Silverstream gets kidnapped

Chapters

Silverstream gets kidnapped
Silverstream gets questioned
Silverstream gets invited

Silverstream gets kidnapped

Gallus landed in front of the School of Friendship in a hurry, seeing his friends already there. Silverstream was swimming in the lake next to the building, while Ocellus, Sandbar, Yona and Smolder were talking by the water, visibly excited. Seeing him, they waved, and he waved in return. It was good to be back.

“As always last to arrive at school, Gallus.” Sandbar welcomed him with a smile that took the bite out of his words. “You know, there is this thing called ‘being punctual’. I can introduce you to Time Turner, he’s really good at it.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Sandstone.”

“Hey!” Sandbar protested, as others chuckled at the nickname.

“Anyway, you won’t believe what happened to me this summer, everyone!” Gallus almost started his story, when he noticed incredulous looks his friends were giving him. Even Silverstream approached to get a closer look. “What? Jealous I had an amazing adventure?”

“Not… exactly.” Ocellus said, as usual shy to say what exactly was on her mind. “More like…”

“Look, I’m sure it’s that stupid Tree again. That’s the only explanation.” Smolder interrupted her. “No way it happened to all of us at the same time!”

“Yona agrees!” The yak jumped up and down, as she tended to do, causing a miniature earthquake under her muscular legs. “Yona thinks the shiny tree is doing things again!”

“Wait, what?” This time it was Gallus’s turn to look at his friends with surprise. “What do you mean?”

“We all had amazing adventures this summer!” Silverstream said with her usual enthusiasm, jumping up from the water and transforming mid-air. “I was kidnapped by very bad ponies who wanted to summon an evil goddess!”

“… What. You are playing a prank on me, aren’t you?” Everyone else shook their heads in universal ‘no’ gesture. Only then Gallus realized what he just heard. “You were kidnapped?! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine! It was an amazing adventure, and I found some new friends, but it was really scary. I missed you a lot!” Silverstream jumped forward and gave them all a big hug, to a half-hearted protests from Smolder and Gallus.

“But, but you were kidnapped! What do you mean they wanted to summon an evil goddess!” Gallus couldn't get the questions out of his head, even in the midst of a hug.

“Friend Gallus thinks too much! Don’t worry, Yona can fix!”

“Nonono!”

“Yona SQUEEZE!”

There was a sound of overly enthusiastic Yak hug, alongside the sounds of choked breathing from all others – even from Ocellus, who could easily transform out of it, but enjoyed it way too much.

They finally separated when Gallus started feeling dizzy from lack of air, everyone but Yona falling on the ground and breathing heavily, although most of them laughed despite it.

After few moments to catch his breath, Gallus continued. “And here I thought me meeting the Emperor of Gryphus was a big thing.”

“Woah, you met Grover VI?” Ocellus asked, intrigued.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised the nerd is the one who remembers the name of whoever that is.” Smolder said, hiding her own surprise. “But you seriously met the big griffon what-his-name?”

“That sounds amazing!” Silverstream said happily. “I only got to meet some old pony who tried to convince me slavery is good, Emperor of Gruphus sounds so much nicer then that!”

“What.” Now Gallus was back to worried. “Wait. You were kidnapped… by slavers?! Who?! Let me know, and I will… I don’t know, do something bad to them! Ask the Emperor if he’s in mood for invasion after all!”

“Easy there, big hero. She needs no help with that.” Sandbar said with a smile. “What, you thought she needed some knight in shining armor to avenge her, like some Arcturian knight?”

“First, how do you even know about Arcturian legends? And second, it’s not like that!”

“Sure it isn’t.” Sandbar’s smile only widened.” "But since it appears Gallus is more intrigued by your story than our incredible tales, how about you start, Silverstream?”

“Of course!” The hippogriff was almost bouncing in place with energy. “It all happened on my way back home...”

Silverstream was, as always, bouncing with energy. She was coming home! She loved the School of Friendship, and her friends, but she really missed her home sometimes. Her parents, her aunt, everyone. And Mount Aris! It was so big, you could really see it from afar! She strained her eyes, attempting to spot it on the horizon. Of course, she failed – they were still too far. But soon, she could see it, and then she would be home!

The ship she was on, “Wave Rider”, was an Equestrian vessel. It was quite small, and mostly ferried letters between Equestria and Mount Aris, with occasional couriers and other important passengers.

It was also the fastest ship she could take, so Princess Twilight personally made sure she got to it on time. This way, from the moment she said goodbye to her friends as they all separated for the summer break to return to her homes, she would be in Mount Aris in less than two weeks!

Princess Twilight is so nice, she thought to herself, looking at the horizon. In case of a normal passenger, the crew might have been worried that she could fall overboard, but Silverstream could swim as fast as their ship could sail without problem, so they just continued their routine work. The sky was clear, and weather was warm but not yet as hot as it would get in the coming months.

“Enjoying the view, miss?” Silverstream heard, and turned around with a smile.

“Yes, Captain Stronghammer! It is really nice to be back at sea.” She answered truthfully as the stallion stood next to her.

Capitain Iron Stronghammer was, in fact, brother of the highest-ranking and very influential Equestrian admiral, Madoor Stronghammer. Older brother, as he always said when anypony would mention it. However, unlike him, Iron was a captain of a civilian ship, while his brother was doing his best to reform the pony naval force.
Not that he had much to reform. Equestria was a peaceful nation, and Celestia refused to establish a powerful, heavily-armed navy under his command, allowing only for some increased patrol ships to make sure another invasion, like one that happened not long ago when Storm King arrived, would never again catch them unaware.

Madoor was reportedly still unhappy about it, after envisioning himself at the head of a powerful fleet.

“Homesick?” Captain guessed.

“A little. I miss my home. No offense to Equestria, it’s amazing!” She said honestly. She truly loved it. “But sometimes I can’t stop thinking about home. I’m so happy I will get to visit it again!” She bounced a little on her feet happily.

Captain chuckled, seeing his guess once again showing her unending energy and happiness. His crew, and he himself, were little hesitant when they heard they would be ferrying someone who’s basically royalty, but by the time they reached Les Meridiennes few days later, she proved to be a great passenger. Her presence on his ship made morale skyrocket, and he had to admit, even the old sea wolf like himself found her to be a nice change of pace from transporting bags of mail and occasional stone-faced diplomatic courier.

“Oh, I see another ship, captain! So exciting! Think it’s from Mount Aris?” Silverstream suddenly asked. He looked ahead, his eyes still as good as ever, and also spotted a small black dot.

“Hard to say, miss. Especially at that distance.”

“I hope we’ll get to see them!” Her enthusiasm was infectious, as always. He found even himself wondering for a moment what ship was that. Could be a merchant vessel, there were some traveling here since Mount Aris stopped their self-imposed hiding in exile underwater.

He would find out soon enough, as it turned out. The ship was going in their direction and so they met around halfway through. He could easily recognize the shape of the bigger vessel, pony shipyards having one of the best designs in the world; it was an Equestrian merchant ship, one of the older models, but that was not what instantly got Stronghammer’s attention.

The ship did not have an Equestrian flag on its mast. It was a white flag, with a red ‘X’ symbol. The ship was in trouble and required assistance.

Stronghammer took only moments to spring into action, ordering his crew. The ship turned slightly, moving in the direction of a vessel in need. Hearing the commotion, Silverstream, who went below the deck not long ago, got back up and he turned to her. “Miss, you may want to stay down there. No idea what we’re dealing with, but it may not be pretty.”

To her credit, she did not hesitate at all. “No! I am a student at a School of Friendship, I can’t leave these ponies without help! Besides, my aunt always said it’s important to help others.”

“Ha, that’s the spirit. But there may be wounded there. Hope you don’t collapse on a sight of little blood, miss.” He tested her. She hesitated, but then her determination grew even stronger. “Very well. Just keep yourself safe, I’d hate to tell Princess her student got wounded on my ship.”

The bigger vessel reached them soon. As they came closer, a stallion with a bandage around his head looked over the ship's railing. He had bat wings; a thestral, captain noted, although more focused on whatever emergency they may have. “Ahoy! We saw your flag, what is the emergency?”

“Thank the Princess you are here!” The thestral shouted back. “We had an accident, many are wounded! I only have few healthy stallions left, do you have any medical supplies?”

“We can spare most of what we have, we’re close to Mount Aris anyway.” Stronghammer gestured at one of the sailors. “You, bring it here!”

As the sailor hurried inside the ship, the two vessels were finally sailing next to one another, making transfer of supplies easier. The wounded thestral was visibly relieved. “Thank you! Here, some of the fine stallions here also want to thank you. Guys?”

Suddenly, multiple thestrals emerged alongside the bigger ship’s railing. All armed with weapons, and the looks on their faces that made everyone shudder. The ‘wounded’ thestral ripped the ‘bandage’ off, showing his pristine skin.

“What?!” Silverstream said in confusion and surprise. The captain and his sailors tensed in fear.

“Surrender!” The lead thestral said in a hostile voice. “We will only take your vassel and capture you if you do so. Fight back, and you will all die here.”

The crewmare sent for the medical supplies emerged from under the deck, only to witness the unfolding situation. She stood there in shock, dropping what she was carrying on the deck, loud enough to gather everyone's attention for a moment.

Stronghammer wasted no time to make use of the sudden noise, and whispered to Silverstream, trying to not move his mouth: “Jump overboard, miss. We will give you time, fight them, but you must escape! Don’t let them take you.”

“What? No, if you do that you will die!” Silverstream protested.

“Miss, these are Chiropterrans.” Captain said grimly. "I don't want a young girl like you to fall into the hoofs."

“But they are just a legend!” Silverstream protested loudly in shock.

“I can assure you, hippogriff, we are no mere legend.” The voice from above said. The lead thestral smiled, although there was no happiness in his smile. “We are very much real and have very good hearing. Last chance. Any tricks, and you will all die here.”

“Please surrender.” Silverstream whispered to captain. “I’m not leaving you to die. Please.”

Stronghammer sighed. “Princess Twilight will have my hide for this. And then Queen Novo will have the rest. Fine, miss. I really hope you know what you’re doing.” He turned to the armed ponies. “We surrender.”

“A wise choice.” Thestral said, gesturing for his crew to go down and take over the smaller vessel. “You will live to see the glory of our Goddess.”

Silverstream looked at the wooden wall in front of her, still not understanding how this all could happen so fast. She was going back home, with captain and his crew, and was so close to home! And now, they were all in chains, in the bowels of the ‘mechant’ ship, on mercy of those… thugs!

In the few hours since they were captured, not much happened. They were put in chains – Silverstream was very surprised and unhappy to see there were some specifically designed for hippogriffs – and put below deck on the bigger ship. Outside from that, not much as happened.

“I told she will bring us bad luck, haven’t I?” One of the sailors suddenly said. “We never should have gotten her on board.”

What? Silverstream, hurt, looked at the sailor in question. He had a doubt on his face, but continued. “We never had trouble with pirates, and now this? Chiropterrans? They will drink our blood and eat us alive, everypony!”

Panic started setting in, but then one of the crewmares spoke. “You really think it makes a difference if we have her on board or not? They would get us anyway! Remember how many ships disappeared here before seaponies started sending patrols out there? We wouldn’t be the first, and probably not the last.”

