Shadow of the Dragon Lords
D. G. D. Davidson
My Little Pony is © 2012 by Hasbro, Inc.
Chapter 6: A Nightmare Slumber Party?
Since the reception for Ambassador Severin had ended disastrously with the ambassador doused in cake batter, Mayor Mare decided the best thing was to send him someplace where he could get cleaned up, and the only place she could think of was the spa.
Ordinarily, the spa wasn't open so late, but after the mayor pleaded with the spa twins, Aloe and Lotus, they agreed to give Severin the full treatment.
Because of all the excitement following Pinkie Pie's antics, Severin himself had no say in the matter. In all likelihood, he would have objected, but in the midst of the chaos, which consisted largely of ponies slipping and sliding around the floor until the interior of Sugarcube Corner was entirely wrecked, Aloe tossed him onto her back and cantered off with him.
The last thing he saw before she pulled him out of the room was a gray Pegasus mare with a blonde mane and crossed eyes jumping onto a table and belly-flopping into the midst of the sea of batter while shouting, "Woohoo!"
Before Severin knew what was happening, he was divested of his soiled clothes, bathed, and in rapid succession moved through a sauna, a mud bath, and a footbath. Then he found himself facedown on a table.
At last, he realized what was going on, and he tried to make his escape, but was too late: unaware that a human was more gracile and delicate than a pony, Aloe reared up and proceeded to give him a massage, which meant hard hooves and almost the full weight of a small horse pressing into his back. Fortunately, she was unshod; if she'd had horseshoes, she likely would have broken his ribs. As it was, he staggered away from the event clad in nothing but an ill-fitting terrycloth robe and covered in dark bruises.
When he walked back into the waiting room, he found a white Unicorn mare waiting for him. She fluttered her eyelashes and asked, "How was your spa experience, Ambassador?"
"Breathtaking. And who might you be, Miss?"
"I am Rarity the Unicorn."
"Yes, well, I was aware of the Unicorn part. Would you by any chance know what happened to my clothes?"
"Ah, your ensemble. Yes, I had the privilege of cleansing it for you."
"Thank you. May I-?"
"However, I could easily fit you out with something much more charming than those tired old things."
"Those tired old things are the official ambassadorial regalia of Draconium, and they are, believe it or not, quite practical for the kind of life I lead."
"Oh, I'm sure they are," she said, gesturing dismissively with a hoof. "I could just spruce them up a bit, design something quite similar, but with a much more stylish cut and perhaps a few gemstones-"
"Gemstones attract thieves, Miss. I have enough trouble with highwaymen as it is."
"I'm sorry, I don't know that term-"
"Highwayponies."
"Oh, my. Ruffians?"
"Yes. Not all roads are as safe as Equestria's. If I were to display any obvious wealth, I would be inviting attack."
"Oh, don't I know. Why, just a little over a year ago, I was ponynapped by Diamond Dogs who wanted me to find them gems, and they were simply brutish. No manners whatsoever. And don't even get me started on their hygiene."
"I assure you I won't. It must have been quite traumatic. I'm sorry, Miss, but it's late, and I would prefer to retire, yet I must first get dressed. My race is more modest than yours, and more sensitive to cold besides. I must have clothes."
Rarity's eyes lit up. "Really? How marvelous for you. Ponies only wear clothes for adornment, you understand. But to need them . . . well, your dressmakers must do a wonderful business. I'm a dressmaker myself, you see."
Severin could feel himself getting angry, so he took a deep breath to restore his calm. He had spent many years learning to avoid any strong displays of emotion, but the events of this night were testing his patience. "I am not sure we humans even have dressmakers, as you call them. We-"
"Somepony should start a business, then."
"We don't have businesses, either."
"Oh."
It occurred to Severin how to move this conversation onto a better track. "I'm rather surprised, Miss Rarity, that you are out this late by yourself. I understand there have been some rather gruesome acts of violence committed against Unicorn Ponies of late. I would have thought that no Unicorn would be out after dark unescorted."
