Verve

The steady rock of the ship in gentle winds would be lulling to some, but to Umbra, it was an annoyance. As the now confused Seraphs decided to settle down, and enjoy the infinite night with a party - or more aggravating, rest. Dancing could be heard on deck, the rough strings of a fiddle working in tandem with other less than dignified sounds to produce song.

Her forehooves were entirely numb at this point. She hasn’t been fed yet - leaving her stomach growling with an odd pain, one she hadn’t experienced since her first plunge into the arctic wilds of the Frozen North. She was lucky to receive a drink from a warden on occasion, but her strength was failing her.

She wouldn’t break. Not to this torture. It would take a lot more than a lack of food to wear her down.

She checked the groove above her chain with an exhausted tilt of her head. She had made an inch in distance, allowing a portion of her weight to settle on her throbbing hindlegs. But she needed at least three more to snap her horn free. And that’s the real challenge.

With her legs no longer able to dangle so freely, she had to tense and pull herself up by the chain - a painful feat to accomplish. One that required her weakening strength, and her exhausted resolve. But she needed her full weight to force progress, thus it was the only solution.

With her chain hooked in the groove, she could at least swing forward - even going so far as using the back wall as leverage to do it. With an extra inch or two of the chain, she could even force the door with a heavy kick - but that would reveal her handiwork, and her captors would be quick to patch any damage she caused.

The crack of the door brought fresh moonlight into her abysmally small world, that same grease-slick Seraph biting roughly into a roughshod sandwich.

“Morning Stink-Eye. How’s the dangling going?” he said between bites of his food, making a clear effort to savor it for her.

“Splendid. How’s your husband?”

“And here I was about to give you a bite of my sandwich. You would have earned it, too. Hey, tell you what. If you could fill me in on why Moon-horse hasn’t got off her ass and raised the sun yet, I’ll give you a couple pieces of lettuce to make up for it.” He dangled a mustard encrusted piece of vegetable in the dim light of the moon, wiggling it between the bars sadistically.

Umbra chuckled. “How kind of you to assume I meddle in her personal affairs. Unfortunately, I am not her handler. After all, I am just a lonely mare from the wilds.”

“And a very sneaky one to infiltrate three well guarded establishments, and expect no repercussions for your actions.” He took another bite from his sandwich, eying her curiously in the moonlight.

“Tell me, Umbra. Who do you think they’ll send to save you? Surely they’ll send an idiot or two to their death, before tossing us our gold for the trouble.”

“I could think of a few names. Perhaps I could be tempted. If you could kindly find the nearest blade, and slit your own throat - I would be willing to speak, Feather Boy.”

He chuckled, tossing the sandwich through the bars. Her dulled senses couldn’t react quick enough, and it crashed into her chest before tumbling to the floor in pieces.

“A stain to remember me, since you’re so intent on setting up your funeral. Once we return to Erenorn, I’m going to mount your head on the mansion wall I’ll buy with your stupid coins. ‘Bits’, who names their currency that? At least they’re chock-full of gold. If I don’t get my money soon, I’ll turn you into a punching bag - that’ll whittle away the days, isn’t that right, little pony?”

Her captor - still nameless - turned to the door with a flick of his wings. The party buzzed with life as he looked for something else to entertain him.

Right now, she was in extreme danger. If it was still night outside - then Nightmare Moon had likely returned. Which meant Arin and Celestia had failed. This feeling, this notion… it left a hollow pit in her stomach that quickly began to fill with bitter rage. She had always been protective of the Knight, since the day she met - and to know she was incapable of aiding him… or worse yet, he was dead-...

No, he couldn’t be dead. He cheated death too many times. That fledgeling was probably spearheading an attack on Nightmare Moon, right now.

But another worrying thought came to mind. If Nightmare Moon had returned… who would come for her? Her captors would catch on eventually - as ‘intelligent’ as they were. Which meant her already miserable conditions could worsen, or - she could be outright killed. Torture didn’t matter; she’s sustained worse.

This left one option. Escape. She had to break out on her own. The Seraphs were at least somewhat educated on Equestrian history - it wouldn’t take long to put two and two together. At least one of them would realize that an endless night meant the Nightmare’s return, if any had paid attention to Leotoln’s war efforts.

She now began to rock at the beam above with desperation, sliding the chains with intensity. But a bang beneath silenced her motions.

“Keep it down in there, smartass! Some of us are trying to sleep!”

Of course the crew’s quarters were beneath this oddly constructed ship. That was just her luck. Time was against her, and so was circumstance.

For the first time in centuries, her head fell in misery. The faint light of hope growing dim within her chest.

“Arin, Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends - and any spare Gods from the stars beyond with an interest, please. Spare my life. Save me,” she whispered, the faint hope within burning dim.

