Post by Solar Solstice on Jun 4, 2013 22:36:09 GMT -5
OOC Date: May 20/27, 2013
Characters: Nightshade, Fluttershy
Setting: At the Lunarium, the Overseer makes an unlikely acquaintance
A dark, damp, cozy place like the Lunarium might have seemed to the uneducated to be a good match for one of Nightshade's disposition, but that would be a mistake. No, her place is, in fact, in twilight, the nebulous frontier between night and day, where time prepares to sift through fields of possibility, awaiting the interpretative reaping of sense. As it is, Nightshade is on a semi-official inspection, seeing for herself the works of the Diarchy which were, nominally, under her charge. She takes a deep breath; the dampness reminds her of the jungles of her parent's homeland, and she affords herself a feeling of contentment.
And this little pocket of eternal night reminds Fluttershy that nature isn't just awake during the day; it's something that's alive all through the night, like stepping throuhg a mirrored glass into a whole other world. That's why Ponyville's favorite yellow fluttermare is standing in the mushroom garden, peering up into the twinkling twilight.
Nightshade happens to be heading in that direction, admiring the tall leafy plants specially made to survive on moonlight alone. It's like stepping into a wonderland, a world turned on its head and obeying its own peculiar logic. The tall mushrooms draw her, fascinating and unique, and of course the bright yellow Fluttershy is one of the first things she sees. "Ahh, Miss Fluttershy, I see," she says, walking towards her with an elegant, conscientious gait. "You are a regular visitor, I take it?"
"Oh!" Fluttershy jerks back, whipping her head around one with hoof raised of the ground, like a deer poised to leap away. "Oh, it's...um...N-Nightshade?" Fluttershy lowers her ears apologetically. She really only saw the other mare once, from a distance...
"Indeed, I am," says Nightshade, bowing respectfully. "We have met once, I think, but only very briefly. It is a pleasure to truly make your acquaintance on this occasion." She approaches Fluttershy and observes the mushrooms with her. "A fascinating display of flora, this. Few like it exist in the outer world."
"I think this might be the only one," whispers Fluttershy, just above the gently humming fireflies and steady purr of the Garthim. "Nettleglum and the Princess set it up especially to be a home for all the plants Nettie was taking care of. It's beautiful."
"Perhaps," says Nightshade, a mysterious hesitation in her tone. "This is my first time here, actually, and I am quite impressed by the wonders of this place." She takes some time to admire the strange nightly plants, basking in their weirdness. "You are a friend of Miss Grimdark?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy smiles softly. "Nettleglum is my next door neighbor. We both live, um, just outside of the forest, kind of."
"I am aware," says Nightshade, again with that aloofness. "We do not communicate regularly, but I am well acquainted with the service she renders unto Luna. I have heard that you, also, have been given to analogous service."
Fluttershy tilts her head a little, scratching her mane. "W-what do you mean? The princess is my friend, but I don't really think I've done her any, um...service. Unless you mean training the Garthim so they're healthy again." One of the ladybug-shaped tanks flies overhead.
"That would be a kind of service, yes," says Nightshade. "The Garthim are doing quite well, Miss Fluttershy, perhaps a testament to your skill with them."
"Oh, well..." Fluttershy is getting extra-fidgety. "It was really Nettleglum who did all the hard work. I-I just helped."
Nightshade nods in understanding. "Of course," she says, "yet certainly your assistance contributed, in the end, to what we now have." She relaxes now, sitting on her haunches and closing her eyes, letting the essence of the Night take her away from her cares.
Fluttershy lowers herself to her belly and tucks in her legs, staring up into the swirling stars. As if responding to a beckoning nopony else can here, a few of those stars - fireflies - gently spiral down and land on Fluttershy's body, a few in her mane and feathers and one right on the tip of her nose.
Nightshade regards the fireflies with both fascination and curiosity. "It appears what is said of your affinity for wildlife is quite factual," she states. "I...am not one for the outdoors."
"Really?" Fluttershy turns her head quickly, prompting the bug on her nose to take off and resettle on her ear. "I guess you don't really have much wild nature out in Canterlot...a-aside from all the parks. W-which are lovely. ...sorry."
