mare sitting on the other cot, looking like she was getting to bed rather than waking up.

"Oh! Your blind," the mare blushed quite heavily and hung her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that someone who was blind would be sent to war."

"Well, I volunteered, since my magic can be a useful tool," Vivid said as she held out a hoof. "Vivid Colour, at your service."

"Lieutenant Sparks," the mare replied, shaking the offered hoof. "I'm day crew so you won't see me much."

"Well, I will try not to make much noise getting up or going to bed, for your sake."

"I appreciate that. But I'm usually the bad one, I snore," Sparks sighed.

Vivid grinned. "Then we will get along fine. My... Well, my mate says I snore as well."

"Your mate?" Sparks asked quickly. "What does that mean?"

"Um... Well, I'm her consort," Vivid admitted, mumbling mostly.

"Ooooh, your partner likes to act like a princess, huh? I know how that is," Sparks laughed. "Fell, my husband, quite the dramatic sort."

"Um... Yes," Vivid nodded quickly. "That's... Yes. Anyhow, she says I snore so I doubt we will cause trouble for eachother," she said with a little smile.

"Good. Well, I'll see you when you come back. Don't die," Sparks said cheerfully.

Vivid stopped, thought about the oddly pertinent farewell, and just left without commenting on it.

Back to the General's tent, Vivid continued to struggle with Sparks' parting words, it was a dark sort of humor she wasn't familiar with.

"Vivid, you're up, good. The stone should be in place now, as we made certain it was at the top of the pile being launched," General Pie said as soon as she walked in, breaking her concentration. "Can you begin listening in now?"

Vivid nodded, finding a place to sit near a pare desk. "I'll need paper to write anything down," she said softly.

It only took a minute for it to be provided, and then she cast her spell, and began to listen.

*"Hungry."*

^"Yeah, shut up. We know."^

"But this'll be over soon. Then we can raid the pony camps for food."

*"Pony food is terrible."*

"Better than nothing."

*"I was wondering, once we use them, can we eat them? Cast iron isn't good for me but I can eat it."*

^"Dragons. I don't get how you survive eating things like metal and stone."^

"Same way you get away with eating raw meat, bird brain."

^"Call me that again and I'll have you whipped."^

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, as Vivid continued to write what she heard, marking the voices with symbols to differentiate.

After a bit, there was the sound of creatures moving around, and they resumed their conversation.

^"No. No, you can't eat them. It's cost so much to cast these shells, the launchers themselves will be reused to take the northern reaches as well."^

Vivid frowned, this was the first proof that the enemy wasn't just disputing the Buffalo lands they were currently on, but that they would try to push through Equestria itself.

She could feel General Pie standing over her, watching her write.

"Shells," Pie whispered. "What do they mean by shells... Like bombs? They don't have catapults..."

Vivid tried to tune out the general, focusing on the spell.

"The North will be a nightmare. Cold. You know us dragons hate the cold. Only reason why the Great War didn't go our way."

^"Of course," the griffin said sarcastically. "That must have been the only reason."^

*"Hey, my dad fought in the great war," the less confident dragon interrupted sullenly. "If we'd been more prepared for winter, the draconic forces could have reached Griffinstone."*

Vivid sighed softly, a bit annoyed with the mundane history argument, but there was sudden movement on the other side.

*"What was that?"*

^"Sounded like someone nearby. Hello?"^

Vivid cursed in her head as she quickly modified her spell, so that her own sounds wouldn't be sent to the stone, deeply regretting her oversight on not doing so immediately.

After trying to modify the spell for a bit, Vivid ended it, shaking her head.

"Sorry, it... It was a two way spell before, I forgot about that," she admitted. "I'll change it quickly though."

"Thank you," the General said as he examined the paper. "This is talking about a weapon... Not supplies. They're shipping some new sort of weapon," he said softly, frowning.

Vivid got the spell back up, and listened, but nothing was happening. It was all quiet except for the sounds of wagons in the distance.

"I can't hear anything," she sighed. "But I'll keep listening."

"Do so. Could you modify the spell to let us get a look at the place where the rock is?" Pie asked as he took the first few pages of paper and set it aside.

"I'll start building the spell immediately, while listening in as much as possible," Vivid promised.

A hoof touched her shoulder gently. "Thank you for coming to the front," the general said gently. "We needed this insight."

After hours of listening to almost nothing except movement in the distance, she was close to having her new distant viewing spell ready when she received a soft tap on her shoulder, startling her.

She spun around, only to be faced with a face she'd already started to ache for. Luna, smiling gently.

Without hesitation, Vivid lurched out of her chair and buried her face in Luna's spotless fur, arms wrapped around her.

"Oh Vivid, it's only been three nights," Luna whispered as she pulled her close and kissed her neck.

"I know, I know," Vivid whispered. "But it was too long, for three nights. Much too long."

"Well, this coming night will be just as long, even though I'm here," Luna said as she coaxed Vivid's nose up until she could kiss her. "But I've heard you are working hard."

Vivid looked around, the tent was empty. At some point the others had left so they could be alone.

She blushed, and nodded. "My little speaking spell has been useful, but my next spell will be better. I just need a large mirror."

"Well that won't be easy," Luna said, nose pinching as she thought. "I didn't bring anything like that, and there won't be one here normally."

Vivid blinked a few times. "I didn't think about that... Um... Any reflective surface about four hooves by four hooves would work. Do we have anything?"

"Ah!" Luna nodded. "I know what we can do. The carriage I ride in, it has an unnecessarily large window in the front. I will return briefly."

"Wait--" Vivid watched Luna leave in a rush, leaving her alone. "I... We don't have to break your carriage, wait..."

She left the tent slowly, finding the General and a few other ponies gathered in a small circle outside, while two royal guards flanked the tent entrance.

"General, sir, you can come back in," Vivid said, embarrassed that they'd evacuated the tent seemingly just to give her a bit of privacy.

"No, Her Highness is taking command of the front and this is the command tent until she sets up a new one, it's alright," he said after spinning to see who was addressing him.

He looked back to the paperwork and finished something as Vivid waited for Luna to come back, but the General seemed to think she was waiting for some other reason.

"You know," he said as he dismissed the rest and turned back to her. "I will not treat you any differently if you continue to act as Consort in addition to your duties to the war,"

Vivid looked up to him quite quickly, mind spinning as she tried to catch up with the line of thinking he'd moved to.

"I didn't think you would. I'm just... concerned with inconvenience," she said before he could start explaining himself.

"Understood," he nodded, stepping a bit closer. "I know you are a hard worker, and I do not think that your presence will cause any inconvenience."

"No, but Luna being here is in part due to me," Vivid sighed. "And thus, being removed from your tent is also due to me."

General Pie took a moment to ponder her concerns before sighing. "Any monarchy is bound to have some inconvenience tied to the rulers. I'm not too concerned, and I don't think you should be either, alright?"

"Fair enough," Vivid nodded in agreement as the general nodded in return and went back to his papers.

Luna returned a moment later with a large piece of glass, and a silver necklace. They went into the tent and Luna cast a spell without hesitation. It dissolved the necklace and spread the silver across the glass, forming a nearly perfect mirror within moments.

"Wonderful," Vivid whispered as she examined it magically.

She couldn't see her reflection very well with her magic sight, but her probing showed that it was appropriately reflective to act as a magical conduit.

Pausing before she launched into using it, Vivid set the mirror aside and nuzzled Luna.

"This will work," Vivid said, to reassure herself as much as reassuring Luna.

"I know it will," the princess said as she returned the affection and kissed Vivid on the forehead. "You made this spell, and I believe in you."

With another nod, Vivid set about casting the spell for the first time, revealing everything around the stone.

It was laying in one of the larger trenches, and the wooden sides looked in poor repair, though still holding. Only two dragon soldiers were in the range of the spell, guarding a bunker-like building that Vivid could just barely see into.

But what she saw was confusing. Shining metal cylinders, tapered to a narrower end, and hollow.

They were stacked in the bunker, maybe six of them visible.

"I don't understand what these are," Vivid finally concluded, as she produced a magical image of the cylinders.

"Cannons," Luna replied without hesitation. "Typically mounted on ships or large carts, to siege castles. Not seen at battles like this where magic and spears are the primary tools."

Vivid let the image of the cannon fall away, and the viewing spell dissipate.

"Then what has changed?" She asked, frowning. "If cannons are not normally used like this, why would they do it now?"

Luna laughed softly, shaking her head. "They must have found a new propellant. Especially with dragons all around, a single spark would detonate any normal cannons powder immediately. Barrels of black powder imported from the East, causing a blast large enough to kill half their troops."

"Well, with half their troops seemingly not dead," Vivid said as she rolled her eyes. "What are they using? What other propellants would serve?"

Luna looked away for a bit, brow furrowed, before she looked around for something she couldn't find.

She left the tent with Vivid following, as Luna gathered various supplies from the medical tent and her own personal alchemy supplies in her wagon.

Two hours of experimentation later, she had a small pile of yellowish white powder.

"And fire won't effect it," Vivid said, speaking for the first time since Luna had set off on her self imposed mission.

"No," Luna said as she held a torch to the pile and it blackened slightly but remained inert. "But magic will. Specifically Swift magic, meaning Pegasus or Griffin."

"Meaning the Griffins can control the use of it," Vivid concluded. "Do we have a pe-"

Luna had swung one of her wings forward and touched a feather to the powder as Vivid spoke, and the flash of energy and a loud bang was enough to leave Vivid stunned as two guards looked into the tent to make sure that their princess was alright.

"It works," Luna said grimly. "And we are about to be bombarded, as soon as their fuel arrives."

Chapter 26. No more choices left to make.

The rapid mobilization of the troops, changing the way that their barricades were set up and informing them all quietly of the tactics they may be faced with, took surprisingly little time.

But this left Vivid with little to do besides listen in and watch the guard post, waiting for anything remarkable to happen, while safely sealed off from any sound leaking through.

“Anything new?” General Pie asked as he ducked back in.

“No, not yet,” Vivid said for the fourth time that hour. “Sir, can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“What if I could go there? I can transpose myself to the other side, behind their lines, and sabotage their fuel.”

The general paused to think it over, expression grim.

"It may be a route we would take," he finally agreed. "Though I know that it is a greater risk than you know. Any pony caught behind their lines will be captured and tortured, possibly killed. But with only three unicorns capable of such a thing in this army, yourself and the princess included, you may be the best candidate to go. Could you teach another your viewing spell?"

Vivid nodded, noting numbly that her mouth had gone dry. "Yes, it shouldn't take long. An hour or so."

“Then we will have to have it done, and Vivid?”

She paused, hoof shaking a little. “Yes, sir?”

He stepped over to her, and put a hoof on her back. “Prepare yourself to kill, if you must, to get out alive.”

Vivid nodded, and he walked away. She could only think of Luna, and finding her quickly. This new idea had seized fertile ground and would not be forgotten now, with such an urgent weapon being mobilized against them.

She found Luna sitting alone in the newly erected royal tent, and looking over papers. But she looked up the moment that Vivid entered.

“Finally, a blessed sight,” Luna sighed.

“Please, hold me,” Vivid whispered, and Luna’s expression went quickly to sorrow as she hopped over the desk and wrapped Vivid up in an embrace.

“Vivid… Vivid, what’s wrong?” she asked softly.

“I’m going to teleport behind the lines and sabotage their fuel,” she whispered. “And you can’t get involved.”

Luna gaped, but didn’t let go. But finally she shook her head.

“No. No, you can’t. Vivid. We can attack now, all our forces, and take the front before they get their explosives.”

“Then why didn’t you do that weeks ago?” Vivid asks weakly. “I know why. Because the death toll would be enormous. Half of all the troops, maybe. I… I’m willing to trade myself, for them. For all those soldiers.”

"I won't let you," Luna whispered. "I will intervene myself, damn the laws and their bond upon me, I am the princess of Equestria, and I can have one pony to love, if I desire."

Vivid turned and took Luna's cheeks in her hooves.

"Love… are you saying that you would put me above Equestria?" Vivid asked, voice cracking as a tear wet her cheek.

"I would," Luna nodded, sounding ashamed.

Vivid lit her horn, and cast a spell across Luna. Slowly, she blinked, and then she stumbled to the side.

"What… what did you do, Vivid?" She whispered as she struggled to stay awake.

Vivid cast the spell again, and Luna fell to lay on the ground, panting for breath as she struggled, fighting her drooping eyelids.

"Vivid…"

"I love you," Vivid whimpered, before casting the spell a third time, and watching Luna drop into a deep sleep.

For a moment she stood there in silence, crying, until finally she turned and left the tent.

"She's sleeping," Vivid told the guards.

They were close friends, and accepted it immediately. Vivid then proceeded to the general.

"I've put Luna to sleep to prevent her from breaking international law to stop this," Vivid said quickly, interrupting a meeting. "We only have an hour or so to teach someone the viewing spell, then I need to go do this."

"Their first shipment of fuel arrived," the General sighed as he stood. "They could be readying to fire now. We don't have time."

Vivid cursed softly and shook her head. "A unicorn. Any unicorn, bring them."

A soldier was shoved in front of her, and she put her horn against his.

"Clear your mind," she instructed. "Stay as calm as you can, I'm going to teach you a spell. One which can view things far away."

"Ok," he whispered, clearly scared.

"Charge."

He hesitated.

"Charge your horn."

He complied, and Vivid forced him to see the spell, to understand it. He screamed in fear and a moment of pain, and then it was over. The soldier shaking but wide eyed.

"Did it work?" The general asked sharply, getting a nod from the soldier, who went to the mirror, and reproduced the spell.

They could all see as dragons loaded cylindrical packages into the cannons, and prepared to insert the cannonballs, with careful precision.

"We really are out of time," Vivid sighed. "I need a Pegasus feather, and many daggers or knives."

The objects were supplied, and Vivid embraced the General quickly.

“Tell Luna I am sorry, but this is the only way I knew to fix this, without her breaking the treaties.”

“I understand,” he nodded.

Then, she charged her horn, her heart racing, and transloacted herself to that spot where the stone had been.

Immediately, she could perceive a shocked dragon stumbling away from her, wide eyed. She flung a dagger at him with enough force that he fell to the ground, though she noted that it had just smacked him. She had to work on her aim.

She picked up the white cloth bundle the dragon had been carrying, which was surprisingly heavy, before running down the trenches and into a fortification, to the surprise of a griffin and two more dragons.

After filling their faces and necks with daggers, and waiting for them to stop thrashing, she found the cannons.

They were loaded, and Vivid turned them to face across the trench lines, before poking a hole in the satchel of powder, filling the hole through which the cannons were lit, before making a trail of powder out the door and to the next battlement, where she repeated the cycle. Kill those inside and turn the cannons away from her side of the battlefield.

But her true target was the bulk of the enemy powder, the shipments and storage of so much must be well protected, but it would allow her to remove almost all of their advantages at once.

Extending her range out, far beyond the two fortifications she’d already invaded.

In her mind's eye, it was as though she was floating through trenches, a ghost unseen but swiftly passing by soldier after soldier until she found it. A well protected lowered area, from which dragons emerged with more satchels of powder.

She’d found her target, finally. But she had only one feather charged with Pegasus magic, and only a short time before her two sabotaged fortifications were discovered. She would have to move quickly, which meant being discovered, most likely.

With a run and a jump, she cleared the edge of the trench and landed on the grassy arrow-strewn space that separates the front line of the enemy army from the bulk of their camp, and began galloping towards her goal. There were a few shouts but she paid them no mind as she trailed a thick line from the sack of powder she carried, hoping beyond hope that it was enough to carry the magical flame back to the fortifications.

But as she slid to a stop looking down at the entrance of the powder storage, she perceived three raised spears about to take flight, and a dragon already ascending towards her, claws at the ready.

She tossed the bag of powder into the dragon’s face, creating a white cloud of the stuff across her four adversaries, and a small amount drifted into the storage house’s doorway. It would have to be enough.

She stumbled backwards away from the dragon as it landed. Just barely, Vivid drew the Pegasus feather from her bag as a claw sunk into her haunches and bore her to the ground.

The feather touched the line and a brilliant green flash of magic obscured Vivid’s magical sight.

There were three loud thuds as all but one of the sabotage cannons went off. There was screaming, so close, as heat enveloped Vivid and the claws in her flesh drew back.

The dragon must be burning, she thought, as she kicked blindly and on the second attempt struck scaly hide, and sent something tumbling.