“She is right. Silverstream sacrificed her freedom so we could live, rather then using us as a distraction to escape. You all should be thankful.” Stronghamer said, instantly bringing back the order. “Besides, she is a personal student of Princess Twilight, and a royal of Hippogriffia! If anything, her being here means both Equestria and Mount Aris will spare no expanses finding her.”

“How are they going to find us? No one even believes Chriopterrans exist!” The first crewstallion protested.

“Kid, are you seriously doubting the combined power of entire United Pony Alliance? And, buck that, do you seriously doubt the Elements of Harmony? Let alone the other students like her? Remember how they got Cozy Glow?” Captain relaxed as much as the chains allowed him to. “I don’t. You’ll see, we’ll be free soon, and all thanks to Silverstream. Be thankful she didn’t decide to abandon us to die, instead!”

The discussion ended just in time. Moments later, a thestral stepped down from the deck, two others flanking him. He pointed at Silverstream. “You. You’re coming with us. Rest of you stay here, and if I hear you talking again, I will make sure none of you will ever talk again.”

Silverstream gulped as her captors unlocked her chains. She gave one last look to her newfound sailor friends, before she went up to the main deck with the thestrals.

The weather was still beautiful, as if to spite her. Normally she would enjoy it, spend all the day on deck, or even swim alongside the ship to relax. But instead, she was thinking about her predicament. What will happen to her now?

Don’t give up, ever! She could almost imagine hearing Pinkie Pie say it. If you find yourself in a really bad situation, focus on what’s good and remember, all that is bad will pass sooner or later, and many situations are not as dark as they look!

But what could be not as dark as it seems in this situation, she wondered as she was taken to the captain’s cabin. The guards opened it and stood before it, ordering her inside before closing the door after her.

She found herself in a a lavishly decorated room. There was an expensive-looking desk, made of some type of black wood, with cushioned chairs on each side of it. The sea navigation instruments looked luxurious, with golden paint on some parts. The walls were adorned with ornaments, with strong preference for moon emblems and some kind of heavily-armored pony defeating and crushing her enemies. She shuddered; it did not look nice at all. Not her kind of art, she preferred happy stories and especially happy endings, thank you very much!

On the opposite side of the desk, on one of those cushioned chairs, was a thestral. He was sitting down, looking at her with a stony face, without a word.

“Hello?” Silverstream asked, trying to not show her fear and worries. Since the cabin looked quite higher-class, she decided she was probably dealing with someone of higher birth… or rich. But that meant that etiquette could be important. “For what purpose was I ordered here?”

After few more moments, the thestral sighed. “Sit, young lady.” As she did so, he continued. “I wanted to see you myself before I drop you off at Firstport. My name is Thunder Strike, and I am the captain of ”Veiled Dagger””.

“It is… a unique name for a ship.” Silverstream noted, the conversation flowing slowly and allowing her to relax a little. She was a member of the royal family and a student a Twlight's school, after all, this wasn’t the first time she was in a difficult position… although it was definitely her top three. If not less.

“Different then pony and seapony ship names, that’s for sure. Or at least, how they are now. This ship’s name has over a thousand years of tradition.” He looked over his cabin with pride. “And, Goddess willing, she will be the remembered even when another thousand years come to pass.”

“A… thousand years? This ship must have been truly legendary, if its name still lives.” That long? How come? Chiropterra was a legend, or at least everyone in Hippogriffia thought so.

“Ah, I see what you meant, young lady. Yes, its name truly is over a thousand years old. Like the country she hail from, Chiropterra.” As much as she tried, she couldn’t hide a wince. “I take it you heard of us?”

“Only legends.” Silverstream admitted. Her parents, like many others, used Chiropterrans as monsters hiding in the dark, kidnapping badly-behaving children.
Wait. She wasn’t kidnapped because she was behaving badly as a kid, right? She shook this absurd notion away, or at least attempted to.

“I see. You must be convinced we are primitive barbarians, hiding in impenetrable jungle, and also cannibals, am I right?”

“There are many tales and legends.” She answered, trying to act diplomatically. “I learned not to trust them all.”

“Oh, but some need to be trusted. The Ancient Centaur, for example. Or Nightmare Moon.” He smiled slightly, seeing her grow more and more nervous. “Alas, you should know that we, in fact, do not practice cannibalism. No drinking blood or eating meat; it is strictly forbidden, not that anyone in their right mind would try.”

Silverstream felt like a huge burden disappeared from her shoulders. “Oh thank you! I was so worried, about these nice sailors, and myself, but obviously not all legends are true, and in fact many are harmful stereotypes, and I am rambling aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are.” He smiled a little more, and she returned the smile. The atmosphere in the cabin grew much lighter. “You remind me of my nephew. He is an endless, bouncy ball of energy sometimes.”

“Just like me!”

“Yes…” His eyes grew darker for a moment, but it quickly passed. “You are Silverstream, member of the royal family, student in the School of Friendship, aren’t you?”

“Yes?” She considered lying, but captain Stronghammer was right. Her being a royal was the greatest chance for these poor ponies. “Look, I know you’re probably worries since you kidnapped me, but my aunt isn’t vengeful or anything. And Princess Twilight even less so! I’m sure they’ll forgive you if you return me and these ponies and explain yourself. I’m sure you’re not some kind of unsavory pirate, mister Strike.” She said passionately.

He actually looked a little surprised. “What makes you say that?”

“Um, I know them both? Quite well, even, and…”

“No, that part about me not being unsavory.” He interrupted her.

“Well… you just don’t act it? You didn’t hurt anypony until now, and you don’t look like someone who will do all those horrible things I heard about. And, I think I can feel it in my heart.” She put her hoof on a place where her heart was. In fact, she wasn’t half as sure as she may seem, but her bubbly personality came out – as it always did when she was nervous – and helped to mask it.
Besides, mister Strike really didn’t feel… evil. He seemed too dignified for it. Pirates were supposed to be dirty, disgusting, not clearly educated and looking like nobility, right?

He actually laughed. It was a short, clipped sound, but it was nice nevertheless. It made her smile widely. He managed to stop laughing after a moment, shaking his head. “If you knew half of what I did, you wouldn’t say that, young lady. I did many things you would consider to be very bad.”

“Do you, though?” Seeing his look, she explained. “Do you think you did bad things? Professor Starlight told me once that people who know that what they’re doing is wrong, and do it because they think its the lesser evil, can be reasoned with. Deep inside, they look for a better way, and if you can convince them there is one, they tend to take it.”

“… You really are something. Most ponies and hippogriffs I saw on this ship were crying, bartering for their lives, screaming, trying to convince me to convert to something. You instead compliment me and convince me I am already on a way to becoming a good person.” He shook his head. “They really pick their best for this School I heard about, don’t they?”

“Um, not sure if by ‘they’ you mean Twilight and Queen Novo, since they sent me there, but I’m not sure if I am the best in anything. I guess I am best at swimming in the school, but I have an advantage and I am rambling again. Sorry.”

He sighed. She heard him mutter something quietly before he looked back at her. “Why do you have to be so young and innocent? When I heard about you, I thought you will be an arrogant pony royal, not… this.”

“I am technically a hippogriff royalty, not pony, maybe that’s why?”

He sighed, clearly bothered by something. “Guards will take you back to the hold. Please do not try to stir any trouble.”

“I won’t.” She promised as she left, the guards leading her below the deck again. It’s not like she had anything she could do, right now. She was guarded and/or chained all the time, and she already decided not to leave the sailors to their fate, whatever that fate is.

When she came back, she was bombarded with quiet, whispered questions. She answered all of them as best as she could, trying to ease the sailor's fear, before they run out of questions. In the end, they all went to unsteady sleep.

On the next day, and for the next week in fact, she was taken before the captain every day on the same hours – or at least, with the sun in the same place, she had no other way of tracking time under the ship’s deck. Strike was a most amenable host, aside from the small issue of her and her friends still being imprisoned.

On the third day, he prepared quite a feast for them both – or rather, she guessed, had it prepared by the crew. Many dishes, most of them Zebrican but to her surprise some Equestrian, were put on the table alongside different drinks.

She refused to eat. When asked, she answered simply. “I could not eat that and think of those poor sailors below us living on dry bread and water.”

“Is it not a tradition that those of noble birth eat better than those below them?” He asked in return.

“If you do that, it means either your citizens are too poor to eat properly, or you are too rich to ever eat through all your gold, and should put it to a good use instead.” She quoted one of her teachers. Thank you, Rarity, she thought.

The captain seemed offended, and sent the food away. Their conversation was much shorter on that day, and he quickly sent her away, No food was brought to the sailors in the evening, as well, and she started to worry.

However, on the next day, sailors were given actual food – not lavish banquet, but better than what they ate before. She was brought before the captain again, and he asked her a question as she sat down and they greeted each other.

“Your decision hurt those ponies, in the end. You should have accepted my gratitude. You are lucky I felt generous enough to not punish them for the way you offended me yesterday.”

“I did not, really.” She had a lot of time to think about it. The night was long, after all, and she did felt sorry for them. “If you wanted to hurt them, nothing I said or did would help. You have all the power right now. You can use me as an excuse, but it would only be you making this decision.”

He sat there in silence for a moment, before answering. “I thought you care about them. I am disappointed, I thought you…”

“I do.” She interrupted him. The sheer incredulity of her just interrupting him silenced him for a moment, and she continued. “I spent the night worrying. But there wasn’t much I could do to help. I had to trust that you would make the right choice.”

“What… what is wrong with you?” He said, recovering from his shock. “I captured you, threatened to kill your ‘friends’, I almost took your food away because of a small insult to my honor as a host, and yet you still say that? What kind of a royal person are you?”

“Generous.” She answered without doubt. Seeing his lack of understanding, she continued. “Loyal. Kind. Honest.”

He groaned. “It seems you forgot ‘laughter’ and ‘friendship’, if I remember your stupid propaganda correctly.”

“Laughter is important, but for the ruler it is more important in private then in public. Laughing during a public negotiation is in bad taste most of the time, if you’re not Pinkie Pie that is. But in private, a good ruler has to be able to laugh at herself and her mistakes. You can’t be serious your entire life.” She said without doubt.

“You can’t seriously believe it. What kind of protection you can give your citizen with honesty? How can you use kindness as a weapon? These are just words.” His voice grew more emotional. “Tell me, how are you going to protect these sailors you clearly care about with something as weak as ‘kindness’?”

“I already did.” He looked at her with disbelief. “I never lied to you. I treated you kindly, without harsh words, believing there is more to you then just capturing us. I remained loyal to them, and thanks to me not taking your offer of a feast, they all had a proper meal today. And I made you smile, when we talked for the first time.”

“And let me guess, your friendship with them allowed you to do that all?” He mocked her.

“Not only them. I hope you can be my friend, as well." Strike was visibly taken aback by this statement. "That’s why I never lied to you, and treated you kindly. Wouldn’t world be so much better place if we all did that?” She asked innocently.

And she could see him realizing, with visible disbelief, that was still fully honest with him. She truly believed this.

“This is all absurd. You cannot triumph over weapons, armies, countries with kindness and laughter!” He made a fist and hit the table, plates and cutlery clattering. “Equestria may have powerful magical artifacts, but without them, all these words mean nothing!”

“They didn’t have them when they defeated Storm King.” She pointed out. “Doesn’t that count for weapons, armies and countries?”

He had no argument after that. He summoned his guards and they took her below the deck.

She was still smiling gently.