"Oh, Canterlot does have quite a bit of nature, I assure you," says Nightshade, settling on her haunches. "It is...just my preference to be indoors, is all. It gives me more time to...to research." She looks up at the magical dome of night, whether in contemplation or to avoid Fluttershy's gaze is anypony's guess.
Fluttershy tilts her head just a little (and turns her eyes away from Nightshade again; she didn't mean to make the poor thing self-conscious). "Oh. Um..." There's a long beat here. "...l-like Twilight?"
Nightshade purses her lips tighter together for less than a second. "Somewhat," she answers tersely. "My magickal endeavours have always been my key focus, though lately I have been...branching out."
"Oh. Um...h-how wonderful." Fluttershy smiles...maybe a little too broadly. Something was off about that sentence, and Fluttershy isn't one to miss social cues even if she's quiet.
Nightshade flicks her head aside, towards Fluttershy. "Is something wrong?" she inquires. Whether she says this out of concern or interrogation is unclear from the bland tone of her voice.
"Oh, n-no, no!" Fluttershy shakes her head. "Um...sorry. Did I make it seem like something is wrong? ...w-what kind of research?" There! An icebreaker. Twilight's book has taught you well, Fluttershy.
Nightshade nods a little, pausing to think. "It is fine, Fluttershy. Ah, yes, my research... it is rather esoteric, I'll have to admit. You see, my specialty is in the ancient magickal arts, the kind that ponies used millenia ago."
There's another pause...and then Fluttershy glances back, tilting her nearer ear just so. "Really? L...like what?"
Nightshade looks at Fluttershy with a knowing expression, her eyes full of secrets. "Memory. Life. Significance. Large themes once deemed too dangerous for use by the citizen body, but now making an odd resurgence from many quarters...and not merely from unicorns, either."
"Life? Memory? ...Significance?" Fluttershy's voice is, appropriately enough, a whispered echo. She leans her body just a little bit away from Nightshade. "I-I don't understand."
Nightshade looks away, gazing at the fungi forest. "Memory is like a scent: it lingers. It haunts the edges of the consciousness of those who have come after, never truly fading. That is the magic I specialize in, Miss Fluttershy, the Shadows of the Past. It is...a dangerous art."
Oh my. Flutter's eyes just get wider, and wider still, and her mouth opens up just a little. "W...wow."
"You have your own kind of magic as well, Fluttershy," Nightshade says, looking at the pegasus once again. "All pony talents have inherent magic. Yours seems to be very...earth-themed. Perhaps you have had some earth pony in your ancestry?"
Fluttershy glances back up to the open night sky. "I-I, um...I have kind of wondered about that. I-I mean, I can't really *explain* what I do. I just kind of...do it." Thinking on it, her build isn't quite typical, either - she's rather tall and slender and...willowy for a pegasus, too. Maybe there's something to this.
"It seems to be a good hypothesis, at the very least," Nightshade says meditatively. "In any case..." She trails of, pulled towards a contemplation of the night's wonders yet again. There was such a startling beauty to all of it, and she had such precious little time to appreciate such things anymore. "You are fortunate, Fluttershy, to see the fruits of your labours so soon after putting in your efforts."
Fluttershy smiles. "Oh, um...I-I guess so. I mean, I really do love being able to see all the animals I work with grow and thrive. Like the Garthim here, or the bunnies back in Ponyville. Angel was just a little bunny when I found him."
"So it is," says Nightshade mysteriously. Silence persists for quite a while as Nightshade simply sits there, watching the plants. Then, like a fire lit in the darkest night, she speaks. "I wonder how we will be remembered a thousand years from now. Will Equestria last that long?"
The pause is longer, much longer, this time. There are few soft 'ums' and 'squeak's, as if Fluttershy keeps trying to push an answer out, but her throat dials shut every time. Finally, she manages to say simply, "I...I don't know. I hope so."
Nightshade nods solemnly. "Hope is all we have in this matter," she reflects. "I must be going; sadly, I cannot remain here idle for too long." She stands up, shaking her limbs to loosen the tense muscle. "I shall see you again soon, Miss Fluttershy."
Fluttershy twists her neck around, looking over her shoulder. "Oh! Okay. I guess you have all kinds of important royal things to do. Um--take care, Nightshade." She gives a nervous little smile and a wave of her wing.
"Be well, Fluttershy." Nightshade goes on her way, towards the threshold leading to the outside world, where day and night kept their uneasy truce. She lingers there for a while, pondering...between day and night. How fitting.