Before she could stand, a second even more brilliant magical light knocked Vivid’s world out of focus. This one was paired with an explosion so strong that her ears did not even ring as much as they hurt horribly, pinned against her head.

The heat was incredible, like standing inside of a flame as it swirled around her, scorching her fur.

Even the earth she was laying on lifted and crumbled, tossing her to roll several times along the ground before her awareness finally faded to nothing, and she slept.

Chapter 27. Bereft of time

Luna followed the charge of her army, as it swept across the battlefield and into the trenches on the opposing side, following an explosion large enough to be visible from every part of her camp.

She staggered from rock to blasted rock, feeling quite drugged and struggling to stay aloft when she spread her wings to glide over trenches.

Smoke was still rising as she found the crater, with pieces of unrecognizable debris strewn around a hole that burrowed down into the clay-like bedrock below the dirt.

But she saw no pony bodies, no shards of horn or hoof, and so she kept a thin sliver of hope as she combed the wreckage.

But it was one of the soldiers that found Vivid's still form, tossed into a trench nearly ten yards away from the edge of the crater.

She was bleeding, slowly, through several dozen small cuts, turning her fur a dark almost black-red mottled with her natural maroon.

Luna carefully cleared the chunks of dirt off of her, and put her ear to Vivid's neck. There was a pulse, just barely there.

"I'm leaving, back to Canterlot. I'll return after I rest, in the evening. Can you lead the charge until then?" She asked General Pie, who stood nearby.

"Yes, your highness, but I need to know, are we to drive them back or hold this line, now that we've found Vivid?"

Luna hesitated, eyes picking out every wound on her unconscious lover. Trying to think of anything but getting her the help she needed, was a struggle.

"Keep pushing. They will be receiving more fuel, we must deprive them of any advantageous position at which to mount a counter attack. We will use this advantage to its fullest."

Pie nodded, and Luna brought her magic to bear, picking up Vivid, wincing as one leg hung limp, but finally translocating them back, all the way to Canterlot.

The flash of light startled the nurses in the hospital, but moments later they were rushing to attend to Vivid, a swarm of doctors and nurses clustered around a lone bed as their princess sat next to it, tears tracking her cheeks in silence.

"Your royal highness," a doctor finally started.

"Luna. I am just Luna today," she replied.

"Luna, we need you to step away," the doctor insisted, her tone strained as she was torn between her duty as a caretaker, and her respect as a citizen.

Luna's head bowed and she stood, taking three steps away before sitting again.

"How is she?" The princess asked weakly.

The doctor looked back to the others hard at work. The blood on their tools and the small mountain of gauze being set aside.

"If we cannot stop the bleeding in her lungs, she will die," the doctor admitted as she looked back to her princess.

"Could my magic be used to keep her alive? I can hold the blood aside for..."

She trailed off as the doctor grimaced.

"Perhaps it would give us more time, but it would damage her lungs in doing so. Let us work, and we may yet save her without... Divine intervention."

"What use is there in being divine if the power is not enough to help anypony besides yourself?" Luna asked, her throat so tight from the threat of sobs that she sounded so much older, and so much more tired.

The doctor hung her head, but there was nothing she could say. A second later, one of the others called for her and she returned to the table, and the mare upon it.

Her head kept drooping, Princess Luna still fighting the effects of the spells that Vivid had cast on her, but she did not fall asleep as the adrenaline from her rescue faded, and the miserable fear of Vivid’s struggle to survive became her only focus.

The doctors stopped the bleeding, but Vivid was weak, so weak that a doctor stayed by her side and checked her pulse minute by minute, trickling a little water into her mouth in the hopes that she would stay hydrated.

Luna continued sitting there, where she’d been told to sit. She could have overpowered Vivid, she thought. She could have stopped her from going off to the battlefield.

But as the sun rose and Canterlot descended into slumber, she heard hoofsteps approach from behind.

“Princess,” Posey, mage of the Archway, said gently as she stopped behind her. “May I sit with you?”

Luna nodded her head once, and the unicorn found her spot next to the princess a moment later, watching the weary doctor tip a dewar of water into Vivid’s mouth ever so slightly.

“If she does not live,” Posey whispered. “What will you do?”

Luna turned away as tears welled in her eyes.

“Nothing,” the princess admitted a moment later. “I will do nothing, but be misery’s champion, and embrace decay.”

“Your ponies still need you, Luna,” Posey said, still so gentle in her tone.

Luna looked back to the mage, incredulous and frustrated, but in her eyes she saw for a moment a pony she’d not seen in so very very long. She saw the ghost of her sister.

The Princess looked up to the ceiling at the dawn light, letting tears slip down her cheeks and neck to wet her torc.

“They will always need me,” Luna whimpered. “So what then? Must I bury my heart, break my soul and be their rock? For a hundred more years, a thousand? Will time hold meaning for me, when there is no pony who counts it for me?”

Posey’s hoof touched Luna’s back gently, not to tell her that the fears were not real, or to persuade her of something, but just to be there in the same space as her for a moment.

“When I die, I’ll make sure there’s someone like me, who worries after you,” Posey promised. “There will always be somepony who cares, who can count the time with you.”

They both were silent for a few minutes, and then Luna was startled a little when Posey actually began to count.

“One. Two. Three. Four…”

Luna sniffled, but smiled a little.

“It’s a bit of poetry, Posey, I… Thank you, but you need not sit here and literally count.”

She put a wing around Posey and sighed as she looked at Vivid on the bed, eyelids heavy.

“If she passes… when she passes, some day, I will hurt. More than I’ve known in a very long time. But I will be here, you can rest easy in that.”

“I’m glad,” Posey said, smiling a little. “I wouldn’t want to lose you.”

But when Luna looked into Posey’s eyes again, she saw just a pony who cared, no ancient alicorn in those eyes. Just a buried wish in Luna’s heart.

“Not just because you’re my princess either,” Posey added.

Luna thought over that addition, and sniffled a little before looking at Posey. “I thought for most ponies that’s all I was. Their princess.”

“No, you’ve comforted me when I was really scared and small. You gave me a safe place to stay and learn, and… Well, I think we’re friends,” she admitted.

Luna smiled and nodded, before standing and walking towards the bed.

The doctor looked up warily.

“I can help,” Luna said firmly. “Let me help for just an hour, then I’ll sleep, and leave you alone.”

“I’ll accept that deal,” the doctor agreed. “Just enough water to wet her tongue, if she swallows, then a little more. Let me check her pulse.”

The work to care for Vivid was repetitive and simple, the doctor taking care of anything critical, and suddenly Luna was being escorted to her room by her guards.

“I can sleep on the floor next to her,” Luna objected gently.

“You’ve already said that, your Majesty, and the doctor said you were not allowed,” Lyra Major, her personal guard said firmly.

Luna pouted, but she couldn’t do much more, she was so exhausted.

Lyra pushed her gently into her room, and then took her torc, crown, and boots off. A maid-in-waiting rushed forward to brush her coat clean, and then with their combined effort they got Luna to lay down on her bed.

“But… Vivid,” Luna whispered.

Lyra put her hoof on Luna’s side, and sighed.

“I’ll go to her,” Lyra said, pulling up the covers. “I’ll be by her side, in your place. Now sleep. Sleep, your highness.”

The guards waited until their princess stopped struggling against the covers and finally fell still except for her breathing, and Lyra shared a glance with Kingfisher, before stepping outside of the royal Chambers and locking them.

Kingfisher removed his helmet, and the enchantment that made him look like any other thestral faded. His emerald feathers and the dark circles under his eyes becoming visible as he rubbed his head.

"Will you be alright holding a solo shift here for the day?" Lyra asked, leaning against the wall.

He nodded, blinking slowly.

"She couldn't have poofed her retinue back before collapsing?" He asked, not angry but clearly exhausted.

"Her royal Highness doesn't think things through when it comes to Vivid Colour..." Lyra conceded.

Kingfisher huffed, but after a moment put his helmet back on.

"If you could find a wall guard to take my place, I'd appreciate it. I've never been good at staying up past Dawn."

"I will. Just... Keep to protocol for now."

King nodded and found a spear stored in a nearby nook, sitting himself in front of the door to Luna's room, the spear tucked under his wing and standing upright.

"I'll see you on the morrow, Commander."

Lyra saluted before setting off down the lonely sun-soaked hallways, squinting a little in the mid morning light.

But she made it outside to the walls just fine, and found a guard to take Kingfisher's place, before returning to the infirmary.

It was so very quiet in the clean room, except for the soft tap of the doctor’s hooves as she trickled yet more water into Vivid’s mouth and checking her pulse, before resting her head against the bed for a few minutes.

“I’m here in her Highness’s stead,” Lyra said softly. “How can I help?”

The doctor blinked several times, staring at Vivid, before finally looking at the guard.

“She’s… as stable as she will be. We just have to wait, to see if she will survive. She’s lost so very very much blood… being so low on the red humor, it must replenish before we may balance it to her other humors.”

Lyra stared at the doctor blankly.

“Just… watch her. Wake me up in an hour or two, or if she makes any movement.”

“That, that I can do,” Lyra said cheerfully. “Humors and whatnot… I’ll leave to you.”

“And that is why I am a doctor, and you are a guard,” she said with a tone of superiority, as she left through the door to the doctor’s offices.

Lyra smirked, amused but unbothered by the doctor’s superiority complex, as she sat next to the bed and looked over Vivid’s injuries.

She didn’t have to be a guard and former soldier to know the pain of an injury from battle, but it did add a certain amount of personal history to the recognition. The bruising that spread across her lips and around her eyes were from a full body bruise, common among pegusi and thestrals who fell great heights. The many many small cuts across her body were shallow, enough to cause pain and bleeding, but not enough to cause lasting harm. But the cut on the back of her head…

Lyra turned away for a moment and sighed. There was no way of knowing how badly a head injury would turn out, without the pony being awake. At least if the horn was broken, then recovery was more likely, though magic would never be a skill for that unicorn again. But the skull itself was so much more essential.

“This is the pony that our princess has given her love to,” Lyra sighed, shaking her head sadly. “If only she’d picked somepony less brave.”

“Well then she wouldn’t have chosen her.”

Lyra twitched, looking up quickly to see a robed figure in the corner.

“Who goes there?” Lyra asked, standing in a defensive position.

The mare pulled her hood back, smiling calmly. She was a somewhat overweight mare, with a cream tan coat and light green mane, with bracelets around her hooves and a golden circlet on her brow, settled just above her horn.

“Mage Posey of the Archway, madam….?” the mare introduced herself, prompting the same from Lyra.

“Lyra Major, Commander of the Royal Guard,” she held out a hoof and Posey stepped closer to shake it. “Why haven’t I seen you around the castle? I know Deep Sheen, and Princess Sunlight.”

Posey sighed, shrugging a little. “Well… The last two years, I’ve never left the Archway. I was…. A little scared by one of the other mages… She betrayed us.”

“I see… well, I suppose you’re right about her Highness, anyhow… she wouldn’t have chosen a partner who did not stand for her ponies,” Lyra agreed, looking back to the nearly still figure on the table.

Chapter 28. Capability

Princess Luna woke as the sun hung low in the sky over her country, turning every sheet of white marble into gold cladding across the city.

She stood from her bed, and strode out onto her balcony. It was quiet, only the earliest of risers waking while it was still so warm out.

It wasn't going to be a spectacular sunset, she concluded as she examined the clear skies with a critical eye, and the rapidly fading light. So long ago, she'd spent hours preparing countless perfect sunsets. Each one like a burial for her sister, whose name now only echoed in Bitain and the church of the sun.

"You fell so far, big sister," Luna said to the sun, sitting on a cushion. "And forced me to rise so high. It's truly a tragedy they could write countless plays of, if I allowed it."

She watched the sun lower slowly behind the mountains, and closed her eyes.

"If I felt like being dissected in the court of public opinion once again."

Standing and turning, Luna lit her horn and smoothly rose the moon, silvery mist flowing from her wings and horn, and left in hoofsteps on the floor. It all evaporated in moments, and by then she was dressed and leaving, flanked by two royal guards.

"Where is my assistant?" She asked softly.

"Still at the front, your highness."

"Right," Luna sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Run off without a plan… I'll need breakfast of some sort, something simple, brought to the infirmary."

"Of course, your highness."

The guard broke away to fetch the food, but as Luna approached the infirmary, a nurse stepped quite deliberately into her path.

"Your highness! You're… awake!"

Luna squinted down at the stallion, impatience stirring in her heart.

"It seems so. Have there been any developments?"

"Y… n…. We just need a little more time," the nurse squirmed under Luna's gaze, but did not move.

“Were there no developments, then you would not be standing in my way,” Luna said with a scowl. “Speak.”

“She is awake, but…”

Luna brushed past the nurse, who whimpered in her wake.

When Luna approached the Infirmary, she heard crying. Crying she recognized. She broke into a gallow, and skidded to a halt just inside of the doors, finding Vivid Colour curled up in the far corner, crying out and pushing the doctors away when they tried to get close, her horn unlit.

“Vivid!”

The unicorn flinched at the loud noise, and Luna approached more slowly than she’d been planning.

“Vivid?”

Her voice softer, Vivid didn’t recoil, but her ears turned towards her as the doctors stepped slowly back, clearly having lost control over the situation.

“C… c… can’t h-hear,” Vivid mumbled, her voice slurred terribly.

Luna could feel tears coming to her eyes as she sat in front of Vivid, and gently touched her hoof with her own.

After a moment of hesitation, Vivid moved her hoof to feel the leg, and then further up to feel Luna’s cheeks and neck.

“M-m-m-m-moon,” Vivid mumbled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she scooted a little closer.

Luna sniffled and nodded, wrapping Vivid in her wings and holding her close before looking to the two anxious looking doctors.

“She has incurred harm to her mind, hasn’t she?” Luna asked in a pained whisper.

“It… seems so,” one of the doctors whispered in reply, nodding.

The doctor stepped closer, and kept her voice low.

“These things… sometimes heal over time, your Highness.”

“Is she in pain?” Luna asked sternly.

The doctor hesitated, before looking to the other doctor.

“Let’s begin pain management, poppy puree, one dram for now, we will graduate if needed.”

They began assembling their supplies as Luna carefully and gently moved Vivid, one step at a time, back towards the patient bed.

Vivid settled back into her bed, but reached back out with one hoof until Luna moved under it, the hoof resting on her neck.

“Will she be able to use her horn?” Luna asked as the lead doctor approached and carefully applied a white liquid to Vivid’s tongue with a dropper.

By the expression on Vivid’s face, it didn’t taste particularly good, but she ate it dutifully.

“I’m not--”

“Let me worry about that,” Posey said softly as she stepped from the shadows of the room.

The doctors jumped slightly, but Luna just looked to the newcomer and narrowed her eyes.

“Posey hasn’t left her chambers in years,” she said sternly.

“When I saw you last, I told you that it was my fault that Clover stole the metal,” she said with a sad smile. “I still feel that is true.”

Luna cast a spell, which swept across Posey harmlessly, and Luna relaxed, looking back to Vivid.

“You.. can help her?” she asked softly.

“I might,” Posey sighed, approaching a little closer. “I can try. But I make no promises, your highness.”

“An attempt is better than none,” Luna sighed, spreading one wing to gently brush against Vivid’s mane, which draped from the bed in dirty tatters. “Do what y--”

“M… moon?” Vivid mumbled, barely even moving as she spoke, the medicine leaving her numb.

Luna moved, putting a hoof on Vivid’s cheek, letting her know that she was present.

“Have… go?” Vivid tried to ask.

Luna looked to Posey, who stepped closer, and lit her horn.

It had been so long since Luna had seen the mage use her magic, and she’d trained herself so much in isolation, that it barely looked like unicorn magic anymore. It was a colored mist with tendrils that appeared spontaneously around Vivid’s horn as well, and seeped gently into it’s spiral.

Then Vivid’s blind gaze focused on Luna, and she smiled a little.

“My moon…”

“I am not leaving,” Luna said quietly, mouthing the words slowly.

Vivid frowned, and for a moment Luna thought that she hadn’t understood.

“W-win the w-w-war,” she insisted.

That, Luna understood clearly. Vivid wasn’t begging her to stay, she was commanding her to finish what she’d started.

A guard trotted into the infirmary, carrying a tray of food on his back, but immediately stopped and fell quiet as he noticed the situation.

“I can’t leave you alone here,” Luna whispered, tears starting to blur the edges of her vision.

