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Post by Luna on May 2, 2012 21:09:40 GMT -5
Palace of the Moon(#262RL) A thousand years Canterlot slept, while the daughter that bears her name shone in the sunlight atop a nearby mountain. Now she stirs in the night. Fallen stone litters the hills that rise out of the tangled Everfree Forest. Only the palace at the center still has the occasional upright wall and half a column, and only at the center of the palace is the throne room almost intact - ceilingless, but a recognizeable room with the weathered stone thrones of sun and moon at its focus. This skeleton of a city crawls now. A few scaffolds, fresh bricks piled on indescribably old bases, the rebuilding is minimal, but it's clearly ongoing. Part of it is already finished. At the base of the hill beneath the palace lurks the bony copper shape of the Lunarium, a completely new building, and the road that connects it through once-trackless Everfree to Ponyville. Night has come early to the ancient ruins of Old Canterlot. At least, the sky is packed with dense black clouds that choke out the light, creating an early evening. As the moment of the official opening ceremony ticks closer the hillside gets darker still, unnatural shadow creeping in from the surrounding forest. In this gloom a pale light shines in the sky, surrounded by a blue corona. It descends gradually, becoming Princess Luna who floats down from the sky to land on the path in front of the newly finished Lunarium. Her whole body flickers with blue fire, eyes shine white, and her horn blazes from the effort of holding before her face a pumpkin sized sphere of inky indigo flecked with stars and a tiny, pockmarked moon. "WE HAVE ARRIVED," she booms, wind blasting out around her with the force of the Royal Canterlot Voice.
An acolyte does not outshine her veneration; Nettie's dressed quite plainly and normally, and aside from making certain all the construction ponies are lined up in respectful (if nervous) rank for Luna's arrival, she declines to take a center stage. For months now she's watched as the Lunarium has risen from parchment drawings to detailed plans to skeletal framework to finished structure, and the last few weeks have seen her carefully transplanting cuttings and seeds from the Cave of Night under cover of darkness, as though smuggling them from one part of the Everfree to the next. All for Luna, the focus of her efforts to see her princess' will done. At the booming crack of her majesty's voice, the construction ponies and Nettie alike all descend to one foreleg. Though to be fair many of the crew actually just fall over twitching in an effort not to flee.
Through the descending darkness sweeps a tawny and brown figure, larger than the ponies gathering below. The griffon tips his wings to descend, carefully holding a small and infamously familiar blue filly in his talons, whom he sets down before taking back to the air so that he can move a few feet away and settle himself down in a landing not far from Nettleglum. He pays Sky Blue a fleeting glance before he dips his head and curls his beak to touch it to his chest in a griffon's bow.
Rarity trots precariously into the forest, to observe the opening ceramony of this...erm...thing. She didn't really get around to reading the inventation addressed to her, but a public apperance is always nice, when you're trying to be the pony every pony should know! One her back, she lets Spike bounce along- a small burden for the added protection of a dragon when transversing a place as dangerous as the forest. She figures at best, if they get into a jam, or if something happens, he can send one of those scrolls of his to Twilight, and at worse, she can swing his corpse about like a cudgel to fend off would be attackers.
Spike, for his part, just seems to be enjoying doing something with Rarity...his attention seems to be largely focused on her mane, it must be admitted. He has dressed up for the occasion, though -- he's wearing a little top hat and suit coat, and looks rather dapper.
Clockwork hovers (though not literally) around near to Nettleglum and, though she's no longer ready to flee, she does flinch and twitch a little as the Princess arrives, but remembers to take the correct position of greeting and even half smiles. She's dressed... well, no differently, though there seems to have been some abandoned attempt to comb her mane and tail.
The infamously familiar blue filly staggers from left to right, then back to the left, and then right again, looking considerably windswept. Unlike the rest of the ponies present, she's dressed up in casual summerwear; the sort of stuff one might wear as a farmyard filly. She manages to regain balance just in time to get a face-full of the Canterlot Royal Voice, blowing her sun hat off and onto Rarity's face, prompting a confused Sky Blue to start looking about and under nearby fillies, gentlecolts, and other assorted creatures for signs of her treasured hat. First things first - hats, THEN figure out what the hay just happened.