The feather charm on her hoof stirred in a non-existent wind, then went silent. Before falling away to the floor, vanishing into the dark.

The extremely rude group of ponies - and single Seraph - trotted away from the now dumbstruck Vee, leaving her alone by her gathered traveling supplies. This was supposed to be a fun vacation trip into the unknown, not a horrible-serious-much-too-dire hike into the wilds! What were their brains wired to? Clearly not coffee!

Vee, being the genius she was - grabbed the heavy sack in her magic, before dropping it over her shoulders. Carrying weights like this was definitely bad for the feathers - it would make them all sweaty and in need of even more fine preening. Preening she was now behind on, by the way!

Her extremely untidy wings gave a flap, holding her aloft regardless of the weight. Fine then. If they didn’t need her help, they wouldn’t get it! She’ll go home, snoot up some fine beans, maybe burn some oats - then stare at the fireplace. Her hat floated off her head - and she withdrew her checklist.

‘Be mad!’ Check. Sometimes, she didn’t even know why she wrote the things she did down. But her quills had a mind of their own at times, best to let them wander and explore the page. Wouldn’t want feathers laid to rest to get off without earning their snooting! How dare they.

She raised her hoof, attempting to summon Onyx. But to her surprise, nothing came. Bah! She needed cookies to tempt him to appear. Unfortunately, Pumpkin was off making a mistake. The mistake being she abandoned her! She would have to dock her pay.

Wait, she hadn’t paid Pumpkin in over a year, since the recession began and bits became exceptionally tight. Actually, she hadn’t paid herself, either. When was the last time she had her hooves done? Or bought expensive beans? Never! Well, that was a lie. More like last week. If you don’t have coffee, you don’t have Vee, and the world needs Vee!

What a horrible vacation so far! Snowy, muddy, angry Jerk-faces telling her what to do. Hm. And now the bushes are glowing! Fireflies, yet no flames! How would they catch fire without them?!

Odd. She knew these woods quite well, and they had never been so bustling or bumbling with life. The flowers grew tall and wild, and the trees seemed full of chirping sounds of birds and bugs. The cold didn’t even seem so bad! Peculiar things were aloof, and her feathers were giving the bad tingles.

Which were much different from the good, coffee tingles. She sipped at her cup, frowning. She didn’t order arrow coffee. Who put an arrow through her mug? In fact, who put this rope around her neck?

This was definitely not good for the feathers. Dropping the now broken cup, she landed on her hooves - fiddling with the rope settled around her.

“By the order of the Circlet of Antlers, we order you to stop,” a voice said to her left - and for once, she made the effort to clop her hooves over to look at the bold noise. Very bold! Bold enough to tell her what to do.

A deer! Oho! Oh dear. Not a good sign! She hadn’t seen a white tail in four hundred years, since she illegally built her cabin. And he didn’t seem happy. Well, Vee wouldn’t be happy too, if she had antlers instead of feathers. Actually, they seemed really good at scratching the places that needed scratching. Perhaps she will grow some in the future. Or perhaps not!

“D’ohoho! Circlet of Antlers? Never heard of it!” she said, an expert in all things - except for things she didn’t know, much like this. “Is that new set of playing cards? I’m sorry, I’m horrible at Go Fish. In fact, I prefer Fifty-Two Pickup.”

Several deer had the gall to surround her, giving her strange, curious looks. Hmhm! She would have to preen away dirty glares later. For now, she had the business of snooting up some information.

“What?... Just. You! Speak your business in the Feywilds of the Autumn Court,” that same strapping buck said with a look of mild curiosity.

“Aha! Yes, I was snooting my way through the bushes, looking to sip my coffee and flap my wings home, when I found myself with a strange new necklace.” She flicked the rope with a feather, said feather soon swiftly preened away.

“I… see.” By now, the rest of the bucks - and a few does - had surrounded her. Most eying her with curiosity, as ponies were an extreme rarity in their lands. Others held bows steady in their cloven hooves, though a conflict didn’t seem likely. “Regardless, trespassing in the Autumn Court is strictly prohibited. You will stand trial; ponykind aren’t welcome in the Fey. You have the rights to silence and the permission to speak to the accuser - that being the Circlet of Antlers, King Aster. Additionally, you may accept your guilt and instead be interned in the Court’s Prison, for a sentence no greater than one year.”

“Does the prison have coffee? And are you the fuzz?”

“No. And… uh, no?”

“Hmhmhm! I see. Then I’m not interested in prison! Let’s see what the Antler-fry has to say.” Vee preened a wing, as two more ‘necklaces’ found themselves situated around her neck.

“Very well then. Come with us.”

With Vee gone from the group, a strange silence seemed to cling to the air. Of course, the trio of ponies - plus their one Seraph - still had to visit her shop, simply because they still desperately needed supplies. Arin, after weighing their goods and finding it all grossly lacking, spoke first.