Vivid reached out slowly, carefully, and put a hoof on Luna’s chest, smiling through her own tears.

“Go. C… C… come b-back sssoon.”

Luna carefully moved even closer and wrapped Vivid in the gentlest hug she could manage, half on the bed as she held her, and after a few minutes, Vivid had fallen asleep, and Luna stepped away, clearing her face with a napkin offered by the doctor.

“I’m going to be returning to the front,” she finally told Lyra quietly. “Protect her while I’m gone?”

“Always, your highness,” Lyra promised, standing a little taller.

Luna looked to Posey, who was releasing her magical grip on Vivid’s horn.

“And you will work with her, do what you can to help her communicate and regain her skills?”

Posey nodded as the last of her magic faded, and she smiled. “I am confident that she can regain some use of her magic, your highness. Focus on winning the war. We will be here when you return.”

Luna strode out of the infirmary, and everypony conscious in the room relaxed a bit once she was out of earshot, Posey looking more grim as Lyra rubbed her eyes.

“How long have you two been awake?” Doctor Ascelia asked sternly, walking over to them with her head held high.

“No longer than you,” Lyra retorted with a grin, as the other guard rushed off to try and give Luna her breakfast.

“Oh hoh, you wish to compare endurance with a doctor, please,” Ascelia huffed, smiling just a little. “Both of you, get some sleep. Lady Vivid will be sleeping for a good while, and you won’t be useful to her while she is asleep.”

“I’ll post a pair of guards at the doors for now,” Lyra said around a jaw-cracking yawn.

“And I’ve already put a spell on Vivid, so I should know when she awakes,” Posey sighed.

“And none of that,” Ascelia growled. “No more spells without my knowledge. I’m the doctor here, now shoo, the two of you. Off to bed.”

Once they were gone, and the guards were posted at the doors, she returned to Vivid’s bedside. The other doctor stepped out of the office, looking worried as he joined her.

“She will recover, won’t she?”

Dr. Ascelia’s stern expression faded to just concern.

“We should not speak of recovery,” she whispered. “Just speak of function. That…. Shall be our goal. To stand, to trot, to speak easily, to use her magic. Consider the Court Mage lost to the tides of battle, and now… a chance to save a civilian.”

Chapter 29. Comfort

“Again.”

Vivid could just barely make out the voice, but as instructed she reached out with a hoof, found the wooden box, and lifted her forward section up a bit to stand halfway on it, before resting for a moment.

She’d had a headache since she woke up, and a constant feeling of drifting, like every movement she made was just a suggestion her brain was making, not a firm command. She would twitch or lose strength at random it seemed, and her focus on the world outside of her own mind was tenuous at best.

Whatever medicine they were giving her made the pain fade enough for her to tolerate it, but it made her muddiness and confusion worse, she felt. Every time it was administered, she would find herself trying to wander away or use her magic, or babbling away incoherently.

It was humiliating, she thought. That fact she could hold onto, that she felt embarrassed, and it was a relief to know that Luna was not watching.

“Vivid?”

“Sorry,” Vivid mumbled, before stepping forward and bringing her hind hooves up onto the box as well, standing straight before slowly reversing the direction and stepping back down, and backing onto the floor and away from the box.

"Good. You're clearly tired, go ahead and lay down."

Every single word was too loud, but muffled and unclear. It was terrible, but better than the piercing pain of two days ago.

She stepped to the side by memory and found the edge of the bed, just two mattresses directly on the floor, so she didn't have to climb.

She rolled onto the soft cushion and sighed.

"Could you wait on the medicine for a moment?"

It was Posey. Vivid turned her head and found the faintest outline of a unicorn standing nearby.

"Hi," Vivid whispered, smiling.

Posey granted her magic to Vivid, letting her read her lips, as she spoke more quietly, barely audible.

"Luna sends from the Front. The war goes well, the Griffins seem to be retreating and leaving the dragons behind to fight."

"That… it's good?" Vivid asked, making sure she wasn't misunderstanding.

"Yes," Posey nodded gently. "She will probably be home in a week or less."

"Maybe… I'll walk by then," Vivid said, her thin smile holding all the hope she could spare.

"Even if you can't," Posey said slowly and firmly. "She will be happy to be with you."

Vivid hesitated, and laid her head down, as tears started to wet her pillow, and she shook slightly with silent sobs.

She could feel a hoof rest on her side.

“How c--- ho--- can you know?” Vivid sobbed.

Posey cleared her throat, and said clearly, “Because I know her, and I know that she will still love you.”

Vivid took her medicine, which numbed the pain in her head and all of her muscles, and she fell asleep.

Most of her dreams since the explosion had been muddied, out of focus and difficult to recall.

But this time she was curled against something warm, with a wing wrapped around her middle, and a hoof tracing slow circles on her back.

The silence was a comfort, no ringing in her ears and no voices telling her what to do.

The circles traced on her back became smaller, then ovals around her shoulders, hips, and then smaller wavy lines up the back of her neck, all with the tip of a hoof so gentle.

Vivid, in the numbness of a drugged up dream, accepted it without protest.

Then, the circles stopped, and she stirred a little, curious why, until a more deliberate shape was traced in her fur. A line, with two shorter lines at the top and bottom. A capital I.

She chuckled a little, and said the word out loud.

Then, another letter, a line with another smaller line from the bottom of it, to the right.

“L,” she whispered.

Slowly, a short message of love was sketched out on her back by her princess, before she squirmed to roll over and face Luna, burying her face in Luna’s neck, hugging her close.

“I’m sorry,” Vivid mumbled.

“You don’t need to be,” Luna replied in a whisper. “But if you ever do something like that again, I’ll have you declared infirm, and keep you in my room to keep you safe. The most dangerous thing you’ll ever do again is cuddle me.”

Vivid laughed softly, smiling. “Not so bad,” she admitted.

“The official royal pillow,” Luna sighed happily. “I am… so, so happy that you are still with me, Vivid.

Vivid was quiet for a moment, as Luna pet her. But finally she sniffled and admitted something.

“I… Didn’t think about it. I would have been so scared, if I did… I just… It was what I had to do. I had to.”

“I know,” Luna said softly. “I know. It’s ok.”

Vivid cuddled close to her, and after a bit Luna started to talk, her own anxiety driving her to share the state of things.

“The dragon army is routed… They have seized much of the propellant and weapons that were to be used, but cannot use them except by plucking captured griffins. The griffins have fled back across the sea except for a small contingent. We are uncertain as to how the dragons will handle the sit--”

“Please,” Vivid mumbled, butting her horn against Luna’s neck. “No war talk? Talk… About….”

She hesitated, trying to find something else to talk about, to listen to Luna.

“I could tell you about the town of Starcross, which we’ve stumbled across.”

“Starcross,” Vivid gasped, sitting up. “I’ve been there! I… They….”

“I know,” Luna said softly, pressing her to lay back down as the dream wavered from her excitement. “I know, it’s the place where you were attacked.”

“Noo,” Vivid groaned. “I… Yes, but I… There was a griffin there I was close with. She was still there.”

Luna hummed to herself. “Anie?” she asked.

Vivid nodded quickly.

“She’s still there,” Luna nodded. “Her home was fortified by the griffin invasion as a field hospital, but she’s still here. A bit worse for wear, but we’ve offered her our protection.”

“Good,” Vivid sighed, relaxing a little. “Good. I’m… glad.”

“Close with her, should I be jealous?” Luna joked.

“No, no, never,” Vivid said quickly, almost frantically, as Luna held her a little tighter.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. A poor bit of humor,” Luna reassured her.

"Well, as we push past Starcross, we enter unclaimed land," Luna said. "Land the Griffins will not even claim due to the impossibility of growing crops there. I'm thinking of just telling the dragons to settle it. Make it theirs."

"Mean," Vivid said, frowning.

"Not at all," Luna objected defensively. "They can eat stones and metals. If any race can settle it, they would be the ones. It's not even claimed by the buffalo as far as I know, due to the volcanic activity."

Vivid sighed and shook her head, resting it against Luna again. She didn't have the energy to argue, she just wanted to be here, quiet and comfortable.

"Are the doctors being good to you?"

But of course Luna wanted assurances.

Vivid sighed just the tiniest bit.

"Sorry..."

"It's ok," Vivid reassured her. "Yes. The doctors are nice. They help me. I can walk a little."

"Good. You wouldn't be able to come out in the gardens if you couldn't walk," Luna pointed out.

It seemed meaningless to Vivid, but if that's what Luna paid attention to, at least she was happy.

Vivid sighed, trying to remember what the gardens were like, but failing. Instead her memory brought back a trip to a dark stone room buried under an ancient castle.

“Moon… I… You should go to the… the buried place.”

Luna paused, trying to decipher Vivid’s words. “I don’t understand.”

Vivid concentrated, and she could feel the dream shift, as the feeling of the underground room surrounded her. The one where she’d cast the most powerful spell of her life. The one where she’d made a copy of herself, just for this reason.

“But that was just if… you passed away,” Luna objected.

“No… She’s there,” Vivid said firmly, relaxing again against Luna and fighting the aching in her head. “She… you go, and talk.”

Luna was silent for a moment, before she nuzzled Vivid.

“Can… Can you say my name?” she asked nervously.

Vivid grimaced, but tried.

“Y…. ly….” she felt like her throat wouldn’t cooperate, like the whole word just wasn’t in her head, but she knew she had to. She took a deep breath.

“Ona. Uuna, l-l-luna. LUNA!” she practically shouted, as Luna held her ever tighter.

“I’m sorry,” Luna whispered.

“N… no,” Vivid said angrily. “No, don’t… I… mine,” she said, grabbing Luna tightly, comforting her own loss of control over her language, by burying her heart and body in Luna’s grasp.

"Yours," Luna agreed gently. "All yours."

Chapter 30. Worship

“Is she dead?”

Luna stopped, as lights shimmered to life along the stone hallway leading down into the earth. It made an eerie sight, and was only made worse by the voice’s gentle concern, and the fact that Luna was hundreds of miles away from the voice’s owner.

In the even blue light, Luna took a single step forward, eyes fixed on the stone archway at the end.

“No,” Luna said, simple and blunt. “She is hurt, severely, but lives.”

The voice sighed, a happy noise, as Luna arrived at the end of the hallway, and looked through into the eight sided chamber.

The one sarcophagus that sat undisturbed cast flickering red shadows across the wall, drawing Luna’s attention to the source of the new light.

A recreation of Vivid down to the finest detail, but with bright and sharp looking eyes was sitting there, against the wall, watching Luna enter.

“You are the copy she made,” Luna said, deigning to sit in the middle of the large chamber, rather than approach. “You are… what, then? A magical echo? An illusion given permanence?”

“If I knew what I was, truly, then I would be a philosopher, not a mage,” the glowing red figure said simply. “I am made from magic, and thus quite able to dismiss this form if I feel it necessary.”

The shape vanished, the glowing red light from the gemstone laying on the floor still showing the residence of the individual.

“Yet I think. I persist, and I have desires. This would imply I exist as more than just some spell. Perhaps the original Vivid gave some of herself to me, to make my existence possible, but that is an unanswerable question.”

The figure reappeared, this time standing closer, and Luna reared back ever so slightly at the intrusion of her personal space.

“You said that she was hurt,” the figure said. “Severely. In what manner, and why are you here then?”

“She told me to come,” Luna said simply, frowning. “Why, do you not wish to see me?”

“I’ve wished to see you every second of my existence,” the figure snapped back without hesitation, before calming. “But so long as there is a Vivid alive, I am redundant. My studies, my contemplations can occupy me. I simply… don’t understand why.”

Luna looked away, and tried to put into words the last few weeks, as her eyes found tears gathering at their corners.

“Her hurt… Vivid’s mind has been hurt. She… is resting. She is healing. But… there is a certain sharpness of her which has been lost, and now… she struggles even to say my name.”

“Well,” the figure said, softly. “One would almost wish for death.”

“Do not say that to me,” Luna snarled, standing and stepping closer. “She is pleased to be alive, and I am pleased to have her. Do not treat the blessing of more time as a curse.”

The figure, the copy, nodded and looked down at the floor.

“Well. I apologize. I have at least one difference in mindset from my progenitor, then,” she said gently. “But I am sorry, and I am glad she lived. How… How can I help you?”

"I… I don't know," Luna said after a moment, closing her eyes. "She told me to come, so I did."

The figure approached, and after a bit she wrapped her ghostly grasp around Luna in a gentle hug.

Luna returned it after a moment.

"She must be feeling inadequate," she concluded with a sigh. "Incapable of giving you the comfort you need."

"So she sent me to her own ghost," Luna said with a grimace, tears staining her cheeks.

The copy tried not to smile, amused.

"If her condition grows worse, what would she have wanted me to do?" Luna asked finally.

When she left, and translocation brought her back to Canterlot, the reply was still ringing in her ears.

"Let me go gently."

Luna mindlessly returned to her throne, and sat there in silence except for the occasional staff that crossed the hall. Eventually, a familiar face appeared.

Posey, the subtle mage.

"Do you bring good news?" Luna asked with a thin smile.

"No," Posey answered, her tone apologetic but clearly she'd learned to be honest with her princess.

Tears already started to fall as Luna gestured for her to speak.

"She's developed a fever," Posey said softly as she approached. "She is less aware in the last few hours. You should be by her side."

"Is this how it ends?" Luna asked bitterly. "Not enough time to love each other fully, but always deeply in love? We aren't given our late hours to dream and laugh, and she passes away at the age of thirty seven? Is this the love other ponies endure? If so, I find it lacking. I find it an insult to the nobility of her heart. All over a treaty. If I were some archaic goddess, she would not have died. Hundreds would not have died. But I chain myself to the morals of foreign lands, to keep the peace."

"I wouldn't know, your highness," Posey said, still softly. "I've known neither love nor power. But I wish it was less of a burden on you."

For a little while, Luna was silent, looking down at the stairs before her, and Posey silently looking up, until finally Luna stood and walked down them slowly, reluctantly.

“I wish that I were walking to see the one I love, instead of this uncertainty,” Luna whispered as she finally arrived by Posey’s side and they began to walk together.

“She is the one you love, simply… fading,” Posey offered.

Luna fell silent. She knew of fading, and passing gently. She knew of a gradual decline, and this was far from it. This was cruelty in living form, and she found it far more painful than watching a loved one grow old and pass slowly.

It all felt like it was happening before she could catch her breath.

Just as suddenly, she was standing in the infirmary doorway, and observing the almost picturesque scene before her.

Two thestral-appearing guards flanked the door she was standing in, and just beyond that the white tile of the room began, polished to a shine by the scuff of countless boots and hooves. On the only occupied bed lay a still shape over which doctors huddled, the moonlight illuminating them through a skylight in a beam of silver.

Magelights in glass sconces were spaced around the walls like fallen and captured stars, the enchanted gemstones shedding enough light to keep the room bright in the depth of night, even when the moon was hidden by clouds.

Then, on a rolling rack behind the cluster of ponies, there were the implements of Health in this new age of medicine. Gone were the poultices inspired by Zebra practitioners, gone were the books of spells. Now, knowing unicorn magic could at times kill unprotected flesh, the doctors had a wide array of shining silvery implements. Tools to compensate for their horns, and in fact improve their skill.

The long trusted herbs and plants had been distilled into incredibly potent drugs, glittering green and brown bottles full of relief and of death, just gentle enough to harm the things that hurt ponies, instead of harming them directly.

Luna stepped into the room, breaking the peacefulness of the scene, as Posey followed behind her.

The doctors looked up, spotted her, and stepped back from the table so Luna could approach her beloved.

Vivid was still breathing, but her eyes were closed and her skin matted with sweat. Feverish red skin showed under her coat of fur. Her horn was bandaged tightly with splints to keep it straight and still, in some vain hope that it would heal.

Luna touched her mane, softly. The tumbled mess of blues had faded slightly. She could see some grey in it, pastel blue shining through the richer tones. Her maroon coat was still just as dark as blood, however. It was a small comfort to know that she’d held onto some of her magic within, which gave ponies their vibrant hues.

“How bad is the fever?” Luna asked quietly.

“We’ve called for ice to be brought up from the storerooms, your highness,” the lead doctor admitted. “The fever grows too quickly, if it is left unchecked, it will harm her.”

Luna lit her horn and opened all of the windows, letting a gentle breeze blow in. She knew that it could bring with it unknown germs, but her love needed cool air more than anything.

