Step Into The Modern World
A dark blue pony woke on a painfully hard surface and attempted to move against the strengthened gravity. Her consciousness, independent of time, let out a desperate grab towards comprehension--but there was nothing before that instant, nothing but the awkward sensation that one has forgotten something.
The first sound she heard was a gentle sob. A quiet sniffle, a nearly-silent gawk, and the chattering of teeth packed the air. A purple mare spoke. "Princess Luna?"
The dark blue pony rose quickly and glanced about in a slight panic--the mares and colts around her wore dark robes over their backs and flanks and stared at her with brightening eyes. The group consisted of approximately fifteen ponies, all draped in a veil of fear. She choked before she spoke, as though it were her first time.
"If that name is mine," she whispered,"so shall you call me."
At Luna's voice, the sobbing crescendoed and quickly fell back into muted tones. Luna noticed the pony from which the sound emerged--a gray colt in the back of the room, covering his face with his hoof.
The purple mare spoke again, "Then you are not Nightmare Moon?"
Luna answered quickly and with more confidence, "If that name is not mine, I shall not be called by it."
The mare who spoke was on a raised platform above the group. Her mane and tail had gray and purple stripes with a horn splitting her straight bangs. Her coat was lavender, though she was mostly concealed because she too wore a black robe over her back and flank.
Luna stood a little straighter and realized something in her was missing. She moved her wings--they seemed sufficiently alive--but a digit on her head felt as though it was asleep, tingling and unable to be awoken.
The lavender mare made eye contact with Luna and said, "You have been wrongfully imprisoned for a thousand years, and in the time you've been gone--the time you've been--gone--the time!" Her pupils shrunk and her head tilted, her ears twitched and her teeth cracked against one another, and she collapsed. Shaking and sputtering, she lay there for a few moments. The sobbing gray colt jumped from his position and, tears still on his face, came beside the lavender mare and set her cloak over her eyes as she lay in seizure.
The gray colt turn to Luna and spoke, "I'm sorry, Princess. My name is Silver Starlight and this is the prophet Twilight Sparkle. You have been trapped in the moon for a thousand years--" he began to tremble, but continued speaking, "and only now have you reemerged into the world. You were once a mighty ruler, capable of planet-altering magic, bringer of night."
He stared at her for a few moments, then continued, "I didn't know your eyes would be that color--between green and blue, like the forest at midnight."
Twilight Sparkle tossed the dark robe away from her raving eyes and cried, "We have worked for years to get you back, Princess--years! So long! You are all that we have left, the last chance to restore the old world!" Her horn set off a spark and she suddenly calmed. "We have waited for a long time. We thought you would know what to do, but you don't seem to remember even your own name. We thought you could remember how to use magic. Please, Princess, use magic. Show us!"
Luna stared down at Silver Starlight and Twilight Sparkle and regarded them with pity. She said to the group, "Little ponies, I will demonstrate my power." She attempted to lift Silver Starlight and set him in his original position, but the more effort she put into magic, the greater the pain in her skull.
"What?!" Luna called out, "I have no magical abilities! You have lied--"
"No!" Starlight yelled, "We thought you could--!"
Luna spread her wings and reared. "Your maniac has misestimated me! I will not let myself be humiliated!"
The other ponies in the room drew away in fear and only Silver Starlight stepped forward. She ignored him and quickly examined the room--there was a large brass telescope, many bookcases and a tall stained-glass window. She focused on the window and burst in a hail of glass out into the night sky. She felt suddenly synchronized with the universe--the air against her coat and the adrenaline that accompanies flight told her that this was her element. There was a faint glow in the back of her mind, a distant memory that she had done this before. The sensation of flight and the reality of night seemed familiar to her, but she could not think of it then.
The night mare had flown from an observatory in the center of a city--a brass windmill turned methodically in the distance to the east and a forest lay to the west. She flew towards the forest, seeking solitude. The darkness did not disrupt her vision, but the lights that came from various buildings below did. It was unfamiliar light, not the light of the moon nor of the sun, but something peculiar and artificial. The buildings were decorated in brass and painted garish shades of red and brown. Steam rose from the horn-shaped brass chimneys, and very large buildings (of which there were many) had sets of five or six horns from which steam occasionally shot in a rush of white cloud. Light bled from every window and disturbed Luna's eyes, but she focused on the forest. She noticed some dark dashes darting across the sky, lit only by the moon and by the seeping light from below. Wary of them, she sunk very close to the earth and discreetly navigated her way towards the dense forest.