Rarity started. "Oh, my. I've heard of such barbaric things, but I never thought to hear them mentioned in polite company." With affected agitation, she sent a blast of magic from her horn, calling into view a red velvet chaise longue, onto which she threw herself, raising one hoof to her forehead in a show of distress.
After observing this display, Severin took a moment to collect himself. "Many pardons, Miss," he said slowly, trying to pick the right words. "My coarse traveler's manners are undoubtedly too rough for your tastes, but you must admit that, unsavory though it may be, what I suggest is only practical."
"I suppose you're right, but those crimes happened in frontier towns-"
"Perhaps this hasn't been the frontier for a couple of generations, but Ponyville is on the edge of the Everfree Forest, after all. Who knows what could happen here? If Diamond Dogs burrow in the vicinity, what else might be lurking about?"
Rarity, suddenly looking fearful, swallowed. She jumped to her feet again and shuffled back and forth between her hooves. "Ooh, maybe I should have asked for an escort-"
"If you would kindly fetch my garb, I would gladly take you home. I assume you brought it?"
"What? Oh, yes. Right over here." Her horn glowed and Severin's clothes, armor, and sword, all neatly folded or stacked, floated into view. He plucked them out of the air, said his thanks, and stepped behind a screen where he quickly donned everything. He had to admit that Rarity had done a fine job: his travel-spotted cloak and trousers had not looked so clean or smelled so fresh in ages.
Severin and Rarity stepped through the front door only to find Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Moondancer standing right outside. He frowned at Rarity. "You came here with them? But-"
"But I should have asked for an escort when I walked into the spa," she said. "You never know where ruffians might be lurking."
Severin shook his head and turned to his hostesses. "Your Highness, Miss Sparkle, thank you for your hospitality and an evening I shall not soon forget. I look forward to a long talk with the both of you tomorrow. If it is no trouble and we have no further business, I would like to retire."
"Of course," Luna said. "We are certain Twilight Sparkle hath made arrangements."
Twilight swallowed and broke out in a cold sweat. She hadn't made arrangements. She had triple-checked her checklist, as always, but she had forgotten to put "Find the ambassador somewhere to sleep" on it in the first place.
She had a brief moment to envision a horde of raging dragons descending on Equestria and burning down every town in revenge for their emissary's bedlessness, but Severin, who apparently noticed her distress, quickly said, "I am, of course, a traveling man accustomed to hard roads and few comforts. I don't expect that Ponyville has featherbeds like Canterlot's awaiting me. Merely a patch of ground long enough for me to stretch my legs is all I need, and I shall wrap myself in my cloak."
He glanced at Luna and gave her a faint smile, but she returned it with a mild glare; according to the elaborate rules of courtly manners, a hostess could not demand more comforts than a guest: if Severin insisted that a night on the cold ground was enough for him, she had to insist it was enough for her, as well.
"And we need no more than this," she said, as it was all she could say.
"Oh, no, no," Twilight answered in a panicked attempt at placation. "Why . . . we have extra beds at the library. I think. Yes, we have, um, one extra bed. And I'll get another! Severin, you can have one, and Luna can have one, and-" She looked at Moondancer, who appeared positively annoyed. "And Moondancer and I can share," Twilight said, and then gave a wide, nervous grin.
Severin bowed slightly. "Your hospitality is boundless."
"We will not require a bed," said Luna.
Severin raised an eyebrow.
"Your Highness," Twilight said, "it's really no trouble. We can just-"
"We are the dark princess," said Luna. "We roam amongst the black clouds invisible to mortal eyes except when they slide across the moon. We divine the stars, haunt the cold wastes, and dive into the deepest caverns where the shadows lie forever untouched by light. Thinkest thou, Twilight Sparkle, that we sleep in the nighttime?" Her eyes gleamed.
Severin made a gesture as of a fencer admitting he'd been touched. They had played another little game of words, and once again she had bested him.
As they walked toward the library, Spike took time to reflect. He had been nervous and confused the whole evening, not so much because of Severin, or even because of the distressing things Severin had said at dinner, but because of Moondancer.