As she pet Vivid, Luna recalled the old days, when hospital windows were always open, to let the “foul air” of sickness out, as everything was brought by air or wickedness back then. She’d even been accused of causing a death by sickness due to not giving a blessing.

“Is her pain already eased?” Luna asked, barely looking up to see the doctors nodding, before looking back to Vivid. “And what are your guesses as to her time left?”

Silence. It was an unanswerable question, that she knew, but still she wished for an answer.

“Perhaps… a day and night if the fever does not break,” the lead doctor finally said, reluctantly.

Luna nodded and laid her head down on the bed just behind Vivid’s neck, cheek to the roots of her mane, and she let her tears fall, matting those curls down under her chin.

After a few moments, the ice arrived, and the doctors chipped pieces off the block, wrapping each one in cloth before applying it to Vivid’s forehead, neck, and chest.

The unconscious panting of Vivid’s breath slowed, and she finally seemed to be asleep.

“The fever seems to be breaking, your highness,” the doctor finally said, putting a hoof to her shoulder. “She… may survive.”

“In what condition?” Luna asked, looking out the window to note the time of night, almost time for her to raise the sun and sleep.

More silence. More uncertainty.

Luna hung her head and turned to leave.

“I leave her in your capable hooves,” Luna sighed. “And will return when I wake.”

“Of course, your highness.”

Luna walked slowly, as her guards followed close behind, careful to muffle their steps.

Nonetheless, Luna felt as though she was leading a procession through the halls of Canterlot castle, a grim and weary one.

But eventually, rather than a graveyard she reached her bedroom and the guards stayed at the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

For a moment, Luna sat there, looking at the balcony across the room. It was time to raise the sun, and set the moon. It was her duty, and it must be done. But though she’d many times been reluctant or slow in doing so, this was the first time in a very long time that she pondered the penalties she would face if she did not.

First, the ponies would panic, as the twilight state lasted for hours. Then, unable to rouse her, or force her to use her magic, the ancient Council of The Sun would be reformed, a hundred unicorns each day banding together to do what she could do nearly effortlessly, and of that hundred, some would never use magic again.

She sighed, and walked to the balcony, closing her eyes as she lit her horn and reached out.

The sun thrashed, a quiet vicious battle for dominance waging between the moon and sun for a moment, until the sun found itself dragged into the sky and set along it’s proper course. Then, and only then, could Luna open her eyes without seeing her sister’s outline wreathed in flame. Only then could she admire Canterlot in the sunlight, with the valleys far below glittering with ponds and rivers.

It was her home, for hundreds of years now. But it had only become energizing recently, with the addition of a pony who challenged her princess as much as cared for her.

Vivid had even changed the landscape of the great city, with two proud churches now standing within Luna’s view, one grey and silver, the other one white and brass.

With a bit of magic, Luna appeared at the doors of the church that admired her sister. The doors were open, and soft organ music was playing inside. The morning service was underway, and the pews were full of ponies and a few griffins.

Luna entered slowly, and quietly, so that only the two ponies who stood at the door providing prayer pamphlets, and the priest at the pulpit noticed her presence.

All three of them seemed shocked. Was it really so unlike their princess to attend a religious ceremony? Perhaps it was. This might as well be a sign of great tribulation. Thankfully the war was over, and now the only troubles Luna fought were those of the heart.

The priest broke her gaze away from her, and looked down at her book. She wore a white and gold robe, plain of adornment, and a wrapping over her braided mane.

“Welcome, sisters and brothers,” the priest began, voice loud but her tone carefully even. “Let us begin with a prayer to those who have passed, both in the recent conflict, and otherwise.”

Luna opened her little prayer pamphlet, to read the words, and say them along with the rest of the congregation.

“Celestial Mother, the family of Equestria has lost so many of late, and we find ourselves in mourning. The sudden passing of our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors has left us in shock and pain. But Mother, you have told us in times long past that we should not mourn as the common ponies do. By the sun, our beloved has been your faithful servant, and because of that, our hearts are full of hope and joy because we know that we shall be reunited with them when we come to the sky, to be by your side. In the name of all stars we pray. Amen.”

The words felt hollow to Luna. She’d never shared her sister’s belief in an afterlife, and even if there were one, it would be quite a while until she joined it.

Nonetheless there was a small pleasure in saying the words, no matter their power or truth. Even if she herself was the same sort of all powerful goddess as far as these ponies cared, she could still take comfort in the idea of being reunited with her loved ones, with her sister, at some undefined future point in time.

Before the ceremony could continue, Luna slipped away, thanking the ponies at the door.

When she got back to her room, finally, she undressed and bathed before falling into a quick deep sleep.

She did not dream.

Chapter 31. Adjusting

Luna woke to the soft music of a flute, somewhere outside. There was a maid who had taken to practicing in the gardens when the castle was almost empty, and now that ponies had returned they seemed to not mind.

The princess of Equestria looked out of the small gaps in heavy curtains to spot the tops of a tree, leaves rustling gently in the slight breeze, the sunlight giving them a shine. It was a fine evening to wake to, but she wished she could have passed it by. Let somepony else raise the moon. Perhaps Celestia would return and rule as a despotic tyrant for a while, to give her a break.

It was a terribly amusing thought.

Luna got out of bed and spread the curtains to take in the mostly sleeping Canterlot under the scorching sun. A few delivery workers and early risers were up and about, but the streets were mostly clear.

But she couldn’t watch her ponies wake, not without leaving other duties unfinished.

As soon as she opened the door, her guards were by her side, followed soon after by Black Ink, the manager of the castle staff.

“Your Highness,” Ink said softly as she followed along.

“Good evening, Ink,” Luna sighed. “How can I help you?”

“We’ve received word that some of the griffin staff who had left during the war are seeking to return.”

Luna nodded, rounding a corner to the doors of the Great Hall. “Very well, allow them to return without any penalty or restrictions. We need to put this all behind us quickly, and that means easing tensions with griffins of any nationality.”

“Of course,” Ink nodded, writing down the exact words as Luna opened the doors to find two doctors fussing over Vivid, who was sitting next to the throne, smiling.

Luna couldn’t help the wide grin that broke out on her face, as she ran ahead of her group and took flight, to land just in front of Vivid.

“--idea,” one doctor was muttering.

“Well, if it helps her,” the other sighed to her colleague before turning to face Luna, trying to smile. “Your Highness.”

“Why aren't you in bed?” Luna chided gently.

Vivid grinned, winced, then grinned again before reaching up and exploring the space in front of her to find and touch Luna’s nose gently.

“Dreams. Of you. But you were an earth pony, heh.”

Luna laughed a little, sitting back to admire the smile on Vivid’s face. It was a simple smile, untroubled by all the stresses and pains of Vivid’s life, her sins and fears all seemingly vanished in the face of the pain she’d endured.

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” Luna said happily. “I could be an earth pony, still be a princess, just not have to worry about raising the moon.”

“Silly, you still rose the moon,” Vivid said, tilting her head to the side. “But you did it with your earth pony powers.”

Luna looked to one of the doctors, an earth pony, who just rolled her eyes. But Luna didn’t mind.

“Of course, my earth pony powers. Have you eaten yet tonight?” Luna asked Vivid, while glancing to the doctors who shook their heads.

“We-- I was wait...” Vivid objected with a slight frown. “For you.”

“Well I appreciate it,” Luna said gently, leading Vivid and the doctors back to the hallway and then into the dining room. “But we must make sure you are eating enough.”

They were halfway through the hall when Vivid suddenly stopped. Everypony else continued for a few steps before pausing and looking back at her. Vivid had stopped in a beam of sunlight that came in from the large bay windows, and was smiling serenely into the sunlight.

Luna looked to the doctors but they didn’t seem alarmed, so she walked back to her side and sat.

“It’s like my garden,” Vivid said with a wavering smile, the corners of her eyes gathering tears.

“Back in Bitain,” Luna concluded. “Where you grew your food.”

Vivid nodded. “I’d L--L-- go back sometime.”

Luna gestured to the doctors for them to get some food, before laying her wing over Vivid’s back.

“I can take you,” Luna said, smiling as she watched Vivid turn her face to warm her other cheek in the light.

“Yeah? We’d go soon?” Vivid asked hopefully.

“Soon as you’re well enough to travel,” Luna promised. “Then if you can’t travel by magic, I’ll take you by ship across the sea.”

“Then what?” Vivid asked breathlessly.

Luna didn’t answer for a bit, hugging her a bit tighter with her wing.

“Wou… um… rest in the grass with me?” Vivid asked hopefully.

There was a slightly childish quality to her voice, and Luna could not stop herself from tearing up. Yet she was smiling. She may have lost her Vivid, the quick wit and sharp tongue, who took her princess to task as often as to bed, yet there was now… A vulnerable gentleness to her. One which tempered the sense of loss in Luna’s heart with a new sort of wonder. For the first time, Vivid would let Luna care for her, and be simple together. Simpleness that was so rare in Luna’s long life.

“Of course I would,” Luna whispered, voice heavy and hoarse with emotion. “We’d make sweetgrass and lemon tea after, and you’d show me your carvings.”

“Ooh… Carvings,” Vivid laughed softly, smiling. “Sunny shine carvings, you can give to sister!”

“Oh, most certainly,” Luna said without hesitation, kissing Vivid on the top of her head as a few tears fell into her mane. “But first, it is breakfast time. You must eat.”

The doctors had returned, with food. It didn’t take long to guide Vivid to a table and one of the doctors to start feeding her, but Luna hung back with the other doctor, drying her eyes.

"Are you alright, your highness?" The doctor asked gently.

"I'll be fine in time," Luna sighed. "But… will she really last long enough to go to her home village?"

The doctor hesitated before nodding.

"I believe that she will. In a week or two, she should be healthy enough to travel by your moonlight."

Luna looked up with a curious smile. "My moonlight?"

The doctor sheepishly nodded. "I thought that was how you moved from place to place with magic."

Luna grinned and stood. "Well, it might as well be. I like it. A week or two then, and she'll be ready to go. I… am also curious how long she may last in general?"

"It's impossible to say. It's rare for unicorns to survive a complete break of their horn. As long as she doesn't use it, she could live a full life, another thirty or even fifty years."

"And if she does use it? On instinct?" Luna asked, her grin fading.

"It could work fine, or kill her instantly. Or any number of complications in between."

Luna nodded and returned to Vivid's side.

"How is it?" She asked cheerfully.

"Oh, good," Vivid said happily as she took a bite of eggs from the offered fork. "Sh' good."

"Well then I suppose I should get a plate," the princess chuckled, heading off to stand in line despite many Ponies urging her to skip to the front.

But as she waited in line, patiently, she found more tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. This whole thing hurt terribly, and was so confusing, but when did a princess have time to rest and adjust to her loss? It wasn’t as though ponies stopped dying. After her first love, so long ago, she’d been distant to most ponies. She’d allowed for the world to spin around her without concern or obsession seizing her. Could she manage this pain again and again? Hundreds more years until Celestia returned and burned Equestria to the ground, thousands of ponies who were meaningful, beautiful, handsome and brave. Thousands of days just like this, full of loss.

Then again, would the alternative be worse? If she adjusted and hurt less each time, then would she be a cold and distant ruler? One for whom death meant nothing besides the ending of one story and the beginning of next?

“Your highness?”

She blinked away her tears and gave a grateful smile as she took the plate of food a guard had prepared for her as she’d sat there numbly.

“Thank you,” Luna whispered, smiling as she cleared her cheeks and eyes of moisture and took a few steadying breaths.

There had to be a middle ground, she knew. There must be a way to slowly learn to ease the pain, while remaining a good princess, remaining a pony at heart.

“You’re back!” Vivid said brightly as Luna sat down next to her.

“I am,” Luna said, feeling a bit better just from hearing Vivid’s voice as she started eating her own meal. “I like the hollandaise sauce.”

“A-- So focused on sauce,” Vivid said with a chuckle. “There’s good food with no sauce.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Luna said fondly, wiping her lips before kissing Vivid on the top of her head. “And yet every one of them would be made better with the addition of sauce, I think.”

“Pastry,” Vivid said, jabbing Luna in the side gently with her hoof.

“Cream sauce, jam can be used to make all sorts of delectable toppings, sugar when liquid is a sauce--”

“Fine, meat,” Vivid said with a grin, believing her unique past gave her an unquestionable point.

“Did you know you can make gravy out of the drippings?” Luna asked, trying not to smile too much as the doctors looked between the two ponies who had just revealed they’d eaten meat in the past.

One of the doctors pushed her plate away, looking a little green, as the other listened in fascination.

“Doesn’t count,” Vivid said quickly. “That’s part of the food, not a new thing.”

“Fine,” Luna said, thinking for a moment before her smile returned. “Horseradish sauce.”

“What’s that?” Vivid asked curiously.

“Don’t tell the doctors, but I’ll have our chefs get a proper griffin meal together for you sometime, meat and all, and horseradish sauce,” Luna stage-whispered to Vivid.

“Not hiding it very we-- good,” Vivid pointed out, grinning.

“No, no I’m really not. Are there any health risks I should know of?” Luna asked the less squeamish doctor.

“Not that I know of, besides the normal restrictions. Cooked through, nothing Equine, Bovine, or Cervine to avoid thaumic staining,” the doctor listed off as the other one stood and walked away to a nearby balcony to get some fresh air.

“You know, in the years long past, ponies ate meat when ill. It was said that it had healing powers. Who knows, it might help you out, my dear,” Luna said hopefully.

“Oh, it-- an odd sort of treat,” Vivid admitted before digging back into her eggs.

The doctor raised her hoof, waiting for Luna to gesture for her to speak.

“Would you mind if I joined you two for that meal?” the doctor asked with a nervous smile.

“Adventurous little pony!” Luna chuckled. “Very well, you can keep an eye on my love while we eat.”

They finished eating, smiling and as Vivid went back to the infirmary Luna headed into the kitchens on Canterlot Castle.

It was a different world, in a way. Outside of the kitchens, Princess Luna was in control of everything, she had absolute power and the respect of every pony that crossed her path. But in the kitchen, as it had been for hundreds of years in every castle in Equestria, the Chef rules supreme. She could even have the Princess removed by force if she wished.

So, Princess Luna stepped into the kitchen's coat room and stood there as prep cooks and other white-jacketed workers bustled past, sparing her a curious glance before going along their way. After several minutes one of the sous chefs stepped into the room and gestured.

“Breakfast service is over, the Chef will see you now,” the stallion said simply before going back into the kitchen, Luna following.

Whereas Canterlot castle was a building of white and grey stone with birch and oak wood, the kitchen was copper and spruce wood, with white tile flooring, walls, and ceiling. Each stove was made of cast iron with occasional blue flames licking the bottom of pans.

The Chef sat at the head of a large prep table, watching her chefs clean up from breakfast and prepare for lunch.

She was a pegasus, with a cream coat and bright yellow mane. Her mane was pulled into a bun and under a chef’s hat, and her wings were covered in her chef’s coat. Her cutie mark was a pair of knives crossed and bound with a bundle of herbs.

“You need to speak to me, princess?” the Chef asked, finally looking to her after watching a cook pour spare sauce into a jar.

“I have a special request,” Luna said with a nod. “If it could be worked in.”

“What do you need?”

“A griffin dinner for three ponies tomorrow.”

There was a tense silence as suddenly every pony who had heard the statement stopped what they were doing to try and listen in.

The Chef cleared her throat, and the activity resumed around them.

“That can be done, we do keep a small reserve of pork and chicken on hoof if that is sufficient?” the Chef asked as calmly as though they were discussing the wine choice.

“It is, can you also make a horseradish sauce to accompany the pork?” Luna asked, trying to remain calm considering that she hadn’t eaten meat in hundreds of years, and no modern pony would know about it.

The Chef held up a hoof, before fetching another cook and sending her off to check the stockroom. They sat in silence until the cook returned.

“One and a half hooves of root left, Chef,” the cook said before returning to their work.

“Yes. We can make a horseradish sauce,” the Chef nodded. “Anything else specific to this meal?”

“It will be served in the private dining room, and one of the ponies attending has not eaten meat before,” Luna said with a slight smile. “So… Some extra veggies may do her well.”

The Chef actually rolled her eyes. “And have a bucket nearby, yes, we will take care of it.”

“I never had a doubt,” Luna said with a nod as she turned and left the kitchens, returning to the now empty dining room.