Luna breathes deeply and slowly. As dark as the hilltop was, now blue highlights jump and roll from the fire curling off of her. She walks with light, careful steps up to the door of the Lunarium. With each step the sparkling globe in front of her ripplies like water, and her voice blasts the crowd. "PONIES OF PONYVILLE. IN OUR NAME, OUR SERVANT HAS WONDERS APLENTY INSIDE FOR THEE TO SEE. WE HAVE BROUGHT SOMETHING ELSE, A MAGIC NO PONY LIVING HAS SEEN PERFORMED. WHAT WE CARRY DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE NIGHT, IT IS THE NIGHT, A CHILD OF THE SAME MOTHER AS OURSELF. NOW IF OUR NETTLEGLUM WILL BE VERY PROMPT WITH THE DOOR OPENINGS, WE MAY BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN OUR GRIP LONG ENOUGH."
As Luna descends, Nettie lurches upon Rarity with the eager familiarity of a mortician. "Rarity, dear. I am very glad you could attend. Her majesty will be pleased to see the elite of Ponyville..." EEP! Three of the construction ponies break ranks at the hurricane of regalness and flee into the Everfree, where their descendants will be found living in treetops four generations hence. Nettleglum's eyes glaze apologetically and she shambles for the door of the Lunarium, gesturing for Clockwork to join her in operating the airlock-like mechanism.
Ferrox straightens himself upright, watching those arriving with a cursory gaze and the fleeing work ponies with annoyance. Ponies are just frightfully twitchy creatures. The foregriffon, otherwise, keeps to the edges of the pony gathering and sits back on his haunches with a lazy twitch of his tail, watching as the others involved in the Lunarium's making move to open the seal. In a page-pose to you, Nettleglum likes the idea of carrying a piece of the night into the Lunarium very much; a far more interesting solution than merely casting a spell.
Rarity tilts her head ever so slightly and her ears fold back against her head. She likes Nettie well enough, but there's always something about that pony that makes her feel....remarkably uneasy. "Oh...it, it was no problem, dear! I have always wanted to be...in a deep...dank...dark forest...surrounded by...creepy ponies...and Skyblue...while our exceedingly socially awkward princess rips out a peice of the very nature of existence and inserts it into a building. ...Spike. Would you like to chime in? I believe I've said to much."
You too, Rarity? You really do have so much in common with Nettleglum. :/
Oh right! Opening the door... That would probably be a good idea. She lets Nettleglum approach first, though follows close behind. She twitches her ears at some of the sounds and conversation she's caught, but still, despite being a little uneasy herself, holds her head up a little proudly.
Spike is staring wide-eyed at the sphere; for once not even Rarity is much of a distraction. He knows powerful magic when he sees it, and this is not something he wants to miss a moment of. "Hm? Oh, yeah, it's a total honor to be here for this. I mean...wow, a real piece of the night!"
Dangit, where could that hat have- As Luna starts to yel- 'speak' once more, Sky Blue abruptly brings her head up into Ferrox's belly, quickly lowers it once more, then scuttles out from under the gryphon. That's when she notices her super best friend ever and Spike. She quickly hurries over to Rarity's side, then asks in a hushed voice, "What the hay's happenin'? Last thing ah knew, ah was pickin' flowers, then there's a weird bird colt, now it's dark and Auntie Luna's shoutin' again."