She had no idea, but far away in Equestria, Pinkie Pie suddenly felt pride in her student. The Element of Laughter nodded her head wisely, speaking to herself. “Never doubted you for a moment, Silverstream!” before returning to serving her customers, who long ago got used to her erratic ways.

On the next day, Silverstream posed a question to Strike: “Can you set the sailors free? It’s not like they have anywhere to escape. We’re still far from land.” And, judging by what she saw, going south, to the Chiropterran jungles.

“Absolutely not. Can’t risk them trying to fight us, and winning or hurting you in the commotion.” Strike answered over his meal, frowning.

She grew visibly sad, her bubbly spirit leaving her. He sighed. “But, I can arrange it so they can be released for a short walk, one by one, so they can get some sun. But if any of them try to escape, you will be held responsible.”

“Thank you!” She was instantly back to her smiling self. Then, she furrowed her brows. “Wait, I just remembered something. I thought thestrals were nocturnal?”

“It is true. Most of the crew is, actually. Why? Planning a daring escape during the day? There are still enough sailors awake to stop you if you try.” He warned her.

“No, no, I was just thinking… do you want to move our meeting? I can go sleep later, or wake up earlier if you’d like.”

“… is this another example of your ‘generosity’ thing?” He asked, resigned.

“It’s just me being myself!” She answered happily. “Did you think I force myself to be happy all the time? It’s just me!”

“To answer your question, there is no point. I am awake already by the time we meet. But.” He hesitated for the slightest moment. “I do thank you for considering it. Not many would care about a thestral, let alone their captor.”

“No problem, friend!”

“I am not your friend! I am your captor, carrying you to your… I am not your friend!” He repeated instead of he wanted of say.

“You just decided to help my friends! That makes you my friend, like it or not!” She smiled, and he groaned.

On the next day, during their meal, he asked her something else. “Do you plan on being so happy even if you would ever become a Queen?”

“Well, I will do my best.” She answered honestly. “I know it’s hard leading a nation, but I will have my friends by my side. What about you? Would you remain true to yourself if you became a ruler? Or maybe you’ll grow happier?”

“Happiness holds no importance. What is important is the State. We must all work for it.” He answered without any visible doubt.

“Your country? So, you serve your country first and foremost?” She asked, remembering someone she met long time ago.

“That’s right. My country is my highest duty, as it is to any loyal thestral. We live to serve it, to further it, to make it stronger.”

She recalled words like these vividly. Crack Lightning and the hippogriffs of Aris Frist. They only grew stronger during their forced isolation, hiding from Storm King and preaching fear and hatred. Fear, to keep everyone in line, to give those evil hippogriffs what they wanted. Hatred, to give them goal, to show them who the enemy is, who is responsible for their fear and misery.

Thankfully, their ideology was completely shattered when everyone on Mount Aris got to meet their new pony neighbors from Equestria. Turns out that knowing your neighbours makes hating them much harder, unless they are truly evil.

“So… you live to make your country stronger. What does your country do for you, after it’s strong?” She asked.

“Safety. Knowledge that all wrongs will be avenged, that all dangers will be destroyed.” He answered without doubt.

She thought for a moment before answering. “So, if you all felt safe, they would be no need for it?”

“That could never happen. We have enemies, Silverstream.” He didn’t even noticed when he stopped calling her ‘young lady’. “We are not like Equestria, safe from dangers. And we have been wronged, thousand years ago. We have to right the wrong. Our ancestors count on it.”

“A thousand years. That is a long time. Do any of those who were wronged live today?”

“No, but we must avenge them. Their honor was tainted by this betrayal.”

“I see. So… you avenge your ancestor’s honor. You conquer… whatever you want to conquer. You defeat the enemy who hurt your ancestors thousand years ago. What then?”

“Justice is finally done, and build a new, thousand-years Empire under our Goddess.” He answered.

“I see.” She was silent for a moment. “How do you make sure those who wronged you don’t do the same? Wait for a thousand years to strike?”

“They are weak. They only won, because they betrayed us.” He defended his ideals.

“But now you are hiding, and attacking from hiding. Am I right?” He looked at her grimly. “So they can do that as well. And then you. And them. And so on, for thousands of years.”

“No. We are better, we will be ready. They grew weak, while we became strong!” He said aggressively.

“You probably did.” She surprised him by agreeing. “You seem to have a plan. An army, probably. You may triumph in a war. I have seen this before. But you will still be afraid.”

“We must be vigilant, we have many enemies!”

“You will hate. If you avenge all your wrongs, you will find new ones.”

“That is absurd! How can you criticize us, you don’t know our history, our culture, our suffering!”

“No. But I know fear, Strike. I know it well.” She looked at him, her bubbly personality still visible, but hidden under momentary sadness. “When we hid under the sea, there were those who said we should never come out. Storm King, they would say, is too dangerous. The outside world is dangerous. We have many enemies.” She took a deep breath. “And when he was gone… they kept repeating it. Only now it was everyone else, not just Storm King. Ponies, they said, would be jealous and try to steal our power. And when ponies proved to be allies, it was zebras and their ‘weird magic’. There is always an enemy. Tell me, doesn’t your nations also suspect others, not just those who wronged you a thousand years ago? Or are they truly the only ones you hate, the only ones who deserve to be punished, to be feared?”

Captain sat there for a moment. “The world is not safe. We must be vigilant.” It sounded much less fanatical then before.

“I know. Fear is truly powerful. I saw it myself. You know, before the Elements were a thing, there were Pillars of Equestria. One of them was the Pillar of Courage, because fear is a mind-killer. It makes you choose the wrong thing just to try and feel safe.” She smiled again, her sadness receding quickly. "But if you can just... not be scared, you may find out that things are better then they look!"

“… I thought you were bubbly, happy and carefree.” He said quietly. “But you really aren’t just that, are you? Is this how ponies win their wars? With words? It’s scary how persuasive you are.”

“Oh no, I’m totally bubbly and happy! My friends say that all the time! I just want others to be happy, you know, Lightning?” She asked him happily.

He didn’t correct her to ‘Strike’. He just waved at her, signaling their talk was over.

She left with a smile. She could already see doubt on the face of her newest friend.

Author's Note

And here we have Silverstream proving how ideals of Harmony aren't weak. Sure, you can't use Kindness to shoot someone... but it exists so you may avoid shooting people, if possible, and also avoid being shot at by people.

It reminds me of Fallout:Equestria, and the beautiful way the author shown the power of Kindness in that story (not that I'm even close to being as good of a writer as Kkat is). It was truly impressive, and very well done, and also one of my favorite moments in that story.

“Kindness? What the hell kind of weapon is that?”

“The kind that earns you friends.”

Silverstream gets questioned

On the next day, Strike seemed distracted as he gestured for his guest to sit. “Silverstream, this is probably the last meal we will have together. We’re coming to Chiropterra tonight. Thought you may want to know.” He said.

Oh. “And what’s going to happen there?” Silverstream asked. As much as she was not trying to show it, she was still aware that she was a prisoner. Only her newfound friends allowed her to get through this, but now she was coming closer to whatever awaited her there.

Lightning Strike, brave captain of the Chiropterran Navy, hesitated visibly before answering. “You were captured because we needed someone who had personal… bond, so to say, with Luna.”

“What? But, I barely know her!” Silverstream protested. “I saw her few times, but that’s it. Why me, and not someone closer to her?”

“Well, you are a member of the royal family, and took part in the meeting between Queen Novo and the Princesses. Luna was also in your school few times for special lessons, wasn’t she?”

“Still, I’m sure there are many ponies who have much closer bond with her! I mean, she probably barely knows my name.” Silverstream still protested. She didn’t mind being taken in place of someone else – especially since she already managed to make a new friend here! But it still sounded weird.

“You also had a connection to the Harmony, because of Cozy Glow’s attempt to stop all magic, right?” Strike sighed again. He looked much less sure of himself then ever before during their conversations. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but… we’re getting desperate. We tried multiple things before. Trying to create tensions between thestrals and other ponies, magic rituals to bring back the Goddess, hoping for a war to happen and push Luna to change back… it all failed. Eternal Eclipse is getting desperate. We… have to do something. Our society may not survive another millennia.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Luna changing? Millennia?” Silverstream tried to remember the history lessons. Luna was on a moon for a thousand years, as Nightmare Moon. And when she changed for the first time, back then, she had a royal army of… thestrals. “You want to bring back Nightmare Moon?!”

“Yes. She is our Goddess, and we have served her loyally for all those years. We will bring her back and be granted great rewards for this… or perish. There is no other way.” Captain said with heavy heart.

“But… this is crazy! I’m sorry, but what?! Luna IS Nightmare Moon, just not corrupted!” That was actually insane, Silverstream was sure of that. “And why would you even bring her back? She would bring eternal night, kill everyone! Even plants can’t live without sun, let alone ponies!”

“Luna is not our Goddess. She is a weak form of her, stripped of her might by the Elements of Harmony and with her mind forcefully changed. We will bring her back to her senses, break the mind control magic that Celestia put upon her, and she will reward us greatly. We will be given magic that allows us to live in the night forever, without any harm, as we should have long ago.”

“You can’t actually believe it, can you?” Silverstream asked with disbelief. “There is no mind control! Why would you even think that? We talked with the Harmony, and…”

“You what?” This seemed to surprise him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we found a door leading underground, and Harmony showed us all those scary things, I saw the Storm King, and we learned all kinds of lessons, and I am rambling again. But if she could just control us, why do all this?” Silverstream asked, remembering that (very scary) day. “If she could just make us do what she wants, I’m sure friend Gallus wouldn’t procrastinate so much!”

“I… see. So Harmony is sentient, somehow. But how do you know she truly isn’t controlling you, or your friends? Or those ponies who used the Elements?” Strike asked, trying to put this new information into his worldview somehow. “This only makes it more likely she is manipulating you all to stop our Goddess from regaining her free will.”

“Have you heard of our teachers?” Silverstream asked in return. “Do you truly believe someone mind controlled would act so… well, not-harmony-like, like they did in the past?”

He seemed to actually hesitate. She pressed on. “Luna was purified of her corruption by the Elements, but the reason she stays as herself now is not some magic. It’s friendship. Ponies, hippogriffs, even Princesses can change. Luna is happy now, this is why Nightmare Moon is not returning. You can’t just… un-uncorrupt her with some magic, because she simply doesn’t want all these bad things anymore! She changed. You can change, as well.”

“How do you know?” She swore she could sense a small spark of hope and hesitation in his voice.

“You changed, haven’t you, friend?” She asked.

He had no answer to that. He quickly changed the topic. “Once we reach Exile’s Landing, you will be taken to the capital. The sailors who were with you will be put to work, to prepare our cities for the glorious return of the Goddess.”

“Put to work? That doesn’t sound good.” She saddened. “Is there anything we can do to help them? They were just helping me get home, they are innocent. I really don’t want them to suffer just because they were there.”

“No can do, Silverstream. They are now our prisoners, and all pony prisoners have to work. These are the rules.” He decided against mentioning some of the worse things that happened to prisoners sometimes. He really wanted to spare her at least that in the last days of her life. “But aren’t you worried about yourself? Shouldn’t you ask me to help you escape?”

“But you said you all believe that you can bring Nightmare Moon back. I can help explain to your leaders that they’re wrong, and then you can stop being afraid and full of hate!” She answered with conviction. “This is all just a misunderstanding, after all.”

He winced. He really wanted to spare her that knowledge, but it seems he had no choice. “Silverstream. They will kill you. That’s what this magical ritual is. A sacrifice. You can’t convince anyone if you’re dead.”