Characters: Nightshade, Fluttershy
Setting: At the Lunarium, the Overseer makes an unlikely acquaintance
A dark, damp, cozy place like the Lunarium might have seemed to the uneducated to be a good match for one of Nightshade's disposition, but that would be a mistake. No, her place is, in fact, in twilight, the nebulous frontier between night and day, where time prepares to sift through fields of possibility, awaiting the interpretative reaping of sense. As it is, Nightshade is on a semi-official inspection, seeing for herself the works of the Diarchy which were, nominally, under her charge. She takes a deep breath; the dampness reminds her of the jungles of her parent's homeland, and she affords herself a feeling of contentment.
And this little pocket of eternal night reminds Fluttershy that nature isn't just awake during the day; it's something that's alive all through the night, like stepping throuhg a mirrored glass into a whole other world. That's why Ponyville's favorite yellow fluttermare is standing in the mushroom garden, peering up into the twinkling twilight.
Nightshade happens to be heading in that direction, admiring the tall leafy plants specially made to survive on moonlight alone. It's like stepping into a wonderland, a world turned on its head and obeying its own peculiar logic. The tall mushrooms draw her, fascinating and unique, and of course the bright yellow Fluttershy is one of the first things she sees. "Ahh, Miss Fluttershy, I see," she says, walking towards her with an elegant, conscientious gait. "You are a regular visitor, I take it?"
"Oh!" Fluttershy jerks back, whipping her head around one with hoof raised of the ground, like a deer poised to leap away. "Oh, it's...um...N-Nightshade?" Fluttershy lowers her ears apologetically. She really only saw the other mare once, from a distance...
"Indeed, I am," says Nightshade, bowing respectfully. "We have met once, I think, but only very briefly. It is a pleasure to truly make your acquaintance on this occasion." She approaches Fluttershy and observes the mushrooms with her. "A fascinating display of flora, this. Few like it exist in the outer world."
"I think this might be the only one," whispers Fluttershy, just above the gently humming fireflies and steady purr of the Garthim. "Nettleglum and the Princess set it up especially to be a home for all the plants Nettie was taking care of. It's beautiful."
"Perhaps," says Nightshade, a mysterious hesitation in her tone. "This is my first time here, actually, and I am quite impressed by the wonders of this place." She takes some time to admire the strange nightly plants, basking in their weirdness. "You are a friend of Miss Grimdark?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy smiles softly. "Nettleglum is my next door neighbor. We both live, um, just outside of the forest, kind of."
"I am aware," says Nightshade, again with that aloofness. "We do not communicate regularly, but I am well acquainted with the service she renders unto Luna. I have heard that you, also, have been given to analogous service."
Fluttershy tilts her head a little, scratching her mane. "W-what do you mean? The princess is my friend, but I don't really think I've done her any, um...service. Unless you mean training the Garthim so they're healthy again." One of the ladybug-shaped tanks flies overhead.
"That would be a kind of service, yes," says Nightshade. "The Garthim are doing quite well, Miss Fluttershy, perhaps a testament to your skill with them."
"Oh, well..." Fluttershy is getting extra-fidgety. "It was really Nettleglum who did all the hard work. I-I just helped."
Nightshade nods in understanding. "Of course," she says, "yet certainly your assistance contributed, in the end, to what we now have." She relaxes now, sitting on her haunches and closing her eyes, letting the essence of the Night take her away from her cares.
Fluttershy lowers herself to her belly and tucks in her legs, staring up into the swirling stars. As if responding to a beckoning nopony else can here, a few of those stars - fireflies - gently spiral down and land on Fluttershy's body, a few in her mane and feathers and one right on the tip of her nose.
Nightshade regards the fireflies with both fascination and curiosity. "It appears what is said of your affinity for wildlife is quite factual," she states. "I...am not one for the outdoors."
"Really?" Fluttershy turns her head quickly, prompting the bug on her nose to take off and resettle on her ear. "I guess you don't really have much wild nature out in Canterlot...a-aside from all the parks. W-which are lovely. ...sorry."
"Oh, Canterlot does have quite a bit of nature, I assure you," says Nightshade, settling on her haunches. "It is...just my preference to be indoors, is all. It gives me more time to...to research." She looks up at the magical dome of night, whether in contemplation or to avoid Fluttershy's gaze is anypony's guess.
