Lamentations of a Lunar Goddess
Author: Nanda Silverfur AKA Ethan Arden
Prologue:
A curt clip-clopping could be heard if one were to stand in one of the immense hallways that made up the Royal Palace of Canterlot. Every so often the clopping would stop, as if the one making the noise had stopped to think.
It just so happened that she did.
But then the curt clip-clopping would resume again, the thought thrown away as she continued to debate her current position.
Celestia was a very stressed pony. It was time for her sister to come home, after a long 50 year banishment, and the sun goddess had no idea how her sister would react. She’d never been close with Luna, but she was truly worried what would become of her. She had banished ponies before, but never on the moon, and never longer than 20 years. She had even banished one of her older students, Starswirl, for a year to the Gryphon territories just on the outskirts of Equestria.
After not seeing her sister for 50 years, Celestia could only assume that she would still bear a grudge. She paused from her pacing once more, this time eying her guards pensively. They stood in perfect stillness, never moving, never blinking. Despite Celestia appreciating the discipline, the apathy of the guards until something moved to threaten her had always unnerved her.
“Guard,” Nothing. “Send for Lord Armor.” The gold-plated, white unicorn nodded his head slightly forward, remaining expressionless, and departed. Celestia looked to his partner, the Royal Guard still not making a move. She let out a sigh and resumed her pacing.
Waiting an unknown amount of time, she heard hoofsteps echoing down the massive marble masonry that she called home. She quit her pacing, grimacing as she saw gold scuffs along the floor where she had been walking. The guard entered first, resuming his post by his partner’s side. Celestia nodded to him as her other guests approached.
A stout young unicorn stallion approached her, a red vest befitting a Lord of his station adorned on his barrel chest. He bowed low, cowed to be in the presence of such great majesty. His long two-toned blue mane fell in front of him as he did so, whipping it back into the proper position as he rose. Behind him, three mares of different colors stood in a triangular formation, alert and scanning the room for any threats.
Celestia chuckled quietly, breaking the ice. “I see that even here your nonpareils are ready to guard you with their life, Lord Armor,” she nodded to each of them in turn, the light blue pegasus with the rainbow mane, the stout orange mare with the Stetson, and the lavender unicorn. Her eyes lingered on the lavender unicorn. The pony is suspect met her eyes, and she gave a slight nod, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly. “Most of all, your sister.”
The lord looked back at Twilight, giving her a comforting smile, to which she returned. “You know most out of all of us that it wasn’t favoritism when I gave her that spot, your majesty. And if it beseeches you, please don’t call me Lord Armor. When you do it makes me think you’ve forgotten all the time I spent here in the castle as the Captain of the Royal Guard.”
The alabaster Alicorn nodded gracefully, her pastel mane flowing with the movement. “As you wish Shining. I called you here to remind you of the inevitable coming of my sister, the Princess Luna. I know that none of you here are old enough to remember her, but 50 years ago tomorrow, she was banished because she had flown into a rage. I shan’t disclose the details, however if she is friendly and wishes to do so, you may ask it of her.”
The princess turned and looked out the window that was within the throne room, pausing in her speech. None of the ponies present thought to interrupt her brooding, but simply remained quiet. Though none of them had known Luna, it was obviously a sore spot for their Princess.
Continuing on without another thought, “I need you to prepare. I am… unsure of what her intentions will be once she returns at sunrise tomorrow. She will arrive in Ponyville, where she had been banished. If she is willing to cooperate, ask to escort her to Canterlot. If not… don’t attempt to detain her. That will only end badly for the both of you. I will be there, watching from the sidelines. If she gets out of hand, I will approach her, otherwise, I would like you to handle it yourself. It will be a good experience for a new Lord such as yourself.”
“Thank you for the honor, Princess.” He bowed low again, and Celestia chuckled slightly at the way his mane fell into his face.
“There is no thanks necessary. However, it should be I who is thanking you. You are approaching a nearly unknown Alicorn in hopes that she isn’t hostile.” Applejack wavered a bit at that, frowning slightly.
“I shall warn the other Lords as well, Shining. Let me tell you… I know of two lords that are already going to swear fealty to her, and I’m afraid it will return to the old ways once again. Prepare yourselves. A civil war is brewing.”