She lay beside a glimmering pool for a long time. Staring at her own image, she tried to remember who she had been. She supposed that she resembled a princess, and that perhaps the ponies in the observatory had been correct about her. But it made no sense to her. And why did she have a horn on the center of her head? What was its purpose? She imagined herself jousting with it for a moment, but decided that was too ridiculous a solution. She analyzed her hooves, uncertain of how to do deal with this new world. She struggled to create any recollection, but no matter how hard she gazed into the water her face just looked the same: a dark blue pony with a celestial mane and emptiness in her eyes. Within a few moments her gaze shifted towards the reflection of the bright full moon in the water and she felt a deep sting within her.
Contemplating her newly-found consciousness and emotions, she stood and meandered about the forest. In a few moments she came upon the worn remains of a long-forgotten statue and beheld its pieces in a small disorganized pile. She picked up the stone head and stared directly into its eyes. It was like looking into her reflection. Luna gasped and dropped the head, where it cracked against a sculpted pony’s tail on the ground. She swiftly spread her wings and took to the skies towards the observatory.
She reentered carefully through the shattered window and alighted very gently. The observatory's main room was empty now. Peering at the spot in which she had awoke, she noticed it was the center of an intricate design, and that above her was a peculiar machine, a large brass ring with white stones strung around it. As she flew to take a closer look at it, she heard a pony outside and slunk away into the shadows.
Silver Starlight returned and gently shut the gate. He breathed heavily and made his way into a small side room. Luna followed along, careful to remain in darkness. After turning on his desk lamp, Starlight began to mutter despairingly to himself. He stepped over the spartan bed and gazed into the poorly-lit mirror at his own reflection. A choke rose from him and he began to cry a little. Luna rolled her eyes, but she thought differently of him when he began to speak.
“I could have found her...I coulda...” he whimpered, “I would have found her...” He pulled away his robe to reveal a bare back. His cutie mark was a celestial constellation and he had no horn. He lay on the floor and pulled from the shadows a pair of strangely-shaped pillows. “If only...” he whispered again, “She'd be here with me and not somewhere out there only if I had...” He set the pillows on his back as though they were wings.
A deep unease grew inside of Luna. She stepped forward from the shadows before she could allow him to suffer anymore. Starlight grew shocked and jumped away when he saw her. “Princess!” he cried, “I was just—I was only—oh!”
Unable to speak, he bowed before her. Luna said, “Silver Starlight, you have shown me your genuine despair. That has sealed the truth for me. If you and the prophet are correct, I will need to know more. And please--” she used her hoof to straighten him up, “please call me Luna.”
He stood and quickly put his robe back on. “Thank you, Luna.” he said, “If you don't mind, I feel that you should wear a robe.” He pulled a spare from his drawer and set it on her.
In an attempt to calm himself, Silver Starlight took in a deep breath. “A lot of things have changed in the last 988 years,” he began, “including the need for clothing. It is no longer proper for mares and colts to go about with bare backs. But so much more has changed as well.”
“Earlier the prophet said I had been asleep for a thousand years. Why did you say 988?”
Silver Starlight smiled and his maroon eyes brightened. He said, “You see, we have brought you back early. The spell that kept you trapped began to weaken 20 years ago. It was then that Twilight Sparkle and I—I was only a little filly-- began to work on the machine you see in the observatory. This used to be a library, you know. There are many ancient books in the catacombs below and they guided us on the creation of the Moon Machine. Also below are where the rest of your followers are in an uneasy sleep. They trusted me to find you when really--” he chocked a little, “when really they should have sent a pegasus. Anyways—the machine in the observatory was able to direct the moon's energy towards us. We didn't know if it'd work but if it did it would be tonight, the night the moon is closest to the earth this century.”
He paused and smiled at her, “My entire life I've been dedicated to bringing you back. And now...and now we have a chance.”
Luna raised her eyebrow, “A chance for what?”
“To defeat F2. F2 has brought an industrial world upon us. Ponies work with little to themselves and only hard beds to rest in. The elite—those who live in Canterlot—are the only ones who benefit, while the rest of Equestria suffers. F2 also suppressed magic in the world, by what means I do not know. They have taken magic and made it a thing of myths and make-believe, and they have discovered some way to keep the sun and the moon rising on their own. It unnerves me everyday to watch the clouds move and the rain come, the sun set and the moon rise--all on their own. No ponies get to be outside anymore. They work in factories or in offices because F2 demands it. F2 has taken over every industry—homes and land, food and drink, products and books—and have inflated the prices while cutting pay. It is hard to live in this age, Luna. I have been fortunate enough to inherit this observatory, and I have been additionally blessed with a celestial cutie mark. When I was just a little filly, I used to think the Mare in the Moon gave it to me.”
