“Goddess, I’ve brought the mare named Nosey, as you commanded.”
Silhouette’s report was punctuated by his lowering himself to the ground, pressing his nose to the grass once again. The sight made Nosey’s eyebrows go up slightly. He’d done the same thing when Luna had told him to stop trying to interrupt Lex’s ritual before; did he do that every time he was in her presence?
“Very good, Silhouette. And did you do so in a manner that would meet with my approval?” Nosey was cognizant of Luna looking her over as she spoke, as if to make sure she hadn’t been coerced into coming along. A moment later her eyes moved down to Feathercap, looking slightly puzzled by his appearance.
“Yes, goddess!” The enthusiasm in Silhouette’s voice was as naked as he was, as if he couldn’t wait to tell her about what a good job he’d done. “I brought her here with neither force nor threat, telling her only of your wish to speak with her!”
I knew it. That was why he wasn’t being so heavy-hoofed this time. In the past, Nosey would have preened herself in the privacy of her thoughts over her theory being correct, telling herself what a skilled reporter she was. Now, she only felt a tepid sense of self-satisfaction, one that faded quickly as she turned her attention back to the princess. “Your Majesty,” she murmured, dipping her head in a polite nod. “I’m Nosey Newsy, and I-”
“Bow down!” hissed Silhouette, his voice suddenly furious. Startled, Nosey looked back at him, seeing him glancing up at her from where he was still keeping his face in the dirt. “Both of you, get on your bellies before the goddess!”
“Er…” Nosey froze, her realization that she’d committed a faux paus by not bowing before the princess warring with her desire to spite the pony who was already one of her least favorite people.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could already see a pale-faced Feathercap starting to lower himself to the ground when Luna spoke up, causing the foal to jump back to his hooves. “It’s alright, Silhouette.”
“But goddess…!”
“No.” Luna’s face was solemn as she shook her head. “I have no right to demand that they make a show of respect for me. Not after how you bullied them in my name.” She sighed then, turning to look at Nosey as a sad look crossed her face. “That, and how poor of a job I’ve done protecting this mare’s dreams.” She strode forward then, until she was standing in front of Nosey. “Before anything else, please allow me to apologize for the nightmare you had several days past. I should never have allowed such a horrifying dream to trouble you. You have my word as a princess that it will not happen again.”
For a moment, Nosey wasn’t sure what Luna meant. Then she recalled the terrifying nightmare she’d experienced the night after Lex had rescued her from Xiriel, waking up confused and screaming. Just the thought made her blanch, the intensity of the memory threatening to overwhelm her. “I…I don’t want to talk about that,” she murmured, fighting to stop herself from trembling. Dimly, she wondered if Sonata’s calming spell had worn off, or if that nightmare was so awful that even the memory of it was more than her friend’s magic could quell.
Luna paused for just a moment, and Nosey knew that she was doing a bad job of keeping her composure, judging by the worried look on the princess’s face. “I understand,” she said at last. “But I need to ask you one thing: the monster in your dream, was it real?”
Nosey’s eyes widened, her anxiety suddenly spiking. She knew about Xiriel?! How?! “That-, it-, I don’t-” She sputtered, years of experience at keeping a lid on juicy leads and exclusive stories suddenly useless as she struggled to process how the princess could possibly have known about the monster that had tormented her.
“S-stop it!” Feathercap’s voice, quivering as much as the rest of him was, made both mares look down as he planted himself between Luna and Nosey, the latter dimly realizing that he was copying what he’d seen Fruit Crunch do a few minutes ago. “She said she d-doesn’t want to t-talk about that, so you-, um…you change the subject. Please?” He added the last part almost as an afterthought, holding up his binoculars to shield his face, peeking up over them at Princess Luna as it afraid that he’d upset her.
But if anything, the princess seemed to have the opposite reaction, smiling gently down at the colt. “You’re one of the foals who stood up to the Royal Guard just now, aren’t you? I’m told that you were very brave.”