Spike's years in Canterlot had been lonely. Twilight had hatched him from his egg and reared him herself; he had quickly learned to fetch her books and to cook and clean for her, but back then, she had not been affectionate. She was almost as aloof from him as she was from other ponies, caring about nothing but her books, her assignments, and her grades.
For a long time, most of the other students in the school avoided him. He was, after all, a dragon, an ancient enemy. All the students were Unicorns, as, in fact, were most of the ponies in Canterlot, and for reasons obscure, dragons and Unicorns were natural enemies, possessed as they were of similar aesthetic inclinations based in entirely different motives. Most of the Unicorns in Canterlot were unaware of the checkered history of the two races, and few had more than a vague idea of why Spike, and other baby dragons before him, were in Equestria at all, but they maintained a certain hostility nonetheless.
Only Moondancer had been kind to him, and he had rapidly developed a crush on her. She was beautiful, wild, talented, and popular. Moondancer had always acted pleased to have him tagging along by her side, and thanks to her, the other students became friendlier as well. That made Twilight's coldness easier to bear.
At home, he became a chatterbox. As he was doing his chores, he talked constantly about Moondancer, Moondancer's friends, Moondancer's latest projects, Moondancer's latest parties, Moondancer's latest witty bon mot, until Twilight pounded her front hooves on her reading stand and shouted, "Enough! Spike! I am trying to study!"
"You're always trying to study," he answered sulkily.
"That's because I'm always a student! Students are always trying to study!"
"Well, Moondancer isn't-"
"Enough about Moondancer!"
He had been thinking of telling Twilight how he really felt about Moondancer, but after she snapped at him, he decided, instead, to screw up his courage and confess to Moondancer herself. He procrastinated for weeks, telling himself he was waiting for the perfect opportunity, but at last, when Moondancer announced that she was having another of her many soirees, he bought her a teddy bear, carefully wrapped it, and prepared to attend her party and find an opportunity to pour his heart out.
Of course, that was when Twilight came rushing in, talking about the Elements of Harmony. Soon after, Princess Celestia ordered them to Ponyville. Spike had been to Canterlot only once, briefly, since then.
Besides that, his first glimpse of Rarity had pushed Moondancer from his mind. Rarity, although she shared with Moondancer a tendency toward arrogance and a need to be loved and admired by everypony around her, was everything Moondancer wasn't. Spike had known nopony like her among the young, busy, and consequently slovenly students at the school, most of whom spent their rare free hours indulging in the miscreancies common to youths who boarded at educational institutions away from the watchful eyes of their sires and dams. Rarity possessed a certain reserve and, at least to his mind, a certain maturity he had never encountered before, and it captivated him. But now that Moondancer was here in Ponyville, bringing with her all her brashness and inclinations to delinquency, his old feelings came rushing back.
Seeing Moondancer and Rarity side by side, he couldn't help but compare them. Rarity's beauty was prim and carefully cultivated; she was a proper, mannerly lady. But Moondancer was robust, wild, and energetic, with a free, roving energy. Rarity was demure, Moondancer was dangerous. Spike had thought that Rarity would always be his true love, but now that Moondancer was trotting at his side again, he was hard-pressed to decide which girl he found more alluring.
He couldn't deny it: he was a dragon, but he had the hots for white Unicorn Ponies.
They left Rarity at her home and then continued to the hollow tree containing the library. Twilight magicked the spare bed down to the main room while Spike carried down the basket in which he slept. Having been up almost all night the night before, he fell asleep on the floor, so Twilight put him in his basket and tucked him in. While the ponies walked upstairs to the bedroom, Severin climbed into the bed and he was quickly asleep as well.
"I'm so glad you came to visit," Twilight told Moondancer as they walked into the bedroom and climbed to the loft. "I haven't seen you in ages."
"You barely saw me even when you were in Canterlot," Moondancer answered.
"Sorry about that. I was kind of reclusive back then."