He paused. Luna looked over at him, and they met at eye level. He broke his eyes away. “But that was when I was very young. Now I know that cutie marks appear as a result of hormones created by increased blood flow in the brain triggered by certain activities. So whenever I gazed at the stars—or the moon—I was able to pick up on it and--” Luna listened contently, setting herself lightly down.
“I'm sorry. Enough about me. If you don't mind me asking, what do you remember?”
He sat beside her. She took a moment to consider and muttered, “I remember nothing but vague feelings and semi-realistic sensations. You told me that I was once very powerful but I have not seen traces of that power. I wish I knew how I could help you...”
Silver Starlight stood back up, anxious. “I have so many things I want to say to you, Princess Luna, but this is really something that should be discussed with other members of the cult and with Twilight Sparkle. The night is growing old and we both need at least a little bit of sleep. Please, feel free to take my bed. I will sleep in the upper chamber.”
Luna looked over at his pathetic bed. “Are you certain, Silver Starlight?”
“Most certainly.” he said, proud and upstanding, “The upper chamber is open to the cold. I will not let the mare I have waited for my entire life sleep uncomfortably or in less-than-favorable conditions.” He pulled spare blankets from a shelf and set them beside the bed. He took the smallest for himself.
They shared a smile. “Good night.” Luna said. Silver Starlight returned the phrase and made his way to the upper chamber. Luna figured that if she could make a connection to other ponies like she did to Silver Starlight, she'd be able to find her place in the world.
Waking up again was a painful process. She wasn't quite sure what time it was, but the sun was in full force and shone briskly through her window. After a few moments, she got herself up, took a look at her ever-moving mane in the mirror, and made her way into the main observatory. There were many ponies eating breakfast, some of whom spat out their cereal when they saw her.
She straightened up and said, “There is no need for fear. I am prepared to help you all.”
Twilight Sparkle, who had been laying with her head against a bookshelf while munching on oats, said, “If you will help us, Luna, we will accept your help.”
Luna held her head high, “I am glad to give it. Tell me, where is Silver Starlight?”
A mare with a green mane approached and in a panicked voice asked, “You mean he isn't in his room?”
“He said he'd sleep in the observatory tower.”
The mare's knees began shivering and she bowed her head a little, “With all due respect, Princess Luna, he is not in the observatory.”
She heard one pony whisper to another in the crowd, “Maybe she gobbled him up...”
Luna abruptly turned and announced, “No! That is untrue!”
She rushed to the observatory to find that Silver Starlight was, indeed, missing. His bedding was slung over the edge of the destroyed tower, flailing in the wind.
Twilight Sparkle followed. “That's peculiar,” she said nonchalantly, “Perhaps he went somewhere....Oh, Celestia...the sound...!”
There was a sonic boom in the distance, the sound of a roaring tiger echoed against the landscape. Six black streaks suddenly appeared in the sky, traveling at terrifying speeds.
Twilight leaped against Luna and pushed her into the doorway. It was there they hid, watching the circling dark pegasi. As they circled closer, patrolling the skies, Luna could see that they were modified with machinery on their heads and large mechanical blades for wings. Their coats were covered with an inky blue suit and only their manes, of varying colors, were visible. A copper brace clung to their necks and led up to their heads where—upon Luna's closer examination—there was a large circular pad centered on their foreheads. The mechanical blades seemed incapable of flight because Luna assumed they were heavy, but the speed at which the peculiar mechanical ponies told her otherwise.
Twilight Sparkle shivered and lurched, “The WonderDrones...they capture anypony out in the night time...perhaps they took Silver Starlight...”
“What!” Luna exclaimed, pushing forward. Twilight Sparkle held her back, pushing her down, “There's no use attacking them, Luna. They have weapons—their wings can slice through flesh. Listen,” she began, making eye contact with Luna in the cramped doorway and holding her face close to hers. As she spoke the warmth of her breath washed over Luna's face, “The only place they take prisoners is to Canterlot Castle's underground prison. It is also there you will find F2 and have the chance to restore our world back to magic. If you travel there....you can free him, and free Equestria.”
“This will not be easy...” Twilight Sparkle continued in quiet tones, “but you need to understand that this is for the good of all of Equestria, not just for you or for me, but for everypony.
Luna felt a peculiar emotion well up within her, melding with her anger. This pain in her chest indicated that she wanted him with her and she needed to keep him safe. But she ignored the pain and let her anger dictate her hushed words. As she watched the WonderDrones continue their flight across the troubled skies, she whispered, “I will find him and free him, Twilight Sparkle. Whomever is responsible will fall, be it the WonderDrones or F2. You have my word.”