“So… what do you think about Lord Umbra being pulled into that tent so randomly by Princess Celestia?” A lanky yellow unicorn named Serene Grace stuck her horn into my face, twisting her head to the side so that she could look more closely into my eyes without bumping into my own horn.
I let out an annoyed sigh at the offending unicorn, giving her a pointed glare. “How the hell are you so bubbly all the time?”
She smiled as she left my personal bubble, and giggled, raising a hoof to her mouth. “Because you’re such a Debbie Downer all the time. Now, answer the question!”
Smiling in my head, but not betraying my emotions, I deadpanned. “What question?”
“Ugh!” she growled, “You know! Lord Umbra, pulled into random tent by random Celestia?”
“And?” I absolutely loved torturing her.
“Whatcha think about it?”
I shook my head as I responded, “If you expect me to say something ridiculous like, ‘Oh, they’re probably in there making foals!’ or, ‘I bet they are doing the horizontal tango’ or whatever that stupid human saying is, it’s ridiculous. First, that’s disgusting. Celestia might look young, but Lord Umbra most definitely doesn’t. Second, you know Lord Umbra has been steadfastly waiting for Princess Luna to return. He remains loyal to her through it all, even if she did manage to take out his eye.”
“Aw… you’re no fun. But what do you honestly think the Princess wanted to talk to Umbra about?”
“Luna was banished for 50 years right? I’d assume based on our old fart of a Lord’s age that it would be nearing that time.”
Serene Grace tensed up, giving me a stern look. “I know you meant it as a joke, but I’ll brook no disrespect for our Lord.”
I rolled my eyes at the intensity in her voice. “Right, I forgot that you were capable of being serious.” At her strict gaze, I quickly added, “Don’t worry. I mean no offense. You know as well as I that Lord Umbra would probably laugh at the ‘old fart’ comment. He does take his age rather lightly.”
Grace’s demeanor lightened, and she playfully punched me in the shoulder with her hoof. “Just don’t forget who your superiors are, Tidy.”
I groaned at my impromptu nickname. “Eventide! TIIIIDE! Not Tidy!”
She fell down in a fit of giggles at my exasperation, and I continued to stand there as I stared at her like she was an idiot. Once she recovered enough to stand, she went on, “As one of your superiors, I have the right to call you what I want.”
I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t win that battle. I rolled my eyes as I sarcastically saluted, let off a half-hearted, “Ma’am yes ma’am!” and gave my best attempt to glare her into submission.
“Alright, alright, let’s get back to our summoning lesson. You got the liquid mana from the Container in Canterlot, didn’t you?”
A small glow enveloped my saddlebags as a small vial of violently bubbling liquid floated out. It had a light blue hue to the mixture, but seemed thick and viscous. It levitated between the two of us, and my mentor whistled. “Ain’t ever seen one that strong before. Guess you got lucky, huh?”
“A few others bubbled slightly, but nothing more immediate than this one. What causes this to happen anyway?” I levitated the vial closer to my eye to examine it, and was shocked when I saw that the mysterious brew reacted even more violently when it got closer to my horn.
She motioned for me to sit down on the grassy field that our military camp was currently located at. I did so, and she started to explain. “I suppose that the shortened explanation would be the best. Being completely blunt, what is in that vial is a liquefied portion of a human’s soul, or mana, or essence, however you want to say it.
“Being from separate dimensions—albeit next to ours—the different magical energies will react to each other. How easy it is for your magic to locate and summon the human is dependent on how your magical signature reacts to theirs. And looking at your reaction, it seems like it will be nearly on the level of simple levitation.”
I nodded appreciatively. Another easy spell to learn would be excellent. “Well, that seems all well and good, but how exactly do I connect with this human’s essence?”
She giggled, covering her hoof with her mouth as a canteen floated out and took a quick swig of it, her large orange eyes never once leaving the vial held in my magical grip. It took me a second, but when I finally did, I gave a hesitant blink, casting doubtful glances to the vial. “You want me to drink… a human’s soul?”
Another jovial smile. “Wellll… not all of it. Just part of it!”
“Oh dear Faust… that’s disgusting.” A particularly large bubble decided to pop, even hitting the bottom of the cork that was currently securing the brew.