You wait as the entry chamber, a cunning mechanical airlock, rotates to align the single opening with the Lunarium beyond. The Lunarium Part gothic cathedral and part ironclad fortress, the Royal Lunarium somehow manages to fuse intimidating and elegant into a sweeping nautilus-shell of riveted plates, bronze struts, and copper-edged buttresses. Porthole-shaped windows taller than a pony ring the upper surfaces, most facing the sky and all tightly sealed with clockwork iris-apertures, open to the stars only upon the blackest nights of the new moon. Ornaments of a dark, slender alicorn, Luna herself, glimmer in bronze relief from the spandrels of the arches and flare their wings, sphinxlike, astride the entry hatchway. No matter the time, it is always cool, silver-hazed night within. Not merely dark, but a magical zone of deepest night which no lesser power can dispel. A jungle flourishes in this inky midnight, given only faint starlight once a month-- for these are the very flora of the Cave of Night, specimens lovingly transplanted to this greenhouse and nurtured for all Equestria. Thick leaves form a silhouetted canopy overhead, with luminous smears of ghostly fungi like masks in the void. Fronds rustle; the air is heady with swooning scents and a-flutter with pale, translucent butterflies. While most of the foliage is confined to terraces and planters, the interior still seems much like a natural cave, right down to the icicle-drop-drip from false stalactites above. Every so often, one of the uncanny plants is given a place of prominence for display, and right now it appears to be a large silky flower which encapsulates a floating, star-like seed. Released, the seed twinkles and bobs in midair, utterly weightless and ethereal. [ Obvious Exits: <Exit> to the Palace of the Moon ] Nettleglum is sure she's got a small piece of vintage circa 307 just-after-midnight in a bottle somewhere at home; Aunt Lucrezia brought it back from a honeymoon to the Moon-spires of Yuggoth. It's probably in a trunk somewhere. But this-- this is much more impressive, naturally, a swirling maelstrom of pure night as only Luna herself can command. Plus it doesn't have those cheesy little floating snowglobe sparklies like Aunt Lucrezia's bottle. There are steam-rattling hisses and the clanking of vast, unseen gears as the airlock smoothly opens, and once inside the Palace of the Moon vanishes behind at least ten inches of bronze and iron plating. The whole floor moves, ponies can feel it underhoof as it grinds in a 180 degree turn to align the chamber with the vast opening beyond....
As soon as the turn is complete and the new door opens, Luna sweeps into the murky building lit only by the occasional glowing plant or bug. Now it's lit by the Princess's cold, dancing flames. If anything she's breathing even harder, chest swelling and receding in a steady rhythm. When she sees the star seed plant at the very center of the display, her eyebrows tilt up, the usually impassive and statuesque royal face carved with ecstatic relief. "Dear Nettleglum, beloved Nettleglum, thou could know not the perfection of thy choice," she whispers. Leaving the day ponies behind, she walks deliberately up to the centerpiece flower. Its pale petals open eagerly at the approach of its princess, and Luna lowers her horn. The liquid bubble of stars and distant moon are eased into the waiting embrace, and when they touch the star that hovers there already the shining speck bulges, forming a pearlescent soap bubble sphere around the globe of night. The moment that bubble closes, Luna's head drops, her knees wobble, and her legs spread out to hold her up. Now she gasps for breath, and the licking blue flames ease to a mere blue shimmer around her body. "Half done. The task is half done. Nettleglum, true pony of the night, tell them what this place is while we summon the strength to finish this spell."
Ferrox makes his way through the familiar airlock and rotating floor, taking to wing once inside to settle on a bronze gargoyle-like figure jutting out high above the door overlooking the Lunarium's interior. Not only does is free up considerable space for the ponies below, but allows the griffon a more comfortable perch from which to admire the finished, dazzling skeleton of his work. His green eyes glow in the false night, looking down over the ponies and Luna's difficult work.
Starscape is somewhere in the background, speechless as he usually is in the presence of such wonders of the night. He's taken field trips to the Palace of the Moon as a young colt - before, well, before it was alive with the dazzling presence of its royal occupancy.. and now the sacredness of the place hits him... the very center of Night itself, in Equestria, here... he looks unsure, though, of the magic, and the way the night sky is amongst them... the impossibility of it. He peeks above several ponies and spots Clockwork. "Oh!..." He tries to make his way there, but the rotating floor makes for a wobbly journey!
"Yes, you majesty... I welcome you all to the Lunarium, the greenhouse of the night." Nettie keeps a respectful distance from the princess while she works, and with her interposed between the other ponies and Luna, will hopefully keep others the same. "That which you see before you are the flora..." Something small and flittery and making eerie warbling noises darts past... "And a very small amount of the fauna... of the Cave of Night. These plants are ancient, from the time before time itself, and they are Luna's gift to Equestria. See them, ponies, and know the night for its marvels..."