The sun was ready to set, and Luna went to the nearest balcony instead of going back to her room. Lighting her horn, she seized the sun.

But there was no scream of rage and struggle from it this evening. Luna hesitated and looking into the bright spot, the same outline of her sister still etched into the sun.

“Four hundred years?” Luna whispered. “Is that how long it took for you to grow tired?”

There was no answer, of course. But Luna nodded and gently set the sun so the moon could rise, and so that Equestria could wake.

Bonus Scene: The Making of a Meal

The Chef, in fact an Executive Chef named Evergreen, stood at the head of the table while her Executive Sous Chef, two sous chefs, and a prep chef stood along the sides.

“This will be a particularly unique meal,” Evergreen said as she pinned up a small menu onto a cork board behind her. “Unlike any other that you may have assisted me with. We do not often discuss the differences between pony and griffon tasted, but there are differences we must be aware of. Griffons we cook for once or twice a year, and we must forgo our senses of taste and smell when we do so.”

She took a breath and paused, looking around at her crew.

“This morning we will be tasting the food we prepare.”

There was no visible reaction, but they all felt a tingle up the back of their necks.

“If this is something you cannot do, go assist with lunch preparation,” Evergreen concluded.

Nopony left.

Evergreen nodded, and fetched a covered pan from the stove where a low flame had been heating it.

“None of you smell the smells we are used to in preparing meat for griffons, correct?” Evergreen asked.

They all shook their heads, and she took the top of the pan off to reveal a seared chicken breast, breaded in golden brown breading with herbs in the oil and grease at the bottom of the pan.

“This is one way ponies historically prepared meat,” Evergreen explained. “In our two preparations, this is the one which is least difficult for a pony to enjoy.”

She took the chicken out of the pan and cut it into strips.

“Note the middle is slightly pink, while the outer surface is nearly white. This preparation is only possible due to the quality of our stock. If you were to be cooking this in Griffonstone, I would recommend that you cook it more thoroughly. The loss of moisture is a small price to pay for the health of your guests.”

She then directed them each to take a strip and try it. They were quiet as they ate, and pondered the flavor. Two of them even seemed intrigued, while only one of the sous chefs had to step away and cough, struggling with the flavor.

“There is no shame in having difficulty with the flavor,” Evergreen said quickly, reassuring them. “Pork is more difficult than this, and we ponies should never attempt to eat beef, as it may poison our magic, and make us violently ill. When we prepare it for griffons, we will always maintain a separation.”

“But in the future, if we wished to eat chicken or pork, or prepare it with more skill?” the sous chef who was not struggling asked.

“Then you could do so,” Evergreen nodded.

After they finished the chicken, Evergreen fetched a small piece of pink meat on a plate.

“This is raw pork. Chicken you can treat as though it is… artichoke, aubergine, or other vegetables. Pork should not be. If you are using pork, you are using a moderately intelligent animal’s flesh. Chickens are considered non intelligent. The pork should be used sparingly and it’s unique traits amplified.”

A certain amount of nervousness came over the group, as they fell still and watched Evergreen season the piece of pork.

“Salt, pepper, lightly on both and then a bit of cumin. You’ll notice that most meat can utilize cumin to mask the flavors we find less pleasing. Pan on high heat with a bit of oil, until it ripples.”

They waited and watched as the pan got hot, and then the pork was placed into the oil, hissing immediately.

“We ponies find caramelized and charred meat more pleasing than raw meat, in most cases. Sear heavily, and flip often to create a seasoned crust, but be careful not to get past honey brown, we don’t want to eat charcoal,” Evergreen explained before finally taking the meat out and placing it on the plate next to the chicken. “More seasonings can be used, but we won’t be doing much more this morning.”

She cut into it, similarly slightly pink in the middle, with a golden brown outer surface. Again, each chef tried a piece. This time everypony except the prep cook and Evergreen wretched or at least coughed before getting it down.

“The meat taste is much more prominent,” Evergreen nodded. “With a sauce, especially a potent one, this will be largely masked. Horseradish can obliterate most flavors, but of course we will be creating a cream sauce with grated horseradish within, to preserve as much of the initial flavor as possible.”

She took note of her executive sous chef, who had finished her piece and was contemplating trying another.

“It is an acquired taste,” Evergreen offered. “Like caviar, the initial flavors are jarring and some ponies will never like it. But our princess apparently has that taste, along with her consort and some other pony. Probably a snotty noble.”

A soft chuckle rounded the kitchen, and Evergreen smiled, nodding.

“Alright, so! Cucumber sandwiches with mustard, battered chicken with cheese and red sauce, seared pork with a cream horseradish sauce, roasted broccoli and kale, finished by the Bichon au citron that our dear baker has been working on all day.”

She pointed to the prep cook first.

“You’ll be fetching the ingredients from the ice cave. One whole chicken, a pork tenderloin, half of the remaining horseradish, a basket half broccoli half kale, and an assortment of herbs.”

The cook nodded and trotted off as Evergreen turned to the remaining three.

“None of you have worked in Griffonstone, correct? No knowledge in butchering?”

One of the sous chefs held up a hoof, to Evergreen’s surprise.

“I grew up in the northern reaches of Equestria. We still eat meat occasionally there, though I never did. I learned how to butcher a chicken though.”

“Well that will save a huge amount of time,” Evergreen said happily. “You are in charge of the chicken then. Break it down to boneless fillets, prepare the breading and red sauce, and we'll store the pieces in the ice cave once you’re done, until an hour before the meal.”

She then gestured to the remaining sous chef, who was least comfortable with the meat so far.

“I’d like you to prepare the horseradish sauce while the prep for the roasted salad is done by the prep cook. When it’s time to cook, I think that I’ll have you take over the dinner for the castle, while we focus on this.”

He blinked a few times, surprised.

“Meal head?” he clarified with surprise.

“Meal head,” Evergreen nodded. “You may not be good with meat, but I trust you with this dinner, alright?”

“Yes, Chef.”

Finally she looked to her executive sous chef.

“You’ll be double checking everything, learning how to butcher a chicken from her,” she gestured to one of the sous chefs. “In addition to coordinating the appetizer and dessert. I’ll be at the pass.”

“Yes Chef.”

“Then let’s get to work.”

Chapter 32. Moonset

Luna strode down her throne, the dawn court finished and the petitioners all gone. The great hall was empty, except for Black Ink and her guards.

But as the door was opened to the halls, Ink stepped forward and in front of Luna.

She was clearly struggling to say something, and Luna decided that she wouldn’t hold Ink to decorum yet, rather choosing to sit back and wait her to find the words.

“I… Believe that it is time for you to appoint me or some other pony as Castillian and Senechal, since Vivid Colour is not able to fulfill the needs of the role,” she finally said.

Luna twitched and very nearly shouted, but held herself in check barely. She was then filled with anger at herself for on instinct defending a position that Vivid could no longer hold.

She looked away and breathed slowly, calming herself.

“I… agree,” Luna whispered. “But it is hard to think about. I hereby assign the title of Castilian to you, and give the tasks of assigning Senechal and all other needed titles to you, under review of the Ruling Council.”

Black Ink nodded and bowed.

“Thank you, your highness,” she whispered. “I understand the difficulty, absolutely.”

“Thank you,” Luna sighed. “Now… as you handle that, I will be having dinner with my love. Please, keep her memory in our institution alive. That… is important to me.”

“I would never dream of removing the work she has done,” Ink said confidently, before stepping aside.

So Luna continued onward to the infirmary with only her guards, through halls full of maids and workers, without even noticing who bowed and who didn’t.

But when she heard Vivid’s laughter from beyond the doors, she felt her emotions lighten and a smile finally bloom before opening the door to see Vivid standing at the window, the sunrise’s soft warmth playing across her face, eyes unseeing but full of joy, and a gentle breeze flowing over her mane.

“I hear boots, is that my moony?” Vivid asked with a grin.

Luna chuckled and walked closer, laying a wing over her back as the doctors stepped aside.

“It is,” Luna agreed. “And your moony has come to take her love to dinner.”

“Oooh, dinner treat,” Vivid said happily as she stepped back and Luna closed the window behind her. “Meat, right?”

“Yes, I believe also some sauces,” Luna chuckled as Vivid followed the lead of her doctor to the nearest table, where the doctor checked her temperature with a mercury thermometer and nodded happily.

“Sauces, yes, endless sauces for Moony,” Vivid snickered.

“Oh, only the most endless sauces,” Luna agreed, kissing Vivid on the cheek as the doctor removed the wrapping from her horn.

When the wrapping was removed, Luna paused, taking in the horn.

There was a jagged break of the skin, scabbed over at a diagonal from one side to the other.

Tears were almost instantly in Luna’s eyes and she bit her lip, careful not to say anything.

“How does it -- is it ok?” Vivid asked with a wavering smile.

“It looks just fine,” Luna whispered as she kissed Vivid’s cheek again. “It’s ok. It’s dinner time.”

They stood and headed out into the halls, the doctor and guards following along, Vivid staying close to Luna’s side so she would not stray into a wall.

The private dining room was decorated from the last event, something to do with the war, somber brown and blue tones draped on the walls, but the table was set with bright yellow and blue flowers.

As they entered, Luna pulled back the curtains to let the morning sunlight pour in, and to reveal the sleepy Canterlot below, the last rush of activity in the streets signaling an approach to bedtime for most citizens.

Then, the three ponies sat around one end of the large table.

“I’m surprised I’m so nervous,” the doctor chuckled nervously.

“Oh, ca-- settle down. At it w-- be cooked and cooked fancy, my first taste was raw,” Vivid said with a smirk and her nose a bit in the air, imitating some noble talking about fine wine.

“Really, I didn’t know that,” Luna said, suddenly curious as she adjusted her cushion and nodded to the waitress pouring glasses of wine for each of them.

“A seagu--, when I was adrift on a boat,” Vivid said, nodding and dropping the air of fake nobility. “Not good, but enough to go on.”

A bell rang in the kitchens, and plates were carried out and set in front of each pony, with little cucumber sandwiches arranged in a star.

“Oh, appetisers, right,” the doctor chuckled.

“You didn’t think that the meal would be simply meat on a plate with nothing else, did you?” Luna asked curiously as the doctor ate one of the sandwich bites, her cheeks a bit pink.

“Oh, be nice, she’s new,” Vivid said, smiling a little.

Luna nodded, also smiling as they all ate together. As soon as one of them was done with their sandwiches, the first entree was brought out, pan fried chicken with red sauce drizzled over the still crackling breading, and cheese melted on top.

“Oh, what I wo-- w-- give to have this back then,” Vivid sighed happily, as Luna fed her a piece.

The doctor curiously examined a small piece, sniffing it and finding it not too bad, before finally eating it. She blinked a few times before digging in and quickly finishing the rest of the plate.

Vivid, bite by bite, was fed the meal before Luna quickly finished her own.

“So, Doctor, how is it?” Vivid asked eagerly, wiping her mouth with a napkin she’d carefully picked up with her hooves.

“Surprisingly juicy, for some reason I thought it would be dry and stringy, more chewy,” the doctor said, muffling a burp behind one hoof. “But… surprisingly good.”

As they spoke, a wave of aroma flowed out from the kitchen door while it opened, the scathing harsh smell of horseradish, which faded quickly before the next smell reached them, that of a rich meaty sweetness.

The doctor coughed softly, wide eyed as the plates were set down in front of each pony, a boneless pork tenderloin steak with a crescent of grilled kale and broccoli next to it, and a sun of white creamy horseradish sauce half on and half next to the meat.

“That certa-- scent is better than the griffins made,” Vivid said, sniffing at the air curiously, and leaning down to sniff it even closer as it was set down.

“I’ll have to thank the Chef,” Luna muttered. “This is incredible for such short notice, and much better than the griffin meals we make. Though, they seem to like it, so…”

Vivid tried to pick up her fork with her hoof, but Luna quickly scooted her chair over a bit closer and took the utensils, cutting strips and dipping them into the sauce, before feeding it to Vivid.

She immediately started coughing, and as Luna gasped and tried to find some way to help, Vivid started laughing, making her even more confused.

“I… didn’t…. Didn’t ask what horseradish is,” Vivid gasped between laughs and coughs.

“Oh Stars,” Luna mumbled, cheeks quite dark. “I… It’s spicy in a way…”

“I know that now!” Vivid wheezed, grinning.

Vivid took the napkin and coughed into it a few times as the doctor ate a few bites, watching Vivid to make sure she was ok. Naturally, the doctor was very gentle on the amount of sauce she used.

“So… not as much of the sauce,” Vivid scolded Luna gently. “Come on.”

Luna obeyed, and gave her a bite with only a little bit of sauce on it, and they were able to work their way through dinner, some appreciation of the sauce being had when in reasonable quantities, and finally pastries being delivered to their table on tiny plates.

“So Doctor, how do you find your first meal of meat?” Luna asked as Vivid ate her pastry.

“This…”

“Pork,” Luna supplied.

“This pork is harder for me to stomach than the chicken,” the doctor sighed. “But the sauce makes it palatable. I think it is good for me to have tried it, but in the future I will likely pass on anything but chicken.”

Luna nodded in agreement.

Then a door slammed in the distance, down a nearby hall. Vivid flinched, and Luna turned to see a light shimmering along Vivid’s horn, her expression stricken with fear from the sudden sound.

“Viv--”

Luna couldn’t finish the name, before an explosion tore the table apart, and threw Luna to the opposite side of the room.

A black smoke filled the dining hall, and Luna’s ears were ringing.

She stood, wavering on her hooves and numbly noting that her crown was laying on the floor as she spotted the doctor, laying unconscious on the stone floor nearby, outlined in a beam of sunlight.

But she could not find Vivid.

A black mark of a star on the stone floor was etched deep into the surface where Vivid had been sitting.

When Luna opened her mouth to shout her love’s name, she couldn’t hear her own voice, she couldn’t even tell if there was any noise coming from her lips.

Some pony was at her side, pressing against her as she searched for any sign of her love.

Finally when she looked, it was one of her guards. Lyra or something, trying to push her in some direction or another, guiding her like a lost sheep.

Luna begged, silent in her own ears, for help in finding Vivid. But despite tears flowing from Lyra’s eyes, the guard continued her insistence.

So Luna gave in, her eyes searching broken wooden planks and shattered plates, until she was in the hallway and could not see them anymore.

Then, she did not remember anything but walking, and finally laying down on white sheets where ponies rushed around her.

She knew what had happened, but she couldn’t accept it. Things had been perfect. Everything was perfect, and then…

She couldn’t remember closing her eyes and letting herself fall asleep, but she was clearly in shock, and when she woke she could softly hear ponies talking, as though in the distance.

“Have you found her?” Luna asked, her own voice sounding like it was underwater to her.

Black Ink moved into her field of view, and spoke slowly and clearly.

“We haven’t found a body or any sign of Vivid Colour. What happened?”

Luna closed her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts.

“I… heard a door slam, a loud sudden noise… then Vivid was using her magic. That was… it. Then she was gone.”

There was silence, and a hoof on her arm for a moment, before she was gone and Luna was asleep again.

But when she woke next, everything hurt. She felt a pounding headache and pains all over her body, groaning as she tried to turn over but was pushed gently to stay still as she was encouraged to drink something, pills of some kind.

The pain faded slowly, over an hour of misery, and she was able to hear a little better.

“May I get up?” Luna asked the lead doctor as she walked into the room.

“Normally I’d say no, but since your body seems to be repairing itself rapidly, I will not refuse it of you,” the doctor said wearily.

Luna carefully got out of bed and sat on the floor, finally noticing the other occupied bed, the doctor who had been at dinner with her, a bandage around her head and still unconscious.

“How long have I been asleep?” Luna asked, trying not to focus too much on the still pony.

“Thirteen hours, I think a bit longer, but without the sun setting, it’s hard to tell,” the doctor admitted.

“Damn, I may be late indeed,” Luna agreed as she slowly walked to the window and closed her eyes again, forcing the once again struggling sun below the horizon, and bringing up the moon, resting her cheek against the glass once she was done.

“I’m sorry, your highness…”

“Not now,” Luna said sharply. “I will not be accepting sympathy or kindness right now.”

The silence was welcoming, and after a few moments, Luna simply walked out of the infirmary.

Her guards followed, all the way to the private dining room.

It was empty and dark, and Posey was sitting next to the scorched mark, casting spells in the pale light of the moon.

“Can you find her?” Luna asked, her voice low, and her hearing still weak.