“Oh.” Her courage suddenly waned, and she hesitated. She didn’t think of dying much, but she really wanted to avoid it. If she dies, she won’t see her friends ever again! But then she thought of something. “But if I escape, what happens to you? Won’t they hurt you for allowing me to escape?”

“They will. But you will be free, Silverstream.” He argued. “You can come home, come back here with an army, try to stop Eternal Eclipse from hurting anyone else!”

“But… that would be war.” She shuddered. “And wars are horrible. A lot of ponies and hippogriffs would die, wouldn’t they?”

“Sometimes there is no other way.” He said grimly. "And war can happen regardless."

She shook her head. “No. I believe there is. I can speak to your leaders, and others, maybe I can convince them!”

“You are utterly insane. I am one of the most open-minded thestrals in Chiropterra, and it took me days to even consider helping you. Eternal Eclipse won’t even laugh at you, he will just ignore you!” Lightning Strike tried to calm himself. “Fine, if this is how you want this to go. Guards!” The armed thestrals instantly spilled into the cabin. “Get her back under the deck. Before we send her to the port, make sure to muzzle her so she can’t spew her heretical nonsense. And get me the first mate on the double!”

Guards took shocked Silverstream out of his cabin without delay, and it took less than a minute before slightly-sleepy thestral entered it instead. Lightning Strike didn’t even wait for him to sit down before he started talking. “Change of plans. I trust you can manage, but it’s a big change…”

Silverstream, chained and muzzled, was slowly walking down the plank connecting the ship to the well-hidden port. Her thoughts went into dark places. She was sleepy – it was night, after all – and her failure in convincing her new friend weighted heavily on her. Where did she make a mistake? He seemed so open to change, and then…

She heard him walk behind her, slowly but surely. Not that she was walking any faster – the chains she was put in were loose enough to allow her to walk, but tight enough that running, let alone changing into a seapony, were out of question. He didn’t say a thing, and they just walked under the cold light of the moon. Silverstream normally enjoyed the sight of Luna’s satellite, but here, in this place, it felt much colder for some reason. Or maybe it was just her feeling worse.

“We will take the prisoner from here.” Said one of the armed thestrals awaiting them at the dock. “You can return to your ship.”

“There was a change of plans. I need to go to the capital, and discuss the situation with Commander Lucent Eclipse.” He answered coldly.

“Change of plans? We were not informed of any change of plans.” The other thestral protested.

“Do you have Moonshine-level clearence?” Lightning Strike asked. The asked thestral was silent. “Thought so. Now take care of your prisoner, while I take care of matters important to the State. I need to be provided with the transportation to the capital.”

“Will be done. What about the pony prisoners?” The first thestral asked, this time more timidly. Silverstream could her he was cowed by this display of authority.

“They all died, trying to save this… hippogriff. What a waste.” Lightning Strike said without much care. She gasped, but then realized something – the sailors were alright! He lied! She smiled inside. They were saved! “They will not see our Goddess return in Her glory. The “Veiled Dagger” has to go on a new mission now. Ensure they have proper supplies for another raid.”

Even as the cowed thestrals put her in some kind of cage mounted on a cart, and starting pulling her towards the dark heart of the Chiropterra, Silverstream found herself feeling much less scared. She was still being taken to be possibly sacrificed in a dark ritual, but now she had a friend! And she saved her sailor friends. It had to count for something, right?

Although she was still afraid, she felt the warmth of those thoughts warming her up inside. Friendship, she thought, truly is magic. She hoped it would be enough.

Unknown to her, Lightning Strike was on his way to capital to make sure it would be enough. He did his best to reach it as fast as possible, ready to forget about sleep and rest.
As suicidal as that hippogriff seemed, willingly going to that lair of snakes that was New Ayacachtli, she was lucky to have someone willing to look over her. He needed to get to Lucent Eclipse as fast as he could. He was the only one who could help.

And equally unknown to her, the first mate of “Veiled Dagger” was moving in a different, but as important direction. The first mate, still confused, but loyal, was way past the stage of scratching his head as the ship steadily moved north, and then east.
The direction of Mount Aris.

“Yes! The night will last forever!” Nightmare Moon shouted triumphantly, as the sun was extinguished. Silverstream could only look in horror, as her friends and family all fell before the undefeatable Queen of the Night. “And it’s all thanks to you, my child! You will be greatly rewarded for this. You will get to live in my new world, forever!”

“No!” Silverstream screamed, falling on the ground in tears. No, please, someone… stop this, she thought in despair. This, this horrible nightmare, I can’t take it anymore!

Wait. Nightmare. That’s right! It was not real! She got up on a shaky legs, to the mocking laughter of the monstrous, corrupted pony before her. “You, you are not real! None of this is! Luna!” She shouted to the black sky. “Luna, I need you!”

Nightmare only laughed. "Foalish hippogriff! You are in my domain now, the weakling will not save you!

Meanwhile, Princess of the Night – the real one, this time – was, as she did every night, making sure her little ponies could sleep well. She would calm their fears, and stop the nightmares that were trying to grow in their dreams. Such was her duty, and she enjoyed it greatly. More and ponies enjoyed the night with every year, as the news of her touch spread, and everypony… everycreature, she corrected herself, in Equestria could sleep well no matter what hardships they faced in the waking world.

But now, she felt something… different. A pull to a place far away. She never felt it before; other lands were too far, and not really aware of her, and she never ventured there. And when she tried, over a thousand years ago, she found beings on Gryphus she knew would be not easy to defeat even for her. She shuddered, remembering this ‘Maar’, or however that... thing called itself. She would need help to ever hope to defeat it, and it was hiding far beyond the reach of her full power. For now, all she could do was protecting Equestria from it.

But this pull… it came from the South. It was cold there, somehow, and she rarely went there either. She knew she wasn’t welcome there, zebras especially seemed to hate and loathe her for some reason.

However, she now heard a plea for help. She tried to find that dream, only to find… a barrier? What? Someone dared to block her access to the dream world? Deny it to Luna herself?! To add insult to injury, she recognized this magic. Twisted, ancient magic of the night, used once by Nightmare Moon and her cultists to hide and protect their vile dreams.

That will not do! Now that she was aware of this barrier, it took little effort to destroy it, the taint of Nightmare leaving this world. She hoped it was the last remnant of it.

To her surprise, she found Silverstream, facing her own, corrupted form. Luna descended into her dream, and banished the horrible creature. “Begone, you fake visage! You hold no power here!”

To her surprise, the image was… resisting her. With the same, corrupted power she knew so well. “Pathetic. You grew weak, Luna, while I, Nightmare Moon, only grew stronger! You show mercy, compassion, weakness! You forgot the lessons Star Swirl gave us. I bet you cannot fight at all these days!” The monster laughed, and the dream shook. “I have all the power in this place! I spent a thousand years, waiting for this day, and now, you shall fall!”

Did this… apparition, this fake image, just challenge her in her own domain?! Luna may have indeed learn much about the modern ways of Equestria, but to say she lost her warrior spirit? How absurd! She was still the warrior she was back then, the one who banished all the monsters of the night by herself! “I see. Begone then, creature, and know my full strength!”

The Nightmare before her laughed again. “You have no power here! How stupid you must be, to attack Us in the heart of Our power!”

And then, the dream shook, and Nightmare started to fade away. “What? Impossible! You are weak, and I am strong! I can feel it, even now your thoughts are not of this fight, but of your sister, the one who banished you!” The nightmare fired a burst of dark magic so powerful, it would annihilate Silverstream on the spot… if not for the fact that Luna effortlessly held it back.

“I see. So you are but the smallest part of my corrupted power, that grew sentience. Like a poor, weaker version of Tantabus, with ego not matching its power. Begone, I say for the third time!” And so the Nightmare, or rather the power of darkness building itself in Chiropterra, faded away. Luna turned to Silverstream. “You are safe now. You are Silverstream, student of School of Friendship, am I right? I remember you from the negotiations with your aunt, Queen Novo, as well.”

Silverstream jumped at Luna, hugging her and not holding back her tears. “You remember me! And you banished this, this scary thing, Luna! I am so happy to see you!”

“It is all right now, Silverstream.” She returned the hug. “As I said before, you are safe now.”

“I… I’m not.” Was the answer, and the hippogriff looked at Luna through her tears. “There are all these horrible scary ponies, and, and, they want to make some kind of dark magic thing to summon the Nightmare, and I have only one friend, but he’s amazing, and…”

“Slow down, Silverstream. Ritual? It that why I could not see this place before?” She thought about it, remembering the feeling that summoned her there. “I see. Your connection with Harmony made it possible for you to reach me. You have my thanks, Silverstream, without your help this… parasite would spread and fester in these lands. Now, tell me, what happened to you? I assumed you were already home.”

Silverstream, trying to stop her tears, told Luna everything. About her kidnapping, how she spoke with Lightning Strike, and made him realize things. She was proud to say he was her friend now, and he saved those pony sailors. She told Luna about what the Chiropterrans had planned for her, and upon hearing this, Luna felt fury like she didn’t feel for a long time now.

“These… thestrals thought they can corrupt me? I knew of those loyal to me, and tried to find them, but none seemed to remain after I returned from my banishment, their lineages long extinct. To think they would remain in this place, plotting for a thousand years… unthinkable.” She shook her hear. “The Eclipse lineage truly got corrupted by the darkness. Another sin on my conscience, it seems. They used to be the greatest of my protectors, using their might to fight back against the horrors that would creep in the night… and now, this? The gifts I gave to them, and all the others, perverted and twisted like that. Unforgivable.” Her warrior spirit, already awakened by the Nightmare, was now burning inside her.

“You… knew these ancestors they speak about?” Silverstream asked with a hint of worry at her voice at seeing Luna apparently getting ready for a fight. “Can you tell me about them?”

“I will, but that is for later. For now, I will contact Queen Novo. We will gather our forces, and crush this Chiropterra. I will personally lead our forces through this darkness, and destroy it.” Luna declared, only to realize Silverstream does not seem happy to hear it.

Before her banishment, she would not care about the thoughts of a child – teenager, these days there were actually distinct from children, she knew that now. She would gather her hosts and wage war until the enemy was crushed and Silverstream safe. But that was old Luna, and old age, much less civilized. So instead, she asked her. “You seem not satisfied with my plan, Silverstream. Why is that so?”

“Well… that would be war, right?” The hippogriff looked sad. “And war is very bad, isn’t it? Many ponies would die, and hippogriffs.”

“It is but a necessity. From you told me, they captured hundred, nay, thousands, tens of thousands maybe even of ponies, zebras, every creature they could find to work for their unhinged ambitions. And now, by kidnapping you, they declared war on entire United Alliance! We cannot let that slight pass, less others think of us as weak.” Her voice was slipping more and more into her old, pre-banishment way.

“Can we not have it, though? The war?” Silverstream asked, now both sad and worried. “There are good ponies here, Luna.”

“How can there be good in this place, if it was shrouded in darkness for so long? Think of all the suffering they caused! You had no doubt when Equestria faced the Storm King, even though it ended with his death.”

“Yes, but… remember Lightning Strike, I just told you about him? He has doubts, but if an army attacks, he will probably go to war to defend his country. Who knows how many others like him are there? Ponies who have doubts, but ignore them because they are just too scared?” Silverstream argued. "And you remember Storm King, what about Tempest?"