"Hmm. Rather convenient for them to have such a spacious library with a bedroom for you here. How do you afford it on your stipend?"
"Oh, I couldn't. Princess Celestia is paying the rent."
Moondancer snorted. "Of course she is. So, does Spike ever manage to get you to step outside?"
"Oh, yes. I've made quite a few friends, and-"
Moondancer stopped walking and stared at Twilight. "You made friends?"
"Crazy, huh?"
Luna walked up behind. "Twilight Sparkle and her friends are the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Moondancer. Didst thou not know?"
Moondancer scowled. She knew what the Elements of Harmony were, having made a study of obscure points of ancient history and arcane lore. She'd heard rumors that Twilight Sparkle had something to do with the defeat of Night Mare Moon, but hadn't quite believe them; discovering that they were true annoyed her immensely: here was yet another privilege Celestia had granted to her pampered favorite.
"That's why I'm still here in Ponyville," Twilight said, magicking a thick volume from the bookcase under the loft. "I'm studying the magic of friendship."
"The what?" Moondancer asked.
"Friendship," Twilight said. "It's the strongest form of magic, don't you know?"
Moondancer glanced at Luna. "Is that true?"
"It may be," Luna said quietly. She was gazing out the window at the stars.
Twilight opened the book as it floated before her. "Now, this is only my second slumber party ever, but I have a book here on the subject-"
"You have a book on how to have a slumber party?" Moondancer asked.
"Yes."
"You would."
Oblivious to Moondancer's sarcasm, Twilight flipped through the pages. "There's a list here of everything we should do. We can start by giving each other facials, and then do each other's manes, and then-"
Using her own magic, Moondancer snatched the book away and flung it to the floor below. "Forget lists. Learn to improvise."
"But if we don't follow the book, how will we know if we had fun?" Twilight cried.
Moondancer tossed her head. "Did you really manage to make friends here, Twilight, or are you lying to me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I can't imagine anypony actually tolerating your company for more than a few minutes."
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but no words came.
"At any rate, I'm tired," Moondancer said. "Although I'm sure you spent the day reading books and went to bed exactly at sundown, I was up all last night hosting my Nightmare Night bash, and I'd like to go to sleep. What do you say we postpone your little slumber party indefinitely, hmm?" She flung the covers into disarray and climbed into the bed.
Luna turned from the window. "If thou wishest to be our protégé, Moondancer, thou must learn tact. Do not expect us to be pleased with these sorts of foalish displays."
Under the covers, Moondancer frowned. She knew Luna expected her to apologize, but the idea irked her. Nonetheless, she managed to squeeze out the words. "Sorry, Twilight. I'm just tired."
Twilight, detecting no insincerity, perked up. "Oh, that's okay. I understand." She climbed into the bed as well.
Moondancer grit her teeth and turned away from Twilight. Sharing a bed all night with her rival would not be a pleasant experience.
The stars outside the window grew somehow brighter. Luna opened her wings, and a faint, cold blue luminescence, like an alcohol flame, enveloped her. Her mane of mist waved about her head, and her eyes dripped sparks. "This time is ours," she whispered, her voice strangely husky. "We are princess of the dark, of the night, of dreams. Sleep now, young pupils, and we shall show you the deep secrets of the dreaming world, which nopony hath touched in a thousand years. Under my hoof, ye will walk down the seventy steps to the world of Lighter Slumber, where ye will speak to the bearded priests Nasht and Kaman-Thath in the cavern of flame. We shall lead you down even the seven hundred steps to the Gate of Deeper Slumber, through which ye will pass to travel the enchanted wood where dwell the furtive Zoogs. Ye may journey thence to glimpse the ruins of ancient Sarnath, or visit the mighty city of Celephaïs in Ooth-Nargai beyond the Tanarian Hills, or behold the town of Ulthar beyond the River Skai, where ancient law decrees that nopony may kill a cat."
"Why would anypony want to kill a cat?" Twilight asked.