“So, here’s the plan. Tempest, me and you both know Vee probably won't let you inside-”

“Probably?” she questioned. “No no, I’m sure I’ve been barred entry.”

“Yes yes, so. Here’s what we’ll do. Pumpkin, you know the way to her cottage, right?” Arin turned her eyes to the little mare. With a sniffle, she nodded.

“I used to hunt these woods for rare herbs, for potion making.”

“Alright, wonderful. You’ll lead us there, and once we arrive - you’ll have to head inside alone, and see if you can scrounge up some proper supplies for our trip. At the very least, see if you can organize Vee’s uh… ‘attempt’ at packing into something useful, pack up what you can and need, then we’ll hit the road. If Vee is willing to talk, invite her outside and we’ll have a proper conversation.”

“Arin, I never asked, but… how is Vee’s shop in both Canterlot, and White Tail Wood?” Celestia questioned, the small mare below clearing her throat.

“W-Well um, Miss Princess Celestia, um… you see, the interior of the store is i-in its own plane of existence, but the physical location in which it’s tied is here in the forest. Vee owns a few storefronts across Equestria, and with Onyx’s help-”

“The raven, right?” Celestia confirmed, the little mare nodding.

“Y-Yes! His magic allows us to shift the shop into multiple spots.” By now, they had come to a split in the tracks. One heading northward, through the Smokey Mountains - and the other heading far west, to curve into the south. Pumpkin pointed to their left.

“T-This way. It's a few hours walk f-from here.”

“It’s not like we had any other choice,” Tempest said, taking the lead once more. Pumpkin trotted up to her side, looking a lot more lithe after losing Vee’s impressively heavy travel bag.

Their travel continued for hours onwards, a very boring trip that seemingly had no end. Ahead of them, they were slowly gaining on the edge of the Lunar Plane - Celestia’s steps quickening with every stride.

“If we can just make it a few miles past the edge, I can bask in Solar magic - and bring the dawn, however late it may be. Of course, it won't change anything smothered by Nightmare Moon’s magic - the Sun doesn’t exist in the Lunar Plane. If she intends on covering all of Equestria, it may completely cut the Solar Plane out of existence, breaking it’s ties to our world.”

“How can we even be sure that’s her intention? In fact - how could she even do that?” Arin questioned, as Tempest slowed her pace to rejoin them. Speaking quietly, as one of the experts on the topic.

“I have a theory. Twilight’s research into freeing you, Princess, included several blasts of harmony magic directed at the moon. This allowed massive, perfect holes to tear in the fabric of reality at these points - allowing the Nightmare to make connections to the outside world. Stabilizing these rifts, when she escaped by whatever means she used to do so, she could use the magic of the Lunar Plane and the Dream Realm to rip the fabric apart, smothering the world in Lunar magic. She would have required Luna’s body to do so, as she is one of the rare few ponies capable of controlling Dream Magic.”

“Like Vee!” Pumpkin chirped.

“Yes, like that psychopath,” Tempest confirmed. “Dream magic affects the sane in a multitude of ways. It inspires creativity, but can make emotions run wild and out of control at random. Though from inspecting Vee, she appears to have bathed in it - along with Lunar Magic - long enough to lose her grasp on reality.”

“You’re well adept in the study of magic, Tempest. Especially for a Unicorn with a damaged foci. Are you sure you didn’t study at my University for Magically Gifted Unicorns when I wasn’t looking?” Celestia complimented the tall unicorn, genuine sincerity in her voice.

“How kind of you to say, but I never intended to have a broken horn this long. Not even Arin’s restoration magic can undo the damage, and so, I’m simply coping.” She bowed her head solemnly, Pumpkin bouncing with excitement by her side.

“You should become a Sun Witch, like me! Just like Celestia, we channel our magic from the Sun! And you don’t need a horn to do it.” She bubbled and squeed, her stutter long forgotten when speaking of something she cherished. “Eee! I can even teach you! T-Though um… not now. Not until we get out of here.”

Tempest considered it for a moment, before a warm smile filled her cheeks. “Perhaps, I will consider it again in the future. Though my study of Witchcraft didn’t expand far, as Unicorns find it difficult to only fill their Ember with one type of magic. When Solar Magic and Lunar Magic are used in tandem, they create a balance that prevents our Embers from splitting from the heat, or cracking from the cool. It will be difficult, but I suppose there are few avenues left before me. One day, I will consider it.”

Pumpkin squeaked and bounced around, simply happy to have a study partner! Oh! She should definitely show off her romance novel collection - she’ll grab the choicest choice books from her room, and-

“Oh! We’re almost here! This log - on our right! It’s my little l-landmark to head through the w-woods.” She hopped toward the tree line, the soft flecks of fireflies appearing even in the bitter cold of the infinite night.