Luna sighed. “Thou remind me of Twilight Sparkle, and her insistence on redemption. It is against my better judgment that I reluctantly agree. But I will tell both Queen Novo and Twlight of your predicament and decision. When you come back, expect them to have choice words for you for what you just decided.”

“They will understand!” Silverstream hesitated. “Well, Princess Twilight will. Aunt is going to get so mad, she will probably ground me for the rest of the summer… but it’s worth it.” She decided. In truth, being at risk of death was much more scary then her aunt, as she found out. And she already decided to take her chance with finding the good ponies in this horrible place. “But tell them that I truly care about them, and don’t want them to worry! I will be home once I help these poor ponies to stop being so afraid!”

Luna just shook her head with slight amusement. “You truly remind me of the best and brightest ponies I had ever met. You were rightly chosen for the School of Friendship, not that I had doubted this before. You would make a fine ruler yourself. Rest, for now, as I will guard your dreams.”

And Silverstream slept, while Luna braced herself. Telling Queen Novo the news will definitely be… an experience.

“She did W H A T?!?! Forget grounding, when I get her back I will forbid her from leaving her room for the rest of her life!”

And it really was.

Silverstream wasn’t sure how long she spent in that cage. When she awoke, it was day, but whatever food they gave her must have been laced with something, because she fell asleep again after she ate. She woke up some time later, thirsty and with a splitting headache. She looked around with bleary eyes, realizing she was in a cell. Interestingly, it was not made out of bricks or wood; it was just a cave, with one door leading outside. The doors looked solid enough to keep even Smolder in, and they had a small window in them, possibly to check on the prisoner.

She was no longer in chains. And, to her relief, there was water and some food even! She started eating and drinking quickly, only realizing moments later it could also be laced with whatever they gave her earlier. She mentally shrugged; it’s not like not eating is going to be much better.

Apparently, it was just food, since she didn’t feel sleepy at all. Alright, Silverstream, now you need to their leader, and convince him to stop this before somecreature gets hurt. Like her. And others. And definitely her. She was scared, and it was not a nice feeling.

At least her talk with Luna made her feel better. She wasn’t truly alone. And besides, if she was in their capital, Lightning must be there as well! That made it so much better. Everything is nicer when your friends are nearby, after all.

She didn’t have much to do, so she just sat in her cell. It was boring, and a little scary, but she tried her best to keep her calm.

She failed, and was torn between horrible boredom, and fear. With nothing to do, her mind was going over more and more scary and unsettling scenarios, and she was only growing more worried. What if her aunt does launch an invasion? What if Luna decides she doesn’t want to wait in the end and just attacks? What if Twilight tells her friends and they come to her rescue, and get hurt?

She was so lost in these bad scenarios, she almost missed the sound of hoofs outside her cell. She did not, however, miss the sound of heavy lock being open, as four guards came into her cell.

With two more guards outside, Silverstream wondered why were they acting like she was so dangerous. Maybe if Smolder was here, she would require so much security, but she couldn’t breathe fire! And the cell got a little cramped with all those thestrals inside.

Her thoughts stopped suddenly when another person entered the room. A stallion thestral, very old, with mostly white mane. He walked slowly, but surely, and radiated authority. She instantly knew he was a person of authority here.

The stallion was wearing a dark green uniform with silver ornament. A silver monocle was covering one of his uncaring eyes, and in general the thestral looked… not bored, but just uninterested. He was also looking at her and she realized she was gawking instead of saying anything. “Hello! I am Silverstream, what’s your name?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at her with… indifference? Like she was just another rock in the cave. She shivered a little; it was not a nice look. Like she was an object, not a person. She tried again. “My aunt always says that a good host should introduce themselves to their guests. So, um, what’s your name?”

He looked at her few moments longer, before answering in emotionless voice. “Warmaster Eternal Eclipse.”

Warmaster. That doesn’t sound like a nice title. And wait, Eternal Eclipse… she heard that before. Oh, right, Strike mentioned him! He is the leader of Chiropterra! This is her chance now!

“So, I know you want to bring Nightmare Moon back.” She carefully said. “But, I don’t think it can happen. Luna isn’t, like, mind controlled or anything. I talked with Harmony, and trust me, if she could control us, we would be in trouble far less than we tend to be, and our teachers as well, and I am rambling again, sorry it’s just that all these guards are a little scary.”

He looked at her dispassionately, not showing any sign of hearing what she said. She tried a different angle. “I already spoke with Luna, there was some kind of dark magic here preventing her from seeing you, but now she can! You can call her in your sleep, and talk with her. I’m sure you can solve this without killing anyone, or me.”

That got a reaction; he moved his head a little, and there was something in his eyes, not just lack of everything. Silverstream hopefully continued. “Luna has changed. She is happy now, and you can’t make her change into Nightmare. She no longer has these emotions inside her. You will only anger her, and she’s really scary when she’s angry.”

He still didn’t answer. The atmosphere in the cell was so heavy, even Silverstream finally run out of things to say. The silence hung in the air for what felt like minutes, before Eternal Eclipse shook his head, slowly, and answered – although it felt like he was mostly talking to himself. “I don’t know what Lucent thought to be interesting here. I don’t have time to waste with this. Guards, take her to Lady Light.”

Silverstream felt her hopes shatter. Eternal Eclipse didn’t even look at her, or acknowledged her. Was he truly lost? She tried one last thing as he was leaving her cell. “She misses you, you know. She really feels guilty she corrupted and abandoned your ancestors, and she tried to look for you. She would love to hear from you.”

He didn’t show any sign of hearing that, as he left without even a single look at her. The four guards left with him; only the two guarding the cell remained, and they took her… somewhere.

The entire place seemed to be underground. She was really happy she had no claustrophobia, as the endless tunnels were already causing her discomfort anyway. The smokeless, magical blue torches lit the tunnels in cold, moon-like light. Don’t these ponies have any other things they like but the night, moon and darkness?

It didn’t take long before Silverstream found herself before steel, reinforced doors. The sign above them simply saying “Lady Light’s Laboratories”. The guards standing before them exchanged few words, and Silverstream was moved inside the laboratory.

It reminded her a lot of Princess Twilight’s laboratory. She was never that big on knowledge and science – unlike Ocellus – but she could instantly recognize some of the things in here. There were tools she did not recognize, and ones that seemed familiar, but slightly different. Less advanced, maybe?

“You don’t look like one of the usual subjects being brought here.” She heard, and realized she focused on the room itself so much she missed a… was that a unicorn mare in a white lab coat? She had an emerald green mane, and wore half-glasses, behind which were very observant eyes in a similar color to her mane.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just that your laboratory felt familiar! I am Silverstream, what’s your name?” She asked, hoping to maybe find another friend here, not like this horrible Eternal Eclipse person. He was very mean.

“Familiar, you say? Fascinating. My name is Lady Commander Emerald Light, but you can just call me Lady Light.” The mare guessed the question that Silverstream wanted to ask. “Yes, I know that my name is very exotic for Chiropterra, but it is what it is. And yes, I am a unicorn; not every Chiropterran is a thestral.”

“No?” Silverstream asked, confused. “But, I only saw thestrals here, besides you. And weren’t they all descendats of ponies who served Nightmare Moon?”

“Oh no, no no. We absolutely aren’t anything like this. I see you are confused. Come, sit with me.” She pointed at a desk with chairs set up on both sides. “You are truly a different breed then those I can usually talk with. I will be happy to answer some questions, if you answer mine.” She sat down, taking out the pen and clipboard. She really looked like Twilight when she was in her scientist mod. This made Silverstream relax a little. The scientist was at least a little familiar, and she wasn’t hostile or ignoring her.

“So, to expand upon my answer.” Emerald said, while writing something on her clipboard. “Our society is based on merit, that is a pony’s mental and physical capabilities. My predecessors in the designated Social Research Laboratories created a perfect an array of tests that make sure only the best and brightest of us are in the highest positions of power.”

“That… sounds fascinating. You have no monarch?” Silverstream asked. It really sounded much nicer then she expected; a society based on one’s achievements. It sounded much more civilized. Maybe they weren’t so bad after all, cult of Nightmare Moon aside.

“No. The Council of Chiropterra, of which I am also a member, has a Warmaster designated every year. Upon the year’s end, the Warmaster steps down, and the Council debates the new leader. During the debate, all members of the Council are equal. Only when Warmaster is chosen, that pony becomes the leader of the Council.”

“Fascinating. It’s like those democratic places I heard about in Gryphus.” Silverstream said, feeling more and more relaxed.

“Oh, we are not a democracy. Democracies are flawed; they give each and every creature the same vote, regardless of physical and mental differences. Do you want some water?”

“Oh, yes, thank you!” Silverstream took the glass happily.

“It is a real shame you weren’t born with Nightmare’s blessing. You sound like a very intelligent person, for someone like that.” Emerald wrote something down on her clipboard.

“Nightmare’s blessing? You mean thestrals? But, you are a unicorn?” Silverstream was confused.

“Nightmare’s blessing does not only manifest in thestrals. Everyone can have them, if they are born right.” Emerald answered. “It was proven generations ago by my predecessors. It seems that Nightmare is truly generous, for her gift can be found even in those not of pure thestral bloodline.”

“So, everyone can have this blessing? That’s a relief.” Silverstream smiled. “I was worried that, since you seem to kidnap people, they are just, I don’t know, treated very badly? I am happy it’s not the case.”

“But of course not. We are rational people, not barbarians. Happy slaves are productive slaves, there is no need for cruelty.” Emerald answered, and Silverstreams suddenly feel her blood go cold.

“S… slaves?” She said, her throat tightening.

“But of course. Those brought here cannot have Nightmare’s blessing, and therefore need someone to direct them. It is just natural that those supreme to others are above them, is it not? It’s just like your royalty, but based on merit, not some superstitions about monarchy.” Emerald explained. She seemed to not be bothered even slightly by what she just said.

“But… you said everyone can have Nightmare’s blessing earlier!”

“If they are born right, as I said. Those who freshly arrive cannot have it. But those born to slave parents seem to have a chance of earning it, if their parents were pious and working hard for the Chiropterra.” Emerald stopped writing and looked at Silverstream. “You seem bothered by it. Let me assure you, it is not cruelty. We are fully rational ponies… maybe aside from Lunar Hail and the fanatics from some more radical cults. But even they do not interrupt our society’s achievements. We all work together, to prepare ourselves for the Nightmare’s return.”

“How? How can you just sit here and… talk about it? I thought you were civilized ponies!” Silverstream felt sick. Was that what Strike meant when he said he did many bad things? Was he one of those who… who kidnapped ponies and brought them here to work as slaves?

“We are civilized, much more than the primitive Solarist ponies in Equestria, who worship Celestia without thinking.” Emerald sighed, making a note on her clipboard. “You seemed much more intelligent, I hoped you could be more rational. It seems I was mistaken. A shame, really, but what could I expect from someone not born with Her blessing?”

“This is horrible! You keep these ponies as, as slaves!” Silvestream could not believe it. Emerald Light seemed so… not evil. She was talking like a rational, educated person, not angry, not afraid. How could she be so, so casually evil at the same time? It felt wrong now, comparing her to Princess Twilight. She would never do such a thing!

“Please, keep calm. I do not want to be forced to have guards take you away now. I have many questions, and you truly seem like one of the more intelligent and eloquent people we caught. Let us act like civilized beings, there is no need for excessive, pointless emotions.”