Rarity's face goes from forced smiling to forcfully restrained tears as her bestest best buddy, Skyblue appears. Joy! "We're watching Princess Luna stuff a peice of the night itself into a building. I personally, am wondering if there shall be an after party in which I can attend to show off my new gown or if somesort of transdimentional fish-beast will somehow be released and we'll have to flee for our lives. Again. Which is the sort of thing that happens in ponyville. I swear, I want just ONE weekend where there aren't changlings, or three headed dog beasts, or my darling little sister publishing my most embarrassing secrets in the school news paper..."She sighs, and with a bluish tint of her horn, lifts the hat from the ground Sky is seeking and tries to drop it on her head- which she's sure will blow off again right after. "Hmmm the ground is moving...Spike, prepare a scroll begging Twilight to fetch us from the Nth dimension we shall surely be sent to." The prissy pony declares in a nervous raspy voice. Often overdrama and sarcasm take its place over trembling fear...
There is a real sense of pride here to persuade Clockwork to stand a little straighter. The lock is turning properly, not that she was expecting it not too, and all the clanking and hissing is like music. She closes her eyes and enjoys it, seeing the mechanisms working in her mind, knowing which part is acting, or about to act, upon which and when. She watches Luna once the turning is complete, pleased rather than frightened now, because the Princess's enthusiasm somehow takes away a little of the 'scary' though none of the grandeur. She smiles as Starscape approaches and gives a little wave.
Spike distracts himself from the spectacle enough to pat Rarity's neck in what he clearly intends to be a reassuring manner. "Don't worry, Rarity! I'm sure nothing'll go wrong, but if anything happens, I'm here to protect you." He returns his attention to the night sphere, his reptilian pupils open wide enough in the dark that his eyes seem to glow with reflected light.
Twilight_Sparkle, watching from the crowd, blinks. She watches, open-mouthed; this is a sort of magic she hasn't personally witnessed before, though it goes without saying she's read everything that's known about it. Known, that is, to ponies besides Princess Luna. She looks past Nettleglum, at the princess herself, showing so quickly all the signs of magical exhaustion. "Can't you just feel it?" she whispers to Spike. "Magic this deep...it feels like the air itself is tingling! And the princess...look how this is taxing her." The violet unicorn watches Nettleglum, a little anxiously, for signs she's got the princess covered.
"That sounds mighty- oh, thanks!" Sky Blue interrupts herself as Rarity returns her hat, gazing up at it excitedly, before promptly falling over to one side as the floor starts moving. Once it has finished, she slowly struggles back up to all four hooves, her eyes derpying from the unbalance, before catching sight of the wobbly Night Princess. "Auntie Lu-" she starts to call out, before silencing herself, seeming to suddenly realise Nettleglum is speaking, and looks over towards the exhausted Luna with concern.
Head low, her mane starting to look less than ethereally transparent, Luna's ears flick up at the sound of a voice. She lifts her neck straight, her height letting her look out like a lighthouse over the crowd. "Twilight Sparkle!" she shouts, a merely raised voice without the power and wind of the Royal Canterlot Voice and its magic. "There is no other pony in the world we would rather see now. We are not certain we have the strength to finish this spell without hurting ourself. Celestia's touch would kill it, for this, in its way, is our sister, a living night just for the Lunarium." Turning, she bends one knee in the shallowest bow possible, but lowers her horn almost to the ground as she asks, "We beg thee, finish this task. Thou have but to unfold the cloak of night around her, and let the newborn moon we have brought see the Lunarium she will live in. A simple task we would not bet on the entire Royal College succeeding in."
Ferrox looks down upon the magic being wrought with an unusual expression, one that seems almost predatory and suspicious combined with the jerking tip of his hanging tail, but then maybe it's just the pale light that gives his eyes their silvery-green shine and the silvered collar and gleaming ruby about his throat the appearance of a faint glow. The griffon remains silence upon his perch, watching, still as a statue save his tail.
Starscape is far from being one of the honoured circle of friends, who now seem to be giving all of their focus and attention to seeing that the princess is able to accomplish for at least her part the enormous task now being wrought. He is distracted, though, for a moment, by Clockwork's smile and wave, and he joins her. "See, you turned out beautifully for the occasion - you must be extremely happy all the nuts and bolts of the operation are going seemingly smoothly. Floor's made me kind of queasy, though, not gonna lie..."
Oh, /that's/ encouraging. At Luna's insistence, Nettie immediately shambles towards Twilight Sparkle and begins trying to stiffly, lurchingly nudge her forward to the alicorn, looking somewhat like a voodun priestess offering a sacrifice. "Please, Miss Sparkle, dear, her majesty asks for your help in reweaving the very boundaries of day and night; in nurturing a looming essence of pure darkness to wakeful life. She asks for so little, her majesty-- will you aid her?" Oh. Well, when you put it like that...