Posey looked up, and stopped her spells before approaching.

“You should be rest--”

“Can you find her?” Luna repeated, even more firmly.

Posey slowly shook her head. “Not yet…”

Luna turned, and walked away from her as well. It was cathartic to finally embrace her distaste for niceties, to reject the social requirements that wasted her time. In the midst of her pain, she was cruelly joyful to be able to shove others away and finally be alone.

Well, besides the guards.

She lit her horn, and vanished from the sight of the guards, so she could be truly alone in the ruins of Everfree City, and the castle she’d once helped to build, stone by stone, now in the midst of being consumed by nature.

Chapter 33. Stars

Black Ink sat in front of the ruling council of Equestria, trying not to panic.

“So we don’t know where she went, what she intends, or when she will return,” one of the councilmembers asked, hoping Ink would say no, that they had misunderstood.

“Correct," Ink nodded, laying out the paperwork she'd quickly gathered in front of her. "In absentia, the Castilian is in charge of keeping everything running on a neutral ground, making minimal decisions until the princess returns, with input from the ruling council of course."

"But the Castilian is missing, presumed dead," somepony pointed out.

"I was appointed the post this last moonset, a--"

"But we're you officially sworn in?" A golden unicorn mare asked sternly, her plentiful jewelry reflecting her orange magic to make her almost glow.

"I… no, but the law clearly states that the authority of appointment from the crown is verbal firstly, and legally binding."

"If she actually did assign you that position. We have no way of verifying it at the moment besides your own words," the mare insisted.

Ink narrowed her eyes and stood a little taller.

"Princess Sunlight Sol Howl, have I given you or any other pony on the council the impression that I am the sort of pony to seek power above my station?"

“This is not an impugnment of your character, Lady Ink,” Howl began, before Ink rapped her hoof on the table.

“Incorrect. This is, at it’s core, an accusation of treason. To falsify a royal decree is treason, so my character is quite appropriately in the moonlight here, so again I ask yourself, your highness, and the council as a whole, have I ever given cause to expect such behavior?”

There was an uncomfortable silence, as the ponies in the room looked between themselves, until finally another pony raised a hoof.

“I, Swift Wind, motion to accept the statement as given.”

“Second,” another pony said, raising a hoof. “All in favor?”

A majority of the council agreed, and Ink could relax a little, sitting back down.

“So, that puts you in charge,” Princess Howl said bitterly. “What will you do?”

“Nothing,” Ink sighed. “I believe that Princess Luna will return in short order, all responsibilities of the Crown shall be delayed for one week in a period of mourning, and we will revisit all of this then if Princess Luna has not returned. For now, you are all dismissed, and I relinquish any in-progress changes to prevent any changes from being put into place without the appearance of authority.”

Black Ink stacked her papers and turned to leave.

“That’s it? The power of Equestria at your hooves, and you do nothing but wait?” Howl asked.

Ink paused, and looked back over her shoulders.

“That’s it. That’s my duty.”

Luna sat in the courtyard of Everfree castle, moon overhead, staring at the dark overgrown halls before her.

Was this some desperate grasp at closure? Was there some hope for something more? Was there anything waiting for her in the catacombs below besides more pain?

She stood, and walked into the hall. By the construction, some ponies may assume it had once been a great tall passageway, but there was a missing floorway, that had previously been the second floor. Luna was standing in an ordinary hallway. Small, claustrophobic, lacking all of it’s decorations and it’s ceiling.

She pressed onwards, into the great hall, where she paused.

Her throne still stood, the solar throne still next to it, as she felt it should be. It was a shame, now, to have a single throne. A single princess and a ruling council, when the sun was supposed to be just as important as the moon.

She sighed, turning away from the tattered tapestries and crumbling glass windows, to the continuation of the old hallway, which she took to a spiral staircase leading down. The last intact staircase in the castle that went below the surface of the dirt.

She stopped at the top, and sighed. It was just about herself, wasn’t it? Not Vivid, who she’d loved so dearly, and lost too young, not about her garden back in Bitain, it was about Luna, and what Luna wanted. But that had to be enough, for now.

She stepped down, into the darkness, and cast the spell to light the gemstones mounted in sconces along the walls. The soft blue light helped her step carefully, rounding the bend and then through the old vault door, into the hallway, she’d carved herself and then finally to the octagonal chamber.

The red illusion of Vivid was standing there, but not facing Luna. She was tending to a new sarcophagus, one with a resting depiction of herself laid upon the top, sleeping, joining the first of Luna’s great loves in eternal rest.

It was eerie, the ghost in red still there, still mourning with her, and yet it was right in it’s own way. It was Vivid’s magic bidding her farewell from her short and painful life. It was being there even in death to lean on Luna’s side as her princess sobbed over the carved marble. It was a promise fulfilled, despite the world demanding it be broken.

Sometimes, there was nothing left to be done, to make the world right, and sometimes you could not sit with the memory of your lost loved one for very long, as painful as every moment was, and yet she understood. Yet she wished the Princess of the Night peaceful rest, as she left that buried chamber with it’s sole occupant, to live quietly on into the eternal future alone.

Vivid Colour, or what was left of her, paced in the dark. Her own body shedding red light, and her artificial mind distinctly uncomfortable with the silence, until she came to a conclusion, looking between the sarcophagi.

“Well… I have not much else to do,” Vivid whispered as she began crafting spell circles. “Let us see if there is a way for us to meet, dear Prim Rose.”

Epilogue

Princess Luna stood at a podium.

The only ponies in the room were her friends, of sorts.

There were the Archway mages who had helped train Vivid, Posey standing closest to the podium, the sorrow on her face etched deep, but the nervous pony now a leader. A strong pillar.

Black Ink, Lyra, and so many other guards, scribes, and workers who worked closely with Vivid.

Two leaders from two churches, one in black and the other in white, whispered prayers side by side.

Then Lemon Tart and Sharp Tack, practically siblings to Vivid, in heart.

Even some ponies from a farming town at the foot of Canterhorn mountain, who had once seen Vivid’s visit save their lives, and some ponies who she had interacted with over the years, and left a positive impression on.

Then, in the corner surrounded by guards, was the queen of Bitain. Luna did not ask why she was there, but she was the only head of state who had asked to come, and Luna was willing to accept her presence.

“Before the official ceremony begins, I wanted to speak a few words in private,” Luna said softly, “Vivid never would have permitted her funeral to be a public affair, so this will be her funeral, and the rest of the ceremony will be… Well, public, and in such, less genuine.”

She cleared her throat, and looked down to the empty coffin, which held Vivid’s private belongings and a set of her Court Mage uniform.

“Vivid Colour came to me in chains, in controversy and fear. She is… was blind, and used her magic to navigate the world, while making it clear that she only did so for our convenience. When she lived alone, she did not use her magic, she just… tended her garden and carved things, and lived in peace. I will admit that before I met her I’d thought every blind pony in the world would gladly use magic to gain sight, but Vivid expanded my horizons. She showed me that my view of the world was not the logical peak of equine experience. Then again, Vivid showed me that the world was much more complex and emotionally charged than I had ever thought.”

She sighed, closing her eyes.

“I sacrificed political power and my own inscrutable position of celibacy, to have the first open relationship I’d had in more than a hundred years, and the first one which would be public record. Vivid… did not have to earn that. I had to give it, and I found a reason to give my secret personal life away in a pony who needed me, who was willing to be raw, imperfect, and open. I also… found love. Classical, simple, and unexpected.”

She cleared tears from her eyes, and straightened her papers, on which she’d written what she wanted to say.

“Vivid was irreverent, yet deeply religious. In her, I learned to allow myself to be revered,” she said, amused enough to smile but not quite enough to laugh. “After so long fighting the concept… and at once I also learned to remember my sister a little more fondly.”

She nodded to the two clerics, who bowed their heads in unison.

“So now… Taken from us, taken from me so soon, when I’d hoped to have decades more with her by my side, I am faced with the question of what I shall do with the pain,” Luna sighed, trying to maintain her smile a little. “And the answer is as it has always been. I will work. I will let go of my love, and I will pursue the duties of the crown with absolute focus. But some day… Some day I hope that the memory of Vivid Colour brings me only joy. That day, I will erect a monument in her honor, tell others of her dedication and bravery, and I will be so glad to have had her, even for a short time.”

She bowed her head, and turned away from the podium, as the ponies tapped their hooves gently in agreement, tears marking their princess’s path out of the room.

Author's Note

This is it. The last of Vivid Colour. The next story is going to come out in a few weeks, and will be set just before/in the industrial revolution.

Thank you all for reading, I deeply appreciate it.

Chapter 1. Seawater

"Water..."

Viv woke to the rocking of the boat, and the pain of her throat, rough as though she'd been eating sand. Her lips cracked and bled, stinging with the thin salt spray that covered everything.

The rocking of the boat was erratic, unfamiliar to her, and she groaned as she tried to cover her body a little more with her cloak, shielding herself from the beating sun.

Unable to seek land or rely on any signal besides the rising sun in the mornings, Viv had resigned herself to going wherever the flow of the sea would take her. She paddled towards the sun in the mornings, and away from it in the evenings, but she knew it was futile. She could be within a dozen pony lengths of an island and not know it. In the last few hours, the boat had taken to lurching side to side in an odd way, rather than rocking. She wondered if it was falling apart or if she was cross to the waves.

A long high bird call shook her out of her misery, and she turned her head towards it, trying to hear anything more, any hint of where the bird was.

Another odd shove on the boat almost sent her stumbling off of it, clinging to the high side until it rested again. She felt dizzy, confused by the motion and by the toll taken by her body in this journey. Then another bird cry from only inches away scared her into flinging herself off the boat entirely, and onto wet sand. Blessed solid ground.

With a gleeful laugh, Viv spread her magic out from her body, up the side of the boat, and quickly grabbing the seagull and yanking it closer.

"Better than saltwater," She growled in a half-whisper, before killing the animal and drinking its blood.

That moment was not made of decision and thought, but rather some brutal animalistic desire. She’d lost so much of herself, that Viv did not exist as much as a starved and thoughtless equine that would do anything.

Once Viv finished her grisly meal, she had to lay on the sand for quite a while, fighting her stomach. Not only had she just eaten meat for the first time, but she'd taken a life on purpose, for her own survival. It was nauseating, it gripped every part of her body and twisted it. Her mind was struck with turmoil, her muscles tensed and spasmed, her stomach heaved, but she fought to keep it down.

In that horrible moment, Viv realized that this defined her. The will to live. She would do anything to live. That was the only thought she could cling to in the storm raging through her. The will and self strength that kept her from dying in this moment was her only redeeming facet, and the only thing she could trust.

After what seemed like hours, the air around her became cool. The tide had receded, leaving her dry.

Viv stood, coughing and then fighting the gag that came at the taste.

Slowly, she began walking away from the water. A thin line of her magic combed the ground in front of her, as her head hung so low she might catch her lip on a stray stone. She had no energy left to do anything but to live, and strive to keep going.

The beach turned to a plain, and then into a forest. After the sun had gone down completely and the cool air became frosty on her raw skin, Viv found a small trickling stream. She wondered briefly if she would have been able to make it this far without the nourishment from the seagull, but the question was quickly dismissed. It wouldn't help her to be self pitying.

The water was brackish, and tasted like there might be something untoward within, but it was enough nourishment for her to stagger on as the night grew steadily colder and her legs began to tremble.

But with her thin magic sense guiding her around trees, she continued to stumble through the trees.

When she finally found a small overhang to curl up in, she was so exhausted that she didn't even dream.

Viv woke abruptly, crying.

Alone, utterly. Without using her magic, she could almost imagine she'd fallen asleep in her garden in Bitain, she could imagine that the smell of tea leaves surrounded her, not moldering underbrush and wet rotten dirt. But even there, she'd been alone. Even in her home, she'd been isolated from the world, not because of her blindness, but because the ponies all around her had no desire to care about her, or know her.

Certainly it did not help that she shunned them at every opportunity, that she could imagine them as nothing else but the ponies that had allowed her to be abandoned in a church of the stars, and raised as the cripple of the town. They were all worthless, and she’d never forgiven them.

"Damn them all. Damn them all to the fires of Tartarus, and to the same darkness I make my home," she whispered as she tried to clear the tears from her eyes, and stand.

The sounds of the forest around her made it clear that she'd found herself in some sort of wilderness far from civilization that would have taught the birds to be scared of ponies, who had hunted them for feathers for hundreds of years. She would need to survive on her own. As she took her first step back into the forest, she felt the hair of her coat on her chest remain taut, and grimaced as she realized that she must have had blood or some other substance stiffening her coat.

With new determination, she lit her magic in a full circle around her, and began walking. Thanks to some rudimentary knowledge of berries, she was able to find a small snack before the sun rose highest in the sky. They were bitter little things, but they tasted better than Viv's last meal.

She then lucked across a small stream. Equally thin as the previous one, she followed it until she found a pool that she could step into after drinking, and clean the saltwater and blood from her coat.

Feeling thoroughly pathetic, and laying the sopping wet cloak across her back to dry in the warm sunlight, Viv had to wonder what to do next. Staying in this spot seemed like giving up, like she was admitting defeat. But continuing onwards seemed too risky.

Despite wanting desperately to move on, to find the comforts of civilization again, Viv realized that she could walk off into a desert, and not find water again for days. She'd stumbled across this pond, the chances of finding another easily wouldn't be worth the risk.

With a sigh, and resigning herself to the difficulty of survival ahead, she laid down next to the pond. Drinking slowly so she would not risk upsetting her stomach further, she rested. Every once in a while she would reach out with her magic, exploring her surroundings. She could sense the trees, bushes, some large stones, nothing that stood out as urgent, until a rabbit hopped through her magical glow. She hesitated, but let it go.

"There must be another way," she whispered, shaking her head as she banished thoughts of meat.

Probing further with her magic, Viv found some sprouting greens that seemed like she might be able to eat them, and some mushrooms. Hoping that they weren't poisonous, she rose from her spot next to the pool, and began ripping up plants. Many of them turned to mush under her magic or tasted sour, but she found a strain of grass that tasted alright, along with some roots that she thought might be wild onions or something, by the layered structure and eye watering aroma.

It was enough for her to feel like she could focus on shelter, with her belly digesting something more agreeable.

Without a cave or overhang nearby, she found that she could fit between the two largest rocks in the area, making it a nice little shelter, if she covered it. It was a tight little hiding spot, just enough room for her to lay down, if she was okay with using a rock as a pillow, which she couldn’t really argue against considering the situation and the distinct lack of linen with which to make pillows. Besides, she was trying to kill fewer living things, not more, and it would take a lot of birds to fill a pillow.

Viv smiled a little at the idea of just catching that many birds to pluck them, and having an army of angry naked birds following her around to do her bidding. She then sighed and got to work.

With a few minutes of effort, she'd laid enough sticks across the two, that she could lay her cloak on top to make a shelter. Several times she accidentally knocked sticks down when she tried to examine the arrangement with her magic, and accidentally applied a push in the wrong direction.
But once the cloak was laid across and weighed down with a few stones, the roof of her shelter seemed sturdy enough.

She had another small meal of grass, before laying down and resting.

It was almost painful to have a moment of comfort and peace. The sea had been a constant state of discomfort, trying to use as little effort as possible, knowing it was only a matter of time until she died. But now she was surviving. Death was not a foregone conclusion.

So what would she do with her life, now that she could lay claim to it again? It was an unanswerable question.

She lowered her horn to the ground, and let the magic spread. It crawled across the rocky ground, then down until she felt it grow weak, and dissipate into a cloud. The water, a cool space that she couldn't quite touch, couldn't define. She could form a cup with her magic, lift water with it. But she couldn't actually touch and perceive it in the same way she could with solid objects.

Using her magic, she stirred up some sediment, and the water became a little more defined. But she still couldn't touch it.

She sighed, and let her magic fade. Her head throbbed a little from straining to make her magic do something it was incapable of.

Tired, alone, and without a path ahead. Viv stood and walked back to her little shelter on memory, without using her magic. She curled up against the cold stone, and relaxed her body, muscle by muscle, until she could finally sleep.

Thankfully, the night didn't bring wind. The shelter didn’t protect her from the cold, but as Viv began to wake up, she heard thin sheets of rain rolling through the trees. She stayed in her shelter, resting, as the sounds rolled over her. The roof held, though she had to shift slightly to keep her tail dry.