Silverstream had some very not-nice words she wanted to say to that, but instead closed her mouth and forced herself to try and calm down. She learned that much at School; emotions can only get her so far. An Emerald seemed to truly be a pony believing herself to be logical, no matter how insane her ‘logic’ was.

After few moments of silence, Silverstream started talking again. “Before you ask me your questions, there is one last thing I do not understand. Can you explain in to me? And then I can tell you whatever you want to know.”

Emerald considered it for a moment. “As long as you act like a civilized person, yes. Ask.”

“How do you know if person has Nightmare’s blessing or not?”

“Oh, that is simple. We have a strict testing regime, created specifically to find out. Ponies blessed by Nightmare have much sharper minds then others. Out tests can easily detect it, or lack of it.”

“So, you could, theoretically, test me?”

“Of course not. You do not know our language.” Seeing her test subject’s confusion, Emerald sighed. “The language we speak of is common and known to many, but not the right one. The only true language is the Holy Tongue. You may know it as Old Ponish.”

“I see.” Silverstream thought for a moment. At least Emerald was not interrupting her, or trying to go to her questions as fast as possible. She seemed to be very patient, and calm.
And evil, don’t forget that, Silverstream thought.

“So, please correct me if I’m wrong, but… do you test the, um, slaves for the blessing? Like, regularly?”

“There is no need. Generations of scientists did it, and the results are always the same. Freshly arrived, even if they may seem intelligent, never had the gift in them.” Emerald answered patiently. “Only the children of the hardest-working and most pious slaves are tested, and many of the are found to have the blessing. And, after that, the blessing is in their blood, and their children are also blessed.”

“So… slaves that freshly arrived, are like me, right? Don’t really know your language?” Seeing Emerald nod, Silverstream pushed on. “So, they would also not be able to take the tests properly, right?”

“Please, do you think of us to be so limited? Every slave is tested only upon learning our language. I don’t understand what is so hard to understand.”

“Do you give them, like, language courses and stuff? Or do you just wait until they learn whatever they learn from other slaves or pick up from you and then do your testing?” Emerald seemed a little confused by her questions. “Is it possible that perhaps children of these slaves, since they are raised here, just speak your language good enough to pass your tests better then ponies who are still learning it?”

“Language fluency has very little to do with testing. We do not check if they speak Holy Tongue properly, we just check if they are intelligent and capable of being in our society. That is not defendant on language.”

“Princess Twilight always told us that the hardest thing in being a scientist is not inventing new things and confirming her theories. It’s being open to the fact that she may be wrong, and testing not to see if theory is right, but to do it to see if it’s wrong.” Silverstream said, hoping she sounds logical enough for the pony in front of her. “Once a child passes your testing, do you try to test the parents? Have you tried translating your tests? I’ve seen in the School of Friendship, people from outside Equestria, who had trouble not because they were less smart, but simply because they couldn’t understand some words, or it took them too long to understand and make notes. And same with some culture things they would just miss, because they didn't live their lives in Equestria. Princess Twilight…”

“Enough. Truly, Silverstream, you disappoint me. We have over a thousand years of research to support the truth. All you have is your unsupported theory, and personal experiences.” Emerald interrupted her for the first time, and it almost looked like she was annoyed. “I may consider doing what you said, just to prove you wrong. But you should learn to respect the work of those who came before you, or you will never learn anything.”

“Well, your people plan to-to kill me soon, so it’s not like I will have much time for learning anyway, will I?” Silverstream responded with a little bitterness, her voice breaking for a short moment. She was starting to really have enough of these ponies. Why are they just so horrible?

“Yes, and I consider that a waste. You would be much more useful as a source of information, and then a test subject, then this… waste. But, Lunar Hail has her Moonspeakers and deals with all these unproven rituals, so you’re hers. Shame.” Silverstream didn’t want to think about what being a ‘test subject’ would entail, but she had little doubt it would be bad. “Now, I have some questions here. What can you tell me about Everfree Forest?

Silverstream, upon returning to her cell, just fell on the floor, exhausted. Emerald spent hours asking her about unrelated things, mostly Everfree Forest and creatures living there. She had no idea what this was all about, so she answered truthfully. She also asked about hippogriff magic, but there Silverstream was much more hesitant to answer – although, to her surprise, Emerald mentioned that main goal of these questions was to create emergency magic for the sailors in case of ship sinking, rather than invasion of Seaquestria. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that Silverstream was sure it could also be used for that.

And during this questioning, she heard things. The laboratory was still working, and some of the wall weren’t soundproof enough. She did her best to not listen, or look at guards moving in our out, carrying ponies and thestrals deeper into laboratories. Emerald, upon seeing her discomfort, explained it in her usual, unimpressed voice.

“Does she really think that hurting someone to help others is just… acceptable, without any remorse?” Silverstream thought out loud, too tired to notice that she was talking to herself. “How can anyone be so, so cruel, but not sadistic? There is no joy in her, no sadness, nothing! Oh Princess, what am I supposed to do now? I think I'm not good enough for this. I'm just a student, maybe one of the teacher could do this better?
I miss my friends.”

She soon fell asleep. And only thanks to Luna her dreams were not plagued by what she heard and saw today, although the Princess of the Night was growing more and more worried about the lone hippogriff in the heart of darkness.

Unknown to them both, a meeting was taking place this night, in a cave used by the Great Ursa Legion of Chiropterra. Every single person in the cave was hiding under a dark cloak, and using various spells to mask their voices. Hundreds of years of paranoia and infiltrating Equestria resulted in many such spells.

“I still do not understand what you are saying.” One person said in magically distorted voice. “It is not yet time for us to act. If we try to push for change, the Council will push back. We cannot risk losing, not at this point; if we do, Chiropterra will be in the hands of hardliners like Autumn Breeze and fanatics like Lunar Hail. Can you imagine what they will do? We already heard rumors about making an invasion on Equestria, like Storm King did, and hoping Nightmare will emerge just from the stress of war! We cannot allow that to happen.”

“I think the choice is now out of our hands. Silverstream is not only connected to royal house of Hippogriffia, she is also well-known in Equestria, and without doubt Princess Twilight, the Elements of Harmony, and others will come to her rescue. Lunar Hail is out of her mind, and now pushed us to open war with United Alliance… which, now that I think of it, might have been her plan. This mare is crazy.”

“We are hidden. Nightmare protects us from the eyes of the impostor. Many ponies tried to get her attention, all failed. We all know that. Even if ponies try to find us, even if hippogriffs search the coastline they will find nothing. The ports were already hidden without trace. We will survive and hide, like we always do.”

“You underestimate them all. Equestrians aren’t stupid, if they were, they wouldn’t defeat all these dangers in the past few years. Even Storm King, who could’ve easily defeated us all; remember how close he was to discovering us, before he suddenly decided to attack Equestria? We would’ve be gone if he didn’t.”

“You seem to value this… Silverstream highly. Why?”

“I don’t think I can even explain it, but it’s the way she is. It’s not just her words, or how she acts. She just… is. She treats everyone like a friend that she can make, and she often succeeds. She cares about everyone, even her enemies. If Equestria decided to just kill us all for treason, she would stand between them and us and demand we be treated fairly.”

“Mercy is weakness.”

“Tell me, if Harmony is so weak, how did they defeat all their enemies? And, more importantly, how do they continue to be respect and powerful nations, while we spent the last thousand years in hiding? This cannot continue. Either we change, or the world will change us by force.”

“What if Nightmare was to return, in the end? We would be traitors while she would lead the Lunar Empire to glory.”

“What if? Last time it was just the Elements. Now, she will face the Elements, Discord, this Starlight Glimmer who was supposedly able to fight the Elements and almost win before, Commander Tempest, and probably others I’m forgetting. And let’s remember that their students already defeated a being that almost stole all the magic in Equestria. Just their students have such power, possibly equal to Elements when they defeated our Goddess! Our situation is infinitely worse than before, and even if Nightmare returned she would not succeed. We would be back here, if we were lucky.”

“Heresy.” It was hard to say who whispered the word.

“If I am a heretic for telling the truth, so be it. We were loyal to Luna long before she became Nightmare Moon. And now, if they are truly the same person, we spent a thousand years plotting to hurt her, instead of helping her.”

Lightning Strike, still hidden under the cloak, continued. “I vote we bring Silverstream before us and ask her any questions you have. Anyone against it?”

Author's Note

The moment this chapter is published, I will already be in the process of writing the third, (and hopefully shorter then this monstrously long chapter) final part of this story.

See you soon in “Silverstream gets invited”!

Silverstream gets invited

Silverstream woke up with a start, unsure what interrupted her sleep. Until she heard two voices arguing outside her door.

“I heard nothing of it! I will need Council’s permission to agree to any prisoner transfer.”

“It’s a matter of military intelligence. Are you denying the Ursa Legion the right to gather intelligence about our enemies?”

“I, with all due respect…”

“You are now showing disrespect to me. And need I remind you that I am to replace my grandfather on the council soon? Do you truly want me to be your enemy?” Silverstream winced, hearing this cold, unwavering voice. She really didn’t want to deal with more of the insane, crazy and evil ponies that lived in this place. She would rather go back to sleep. Part of her hoped the guard will stop whoever that is from taking her. She was just tired.

“Of course not, sir, but…”

“You will hand me the prisoner, and tell no one of it, unless it’s a member of the Council who counteracts my order. Am I understood? Now open the door.” It seems her wish is going to be be unfulfilled, and she will have to go with whoever that is.

The door opened, showing a thestral stallion with light-brown skin and even lighter mane. He was looking at her intensively, but she couldn’t read him at all. He reminded her of some politicians she saw at home – basically unreadable.

“Put chains on her, but make them loose enough so she can walk." He ordered the guards, turning away from her. “I will take it from here.”

She didn’t resist as she was put in chains again, and led through the dark corridors. The thestral didn’t say a thing, and she wasn’t in mood for talking anyway. Besides, she had a suspicion this was another round of questioning, and she will have too much time to talk.

He led her to a surprisingly dark room. She had a feeling that they weren’t alone in here, but this feeling was all she could get as there were barely any blue torches in here, and even those that remained gave very weak light. To her surprise, her guide left her just standing in the room, and disappeared in the darkness.

After what felt like a full minute of silence, she decided to talk first. “Hello? Anyone here?”

“Is this some kind of a joke? This hippogriff is supposed to be one of the defenders of Equestria? Please tell me we have the wrong prisoner.” She heard a voice, but it was weird. Like someone was speaking through water. She couldn’t guess neither the gender nor age of this person, or even where they were in the room. “She’s too young to even join the Legion, for Nightmare’s sake!”

“Maybe, but think about it; if she is so young, and yet so powerful, how strong will she be when she grows up?” Another voice, this time sounding like the speaker was at the end of a long tunnel, spoke in her defense.

“This is a waste of our time. If this is the strongest argument you can present, the Council will just laugh at us, and they will be right. I see nothing worth our attention. This meeting is over.” There was a sound like multiple ponies getting up.

“Excuse me, but I’m right here! Hello? This is very rude what you just did, talking about me like I wasn’t even here. And I have a name, it’s Silverstream! What’s yours?” She couldn’t take this anymore. This place was not only full of evil ponies, but now also rude ones. Oh, how she wished Rarity was here, she would not tolerate such behavior.