“Everypony who can summon a human has to go through the same process. Deal with it you big foal. It doesn’t even taste that bad. She took one more sip from her canteen. “I’ll even give you a drink of water if you need it.”
I grimaced as I popped the cork open on the vial, and the bubbling doubled, reaching the top in no time at all. “I’ll hold you to that. Bottoms up.”
Kuryxia Rosencrantz rolled her thumb across the edge of one of her sharp blades, taking in the scene before her. It was obviously a well-planned out homicide, probably done by a professional; most likely a mage.
The warrior said this not because she had a grudge against the mages, but because even without the medical diagnosis, she could tell that the victim died by magical means. Nothing else could have killed him without leaving a single mark on any part of the body. There weren’t any residues for poison, either. She had checked. Assuming that the victim didn’t have a life-threatening disease that kills immediately, it was magic.
She looked up from the body as she heard a Soul Mage approach from behind him. “Speak.”
“Ma’am. Diagnosis reports say that the man, who was identified as Horatio Hevle, died of a blood vessel bursting within the brain. While not fully complete, the diagnosis also suggests that it was done by focusing the blood within the brain to focus around the Hypothalamus and once the vessel burst, it drained the brain of too much blood to operate.”
“Thank you. Dismissed.”
The young girl looked to the body, asking many questions to herself that she was too afraid to voice out loud. “6 cases like this in the past year; why? What’s the connection?”
She looked over the body, seeing the carnage it had left. She grimaced, doubting her decision to join this job. She should be out there with her brothers on the frontlines. Another part of her shook her head and sighed, rebutting that statement. ‘They need you here; you would have wasted talent on the field.’ And so on.
She looked on the murder scene for a few more minutes before deciding that there was nothing else of consequence. She motioned for one of her underlings. “Get this wrapped up. I’m heading back to base.”
She left the crime scene shaking her head. Seven murders in ten days that were all killed in different ways using magical means. A burst blood vessel in the brain, separation of the spinal column from the brain stem with no evidence of a struggle, a heart imploding, the list went on and on.
It was a quiet walk downtown, the brick houses covered in graffiti that brought a little color to the dismal streets. She was definitely in a bad part of town. As the thought crossed her mind, her stomach started to tie itself into knots. She looked over her shoulder, the hairs on the back of her neck rising to attention. Seeing nothing, she moved on cautiously, hands on the pommel of her blades.
“Come on…”
Kuryxia whipped around, the voice startling her. She quickly drew her twin swords, one gleaming a light silver, and the other a dark grey. The voice had sounded like it was whispered directly into her ear, but there was no one around.
“Gotcha!”
She twisted her head again quickly before hearing a snapping noise and seeing only the color purple.
I sweated from exertion as I felt around for the connection, and I managed to grunt out, “This is easy?”
The yellow unicorn smirked as she flicked her light brown and green tail toward me, almost snapping me out of my concentration. “Please. It took me four hours to even find my human, Rezalc. You’ve at least located yours in twenty minutes. All you have to do now is make the connection.”
“Ugh! Come on!” A blue mist started to form in front of me, coming from the earth itself. I strained myself to complete the spell as what looked to be a translucent human started to form in front of me. “Gotcha!” I pushed one more ounce of willpower into the spell.
SNUP
And there she was. My human – whom I could see was female – stood in a battle-ready position, with two nasty looking swords in her hands. They were curved slightly, with a large notch in the end. Engraved in the steel were the letters “XYX” and “ZYZ” for each blade respectively.
When I looked at her face however, it betrayed no hostility. I only saw confusion and shock apparent on her face, and after a minute of standing at the ready, she slid her swords into their scabbards, standing in the apparent relaxed human position.
Now don’t get me wrong. I had seen humans before. It was hard-pressed to avoid them, actually. Monsters in battle, they were. But to actually summon one was a different feeling altogether.
“Well, it’s about damn time I was summoned. I was starting to think they had misplaced my mana. Let me tell you, that was a bitch to get out.”
Her voice was smooth, but had an underlying edge to it that made my most immediate thought be, “I do not want to fuck with this one.”
Her raven black hair whipped around her face as the wind took up, causing her to look around at her surroundings. It was hard to tell exactly how long her hair was, but I estimated it went down to her shoulder blades, approximately. I smiled as spoke, knowing I was most likely outclassed in ability. “Nah, they wouldn’t do that. Too little humans being summoned, we need all the mana we can get. The name’s Eventide Lament. Pleased to meet you.”