Fluttershy tilts her head just a little (and turns her eyes away from Nightshade again; she didn't mean to make the poor thing self-conscious). "Oh. Um..." There's a long beat here. "...l-like Twilight?"
Nightshade purses her lips tighter together for less than a second. "Somewhat," she answers tersely. "My magickal endeavours have always been my key focus, though lately I have been...branching out."
"Oh. Um...h-how wonderful." Fluttershy smiles...maybe a little too broadly. Something was off about that sentence, and Fluttershy isn't one to miss social cues even if she's quiet.
Nightshade flicks her head aside, towards Fluttershy. "Is something wrong?" she inquires. Whether she says this out of concern or interrogation is unclear from the bland tone of her voice.
"Oh, n-no, no!" Fluttershy shakes her head. "Um...sorry. Did I make it seem like something is wrong? ...w-what kind of research?" There! An icebreaker. Twilight's book has taught you well, Fluttershy.
Nightshade nods a little, pausing to think. "It is fine, Fluttershy. Ah, yes, my research... it is rather esoteric, I'll have to admit. You see, my specialty is in the ancient magickal arts, the kind that ponies used millenia ago."
There's another pause...and then Fluttershy glances back, tilting her nearer ear just so. "Really? L...like what?"
Nightshade looks at Fluttershy with a knowing expression, her eyes full of secrets. "Memory. Life. Significance. Large themes once deemed too dangerous for use by the citizen body, but now making an odd resurgence from many quarters...and not merely from unicorns, either."
"Life? Memory? ...Significance?" Fluttershy's voice is, appropriately enough, a whispered echo. She leans her body just a little bit away from Nightshade. "I-I don't understand."
Nightshade looks away, gazing at the fungi forest. "Memory is like a scent: it lingers. It haunts the edges of the consciousness of those who have come after, never truly fading. That is the magic I specialize in, Miss Fluttershy, the Shadows of the Past. It is...a dangerous art."
Oh my. Flutter's eyes just get wider, and wider still, and her mouth opens up just a little. "W...wow."
"You have your own kind of magic as well, Fluttershy," Nightshade says, looking at the pegasus once again. "All pony talents have inherent magic. Yours seems to be very...earth-themed. Perhaps you have had some earth pony in your ancestry?"
Fluttershy glances back up to the open night sky. "I-I, um...I have kind of wondered about that. I-I mean, I can't really *explain* what I do. I just kind of...do it." Thinking on it, her build isn't quite typical, either - she's rather tall and slender and...willowy for a pegasus, too. Maybe there's something to this.
"It seems to be a good hypothesis, at the very least," Nightshade says meditatively. "In any case..." She trails of, pulled towards a contemplation of the night's wonders yet again. There was such a startling beauty to all of it, and she had such precious little time to appreciate such things anymore. "You are fortunate, Fluttershy, to see the fruits of your labours so soon after putting in your efforts."
Fluttershy smiles. "Oh, um...I-I guess so. I mean, I really do love being able to see all the animals I work with grow and thrive. Like the Garthim here, or the bunnies back in Ponyville. Angel was just a little bunny when I found him."
"So it is," says Nightshade mysteriously. Silence persists for quite a while as Nightshade simply sits there, watching the plants. Then, like a fire lit in the darkest night, she speaks. "I wonder how we will be remembered a thousand years from now. Will Equestria last that long?"
The pause is longer, much longer, this time. There are few soft 'ums' and 'squeak's, as if Fluttershy keeps trying to push an answer out, but her throat dials shut every time. Finally, she manages to say simply, "I...I don't know. I hope so."
Nightshade nods solemnly. "Hope is all we have in this matter," she reflects. "I must be going; sadly, I cannot remain here idle for too long." She stands up, shaking her limbs to loosen the tense muscle. "I shall see you again soon, Miss Fluttershy."
Fluttershy twists her neck around, looking over her shoulder. "Oh! Okay. I guess you have all kinds of important royal things to do. Um--take care, Nightshade." She gives a nervous little smile and a wave of her wing.
"Be well, Fluttershy." Nightshade goes on her way, towards the threshold leading to the outside world, where day and night kept their uneasy truce. She lingers there for a while, pondering...between day and night. How fitting.