There was a moment of silence, and the sound of somepony sitting down. “So, you speak. Our names are not important. We are here, because we were told you can be important to Chiropterra… but now I see nothing of sorts. Soon, the Nightmare will be summoned, and…”

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” She interrupted whoever that was. The rude person seemed surprised by this, and she used this occasion to continue. “I already spoke with Luna, and she’s not going to change into Nightmare to you. Like, you did make her angry, but she is really not going to just snap into super-dark-pony that you want her to be.”

“Lies. Our Goddess protects our land from impostor’s sight.” The voice declared.

“You know, I could argue with you, but I feel you’re not going to believe me anyway. So how about you call to her in your sleep? She will answer, I’m sure of it. But be careful, you kinda annoyed her with all of this weird ritual stuff, and worshiping her, and she really hates when ponies treat her as a goddess and you treated her corrupted self as goddess which is like, she hated is double? Sorry, I rambled again, but the thing is, she’s not happy with you.”

“The impostor always hated us. It is no difference.”

“What? No, she didn’t! She tried to find you when she came back, but thought you were all dead! She is really sorry she left you, and missed you a lot. You know, now that I think about it, I think this is why she put so much work into thestrals rights in Equestria and all that, they must have reminded her of you.”

There was a sound, like multiple ponies moving on their chairs. “But it was Celestia’s work, and only when it became a problem to her!”

“Well, I’m really not the best person at politics, you’d better ask Starlight Glimmer, but I think it was all Luna. I remember she also made sure there was a thestral student at the School of Friendship, too!”

“We are getting off track.” The voice said, clearly trying to bring everyone to order, not that anyone else spoke. “What did Luna tell you?”

“Aside from what I just said? She got really, really mad, and kinda wanted to invade you right now with all the United Alliance?” Silverstream could basically hear the tense silence that suddenly filled the room. “But don’t worry, I told her not to! I said there are good ponies here, and I can try to help you instead! So there will be no invasion!” Hopefully, she added in her mind. She really hoped her aunt wasn’t already on her way with the Seaquestrian Armada.

“You… stopped Luna from invading us.” The voice said flatly. “We captured you, and your sailor friends, in order to kill you and enslave them, and then you stopped Luna from invading us. Are you insane, or so naïve that you may as well be?”

“That’s not very nice! I just didn’t want war. Do you? I never saw a war, to be honest, but I heard it’s a scary thing. Creatures dying, cities ruined, all that. Do you want it to happen? I hope not, but I don’t know anymore… people here seem to be different then I imagined.” She answered honestly. She tried to push through her exhaustion, fear, and all other things. Maybe she still had a chance to help these people.

“We… don’t want war. But if what you said is true, it is inevitable that it will happen.” The voice said again. “If you die, Equestria and Hippogriffia will not forgive us. They will attack, and there will be war. And now that Luna can see us, we cannot hide anymore. We must prepare for the worst.”

“Oh. So, maybe we can do something else? Like, me not dying, and war not happening? Luna and Queen Novo aren’t vengeful or anything, they can forgive you! And I know we can be friends.”

“Friends. How can you still believe it, after talking with Warmaster Eclipse and Commander Light? They will never be your friends. They don’t even see you as a person.”

“I… don’t know.” She admitted. “I am just a student, not a master of friendship. But, I think some ponies just don’t want to be friends. You can try to help them, but they have to want it, deep inside, or it will never work. Both sides need to be open to friendship, that’s how it works. Right, Lightning Strike?”

Silence was the only answer. Silverstream sighed. “You know about the sailors being captured and supposed to be enslaved, and you said to the guards that they were all killed. I don’t think you’re the Rude Voice, the one that speaks through water, you may be the Other Voice that speaks from the tunnel, but you are probably here.”

There was a silence, and the first voice answered, although not speaking to her. “I thought the changeling was supposed to be the smart one, not her.”

“Why is everypony dismissing us?” Silverstream answered, irritated, instead of whoever that voice was asking. “I am not as book smart as Ocellus is, she is really, really smart. None of us are like her. But we are just different, not better or worse. She knows all the stuff from the books, can read people better than any of us, can shapeshift, and is our best friend. But she has trouble talking to anyone, and has assertiveness of her favorite rock, which is none. That’s why we are friends, to help each other. Like when Lightning Strike saved the sailors, and I made him smile.”

There was a small commotion in the room, before she heard a voice she hoped to hear. “Anyone ever told you that your big mouth is going to get you in trouble, young lady?”

“Oh yes!” She said with enthusiasm. “Many times, by my parents, my aunt, my friends, teachers, even Princesses Twilight and Luna! And it got me in trouble many times, but it also helped me make friends to get out of these troubles!”

There were sudden breaths taken as Lightning Strike revealed his presence, but he ignored them and came closer to her, removing the chains. She stretched, and gave him a surprise hug before he tried to slip back into the darkness. “And no need for this ‘young lady’ stuff, we were already on the first name basis, remember?”

He awkwardly patted her on the back. “You do realize it’s a secret society, with hundreds of years of tradition, and spells to hide out identities?”

“Yep! And I don’t care!” She answered happily. “You are my friend, I promised you I will help you to not be afraid, and I will do just that! How about your friends, any of them can stop hiding? I can help!”

The first voice cleared their throat. “This is an unexpected interruption. We will need to convene on a different time to ensure…”

“Oh stop, it, Lucent Eclipse.” There were sudden shouts of surprise. “Seriously, is anyone here truly surprised? What does all this charade gave us right now?”

“Deniability, I would say.” The first voice, no longer filtered, said with a little bitterness. “There can be spies and infiltrators here, you know.”

“Well, the doors are behind me, I see no one rush to the exit, and besides, we already discussed it before she came here, and this whole conversation only confirmed it. It’s over. Equestria and Mount Aris know where we are, our plan to bring back Nightmare was foiled years ago and will never work, and we stand no chance to defend ourselves if our enemies come to know of us. Any of you want to explain to families of those we captured and enslaved that we did it for the next year or so, for no reason aside from our pride, instead of taking the option standing before us?”

“And what this option would be?” More gasps, as another person – a stallion, judging by voice - spoke up without hiding his voice. “Yes, it’s me, Carrot Stick. Now, we still don’t have a single place on the council, the Moon cult will jump on us the moment we say anything they don’t like, military and navy are split at best and under Council in more realistic take. What are we going to do?”

“Talk.” Lucent said.

Warmaster Eternal Eclipse was old. In fact, he knew that he was unfit to any Legion duty, and only stayed Warmaster because his impartiality helped smooth out the tension in the council after the great fiasco years ago.

Truth be told, Chiropterra was not the powerful country most citizens thought it was. Its technology was primitive, resources horribly sparse, and with lack of trade they had no option of fixing any of those problems. The slave work system they were based on was acceptable solution hundreds of years ago, when Zebrica was still in shambles after that meteorite hit decimated their rulers and caused so much internal strife, few ponies, zebras and hippogriffs missing here and there were unnoticeable.

But nowadays, they lacked targets for raids. North of them, Mount Aris was back as a regional superpower, and the neighboring Warzena was under its protection. In the west, there was only vast ocean. South, the raids required ships to go through Green Bay, and with Maregypt and Kingdom of Abyssinia getting richer through their growing exports, naval patrols were becoming reality. Even griffons from distant Wingbardy, who had a small colony there, starting sending their ships on patrols as part of some international anti-piracy program.

This only left east, the country of Tobuck. However, there was limited amount of raids Chiropterra could try to make on just one, small country, before someone notices. And the current ruler of Tobuck was already getting suspicious.

While their economy was going to collapse soon, the Council was on the verge of jumping to each other’s throats well before that would happen. They only barely made it all these hundreds of years without any civil war that would be visible from outside – and of course, all knowledge of internal strife and hidden civil wars was erased and classified. The State had to appear strong.

In fact, barely anything of the ‘Thousand-Year Chiropterra’ was true. And he was aware of this, painfully aware, and it hurt him to see his beloved country fall into disarray, with knowledge that he will die soon, and his country won’t last much longer.

However, all of that were issues that were heavy on the heart, but far from sudden. What was sudden was his grandson, one who already run his Legion for him and was set to replace him on the council, coming to his office with absurdly ludicrous ideas.

And with a hippogriff with him! A child, nonetheless! And worse, a reformer was standing next to them. The world was even worse than he thought. Why, oh why did he had to live so long only to have this humiliation happen to him in the last months of his life?

“Are you insane? Lucent, I thought you to be a worthy successor to me, and now this. How could you join these, these reformer heretics? Harmonists, communists, who know what else! You broke your grandfather’s heart.”

“Grandfather, with all due respect, you told me yourself you don’t have any heart left. It’s dead and gone, and you live just thanks to your frustration at the other members of the Council, remember?” Lucent Eclipse said, with a slight, sad smile. “I know about all of it. I know about secret documents, civil wars we had, and how our slave raids are no longer possible. I know, just like you do, that even if Council won’t tear itself apart soon, Chiropterra won’t survive. Either if we reveal ourselves to the world, risking retaliation for all the horrible things we did to them, or we hide and soon become the primitive outcasts everyone thinks we are, if we don't kill each other in a civil war.”

Eternal Eclipse looked at his grandson with displeasure. Not because he was wrong, but because he really disliked what he heard. On the other hoof, his reputation for being able to keep calm and look at everything in the most objective way was well deserved. So he didn’t immediately called guards on them for treason.

He was, however, still unhappy. “And you have a better way than any of the above?”

“Yes. We reveal our presence to Equestria and Mount Aris, and with the help of someone who can protect us from their full wrath, request help. We release all the slaves that we captured and agree to create a neutral and fair commission that will punish everyone responsible, and only them, for anything they did to our neighbors. And we will ensure that those who are put on trial will be treated fairly.”

“I see. You must have lost your mind.” Eternal Eclipse’s voice had no bite, however. He was already analyzing the offer. It would lead to the loss of most of the government and scientists, for sure, and the military and navy would be definitely gone… not that they had much. Despite Legion’s boasting about how military is powerful and ready for anything, it was but a mere shadow of what it once was, consumed by internal strife, lack of resources and countless military juntas forcing severe limitations on the army to stop it’s habit of overthrowing the government all the time.

But in theory, if Equestria proved to be weak and merciful, Chiropterra could live, protected by United Alliance. Cult of Nightmare Moon would be gone… to be honest, Eternal Eclipse didn’t care much for them. Good riddance, frothing fanatics. And he was already too old to be put on trial, and his grandson could end up in charge, protecting anyone he had left and wanted to protect… maybe there was something to it.
However, there were still multiple issues.

“You would need to find someone Equestria and Mount Aris respect to ensure we won’t simply be razed to the ground by them. And we would need to coordinate military action. We have information, and they have forces, but if we don’t cooperate the Moon cult will rise up, and if they succeed even for a short time the rest of the Council will join them.”

“I have an idea who can solve all these issues. Silverstream?” She stepped closer, looking at the old thestral. Gone was the powerful leader, ignoring her a nuisance and waste of time. Instead, in front of her was an old man, feeling his entire world slipping by his fingers.

“Luna can now contact everyone in Chiropterra through dreams. She can help with any coordination, orders, and do anything else you may need.” Silverstream said, still feeling a little nervous. “And I promise I will do everything I can to ensure you are treated justly. You did a lot of evil, but you did it out of fear. Many will not understand, and things like these are not so easily forgiven. But in time, these scars will heal.”

“You? But you are just a child. How can you promise anything like that?”

“If not for her, we wouldn’t be here now.” His grandson simply said. “We would be slowly falling apart and dying, or being invaded. There is more to her than meets the eye, grandpa.”