“Kuryxia. So I’m assuming this is home base?” She motioned towards the tents, and a small smile graced my lips.
Serene Grace chose this moment to jump into the conversation. “Yes, it is. I’m Serene Grace, Tide’s direct superior. Now, I don’t mean to be a hassle, but seeing as this is the first time for you being summoned to this world, we need to fill out some basic information. Could you please give me your family’s name, age, and skills?”
The human woman nodded. “As I said, my name is Kuryxia, from house Rosencrantz, Warrior Caste. Identification Number is WC:F10010-1111:D:1011-10101. I am currently in my twenty-fifth year of life. I have multiple talents. I was trained in basic weaponry, including swords, axes, lances, and bows. I have also been taught various ways of hand-to-hand combat, none as showy to be called martial ‘arts’.”
She opened her mouth to continue, but she paused, and shook her head slightly. Grace’s eyebrow arched slightly, and she motioned for Kuryxia to continue.
“I… have another talent, but nothing overly noteworthy. It’ll show up eventually.”
“Well, if you’re sure. Thank you for the information. Now, I’ll take my leave.” The yellow unicorn turned on her hooves, walking into what seemed to be some random tent.
I looked back at Kuryxia, and I smiled awkwardly as she stared at me. “Well?”
I blinked. “What?”
A quick eye roll. “You know my station and rank. How about yours?”
I motioned with my head for her to walk with me, and I started to head toward my tent. Once we arrived, I opened it up, letting her pass in before me. My tent was rather sparse, but I had a cot, a small rug to lie on to avoid the grass, and seating for anyone who wished to come to speak with me privately.
I took my place on the cot, and started to speak. “As I said, my name is Eventide Lament. I’m a unicorn native to the city of Salt Lick, just off of Salt Lick Lake, and I serve the Lord Umbra, who is currently sworn to Princess Celestia, though I have reason to believe that he will change his vows soon, when Princess Luna returns from her… banishment.”
“Banishment?” the human cocked her head to the side in confusion, much like a dog.
“Yes. From what I’ve heard of it, Princess Luna flew into a fit when her lover died in the war against the Diamond Dogs. Let’s just say that there is no more Diamond Dog nation.”
The human’s eyes grew wide as her mouth resembled an ‘o’. “A single being… that powerful?”
“She is indeed. Both Luna and Celestia are of equal power, and many humans compare their power to those of gods. We can see the connection, but to us, they are our princesses. Continuing on, Celestia approached her sister once her vengeance was satiated. She then proceeded to state that she had broken the vows that they had made not to use their power within the war to influence the outcome. Afterwards, she sent her to the moon to cool off for fifty years. She is actually scheduled to return… sometime soon. I don’t know exactly. But I digress. My position within the military is one of Lord Umbra’s personal seconds.”
“Second?”
I looked at my summon with doubt in my eyes. “Don’t they teach you this information when you’re training to become a warrior?”
Her eyes shifted downward. “I was focused in other areas. I wasn’t planning on submitting my mana for selection until my instructor advised me to do so.”
“Ah, well, no sweat off my back. Here is how the armies here work, from the top down. In charge of it all, you of course have Princess Celestia, along with Princess Luna, who will return soon. They share a joint monarchy, or a diarchy, if you prefer. After them, there are the five noble lords, of which Lord Umbra is one. Each Lord has two cities – otherwise known as fiefs – under their control, and can manage the military and economic happenings of the town. In most fiefs, two leaders are appointed, with a third to break ties on disagreements. These are called the Earls of the Land. One is in charge of the cities garrison, one is in charge of the socioeconomic lifestyle of the town, and the third is the equalizer. Apart from them, The Lords can raise their own armies, which you see here. There aren’t any current wars, but we find that it pays well to keep a good watch over our territory. It is large, and the more you leave it without watching, the more inclined an enemy will be to attack.”
She nodded her head slowly, drinking in the facts. After a moment she asked, “So where do you fit in all this?”
