The new prisoners mingled with the old, low whispers and murmurs exchanged. I glanced around. Nopony seemed willing to approach the Bat Pony. Yet his presence here was a mystery I had to solve. Why would one of their own be in here? What did he do? Why weren’t all the ponies in here with him corpses?

Something was amiss.

I needed more information.

I glanced around, I didn’t want to approach the potentially dangerous pony with nothing but a smile. An older pony who seemed dirtier than everypony else caught my eye.

“Excuse me…” I whispered as I approached him, keeping my voice low to not alert any guards. “What’s the deal with-” I jerked my head towards the bat pony who huddled in the corner, pointedly ignoring his new cellmates.

The old stallion lifted his head with effort that bordered on titanic, his wings tattered and clipped, his once blue eyes beginning to gray with age.

“... You’re shining far too brightly to be here by accident.” he deduced, blinking slowly. “Let me save you some hurt, whatever you’re planning… Don’t.”

“I have no idea what you’re insinuating sir.” I grinned cheekily. “I’m just a poor maid who was dragged here against her will.”

“Yeah, and I’m Lord of all that exists.” he snarked back. “All you’re going to do is bring a world of pain crashing down on your withers young filly.”

“Let me worry about that. Now what about-?” I jerked my head back at the bat pony in the corner.

“Didn’t you hear me filly? All you’re going to do is piss them off!” the old stallion growled.

“Yeah? And so what if I do? They can torture me, that’s true. But I’ll be going to the grave with my honor intact and secure with the knowledge that I at least tried to stop these monsters, and not curled up in the corner begging other ponies not to even try.” I narrowed my eyes pointedly. “I don’t know how many ponies you’ve seen with fire in their hearts only for that fire to be stomped out by this place. And I don’t care. What I do care about however is stopping the madness of this place. And unlike those who came before me, I have reason to believe I have an actual chance.” I poked his barrel. “So I ask again, what’s with the Bat Pony?”

“When you’re caught, and you will be caught, I’m going to sing like a canary just so they don’t put us all on a rack.” the stallion said matter-of-factly. “He’s a traitor. Started running a rebel group in the city. Tried to recruit the wrong pony and now he’s in here. Just another sack of blood like the rest of us.”

“That wasn’t so hard now was it?” I almost sneered. The thought of just laying down and just accepting the terrible way things were… It reminded me far too much of the original tribes, not even trying to stop the Eternal Winter they caused. It made my blood boil. And this stallion had the gall to think that his way was the only way.

He would see.

Change was a natural part of the world. If you didn’t or couldn’t change… You died. Easy as that.

And Lord Bloodmoon was long overdue for a change.

I left the old stallion to his misery. If he wanted to sit in a cell and rot until it was his turn to be eaten, then I wouldn’t stop him. But I was not interested in sharing the same fate.

I sat in front of the bat pony, but didn’t say anything. He was still technically an unknown factor, but if what the old pegasus said was true… Then it would be best if I made it obvious I wished to speak, but let him start the conversation.

He didn’t speak for several minutes. He seemed to be too lost in his own thoughts or ignoring me on purpose.

“... Be careful where you shine that light bright one,” he finally said “Ponies don’t last long here if they don’t keep their shadows close…”

“Then pray tell, how would you go about banishing the gloom?”

He didn’t seem to have an answer, but he shook his head with the ghost of a smile on his lips. “What do you want?”

“Oh I don’t think we’ll be able to go over the full list even in this cell. But from you, I’d like to get to know you better.” I laid down on my belly as if getting comfortable. “Tell me, bat. How does one of Lord Bloodmoon’s own get thrown into a cell with the food?”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” he softly growled.

“My curiosity deepens and I find myself wishing to know more.” I gestured placatingly. He took a moment to examine me critically.

“...You are not like most ponies…” he finally said.

“No.” I agreed. “And apparently neither are you.”

He shook his head again and sighed.

“... I’m no beastial vermin thing. I am a proud Halfblooded Thestral warrior. To call us a ‘bat’ is an insult most Thestral’s would remove your head over.”

“I see. I apologize for my ignorance then.” I put a hoof over my heart and bowed slightly.

“... You truly are not like most ponies…” the stallion murmured.

“Oh, more than you know…” I smirked. “Halfblooded? May I ask what that means?” I could see his mind racing behind his yellow slitted eyes. He truly did not know what to make of me.

“... A Halfblood, is a Thestral who is the bastard offspring of a pureblood and the ‘livestock’. We are to Purebloods, as a peasant would be to your royalty. Except we eat fruit as compared to blood.”

“Intriguing.” I stated. “Would I be correct in assuming then that a Halfblood and Halfblood offspring would be another Halfblood?” I asked.

If their system of royalty and nobility was comparable to old Unicornia… Then the lower classes could entertain the idea of overthrowing their millenia old Lord. Especially if he was equally dysfunctional.

“And a Pureblood and Pureblood would yield another Pureblood yes.” the Halfblood confirmed.

Except for the lack of increasingly obscure and inane titles, this was almost exactly like Unicornia. I couldn’t help but smile.

“What can you tell me then, about Lord Bloodmoon?” I rested my head easily on a hoof. I knew I had him, I just needed him to take the bait. “Oh I don’t care about what he’s like personally, what’s he like as a ruler? How well does he run his Kingdom? Does he take care of the Halfbloods?”

That seemed to catch him off guard. So much so that his mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times before he shook his head to shake away his surprise.

“What- Why?” He asked. “No pony comes here for us! All they care about is trying to kill Lord Bloodmoon! And they all fail! Each and every time!”

I smirked. His nonanswer was all I needed.

“Don’t mistake me, I am here for many reasons. Bloodmoon is indeed one of them. But he is a tertiary concern at best. The primary reason, well-” I paused, pretending to gather my thoughts. “I’d prefer that to be a surprise for everypony involved.” I smirked. “The secondary reason is that ponies need to be protected from this place. I cannot in good conscience just allow these ‘Purebloods’ to kidnap and steal the innocence and well being of everypony he gets his hooves on with impunity.”

“... Who are you?” the stallion asked in awe after a moment.

“I’m exactly what I appear to be. I’m merely a humble maiden. But you may call me ‘Luna’.” I smiled.

“Luna…” the stallion murmured, rolling the name around on his tongue. “I will help you Luna. I have seen many so-called ‘heroes’ pass through these walls, all having their hope crushed and scattered to the wind." The stallion looked me in the eye. “And yet… There is something different about you Luna. I know not what it is, but I will help you.”

I let slip a huge, genuine smile.

“I will be glad to have you. But perhaps I could have the name of my comrade?”

“My name…” he smiled. “My name is ‘Saros’.”

“Hail and well met then Saros." I nodded to my new compatriot. "Now... Our first course of action should be getting out of this cell.” I whispered to my compatriot. “I don’t suppose you wouldn't happen to be waiting for a specific outside event would you?”

“I’m… Still planning…” Saros admitted.

“Excellent. Then I believe it would be prudent to get out of this cell before we’re forced onto a dinner plate." I glanced around what I could see in the cell. Ponies were speaking quietly, but none seemed to be paying attention to us. I noticed that the walls of the cell didn’t really leave any place where one could hide.

Except on the ceiling.

I glanced around at the ponies around me. The Unicorns had bands like my own, while the Pegasi had their wings bound or clipped, sometimes both. I took a moment to remember the colors of those who appeared rowdy enough to be worth binding and clipping at the same time.

A soft silver glow appeared above my head, its reflection shining in Saros’ widening eyes. The Moon’s Blessing floated down and pried the stone restraining ring off my horn.

“Ok… Here's what we do…”

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