“Grandpa, hm. You haven’t called me that in a while, since we had that argument.” The old thestral turned to the young hippogriff. “You, young one. Come closer. Look me in the eye, and tell me, what do you think?”

She did so, and looked at him. She was no Ocellus, but she did not need to be to know what she saw. “I feel sorry for you. I really do.” And she did, despite all he did.

“And if I order you to the sacrificial chamber right away, arrest all these reformists and get ready for war?” He asked.

“I will be afraid.” She swallowed. “Very afraid, to be honest. For me, my friends, for all who would die in a war. And for you. You are so afraid, it hurts to see you like this. All of you.”

There was a moment of silence, as the Warmaster of Chiropterra, one of the oldest thestrals alive, looked at the young hippogriff who brought change into his country. He was always proud of his ability to read everyone, even the frothing fanatics and emotionless, sociopathic scientists.

And he looked at the young girl before him, and chuckled. “Young lady, I think me and you could have been best friends, if I was younger. Or worst enemies. Hard to say. They say opposites attract, for better or worse.”

“I feel we are more similar then you think.” She said slowly, unusually slow for her. “I look at you, all of you, and it feels like we, hippogriffs, could be you. Maybe not as evil, or maybe more, I don’t know. Fear is a horrible thing. I knew it since I was little, before Storm King was gone. I don’t know where I would be, if not for my friends. Maybe still at the bottom of the ocean, scared of anyone living in the world above.”

“On the other hoof, we are nothing alike. I was never so idealistic and sentimental.” Eternal Eclipse lied.

No one in the room believed him. But they had decency to allow the old stallion have this small lie.

This night, and on many others this week, there were serious talks in the dream world. Overthrowing a theocratic government without spilling rivers of blood was not easy. Of course, having a Warmaster and multiple important ponies in power on the side of attackers made it much, much easier.

Silverstream was found to be ‘an important source of intelligence’ and held ‘in custody’, away from Moon cult fanatics, for that time. She took part in all of these talks. Her aunt was on the verge on ordering Luna to not allow her there – these were serious talks, with adults only – but she did not, seeing how somehow Silverstream become a sort-of ambassador for the Chiropterra.
Queen Novo was in fact as proud as Luna was, but she hid it better. Luna was just happy to see her long-lost followers ready to at least try to return to her. Or at least, most of them.

Sadly, some violence would be unavoidable. It saddened Silverstream a lot, but she knew there was no way around it. Many of these ponies were too fanatical for now, and the last thing anyone wanted was them escaping and fighting guerilla warfare for years to come. Chiropterra needed peace and a way to recover, not bloody war.

That’s why, in the next week, many temples found themselves suddenly abandoned, fanatics separated from more rational creatures and temporarily imprisoned by combined forces of Chiropterra, Equestria and Mount Aris. Legion barracks were encircled quietly, and the soldiers given a chance to surrender. Some took some, some did not. Turned out the amount of soldiers with doubts was much higher then anyone expected; as the knowledge of Nightmare's Moon defeat years ago spread, the state religion lost most of it's charm.

The former slaves - vastly outnumbering the army - were happy to join in disarming and arresting the fanatics and criminals. They had to be stopped before going too far, but Luna managed to convince them to not turn it into a massacre and let everyone have a fair trial. Queen Novo also made it clear that they were not there to spill rivers of blood, even if these creatures were slavers they still deserved fair trial.

During all this time, Luna was working hard to help. She appeared in the dreams of many, priests, soldiers, government officials. And some of them were eager to help. After the fiasco of Luna being returned to her senses few years ago, instead of returning the ‘glorious thousand years Lunar Empire’, many Chiropterrans lost any faith in their religion. They couldn’t show it because of fears of persecution, but given the chance, they were quick to abandoned the belief in Nightmare Moon.

Which is why, in the greatest temple to the Nightmare Moon, Lunar Hail was currently in the middle of a fiery sermon, trying to build up the morale of her fanatical believers. She was unaware of what was happening in the wider Chiropterra, but she knew that there were doubts in her Church. And so, she decided to make sure these doubts will not spread.

“And so, Nightmare said, ‘for my sister had all the attention she wants, but lends none of it to me!’. And these are the words that we need to remember, for the way of Solarists is always treason. All they promise is for nothing, for they will take away all that is yours, and leave with nothing but an empty worship!” She noticed a newcomer, late to the ceremony, slip through the door; she will have to take care of that pony’s punishment later, for now she continued. “For she, in her infinite wisdom and power, granted us Her most sacred mission, to secure Her worship for the millennia to come!”

“I do not believe I have ever said that in my entire life.” There was a commotion, and most of those attending the ceremony moved away from the newest arrival, a pony in light-blue cloak, who continued. “Ignoring the mistakes I made in the past, I never sent you here. That is a lie. I riled you up, corrupted you, and used you for my hopeless war, but never imagined you staying in this place for a thousand years, waiting for me.”

“Who are you to dare speak for our Goddess!” Lunar Hail was frothing at the mouth. “Guards! Take this heretic! We will burn her at stake for her heresy, so she can feel the light and heat she so cherishes killing her!”

“I do not think so.” Luna said, throwing off the cloak. The temple guards were lifted in the air in her telepathic grasp, where they remained, unable to move. “I am Luna, Princess of the Night, and I order you all to stand down. Your church is now closed.”

“You!” Lunar Hail looked at her in fury, only, to surprise of others, to start maniacally laughing moments later. “What a foalish mistake you made! You have no power here, in the darkness! Nightmare Moon rules these lands, not you, impostor, and you can do nothing here! Your have no power here!”

Luna looked at her flatly, then at the guards – still flying in the air – and back at the head of Moon cult. She sighed, and closed her eyes.

With a loud sound of breaking stone, the figures of Nightmare Moon were shattered. Stained glass fell from windows in tiny pieces, and the mighty altar to Nightmare Moon was broken in half. Lunar Hail screamed in fear, and all others, except Luna, did the same, pepper but stone fragments. Although Luna made sure not to accidentally cut them with the falling glass, and the small stone fragments were not dangerous. “I will not repeat myself. Stand down. The temple is surrounded, and I know from your dreams that not many of you want to fight me. Nightmare is gone, forever. She no longer exists inside me, banished not by Elements, but by friendship and love that lit the darkness inside me.”

“Attack!” Lunar Hail tried to shout, but it came out as a loud whimpering. Few members of the church charged Luna, only to be lifted harmlessly in the air as others were. “Treason! Heresy! Goddess will punish all of you!”

Luna sighed, as the Chiropterran Ursa Legion, mixed with hippogriff forces, entered the church, arresting those who still resisted. Those who did not were taken as well, but only temporarily, and the temple was soon emptied.

Luna stood in the empty temple dedicated to the darkness inside her, with her eyes closed. She could not feel it inside her. The darkness she once felt was gone. Instead, inside her was a gentle light of Moon and stars… and the Sun, as well, for she and her sister reconciled and rekindled their old love. And she stood there for a long time, basking in the light she could feel inside her. There was no fury, no anger, no fear anymore. The darkness was simply not there.

Finally, Luna let the light out, and it shattered the darkness. The massive, gothic cathedral was torn in half. The roof fell off, and the walls gave way to the rising sun, its rays reaching the dark temple for the first time in almost a thousand years.

Luna smiled in the sunlight. “Hello, sister.”

The Council chambers were almost empty now. Lunar Hail was arrested, alongside many other members of the council including Emerald Light. Eternal Eclipse abdicated, and Lucent Eclipse took absolute power over Chiropterra… for the next two minutes or so.

“Don’t be scared, friend. They know you, and you met them in your dreams! Trust me, it will be alright.” Silverstream smiled, trying to lighten up the serious atmosphere within the chamber. “And you too, Lightning Strike.”

“I still do not understand why I am here. I am not high ranking enough for this.” The thestral said in a resigned protest.

“Isn’t it obvious? I want both my friends to be with me, right now!” They both groaned half-heartedly, already used to her unending happiness.

“You know, now that I think about, we were both lucky I was the one who captured you. If it was someone less open-minded, we wouldn’t be here, and things would turn very ugly fast.”

“Of course! I could never achieve it by myself, only together we made it happen! That’s how friendship works!”

Both therstrals in the room just shook their heads with slight smiles.

Their discussion was stopped by the ornamental door to the chamber opening. Princess Luna and Queen Novo entered it slowly, taking in the richly-decorated room. Princess managed to not show her internal grimacing at the Nightmare-moon inspired inscriptions and decorations, while the Queen was more focusing on a teenage hippogriff in the room.

When they reached Lucent Eclipse, he bowed to them. “I surrender to you, as we agreed before. Chiropterra is now yours, as the victorious side of this conflict. Do with it as you wish, but I beg for your grace and forgiveness, as you have shown it until know; let it continue, for we are at your mercy now.”

“Please stand up, Lucent Eclipse. We are not gods to be bowed to, and there was no war. It was just strayed children, coming home.” Luna answered.

Both side exchanged few more ceremonial necessities, before Silvestream asked, quietly, “Is it done? Is it over?”

She didn’t wait for the answer. Instead, she jumped on both Luna and Queen Novo, giving them a desperate hug and crying. “I’m sorry but this, it was so bad, so horrible, and scary, I tried my best but now I really just want to go home, please! You can ground me and be mad, just, please, can I go home now?”

Queen Novo’s face softened, and she returned the hug alongside Luna. “You are not grounded, Silverstream. Last time it didn’t make you any less good at defeating ancient evil empires, what makes you think it will work now? I am so proud of you.” When asked, she would deny any tears in her eyes in that moment.

Silverstream cried, letting out all the stress, all the tension, all the fear she felt for the past weeks. She really, really wanted to go home, and lock herself in her room.

To her surprise, she felt someone else hugging her. Lightning Strike, awkward and unused to hugs, did it regardless.

And suddenly, all of it was worth it to Silverstream in this moment.

In the meantime, in the crystal castle, Twilight’s friends looked at her with disbelief as she finished telling them what she learned from Luna.

“Jus’ to make sure I heard ya correctly… instead of a summer break to rest from th’ school craziness and map callin’ us all the time, we have to go over th’ sea, to help save a Nightmare Moon cult from their neighbors taking revenge for hundreds of years of raids to capture slaves.” Applejack summed up.

Twilight slowly nodded her head.

“In a hot jungle, in a country that can’t even promise running water, let alone any other luxuries.” Rarity added.

Twilight nodded again.

“And we will be spending most times in caves, without any way for me to really stretch my wings.” Rainbow whined.

“And they hunted all the nice animals to extinction there, and only have big carnivorous pony-eaitng crabs, and other predators.” Fluttershy sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Which she was.

“And not only do they have no tradition of parties, they have no party supplies available, only what I can bring myself! For the entire country!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Twilight could only nod.

“And they have a non-functional government that fell apart, also full of ancient conspiracies and crazy cults, and need my political experience in a way that almost guarantees someone will hate me enough to try to kidnap slash assassinate me. And because it’s so dangerous, I can’t even bring Trixie with me.” Starlight tried to keep her absolute disappointment down. She failed. Trixie will definitely not be happy to hear this.

Twilight could only nod, and add: “And they hate all ponies from Equestria, call us ‘Solarists’ and were taught their entire lives to despise us. That sums it up perfectly.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Twilight, I love our students as much as anypony else here, but after this summer break…”

“… they are so getting extra homework for that when we’re back!”