The rain calmed her. Her head stopped hurting, and she sang softly to herself to pass the time. She sang the men’s part of a religious hymn. Growing up in a Church of Sol had given her few comforts, but the rich tones of the songs they sung, were a comfort as much as a warm blanket. Her voice may not go quite as low as the stallions, but she felt her part in those words, her role as she sang of tilling fields below the warmth of the sun, and of the long summer days that gave rise to communities coming together. It was a sort of dream of wonder and acceptance that she’d never had. Something to hope for.

Some warmth to get her through the darkness that she had made her home.

It wasn't much, the home that Viv made for herself over the next few days. It was cold, as she didn't know how to start a fire, and she ate meagerly, mostly from wild grasses and roots that she could wash clean. But as she regained her strength, she realized that despite telling herself that it was better this way, she was terribly alone in the forest, and staying so isolated would only serve to make her more miserable.

So she ranged further from camp, exploring the area and gathering as much food as she could, until she found a thin trail, a beaten path winding through the trees.

Author's Note

Vivid Colour's trials have just begun, having left her country and found herself on alien shores, her only path is forward, her only desire survival. In time, she may find that there are grander things in life than living moment to moment.

A little teaser, Ponies don't often have hunting trails.

Chapter 2. Feathers

The forest grew cold at night, cold enough that even a mare who hadn't groomed her thick winter coat in weeks shivered, huddled tight under a pile of leaves she'd desperately pushed into her shelter to offer her some covering besides the branches that formed the walls. Viv wanted to burrow into the ground, to find some scrap of warmth deep in the earth. She found that when she was this cold, her horn would not light, her form of vision took too much focus. She probed around with her hoof for the little pile of food she'd gathered, barely enough for a day of walking, and made sure it was still there. She couldn't wait longer. She couldn't survive on her own, especially if this land had winters so cold.

The morning brought with it just a little warmth, and her determination only grew. She tore her shelter down and took her cloak back, then she wrapped the food in the hood and tied the hood shut. Despite her magic still feeling weak, she persisted.

Once everything was gathered, she went back to that trail, decided to go left, and began the long walk.

Viv had never been hunting before. It was not a tradition she knew of besides old stories of ponies who would hunt animals for fur and leather. So she was experiencing a hunting trail for the first time as her magic scanned across broken twigs, hard packed earth, and unfamiliar scrapes in the dirt. When more paths combined with it, she had to spend several minutes examining them, to find which direction was the origin of the paths, and was most likely to lead to the starting of the trails.

When the trees suddenly stopped, Viv hesitated. She couldn't hear anything but the calls of birds, but the edge of the trees didn't stop the trail. It continued into a field of grasses. Stomach tight and desperate, Viv stopped and ate. She felt primitive, mindless, eating grass like a common animal, grass not farmed or carefully prepared, just old dry stalks from the ground.

But it filled her belly, and she continued to follow the trail down a gradual slope, and then to a stone wall. Excited at the confirmation that she was nearing civilization, she spread her magic further ahead before following the trail at a canter, passing by stones and then over a small bridge before the path spread out, becoming a town square judging by the pillar in the middle, like some kind of marking stone. Examining it with her magic didn’t show her any markings she understood, just scratches, as far up the column as she could reach.

Despite it clearly being in the middle of an area where beings would move about often, she couldn’t hear anything at all. No sounds of bustling movement, or of creatures staring at her.

Walking away from the column, she scanned until she came across a stair. Unlike any stair she might have seen before, attached to a house, it seemed to be held up by part of a tree, and lay against the tree, no a building. She hesitated before starting up it.

“Hello?” she called out, nervous as to the response she might get.

But there was no reply, and she got to the top of the staircase, surrounded by branches that would touch against her side or ears, making her flinch. At the top of the stairs was a door. Simple, wooden, painted with some paint that flaked easily when her magic passed over the old surface. It didn’t open to the slight pressure of her magic, so she knocked.

There was an angry grumbling noise from inside, but no movement. After a few moments, she knocked a second time, frowning as she finally heard someone get up and stomp their way through the house to the door.

“It’s the middle of the day! Who in the world--”

There was the sound of the door opening, and complete silence.

“Excuse me, I am in need of assistance,” Viv said, nervous and wondering why this person wouldn’t say anything.

“George!”

Viv flinched at the exclamation, stepping back but stopping as she reached the edge of the landing.

“What?”

It was a new voice, a deeper one.

“There’s a pony on our doorstep in the middle of the day, asking for help. The world has gone mad.”

There was even more movement, and George got to the door, only to laugh.

“Little pony, what is your name?”

“Vivid Colour,” Viv replied quickly.

“Vivid. Such silly names. Can you not see?”

“How did you know?”

“Because your eyes are… White. Just white, it is near the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” George said. “Now, it’s midday, We must go back to sleep, and ponies are known for being stupidly trustworthy, so if you work for us for a week, We will let you rest here for that long. You can work, can’t you?”

“Um… Of course,” Viv nodded quickly. “I can use my magic to see.”

“Then come inside, and sleep until the sun goes down.”

“Thank you… George,” Viv said as she carefully walked inside. “You are kind ponies to take me in.”

“Oh, we aren’t ponies,” the first voice said, almost laughing. “We’re griffins.”

As the two griffins left the room, presumably to a bedroom, Viv stood there, processing the new information.

For one thing, it suddenly made much more sense why they lived in a tree and had very odd names. Secondly, though she had no idea if griffins normally slept through the day, she was quite willing to chalk it up to racial differences even though it seemed bizarre.

She listened as the griffins settled into a bed, or something similar, and then she touched her horn to the floor and spread her magic to get a better understanding of the room she'd been left in.

The door had an old rug in front of it, so thin and worn it could be mistaken for a few layers of cloth just left there to fall apart. There was a wide flat piece of furniture with thick mattress-like straw-stuffed cushions on top of it. It was clearly used to sit on or lay on, and would be her bed for the moment, despite it being the peak of daytime. It was ridiculous, to be asleep now, and awake when it was coldest.

She shivered a little, before continuing her scan.

The room had a small table with two cushions against the wall, and a bookshelf that had many small things she was too worried about breaking to examine closely, the pressure of her magic possibly being enough to damage them.

Not wanting to explore the house further, she went to the couch or bed and laid down. But she did not fall asleep quickly. She was thirsty, her hooves hurt, and she was confused by how she might have ended up in the griffin lands.

A hundred years ago, the griffins had been pushed out of the griffin isles by the invading English, who then founded Bitain. The griffins had fled to neighboring lands, but then vanished over time. Now they were rarely seen at all, had she somehow been carried to a coast on which they had settled? The answers would have to wait, apparently, until nightfall.

Viv shifted on the surface, which was certainly more comfortable than stones, though bruises from the nights in the forest were beginning to make themselves felt and she couldn't get comfortable.

Viv put her hooves over her head, curling up tight and trying to stay calm. The strangeness of it all was overwhelming, frightening. Despite having been left alone, she felt like she was being watched, judged.

She pushed her magic out from herself, and into the cushions, stuffed with hay or straw, or something similar. She could grip each individual strand and stalk, crushing it. Each little snapping noise calmed her, distracted her from her own mind, like rain on a rooftop.

Slowly, as her magic worked its way through the cushion leaving it much softer than before, she relaxed more and more until she could actually let her mind drift off, and fall asleep.

She woke up to laughter that pulled her from some horrible dream full of saltwater and panic. Her pounding heart slowed, and she remembered where she was all over again. It surprised her that she was so warm, until she shifted and realized she was covered with some sort of blanket.

“Awake, little pony. The sun is setting.”

Viv stretched a little before turning towards the sounds of movement.

“What is your name? I remember George, but you are…”

“Grace,” the griffin replied as she stepped closer.

Viv turned over and sat up on the couch, smiling.

“That is a remarkably pony-like name, ma’am.”

“Well, we live on the border with Equestria, so it isn’t all that surprising my parents were comfortable with giving me a pony-like name,” Grace chuckled, moving around Viv to adjust something on the couch, likely folding or straightening the blanket.

“The border of Equestria… The distant land of the alicorns? That’s where I’ve drifted?” Vivid asked incredulously as she spread her magic to the floor so she could sense her surroundings.

“Alicorn, singular,” Grace said before humming to herself and then chuckling. “But yes, you are currently in the town of Starcross, on the SouthEastern shore of Equus. The last griffin settlement on the continent. Now, we have much work to do while the moon is in the sky, you do not appear to have sufficient clothes, but if you will work and work hard, then I will acquire some winter clothes for you.”

“What sort of work?” Viv asked cautiously as she followed Grace’s movement out of the room into what seemed to be a kitchen, judging by the metal stove her magic brushed against.

She was struck by a sudden smell she couldn’t place. It made her stomach ache, but her mouth water. Yet she couldn’t place it.

“There are three things you could do, which would be of great help to us. Sewing, shearing sheep, or plucking chickens.”

The first two, viv understood and was quite willing to do, but the third gave her pause. She had to remind herself that griffins ate meat, and that they would be asking for chickens to be plucked, not to use the feathers, but to eat. She then also placed the smell which had left her terribly hungry. The smell of rendered animal fat, almost sweet, and mixed with herbs and spices.

She shivered, and backed away from the kitchen slightly.

“Do be calm, Vivid. We prepared some oats for you. We deal with ponies often enough to know you do not eat meat.”

Viv wished that the assumption was still true for her, but at the same time she could not deny her body’s response of desire to the carnivorous smell.

“Thank you,” she finally managed to whisper, proceeding to the other side of the kitchen where a table was.

She was pleased to note they used pony style cushions and a low table, so she simply sat and began to eat.

“That looks so strange,” George said after a few moments.

“What? Did I--”

“The way you spread your magic across your bowl,” Grace interrupted. “We are used to a unicorn’s magic being very direct, used to grab something, but you use your magic like…”

“A pool of water,” George finished, when Grace hesitated. “It’s quite beautiful.”

Viv became aware of a claw, as George pressed one finger against the edge of her magical field. She was careful not to take hold of the digit, but was aware of how she pressed back against the claw, the intrusion.

“Why does it feel so solid?” George asked, fascinated.

“I press against things to sense them, to percieve them. I do not see, even with magic, but I can sense each thing my magic touches as though I was pressing against it with my hoof. I can feel your claw.”

The intruding finger was quickly withdrawn, and Viv chuckled. “It doesn’t bother me. Just… It can be uncomfortable for some, when my magic grabs them.”

“Well, I find it quite interesting,” George said, voice amused as they all returned to eating.

“So why were you wandering around out here, and why do you call Equestria distant, where do you come from?” Grace asked Viv as Viv ate the oats, smiling as she tasted honey within.

“Bitain, across the sea.”

“You mean the Griffish isles,” Grace countered, a slight danger in her tone.

Viv paused, clearing her throat before nodding. “Indeed, and I regret that my people caused the displacement of your people.”

“Oh, it’s not your fault, certainly. You were cast off as much as we were. But to be clear, I would not mourn the deaths of your fellow Bitish ponies.”

Viv turned her head down, away from the griffins, as some part of her heart hardened, like a wall going up to protect from an oncoming flood, she numbed some part of herself to her past, and just replied with one sentence.

“Neither would I.”

Chapter 15. Vengeance

Vivid followed Luna out of her private chambers, walking maybe a little too quickly as she tried to move past the guards, despite those guards knowing at a glance that Vivid had taken a shower. There was only one reason really to have showered in the princess’s private chambers, and that was because they had been intimate.

Despite all of the approval and protection that Luna and her guards offered, Vivid was still nervous.

It felt as though it was all a dream and one of them was going to soon tell the public, drag her through the street as sullying their great princess. But that never came. She just kept waiting for something to go wrong.

And every time they had an argument, or they were away, she felt that big finality creeping in towards her, but Luna would snatch it away before it could overwhelm her.

Now she was following Luna through the halls like a puppy dog, trying not to smile. She sped up to walk alongside Luna, so she would feel a little less silly.

“Good Dusk, Princess,” Vivid said happily.

Luna laughed, shaking her head a little. “It was a good evening, and now Dusk and Rising shall contain a great deal of work. Not necessarily so good.”

“Oh but we do good work,” Vivid countered. “I am looking forward to seeing Sheen appointed head of the Archway Mages. Though I wish that Wishing Star hadn’t felt the need to step down…”

“She is still determined to find Clover,” Luna said as she shook her head sadly. “One cannot lead a mage’s guild if they are preoccupied at all times.”

Vivid bit her lip before looking to Luna. She wanted to offer some help but didn’t feel she could actually do anything. But there was some social requirement to helping an old friend.

“Maybe I could lend my skill in tracing magical signatures?” she said nervously.

Luna just shook her head. “I don’t need you falling into that obsession as well,” Luna said as they entered the great hall.

All the guards saluted, until Luna nodded and they relaxed. Vivid noticed that a few of the guards were slow to salute. More new guards, she supposed. She would have to ask the Castilian to improve the training, if these new guards were out of order.

Luna sat on her throne, and Vivid sat off to the side as they waited for the Dusk court to begin. But it seemed to be taking longer than normal. The guards shifted, looking towards the door, wondering where the Seneschal was to announce the court session.

“Where is… His name, it must have been Quick something, Quick Step?” Luna pondered.

“The Seneschal?” Vivid clarified, getting a nod from Luna. “Well, he must be late,” she concluded as she stood and began walking towards one of the hidden passages where the maids and attendants would typically hide, only to notice there were none there.

After a moment of staring at the empty doorway for a moment, frowning, Vivid turned back to Luna. “When is the last time that you saw one of the servants?” she asked nervously.

Luna blinked, taken aback. “This evening when I woke and they helped me dress,” she concluded. “Are there really none around?”

“Nor have I seen Quick Trot, the Castilian, or anyone else but the guards,” Vivid said as she turned and saw only guards.

Then, the great doors at the head of the hall slowly was pulled open, enough for a single pony to enter. It was the Castilian, the caretaker of the entire castle and all the individuals within it.

A short unicorn with a white coat and a green mane, she was wearing a pair of glasses and, oddly enough, one of Luna’s crowns.

She pushed the door closed and slowly walked towards the throne, while Luna watched her with narrowed eyes.

“Are you not going to speak your outrage?” the mare asked in an amused tone. “Decry my very appearance, demand your guards seize me?”

Luna looked around the room, and noted that only a quarter of the guards seemed disturbed, their weapons at the ready. The rest were smiling, or watching Princess Luna, or staring off blankly as though nothing was happening at all. Something was terribly wrong.

Meanwhile, Vivid could sense something that Luna could not. The mare walking into the hall was unlike anything she’d seen before. It was as though the images of a dozen different ponies were overlapping, shifting endlessly, and the largest one had the clear outline of an alicorn, though bent and twisted, with tattered wings. She stepped back in horror.

“Princess…”

Luna didn’t look to Vivid, still intent on watching the figure.

“Luna…”

“Yes, please listen to your court mage,” the mare chuckled. “I am so very curious what she sees in me. What she urgently must warn you of.”

Luna seemed shaken out of her tension, and looked briefly to Vivid, giving her permission to speak.

“She’s not what she seems,” Vivid insisted quickly. “She looks… She’s like an alicorn but…”

“But I actually look like a monster?” the mare said before laughing, low and dark.

She stopped and an unearthly green flame began to swirl around her hooves. It seemed to burn away her flesh, leaving a blackened and emaciated set of limbs behind as the flame climbed higher. Gradually revealing a creature that made Luna and Vivid both recoil.

Her body was black and glossy, segmented like an insect. Her wings were like a dragonfly’s, clear and iridescent. Fangs hung from her upper jaw, sharp and predatory, and flanking a cruel smile.

“You don’t recognize me,” she stated simply, her slitted green eyes taking in the disgusted alicorn.

All around the room, the oddly acting guards were stripping the rest of the guards of their weapons, as they revealed themselves as smaller versions of the creature standing in the middle of the hall.

“Should I?” Luna asked coldly. “I do not spend much time in the presence of insane tricksters.”

The response was a wild, frantic laugh. So overblown and dramatic that it just made Vivid and Luna more nervous.

“Insane trickster! Insane Trickster!!! Such a wonderful description but no!”

Again, she was surrounded in green flame before Clover stood in the middle of the hall. Vivid recoiled in shock, that the mare suddenly looked so simple. All her warped form and twisted magic hidden instantly.

“Your highness,” Clover said with a bow to Luna and a smirk. “Or is this not enough? No, I knew you long before this.”