"Do not interrupt. Ye may find there the ancient Ponykotic Manuscripts, copies of which no longer exist in the waking world, which tell of formless Tsathoggua. Ye may, if ye be brave and foolish, speak with the Most Ancient One, he who guardeth the Gateway. Ye may dare ascend the peaks of Inganok where the faceless Night-Gaunts prowl. Ye might even, mayhap, behold the forbidden plain of Leng where it lieth in the cold wastes, or see the hidden sea beneath which the dead god Colthulhu doth slumber. And perchance ye will even at last unravel the deepest mysteries of the dreaded Equinomicon of Abdul Alhorsred, the mad Arabian."
"Are we doing all that tonight?" Twilight gasped. "That sounds exhausting!"
Moondancer, who had been enraptured by Luna's speech and its promise of forbidden knowledge, hissed, "Shut up, Twilight!"
Luna laughed. "Of course not, Twilight Sparkle. Thou wouldst perish if thou didst attempt even the most modest deeds in the Deeper Slumber. Thou shouldst not journey so far until thou hast the proper wards and sigils, nor until we teach thee the Voorish Sign. But tonight, if thou wilt, we shall indeed show thee the land of Lighter Slumber, where thou mayest journey with fewer perils."
"Light slumber? Well, that sounds restful."
Moondancer felt a wave of disappointment break over her. Luna spoke of all the dark secrets she craved, but then just as quickly denied them, and Moondancer was inclined to blame it on Twilight's obnoxious interjections.
Luna looked at the two students lying in the bed, and pondered. "Indeed, Twilight, it is possible thou hast all the protection thou needest, but Moondancer certainly hath not-"
Now Moondancer's disappointment turned to anger. She sat up, clutching the blankets in her front fetlocks. "What? Why? What does Twilight have that I don't?"
"She possesseth the greatest of the Elements of Harmony. Its power lieth inside her."
Moondancer snorted. "What is this Harmony?"
Luna, looking troubled, turned away and gazed out the window again. "We . . . I do not truly know. Celestia and I found them in the Everfree Forest, and we built our first capitol to house them, but Celestia doth understand them better than I."
Twilight was getting sleepy and thought she might be entering that land of Lighter Slumber soon. "Where did you and your sister come from, Princess?" she murmured.
Luna, still looking out the window, smiled. "Hast thou not heard? It was in the olden days, at the end of what thou callest the Classical Era, not long after the ponies first settled Equestria and drave the dragons from their borders. The sun and the moon did look each upon the other and fall in love: the sun was enamored of the moon's cool beauty, and the moon did take joy in the the sun's bright glory. Yet in the depths of their love, they suffered mightily, for they were eternally separated in the sky.
"Through his powers of divination, the king of the Unicorns learned of their plight, and he pitied them; yet he knew the cycle of night and day must not cease, lest the whole of this world fall to ruin. After consulting his astrologers, he decreed that only once every five hundred years, the sun and moon should meet in the sky in what thou now callest an eclipse.
"On their first meeting, sun and moon joyously embraced, and from their union Celestia was born. While still a foal, she descended to this world on a sunbeam. The Unicorns rejoiced over her as a gift from the heavens, and they reared her. She aged more slowly than a mortal, and when she was almost five hundred years old, she was still a filly, but discovered that she could raise and lower the sun herself with ease and without harm. The Unicorns, for whom this had been a torturous task, did gratefully allow her to take it from them.
"At the next eclipse, the sun and moon embraced yet again, and I was born. In the depth of night, I glided down a moonbeam to this world, and I too was reared by the tribe of Unicorns, and I learned to raise and lower the moon.
"Not long after I came into my power, Discord beseteth the land, and the ponies did suffer beneath his hoof. Our magic was strong enough that he might not touch us, yet it was not strong enough to destroy him. Celestia and I did journey many days in Everfree in hopes of finding that which might break his hold on Equestria, and it was in the depths of those dark woods that we discovered the stone Elements. Celestia and I did love each other, and by our love, we wielded Harmony against Discord and did defeat him."