I smirked slightly. “I’m glad you asked. Each Lord is appointed six guards. Two are Unicorns, two are Pegasi, and two are Earth Ponies. The first set, made up of one of each race, are called the nonpareils. They are the most skilled out of all the ponies that the Lord has chosen to be in his army. Their main and only goal is to protect him at all costs. It hasn’t happened lately, so I don’t know if the practice is still adopted, but if the Lord is killed before all of the nonpareils are, they used to slit their own throats for failing their jobs. Below the nonpareils are the seconds, which as the name suggests, are second to the nonpareils. We are the most powerful in the Lord’s army save for the nonpareils. While we take our job seriously, we must be prepared to take a nonpareils place should they die protecting the Lord. In essence, the nonpareils are the shield, and we seconds are the sword. We carry out all the sweeping missions while they stay back to protect Lord Umbra.”
She whistled appreciatively. “Sounds like a tough job.”
“It definitely is. But there are a few perks. Great pay, and I don’t have to take orders but from three other ponies. Serene Grace is one, she is Lord Umbra’s nonpareil, and thus she is above me. Lord Umbra himself, and whichever princess Lord Umbra has sworn fealty to. Currently, that means Celestia. However, that doesn’t mean I have the right to order other ponies around. But they’ll usually do what I ask anyhow, if only because I’m high rank, or they wish to gain favor within the army.”
I took a deep breath, deciding on a whim to reach out and feel her mana with my magic. She shuddered as my magic came in contact. It was an odd sensation. I could feel my own magic lacing her body, and apparently rooting it to the ground. Her own mana however, seemed of a lighter variation than an normal ponies. I figure it would be the change in dimension, but I would never really know.
As I probed deeper, it felt… new. I had never felt this much energy in my magic before, and it felt amazing. It wasn’t long until I didn’t see the magic in the tent as belonging to two different entities. What I saw was that both of our essences had combined, and we had melded our essence… no, our very existence together. It felt… it felt… sensual.
Realizing what I was doing, I quickly regained control of myself, letting go of my hold on the magic. I was brought back to reality, and was faced with a blushing Kuryxia. She sitting rigidly straight on my small seat, almost as tense as one of the army’s grunts at attention.
“I… think that I wish to return home now. You can summon me tomorrow.” I barely moved my head to nod, and simply broke the spell that was keeping her in our world.
SNUP
“An interesting development, don’t you think, sister?” The dark Alicorn appeared out of nowhere, causing the white one to jump slightly.
After regaining her composure, Celestia started, “You seem to be home a little early. By about 20 hours, actually.”
The royal blue Alicorn’s ethereal hair waved about, like stars blinking in the black sky. “Perhaps. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten that small portion of the day is lost every year. We really should adjust the calendar for that, shouldn’t we?” She circled the small mirror that Celestia had been using to scry. “This young colt, Eventide… I find him interesting. After what he’s been through, it’s surprising enough that he’s even able to use his magic without his own emotions getting in the way.
“You seem to be well informed on ponies that you weren’t even here to see born.”
The Lunar Goddess scoffed. “Perhaps you think so. But even on the moon, I was still here. And you can’t do much else but listen on the moon.”
She stopped, looking down at her regalia. “And I found that I listen too much. I heard what I had been described as. A monster. A genocidal maniac. And I was, for a time. But after fifty years, I learned that there isn’t really any use in getting mad. What will happen will happen, and what won’t, won’t.”
“That is an interesting ideology you have there, sister. But that doesn’t rectify the fact that you murdered off an entire race.”
“I know, and I have accepted the guilt for that. I know that I may never be looked at the same, but you and I both know that we will both have to rule. I can tell already, all that extra Entropic energy you’ve used moving both the sun and the moon has been affecting you.” She looked her white sister up and down in concern.
“Shove the sister act, Luna. What we both know is that you just want to take over.”
Luna’s face fell, and she mumbled, “Fine… if you wish to be that way, I’ll fight.” She got a look of grim determination, eying Celestia very carefully. “I will tell you this now. I had wanted to apologize, and be the good sister. But you aren’t going to let me be that way. You’ll make me to be evil and feared within the general public, if only for your own twisted pleasure.”
“Get out.”
Luna left through the curtains, not pausing to look back or say goodbye. Celestia was left alone, and she turned to the mirror once more. “Such a shame that you’ll be converting to her side soon.”