Lowering his binoculars just a little bit, as though only slightly reassured that she wasn’t mad, Feathercap blinked. “Really?” When the princess nodded, he slowly lowered his makeshift shield. “Th-that’s right,” he gulped. “We’re the Night Mare’s Knights, and we’re not afraid of anything.”
Luna’s smile didn’t fade, but Nosey saw her expression grow slightly more interested then, crouching down so that she was more level with Feathercap. “What’s your name?”
The question seemed to surprise the colt. “Uh…F-Feathercap.”
“Well, Feathercap, would you mind doing me a favor?” Luna waited until the boy gave a hesitant nod. “I’d very much appreciate it if you and your friends could tell me all about this Night Mare that you mentioned. Do you think you could do that?” Another hesitant nod came, making Luna smile. “Excellent. In that case, would you mind running back to them and telling them that I’d like to speak with them after I’m done talking to Nosey here?”
But this time, Feathercap shook his head. “Uh-uh. I’m Miss Nosey’s protector. I’m not leaving without her!” The last part came out forcefully, obviously the result of him making himself say the words against his better judgment.
Luna blinked once at that, pursing her lips, and Nosey could see that she was trying to hold back the urge to laugh. “I understand.” She glanced up at the other mare then, and Nosey could see her eyes sparkling with repressed amusement. “You’re fortunate to have such a brave pony looking after you.”
The words were completely devoid of mockery, and Nosey felt some of her tension easing. “I know.” She sent a grateful look toward Feathercap as she spoke, glad that he’d been able to change the topic of conversation.
But her respite ended as Luna stood up, her expression turning serious. “Nosey, I know this must be hard for you, but I need you to tell me about the monster from your dream.”
“Hey!” Feathercap’s cry sounded put out more than outraged, but this time Luna didn’t pay him any mind.
Not taken completely by surprise the way she had been a moment ago, Nosey grit her teeth as she clamped down on her feelings, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her. Lex said not to tell anypony about what happened to me, and I won’t! “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But Luna was undeterred. “Nosey, please. The creature in your nightmare – that giant worm-like thing with the three heads – it’s called a belier devil, and it’s extremely dangerous. My sister and I came here because we’re worried about everypony; if you have any information about this creature, it’s imperative that you share it with me.”
“Don’t you care about the good of everypony in Vanhoover?” growled Silhouette, still lying on the ground. “Tell the goddess what she wishes to know!”
Momentarily paralyzed as she wondered what to do, Nosey felt her emotions flare up again. But instead of anxiety, it was anger that ran through her now. Lex had been the one who had been here from the beginning, fighting sea monsters and undead ponies and Xiriel, putting himself on the line again and again in order to save everyone. Now Celestia and Luna were showing up out of nowhere after everything had already been taken care of, and were acting like they were the ones who were going to save the day? The sheer indignity of it made Nosey momentarily consider disregarding what she’d been told about keeping Xiriel’s existence a secret, suddenly wanting the princess to know just how right Lex had been to hold them in such little regard. “You both-”
“Lex destroyed it.”
Nosey almost bit her tongue in shock, looking down at Feathercap. Nor was she the only one, Luna’s eyebrows rising. “I’m sorry, would you repeat that?”
Fidgeting under the intense looks he was receiving, Feathercap telekinetically lifted his binoculars so that they covered the lower half of his face again, looking at Luna. “That thing you’re talking about, the monster that looks like a big worm with three heads. I saw Lex fight it. He won.”
Feeling almost like she was about to faint, Nosey just stared at the colt, completely taken aback. “How could you possibly know about that?” she murmured.
Feathercap gave her a guilty look, then hoisted his binoculars a little by way of answer. “You saw it with those?” pressed Luna, wanting to be sure.
“I didn’t mean to,” admitted Feathercap. “I was watching-,” his eyes flicked to Nosey for a split-second, then went back to Luna. “I mean, I thought I saw some meadowlarks, and while I was looking for them, I caught sight of Lex and Miss Nosey. They were talking at first, and then…” He paused for a moment, but under Luna’s gentle prompting began to relate what he’d seen.