Rarity's ears fold back even further. Oh. That is tremendous. Did she hear that correctly? That twinkling ball of night is actually Celestia? Oh, thats just wonderful. Wait- while she's not as magically inclined as some of the other unicorns around, she's -fairly- sure she just heard 'I created a moon for my sister to live on or in' ...that sounds strangely familiar in a sibling rivlary sort of 'No, you live on the moon!" sort of way. Basically, she heard something along the lines of 'Celestia will kill this is she touches it' (It's not her fault, she's in the back) and that is enough for Rarity. To that end, the perfectly pretty pony takes a nervous step back. She's not entirely sure what is about to happen, but she should like to be closer to the door than the other ponies. Still, Spike's insistance that he'll protect her makes her feel slightly more at ease. Mostly, because she believes him. <3
At Luna's words, Twilight Sparkle slowly steps forward from the crowd of ponies, moving toward the spent princess. The tip of her horn glimmers to life, bright like sunlight, but then becoming cool, like moonlight, as the unicorn adjusts her magical frequency to suit the occasion. "I've never done this before. I only know about it in theory," she tells Luna, almost apologetically, but quickly adds, "but the theory is pretty straightforward." The spot of moonlight drifts forward from her horn, and upward, meandering to the sphere of night; night and moonlight swirl around each other slowly, like two cats sizing each other up. Twilight's eyes are narrow, her body tense, the flow of magic from her horn sweeping her mane and tail back like a silent wind.
Spike smiles proudly, watching the pony that's the closest thing he has to family, his life-long friend and mentor, doing what she does best. "You can do it, Twi," he whispers quietly to himself.
"C'mon, Twi! Y'all can do it!" Sky Blue bellows out in her dangerously loud hayseed voice. She's never seen Luna looking anything other than regal before, let alone exhausted... by a spell of some sort? She doesn't have a clue about this fancy unicorn stuff, but if it's enough to wear out Luna, then it's sure as shoot trouble. As nice as the prospect of hiding behind Rarity sounds, she can't help but stay near the front of the crowd. If anything happens to Luna, she's going in to save her!
Clockwork dips her head. "The door works perfectly." She whispers to Starscape, choosing to ignore (aside from blushing slightly) the comment on her appearance; a half combed mane is 'fancy' for the tinker pony, but hardly looks 'good' let alone 'beautiful'. "All this work is just fancy decor unless they can get that spell to work though." She indicates, with her horn, toward Luna and Twilight as Nettie nudges the purple pony.
Luna assures Twilight, "Entirely straightforward. It requires merely the delicacy of a true unicorn mage and the power of twenty." Luna's eyes stare up at the gleaming light that rises from Twilight's horn with hope and relief softening her elegantly sharp features. She steps to the side, and back, clearing out of Twilight's way. In the dim, conflicting light the pupils of her bluegreen eyes are weirdly ovoid, and tears gleam in sharp relief at the corners of her eyes as she leans in to murmer to the globe of night, "Be at peace, beloved. Thy birth is at hand, and thy kingdom shall be small, but beautiful and thine alone."
"Oh, of course.. I didn't mean to bash the airlock. It was thrilling, really! The slight nausea only added to the experience! Em... well, let's hope all else 'works'. Somehow, the thought of that airlock not working is not as unsettling as this display, and well.. what could go wrong with it. It must be a nervous moment for all of them, to say the least..." Starscape gets shushed by a pony in front of him, and he backs away a bit, trotting behind and to the other side of Clockwork to get a better view, as he whispers to her, "Is Twilight really able to take over from her? That's... incredible!"
Nettie's fretting in her deadpan way, pacing stiffly back and forth, playing midwife to a small living night as it unfolds to fill the Lunarium. "Oh, dear, is there anything I can do to help, your majesty-- Miss Sparkle? I do so wish I had taken Mother's advice about witchdoctoring... You should have some swamp moss for this. I'll get some swamp moss. Wait, that's only to darken a noon sky. Oh, does the night need some shadows to lurk in it? I could get some of those ancient shadows, if they would make it feel more at home?" Nettleglum is starting to think of the Lunarium's night like another member of Luna's family for her to care for-- Aunt Nettie?