Again, she was surrounded in green flame, and appeared as a unicorn mare that Vivid didn’t recognize.

A grey-mauve coat, goldenrod eyes, and a maroon mane with hints of pink shot through it, pulled back in a braid. Her mark was of two flowers above an unrolled scroll on which a pair of lightning bolts are held in an X by a horseshoe around their crossing. She wore glasses, and smiled softly as Luna’s hoof began to shake, eyes wide and expression of terror.

“Who is that?” Vivid asked, not recognizing the unicorn at all.

“A lover from long ago,” Luna said as she lit her horn, only for it to shimmer and fade.

She listed to the side, gasping for breath suddenly. The imitation creature laughed with a cruel tone as she stepped closer.

“Oh dear sweet Luna, you didn’t notice? Your Torc is a little heavier today?”

Looking quite panicked, Luna lifted the torc over her head with her hooves before tossing it away, to slam into the floor between her and the imposter. It shattered, pieces of the thick necklace-like torc flying away and leaving a necklace that had been hidden within laying among the pieces.

Just by looking at it, Vivid could tell that it was made of Alicornium, the horrible metal she’d found. But it was humming with energy, instead of pulling it in. It had drained Luna.

The imposter put the necklace on and her eyes flashed ruby red, before she resumed her insectoid natural form.

“You may call me Chrysalis,” she hissed. “But just once, before you die.”

“Chrysalis, I…” Luna began.

Her horn lit and a red beam of light punched a hole through the throne, the wall behind, and another wall beyond that. Luna was carried by it and by the time she tumbled to a stop among the wreckage, she was half the size with pastel blue hair, and unconscious. Drained almost completely of magic.

But in that moment, Vivid could perceive something more than just the horrible corrosive red color that was being seared into her magical vision. She could see the flow of magic throughout the room.

Luna had not been thrown through the walls by the force of a spell. She had been tossed away by the sheer thrust of her magic leaving her own body, being ripped out like a stream of water flowing back into the monster that had attacked her, and empowering her even further. Red smoke made of excess energy flowed from Chrysalis’s eyes as she grinned and turned her head to face Vivid.

She could not defeat that.

With a gallop of desperate energy, Vivid dove through the nearest doorway and slid to a stop before she would hit a wall. The doorframe behind her was hit by that horrible magic, and she watched in horror as the stone itself was drained of so much energy that it began to crumble to dust.

With a whimper, Vivid turned and ducked through two more doors, only to come face to face with a black-chitin coated creature in guard’s armor which had just finished tying up several other guards.

With a quick application of a sleeping spell, she stepped past the creature and undid the ropes.

“Run,” she said urgently. “Evacuate if you can, but we can’t fight this. I’ll stay to delay her.”

The color drained from their faces, and they nodded somberly in recognition of her sacrifice before leaving.

With the guards fleeing, Vivid turned back towards the great hall and stretched her magical vision as far as it could go. She found that Chrysalis was still in the great hall, standing over Luna. It seemed like they were talking, but she couldn’t tell what they were saying.

She had to find a way to combat that necklace. It was like fighting an alicorn, but worse since it would rip through any magic she tried to use. She had to be clever, now. It was Luna’s only chance.

Chrysalis had been Clover, she realized, and Vivid knew Clover fairly well. She was a competent and creative mage but she rarely was thorough or complex enough. There were usually holes in her designs, or energy wasted due to trying to do things the way she wanted, rather than the most efficient way.

Vivid perked up as she remembered the vapor coming off Chrysalis’s eyes, a clear indicator of wasted energy. Somehow, something was cycling much of the energy being gathered by the amulet through Chrysalis’s head or body and it was leaking from her through her eyes. A common indicator that energy was outflowing from the brain.

She was storing all of the energy in her brain and horn, so that the amulet itself couldn’t be easily removed or targeted, Vivid realized. As long as the energy was in Chrysalis, Vivid wouldn’t be able to sever the two, or prevent her from getting that energy from the amulet.

But Chysalis herself was still vulnerable, and Clover had never been a good fighter. Magic, sure, but she skipped every combat training that was made available to them. Vivid would have to apply a mix of skilled efficient magic that was less vulnerable to the amulet’s draining power, and physical attacks.

She quickly ducked back into the guard’s room and found spears. Six of them were the most she could grab individually in her magic, and she took them before walking slowly and quietly back towards the great hall.

“I loved you, Luna,” were not the words she expected to hear as she approached the great hall, but nonetheless Chrysalis seemed to be saying them. “For six hundred and fifty eight years I have loved you, I tried to show you. I tried to become the one you loved, to bring her back to you, but you wouldn’t let me. You wouldn’t even hear me out.”

Vivid reached the crumbling doorway and floated the spears out into the hall, forming a semicircle around Chrysalis and Luna, floating slightly above.

“I never even met you!” Luna replied, her voice young but filled with pain.

Clearly, Vivid thought, this form with her drained of energy affected more than just her size. She sounded positively childlike.

“You showed up in my castle,” Luna continued. “After the death of a lover, and took her appearance! It’s as near to blasphemy as I’ve ever seen! You never gave me a chance to love you!”

“You already loved her! You already loved Prim Rose, and I could have BEEN her! Forever!”

Again, she transformed into that unicorn, as Vivid tried to steady her breathing. She was about to kill somepony. She was about to end a life, and for the first time it would be purposeful, deliberate, and final.

She formed a magical explosion behind each of the spears, and set them off in unison, creating a rapid popping.

Chrysalis had enough time to turn to face the sound, before the spears impaled her.

Two went through her body, and the other four impaled her legs. Her scream was shrill and high, as she lost focus on her current form.

Green fire surrounded her, and as she became her blackened monstrous self once again, the spears tore and warped inside of her.

Coughing up green bile, she twitched in an attempt to dislodge one of the spears, but only stumbled to fall to the ground. Her horn lit in bright red to try and pull one of them loose, but the spear part she grabbed just turned to ash each time, being drained of its essence at a faster and faster rate.

She screamed with frustration as Luna and Vivid watched in horror.

“You won’t be able to get them out without creating a feedback loop and killing yourself,” Vivid said from the doorway before jumping aside to avoid an attack. “You have to take it off! You can still survive!”

Another shuddering scream made Vivid cringe, but after a moment there was the ringing sound of something metal hitting the ground.

Vivid jumped back out and created a dome of magic around the amulet on the floor, making it impossible for Chrysalis to get it again.

But she seemed more interested in pulling the spears from her body. She was not a pony any longer, not by even the most distant definitions. The liquid that oozed from her wounds was nothing like blood, and she seemed not to be suffering from the ill effects of organ damage. She was unnatural, but she was alive.

Chest heaving with breath, Chrysalis looked to the dome and then looked to Vivid, and Vivid could see her chain of thought. Killing Vivid would quite neatly get rid of the dome around the amulet, and satisfy her need for vengeance.

As Chrysalis lunged towards Vivid, Vivid was already charging her horn with magic. She was focusing on the dome protecting the amulet, and normally that would make it nearly impossible to cast another spell, but Vivid was a Mage of the Archway, and did not see or think like most unicorns.

Where other unicorns saw a protective dome around an amulet, Vivid saw a pre-made spell circle and channel of energy between the dome and herself.

So, on the spot with no preparation, she made a tunnel, just like Luna's spell that transported her. But instead of providing a location, she connected it directly to the dome.

It nearly tore her apart as she was ripped from the stone floor by her own magic in a blinding flash of light, and then reappeared inside the dome, laying on the amulet, with Chrysalis staring in shock from the doorway Vivid had been in moments before.

As Chrysalis screamed in rage, Vivid did the only thing she could. She put the amulet on.

Bonus Scene: The Founding of a Nation

The sun rose over the blasted volcanic wastes of the South East coast of the Equestrian continent.

The pale blue sky illuminated brown, orange, even vivid reds in the rocks, with grey channels of old lava flows broken up with sparse vegetation and the carved out paths of winter streams and rivers.

Torch sat on a stone at the top of a hill, looking down over the landscape, feeling numb. He was a dragon, dark teal scales covering his body and orange wings setting a contrast to the coal-colored leather shirt which acted as a slight armor, and a marker of his rank. It also hid his chest.

“Commander?” another dragon asked quietly.

“I’m not your commander anymore. That title was given by griffins,” Torch said grimly.

There were a few blessed moments of silence, before he was bothered again.

“Torch, what are we going to do?”

He stood slowly and turned to look at the crowd of dragons. Beaten down by the griffins, turned into soldiers and then beaten again by the ponies of Equestria. They were pathetic, half dead and heartless.

“We are going to survive,” Torch said, his brow furrowing in anger. “All of you! We are walking off into the desert, and finding a place to hold our ground. This land is ours now, no pony or griffin will take it from us!”

“But… there are no houses out there,” one of the others objected. “No good food…”

“And what is your obsession with their food, hmm? When have you last eaten a gemstone?” Torch asked, to a crowd of confused mumbles. “You all grew up among Griffins, but my parents held onto our culture! We remembered who we are! Come, come with me, and I will show you what dragons can be.”

He expected and received a cheer from the soldiers that had served under him, and from many of the men, but the women looked instead to Spark, the chief engineer, and Torch's rival.

She stepped to the front of her group.

"Dragons can be anything," Spark said angrily. "Anything we desire. Why should we follow you, just because you were violent enough for the Griffins to appreciate?"

“Because I am the strongest leader available. Least likely to crumble. The dragon kings of the bygone age ruled because they were strong!” he said, rising to her challenge.

But instead of attacking him, completing the challenge like he’d expected, she took her staff and tapped him gently on the chest.

He winced, just a little, and Spark’s eyes narrowed.

“We need to talk,” she said sternly. “All of you, we will convene about rulership in a moment, but I must speak with Torch first.”

The women nodded in agreement, and though they were bewildered, the men followed suit, returning to their idle activities as Spark walked off down the hill’s slope, Torch following after a moment.

“If you intend to attack me in secret--” he began.

“Take off your uniform,” Spark said simply, crossing her arms, her staff still at the ready.

“Why?” he asked, scowling.

“It’s of griffin make, and until I see you without it, I’ll believe that you are beholden to them.”

He understood, but held back, frowning as he put a hand to his chest.

“This armor… I earned. If I removed the patches, is that sufficient?”

Spark narrowed her eyes, and stepped closer. He stepped back.

"What are you hiding?" she asked as she lunged forward and grabbed his armor with surprising strength, yanking him closer before undoing the clasps and pulling it off, to reveal...

At first, Spark thought there was no purpose behind the armor, but then she realized that Torch's chest scales had been clipped, removing the points which some dragons had on their chest scales. It was seen as a slightly feminine feature, but hardly something requiring physical modification to correct.

Torch snatched the armor back and quickly put it on, as Spark stood there, befuddled.

"I don't understand," Spark finally admitted.

"I don't like my chest, alright? Never have, so let me wear this!"

Spark nodded, holding up her hands in a gesture of peace before drawing her dagger and carefully cutting off the insignia from his shoulders.

"There, and I'm going to be your co-ruler," she said simply.

"Noooooo," Torch said, shaking his head. "No, absolutely not. Women simply can't--"

The dagger was placed at his throat, and Spark looked decidedly unimpressed.

"Why do you want to rule?" Torch asked after a moment of thought, trying not to think about coming so far just to be killed.

"Because I don't trust you to care for every dragon as you should, and I will not allow you to rule at all, if I cannot ensure that those under my care are tended to."

He regarded her, and pondered the idea, eyes narrowing as he fretted over the ways she could seize power and destroy everything. But ultimately, he would need allies.

"Fine," he sighed, and she withdrew her dagger.

“We will rule together, and we aren’t going to abandon some of the better aspects of Griffin culture, but we are going to get rid of their desires. No more seizing of land, no more fighting the ponies, we’ve lost too much in that useless fight.”

Torch straightened his vest and frowned, looking out across the wastes, the Southern steppes and mountains abandoned when volcanic activity had ripped the migration routes of the buffalo into small pieces, still streaked with lava streams in some places, still burning.

“We will end up surviving mostly on stone,” Torch admitted quietly, looking back to her over his shoulder. “If we can find gemstones, all the better, but I am not expecting more than granite and feldspar, if we can even find anything but Pāhoehoe in the first place.”

“And once they adjust, once they forget the taste of baked goods, they will be fine,” Spark reassured him. “But for now, we will need shelter and ways to defend ourselves if the ponies or griffins come after us. You said your parents were steeped in culture. Did that include lavashaping?”

He nodded slowly.

“They talked about it, and I can guide you through it, but I can’t do it myself, my vest will burn.”

“If I kept everyone away, would you show me, and leave your vest here, so noone else sees?” Spark asked, more gently now than she had been just minutes ago.

Torch hesitated, but knew it would be quicker, it would help more dragons. He nodded, and after she instructed the other dragons to stay back, they walked off down the hill towards the nearest lava flow.

He took the vest off and set it aside, before wading into the lava, the waves of heat rolling over him and briefly taking his breath away. It had been so very long since he’d felt anything like it, the pressure against his scales like swimming in molasses.

At the same time, the energy in the lava made him shiver, it was like life was being breathed back into him.

He dug into the flow with his claws and pulled up a glob of the stuff, before concentrating and repeating the motion, and this time a strand was drawn up. It stayed connected to the mass by his innate magic as a dragon, and so he drew out a rope of the substance and laid it on the ground next to the flow, forming a strip of stone once it cooled. After repeating the process a few more times, he had a low wall.

“And you’re doing that by pulling with…. Your energy?” Spark asked as she set her staff aside and tried the same.

It took time, but eventually she was able to draw the lava from the stream and lay it out in the same way, bricks of new stone being laid out together until a small cave had been formed.

Tired, but grinning, Spark looked to Torch.

“Thank you. This, I think will be a good start. Together with all the others we can make shelter.”

Torch was brushing bits of cooling stone off his body, and putting his vest back on with a nervous smile.

“I’m glad. We can have some security, and begin rebuilding our society.”

“It’s not going to be like you imagine,” Spark said simply, picking up her staff and standing proudly over Torch, the nervous leader.

“Oh?” he asked, grimacing. “What sort of things will not be happening?”

“We aren’t going to have an army. We won’t be minting fancy golden coins. No great empire,” she insisted.

As they started walking back towards the hill, he sighed and nodded.

“Those traditions…. Required the artifacts and great historical dragons which led the empire,” he admitted. “The best we can hope for is a tribal society which stands strong.”

“I appreciate your rationality in this,” Spark said approvingly. “Now, when we summit the hill, kiss me.”

“Wha?!” Torch tripped and almost fell over before looking at Spark with wide eyes.

“If I am to be co-ruler, then we shall be related by marriage, so that those under us believe in our unity,” Spark explained, sounding almost clinical about the whole thing. “We should start with a simple kiss.”

Torch stopped walking, cheeks hotter than lava, eyes still wide open in shock, as Spark stopped ahead of him, one hand on her hip and the other leaning on her staff as she looked at Torch expectantly.

“I’ve… never kissed another dragon,” Torch admitted softly, looking away in embarrassment.

Spark sighed, and walked up to him, taking his chin gently in her claws and lifting it, to kiss him with a surprisingly gentle touch of her lips. He was still nervous, still uncertain about it all, but she did not force him and was not rough. He had time to get past his fears and enjoy the kiss for a moment before it ended and she let go of his chin.

“Better?” she asked, searching his expression for signs of joy or upset. “Could you do that again, brave warrior?”

He cleared his throat and grinned nervously. “Yes, I… think that I could, yes.”

They ascended the hill, and as they came into view of the others, Torch saw the hope, awe, and fear in their eyes. This was a new beginning, this was his people.

They waited until most of the gathered dragons were watching, and then they kissed.

No words were needed to convey the state of things to the gathered people, and Torch was thankful for that. He did not want to explain to them all how they would be ruling together, because he did not know what form it would take. Spark had said marriage, but Torch did not even understand the concept.

So he silently watched her teach others how to manipulate lava, and he took in the awe of a new nation being born under his watch.

Meanwhile, at a safe distance Princess Luna observed from a mountaintop, flanked by her generals.

“Well, that problem seems to have solved itself,” she said, sighing as she finally relaxed the tension in her wings.

“We will advise all the nearby settlements that the Eastern Badlands are to be avoided,” General Pie said as he did his best to sketch out the boundaries of the vast valley, torn by volcanic activity.

Finally, the war won and refugees settled, Luna returned home to Canterlot.