For her part, Nosey could only stand there, completely stupefied. The reporter in her noted that he was mentioning a few parts of the fight that she’d missed due to being intermittently unconscious from Xiriel’s abuse. But the rest of her mind was occupied with how utterly bizarre it felt to hear someone else – someone who was otherwise completely uninvolved with what had happened – talk so easily about something that was so monumental to her. I wonder if this is how everypony else felt when I wrote articles about them? she wondered.
“…and then it just burst into flames, all by itself. After that, Lex fixed Miss Nosey’s glasses and brought her back,” finished Feathercap.
Luna hesitated for a second, an uncertain look on her face, before turning to Nosey. “Is this correct?”
Numb from having listened to an outside perspective of what had happened to her, Nosey nodded. There was no point in trying to deny it now, not when Feathercap had already told her everything. Even so, the knowledge that what had happened wasn’t limited to her, Lex, Sonata, and Aria made her feel uncomfortable, like she was exposed in a horribly personal way. She suddenly wished that she was wearing something, some outfit that covered most of her up. “Did you tell anypony else about this?” she asked. “Your friends or a grownup or anyone?”
Dreading the answer, she felt a shudder of relief go through her when Feathercap shook his head. “No. I was too scared. I couldn’t look away when it was happening, but afterward I just wanted to forget that I’d seen it.”
“Which makes you even braver for having told us about it now,” added Luna with a grateful look, before turning back toward the pony still lying prostrate on the ground. “Silhouette, what you’ve heard here is not to be shared with anyone. Is that understood?”
“As you command, goddess,” murmured Silhouette reverently.
Suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable as she realized that one of the ponies she liked least in the world had heard about what happened to her, Nosey folded her ears back. “Listen, are we done here? We should be getting back…” She trailed off as she realized she had no particular reason to leave, trying to come up with an excuse.
But she didn’t have a chance before Luna spoke up. “I’m sorry for having pressed so hard about this. Would you be willing to stay if I told you that my remaining questions have nothing to do with that creature?”
“You have more?” moaned Nosey, looking back the way they’d come. She suddenly wished that Lex would come around the corner, tell Luna off, and escort her back. She knew it was impossible – the light from Aria’s body was still visible – but she found herself wishing she could see him again all the same, rather than answering Luna’s questions.
“Um…I have a question, if it’s okay,” ventured Feathercap timidly.
Silhouette gave an outraged snarl, Luna smiled. “Of course. After everything you’ve told me, you’ve earned it.”
Feathercap hesitated for a moment, gulping before he asked, “Where were you and Princess Celestia all this time? Why didn’t you help us when the city was flooded and the monsters came?”
Luna blinked. “Monsters?”
The situation suddenly reminded Nosey of when she’d first met Lex, the two of them alternating questioning each other…and she suddenly realized that was what she should be doing. Right. I can either run back to Lex, who’s busy anyway, or I can at least try and get some information to help him out after he’s done. Luna had known about Xiriel, even though she apparently didn’t know about the other monsters that had been besieging Vanhoover. It was time to find out how.
“How about we make a deal?” she offered, suddenly feeling a little better as she took the initiative. That’s right. I’m not a pony who gets interviewed. I’m the pony that interviews others. “We get to ask you a question, and then you get to ask one in return. That sounds fair, right?”
This time Silhouette jumped in before Luna could respond. “You dare bargain with the Mother of the Night?! You should be thanking her-”
“And he has to leave!” added Nosey, pointing at Silhouette.
Luna sighed. “I accept your terms.”
“Goddess!” Silhouette’s voice was like that of a child who’d just been told that they wouldn’t be getting any dinner tonight.
“Silhouette, I want you to go and retrieve the Royal Guard. Take them and wait by the pegasus chariots for myself or my sister to return.” Luna didn’t issue her command harshly, but there was no doubt that it was a command.
“…as you wish, goddess.” Grunting slightly as he rose up, his bad leg shaking from the strain, Silhouette gave Nosey a dark look as he passed by her, heading around the train station to carry out Luna’s order.
Once he’d rounded the corner, Luna turned back to the other two, her eyes settling on Feathercap. “I’ll start by answering your question first…”