Rarity Flashes Spike a warm little smile and draws in a quiet breath. "You can do it Twilight." She exclaims in a throaty sort of whisper- half choked by fear of what's about to take place, the instability of both Luna AND Twilight and also, Skyblue standing so close to the stage. Something HAS to go wrong, but at the same time, she strongly hopes her friend can pull this off. Spike believes in her, as does Luna- so she does too!
Twilight_Sparkle steps forward slowly, as if approaching an animal she doesn't want to frighten away. As the sphere of new night and the fleck of moonlight from Twilight's horn swiel about each other in slow, increasingly small circles, she moves closer, so that when the two magical obects finally meet, in a slow kiss, Twilight is standing directly beneath, looking up...her legs wobble a little but show no sign of giving out. Sloely, the speck of moonlight spreads outward, like a celestial starfish...or a hand, the shimmering fingers of which seem to reach inside the night sphere and draw a curtain back...and as the curtain parts, the room is bathed in moonlight, and the stars stretch to the edges of the universe. The night air is cool, and in the distance, frogs seem to chirp. Everypony in the room is suddenly standing below the biggest, starriest night sky anypony ever saw at this time of day.
"Yeah you can do it Twilight!" Rainbow Dash calls out from next to Rarity as the rainbow colored pony found her way to her friend's side quietly to watch the spectacle. "Woo! Twilight's number one! Go egg head! It's your birthday!" She calls out with a bolstering grin until her head tilts upwards to the night sky. ".. Woah. Awesome."
Spike lets out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and stares up awestruck for a moment at the newly born night sky...then stands up on Rarity's back and breaks into applause, doing that odd 'clapping' that the hoofless have to fall back on.
"Holy haybales..." Sky Blue mumbles, her mouth dropping open and eyes widening as she gazes up at the glorious, star-filled night sky. "Ah don't know what the hay just happened, but... holy horse apples," she says to nopony in particular, seemingly lost for words. For once.
Clockwork smirks. She isn't really bothered by Starscape's comment on nausea, it seems, and the 'shh-ing' got a fun reaction. "It will." She sounds pretty sure. "Clearly, she can." Her eyes widen as the night sky extends overhead. "... Though I have to admit I didn't quite imagine it to be quite like this."
"Oh...oh, my. That's...incredible." The soft pitter-patter of wings fluttering on nighttime air heralds Fluttershy's arrival as she rises up above the crowd, hanging toward the entrance of the Lunarium. "It's wonderful, everypony. Oh, um, excuse me." With a hop-skip-and-flap, Fluttershy leapfrogs the spectators and alights by Nettleglum and Twilight, bowing her head low. "Um, Princess Luna, i-if I may, um, Nettleglum and I have something else to add to your garden..." Fluttershy lifts a hoof and beckons toward the airlock door.
Firefly_Moon lands just inside the airlock and clanks, wings outreached, eyes glowing green.
Luna's eyes stare, riveted on the newly risen moon. Its light casts highlights around her face, and the tears glitter like diamonds as they roll down her cheeks. "Be happy, my love," she murmurs, too lost in emotion to notice whether or not anyone can hear her. "In fifty years, or a hundred, or a thousand, we shall welcome thee back and be one again." Of course, the sudden arrival of Fluttershy breaks her personal spell, and she blinks, and steps back around to the other ponies. Formally, she answers, "Of course, Kindness, but first..." Spreading her wings, she drops down to one knee, horn lowered until the tip is an inch from the ground, and a mere breeze ruffles the night as she declares, "THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT THANKS THEE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE."
Starscape's jaw hangs open as his hind legs give out from underneath him and his plot *thuds* onto the floor behind. The soft breeze of the magic adds to the comical effect of him staring dumbly at the orb of night. How does one even obtain such a thing? It's so surreal and alive, and finally he sputters out, "P...ppppretty. Huh..." He shakes the stupor off, "I mean.. how... how is /night/ an actual... /thing/, like this? It's like... afternoon tea... becoming somepony you can hang out with.." An eavesdropping pony with a teacup cutie mark overhears and gives him an indignant 'hhrmph!!'