"Then it isn't friendship that powers the Elements," Moondancer argued. "It's merely the prerequisite for using them, like the proper formula for a spell."
"Not so, Moondancer," Luna answered. "Friendship is also the source of their power. They are channels of the magic in the hearts of their users. Without true friendship, they are useless.
"After we had mastered these Elements and defeated our enemy, the rulers of the three tribes came to us in gratitude and lay their tiaras at our hooves: Commander Hailfire of the Pegasi, King August Vision of the Unicorns, and Chancellor Flanface of the Earth Ponies. They knelt before us and said unto us that thenceforth we should be their queens, but Celestia spake, saying, neigh, she would never hold so proud a title, but may be called princess only, and so we were."
Luna laughed a little. "It was at that same meeting that August Vision opened the storehouse of his heart and declared unto my sister his love. He said he had loved her even as a colt, loved her still, would always love her, and could love nopony else. He spake also, saying, he knew his suit was bell-bootless, for it was not meet that a goddess should return the love of a mere mortal.
"Yet, to his joy, Celestia answered his affections with her own, and they did wed, and the descendants of their offspring are the royal family."
Twilight had been drifting in and out of a pleasant half-sleep throughout Luna's story, and fancied that perhaps she could see the staircase into the dreaming that Luna had described. Luna's last words, however, brought her back to full wakefulness. "But, Princess, if it's love and friendship that make the Elements of Harmony work, how did Celestia use them by herself when- ?"
"I do not know, Twilight Sparkle, and that gap in my knowledge doth trouble me. My sister hath not told me this secret."
"And I guess I didn't realize the princess had once been married," Twilight mused, finding the idea oddly troubling. "I mean, I knew it, but as an historical thing. It didn't feel real, like it was a different princess."
"She watched as August Vision, and all her children, and her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, aged and died," Luna whispered. "And we . . . I did watch the strain almost break her until the day in her chamber when she wrestled with some unseen power. After that, she was reconciled to death. But the nature of that, too, is hidden from me."
"Did you ever have a special somepony, Princess?" Twilight asked.
Luna looked away, a touch of red entering her dark cheeks. In her discomfort, she reverted to the royal "we."
"Nopony has ever . . . liked us that way."
"Oh, somepony might," Twilight answered. "Maybe he just finds you intimidating."
Luna glared.
Moondancer snorted. She would have rather heard about the dark secrets of magic than about boyfriends, but she thought this might be another chance to needle her rival. "What about you, Twilight?" she asked. "Have you ever had a very special somepony?"
Twilight suddenly looked embarrassed. She waved a hoof. "Who, me? Goodness, no! I'm too busy for that sort of thing! I have my studies, my books, my-"
"That's what I thought," Moondancer said. "Why, you wouldn't know what to do with a stallion if you got one."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight demanded. "I have read sixteen books on successful relationships-"
"That's what I mean," Moondancer answered. "If you had a special somepony, you'd probably give the poor fellow a schedule and a checklist: what gifts to buy you, where and when to take you on your dates, where and when and how to propose, where and when to have the wedding, where and when to cover you-"
Surprised by the intensity of her own anger, Twilight tackled Moondancer and knocked her to the floor, not only because her insults had grown vulgar, but because they were true: Twilight really had assumed a relationship could go more smoothly with a checklist.
They scuffled, kicking with their front hooves and biting each other's manes. The fight swiftly went to Moondancer, who was more athletically inclined. She thumped Twilght's head against the floor repeatedly and snarled, "Whinny! Go on, whinny for your dam, you little- !"
With a white burst of magic, Twilight evaporated. She reappeared on the other end of the loft and, with a hastily retooled levitation spell, hurled Moondancer into the wall.
"Oh, you want a magic fight?" Moondancer shouted, rolling to her hooves. "I'll give you a magic fight, Twilight Dorkle!" Nostrils flaring, she pawed the floor and snorted as her horn sizzled with energy.