They fill the airlock, they lumber and rumble like something mechanical themselves-- and there are only three of them here. Outside, a score or more are already wandering the Palace grounds, intent upon their tasks. They are /Garthim/. The legendary Imperial Garthim, unseen since the days of ancient war... but... subtly different now. All right. Not at all subtle. What in the name of hooves and horseshoes have the feared Imperial Garthim become under the care of Fluttershy and Nettleglum? "Your highness-- following your directive to multiply their numbers and make them useful once more-- and with Fluttershy's guidance as to the, er, proper care for such creatures..." Nettie steps aside and allows the small detachment of Garthim to move, tanklike, into the Lunarium.
Nettleglum drops Imperial Garthim.
Twilight_Sparkle relaxes, when the spell is complete and the interior night is unfolding under its own power. She's panting, a bit; this kind of magic is deep, and can take a lot out of a pony, as both Luna and Twilight have just demonstrated. She smiles, gazing at the night as it unfolds, moonlight reflecting off her eyes, and just...smiles, contentedly, her eyes maybe even getting a little bit misty. "It's perfect," she murmurs. She accepts Luna's thanks with a bow of her own. "I am honored to have been a part of all this, Your Majesty." Imperial Garthim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Imperial Garthim, last of an ancient breed of magical constructs; living weapons of war. Picture, if you dare, a vast armoured carapace upon jointed legs, taller than any pony, bristling with spines and huge claws that could shred steel and gouge stone. Picture all you want, because that's not what you're going to see. Oh, there was a time when the Garthim fit that terrifying description-- before the host was put into the care of Fluttershy and Nettleglum, who have trained and molded the malleable creations into unexpected forms. Dull black carapaces now shine with vibrant reds and oranges, accented with white trim and adorable round spots. War-claws have given way to smaller appendages uniquely suited to weeding, plucking garden pests, or trimming leaves. Still monolithic, these Garthim are rather placid and, dare we say... cute? Given their size, it may take a moment to realize that they are really just enormous ladybugs, devoted only to the care and pest control of Luna's gardens. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rarity ooooooos quietly at the twinkling stars above her and her eyes sparkle immediately. Now THAT would make an incredible dress design! To inbue fabric with magic that would shimmer and twinkle like the real night sky. Something she's sure only princess Luna could help with! This night has gone splendidly, she must admit! At first she was afraid something terrible would happen, with Twilight handling the night, but now she's reassured tha- OH. Here come the monstrosities! "Spike. Darling. I'm going to start screaming. I thought I'd give you fair warning." She explains to the pudgy little dragon atop her.
Spike gets out his earplugs. (Earholeplugs?) "Got it, I'm ready." Some things are even more ear-splitting than the Royal Canterlot Voice, after all.
The cyan filly of mass destruction spends exactly three point forty-two seconds of screaming her head off, followed by exactly point one of a second bolting across the floor, and the forseeable future wrapped tightly around Luna's hindleg. "AuntieLunawhatthehayarethosegiantbugthingswhatomigosh." As eloquent as always.
Luna is not bothered by Sky Blue's screaming. Her face looks a tad drawn, and her spectral mane and tail hang low, but she smiles warmly at the brightly colored ex-warrior bug beasts that shuffle in to tend to the plants. "Always thou surprise us, Nettleglum. Wonderful. We appreciate thy assistance as well, Kindness. They are a lovely addition to the night." She stretches out her wings, wiggles them, and tucks them in against her body. Finally she twists her head down to answer Sky Blue, "They are garthim, Pollyapple, and they are now completely harmless." Exhausted, she starts walking back over to the entrance of the Lunarium. Even exhausted, she can drag Sky Blue along like a plastic bag accidentally tied to her ankle.
"Ooh!" Clockwork seems to rather like the giant ladybirds. "I... Don't have a pad. Hrm. I'll have t' get Mirage t' bring this memory out later or something..." She mumbles, half to herself, as she watches the bugs. Little wind-up versions would surely be adorable toys.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Princess. I-I thought you were done." Fluttershy trots back a step (backpedaling is a well-honed Flutterskill) and takes a moment to whisper, "You did a great job, Twilight," as she passes her Purple Friend Forever. But oh dear - it seems like the poor little Garthim aren't getting the reception Fluttershy had hoped for! Well, except for Clockwork. "Don't worry, everypony. They might be a little strange at first, but they're very sweet when you get to know them."
The Spike sized mechanical replica of Nightmare Moon clicks, its wings blurring as it lifts up into the air about pony head height. Its emerlad eyes glow as it hovers around out of the way, clicking its legs up underneath itself like they were landing gear. It keeps rotating slightly, giving Garthim room to move about, pausing to watch the blue blue blast at Luna's hooves. )
Nettleglum could put Sky Blue into a plastic bag if that would help calm her down? Nettie is sure it would. She'd be very quiet, at least after the first few moments. >.> She admits that she finds the bright colors and cheery look of the new Garthim a trifle... unsettling... but that's what the history books said they should be-- scary! And what's scarier (to Nettie) than cute adorable things? Anyhow, they are immensely useful in the gardens, once trained. "I am honored to have done as you needed, my princess."
Starscape snaps back to reality as the rather solemn-looking (not strong enough an adjective?) night-things make their appearance, and at first the stallion fears there's been a coup or an ambush, "Oh! Are we... under attack?! What...? /Are/ those things?" There's all manner of commotion about him from ponies also not quite in the 'creepy friends surprise' loop, and he instinctively positions himself between them and Clockwork. Then, it slowly sinks in... none of the main-event ponies seem very stressed...
Twilight_Sparkle watches the Garthim in surprise for a moment, then just birsts into giggles. "Oh, Fluttershy," she sighs, merrily, to no one in particular.
Rarity's ear splitting shriek is more or less the equvilent of an air raid siren that has been kicked in the horse apples. Really, really hard. She rears back on her hind legs and FLAILS her hooves wildly before bolting in a panic towards the door, quite ready to trample over every and any pony that gets into her way. The girl is not particuarly a fan of bugs. So GIANT bugs make for terror induced panic and only the finest of lady-like stampedeing. To Spikes ultimate credit, she has NOT infact, thrown him towards one of the massive beasts in a distraction for her to escape while they consume his still writhing corpse. Perhaps she likes him afterall! Either way, she heads for the doors immediately. Nope. She was ok with Luna's reckless disregard for the laws of physics when she inserted a peice of the night into the building, but she draws the line at giant bugs. Goodbye Rarity. This is the last time she'll appear at a social event with an inventation from Nettie.
<OOC> Nettleglum waits for the second scream when Rarity gets outside and there are dozens more Garthim tending the grounds around the ruins.
There's a glass shattering shriek that follows.
Spike was expecting a scream, but not Rarity's sudden flight. He's still standing on her back when she suddenly departs from underneath him, dumping him onto the floor in a purple-and-green heap. "Wait! I don't think they're dangerous!" he calls after her, but it's doubtful she can hear him over her own screams.
Clockwork smirks as Starscape takes a protective position. "Um, not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but unless we resemble aphids, I'm going to make a guess that we're probably safe, Star." She looks around, nods happily to herself and then starts to amble toward the door. She'll enjoy it more later perhaps. "I'm goin' to get a coffee." She declares, perhaps as an invitation (or an explanation), toward Starscape as she makes to leave. A lack of social understanding wipes out any need to say 'goodbye' to anypony.
"They look like giant creepy bugs t'me, but... if y'all say they're harmless, ah trust y'all," Sky Blue comments to the princess, still clutching on for dear life, before adding, "Even if they freak me out, what y'all did with that circle thing was real awesome.. It's real beautiful in here, and ah'm real impressed; ah'm proud t'call mahself yer niece, Auntie Luna." With that, her death-grip upon the princess' foreleg turns into an extra tight hug.
Luna exits with a considerably more peaceful and dignified gait than Rarity, and stops by the door to look back at the small assemblage. "Ponies of Ponyville, of all Equestria, this Lunarium is a gift to thee. Open thyself to the beauty of this little night, for like the larger night outside, she loves thee with all her heart." With a little kick of her leg she pulls Sky into the airlock so it doesn't snap shut on her, and lets it cycle.
"Sounds good to me... all this day/night confusion is making me confused if I should be awake or asleep, or something in between? Though, would be nice to be able to 'observe night' while it's still daytime. I'll have to ask her about that..." Starscape follows Clockwork out, being a bit more courteous and saying goodbyes to a few familiar ponies, but not many.
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