A blue blast of cold light knocked both Twilight and Moondancer to the floor, and then pulled them up into the air by their tails. Paper-thin magical shields, conjured out of the air, enwrapped their horns and blocked their powers. Her face grave and her horn glowing, Luna stepped between them.
"We expected better," she said. With that, she released them and let them drop, but left the shields on their horns. "Now go to bed. We think there shall be no dream-quests tonight; it seems the students are not ready."
Sulking, and giving each other venomous glances, Twilight Sparkle and Moondancer climbed back into bed. They kicked each other a few times under the covers, but stopped when they noticed Luna glaring from across the room.
Luna continued to watch the window. Exhausted from staying awake for two days and from the ebb of the adrenaline following their fight, both Twilight and Moondancer fell into a deep sleep. After their breathing grew heavy and low, a color not quite like any of the earth filtered down from the stars and hovered at the window before Luna's gaze.
A crackle of energy ran the length of her horn. "Buzrael," she whispered. "Thou hast no quarry here. Be gone."
A cold, humorless laugh echoed from the weird color. It seeped through the window and poured like a heavy gas onto the middle of the floor, where it took on a wavering but discernible form, like a misshapen pony with cloven hooves and two horns, curved like a ram's, on its head.
"Oh, Princess Luna," Buzrael said in a high, metallic voice that sounded like the plink of a badly tuned instrument, "how lovely to see you again after all these many years."
"Thou hast no quarry here," Luna repeated. "I abjure thee, by all the-"
Buzrael interrupted her spell with a derisive cackle. "You have no spell to banish me, Princess."
"But these two have not invited thee by the formulae, so thou canst not touch them, and I am warded."
"So you are." Buzrael walked to the bed and looked at the slumbering ponies with an appreciative grin. "Ah, such pretty little ponies you teach." He poked a gaseous finger into Moondancer's head. "This one's near ripe, I think. She hungers for me. Perhaps it was she, and not you, who called me here tonight, eh?"
"She shall make no pact with thee."
"You shall have no say in the matter, Princess, or do you forget your own pact? Your blood is in my book, along with the blood of the foals whose throats you slit."
"We are not the same as we were then."
"Aren't you?" Leering, he walked toward her. "Your name- your true name- is not blotted out. Maybe you're no longer Night Mare Moon, my dearie, but you haven't quite repented, have you? Until you do, I know your name, Selene."
Luna started when Buzrael spoke her true name, and her heart pounded in her breast. But after a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief. "It is no good, Buzrael. Thy name, with the names of all the lords of hell, is carved into the flesh of my inner left thigh, and as long as it remains, thou hast no power over me."
Buzrael ran an immaterial finger along her right cheek. "Oh, my dear, dear Luna. Everypony like you makes the same mistake: you think we can't have you if you cast the right spells, never realizing that the very mummery you use to ward us off is the very chain that binds you to us. Perhaps I can't command you or hurt your body, but it doesn't matter: in the end, I will have you. We are very patient; it's the only virtue we have."
"I am immortal."
"Then you'll have so much more time to rot. Your realm makes you one with us: you are mistress of the moon, of Sulva, where the black frigates carry slaves to our gray servants, who treat them to exquisite tortures and devour their flesh in honor of my lord Azathoth. Free for less than two years, and already you again dabble in our arts. In time, you will be fully ours once more."
He glanced again at the bed and at Moondancer. "And here I see the one who must certainly become the first of the new Witch-Ponies and restore your glorious ancient order. Remember, Luna? Remember how they reveled, how they grew drunk on blood when you brought the Long Night and promised them the dark glory of endless debaucheries beneath the light of a never-setting moon? Do you remember what you did? Do you think you can ever truly be good again after what you did?" At the end, his voice rose in pitch and became a sneer.
Luna shook as she struggled to control her rage. "Leave us. We are not yours yet. Leave us."
Buzrael glided to the window and his airy body lost its shape, but his voice still sounded clear and cold as he floated out the window and into the sky: "Your former servants are with us now, and in time we shall bring them their mistress. We have patience, Princess. We shall wait."
Next: Nightmare and Mailmare