Purity Ebonshield

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To Pureza Ébanoscudo, this was a spread most incredible. Pastries! Jellies! Confits and jams! 'Terrines' and 'madeleines,' soups and stews, pies and cakes, rolls and buns, creams and cheeses, a dozen kinds each of caviar and truffles! She was fortunate that each fantastic table at the buffet was accompanied by one or more servants of the kitchen, clad in double-breasted white jackets and round white hats, or else she’d not have known what half of the items on the menu were called -- less than half, even.

The 'Grand Galloping Gala' of the Equestrians defied any comparison with even the greatest feasts of the Children of the League of Stars. And Purity Ebonshield had attended some of those great feasts -- as a competitor in tournaments, often as a feted champion, and later as the Stellar Seventh, accompanying Draxon, her Eighth, as his bodyguard. Later still, attending as the highest-ranking Stellar in the absence of a living Eighth. But those Lunar offerings paled in comparison: in quantity and in quality, there was no surpassing this most supreme output of the farms of Equestria and the kitchens of the Palace of Canterlot.

Not everyone was quite so appreciative, however -- from behind her, the batpony heard the grumbling voice of her unicorn comrade. "Are you staring again? Come on, let's keep this line moving! Some of us wanna finish filling our plates so we can actually go sit and eat!"

Ebonshield was unable to avert her gaze away from the spire of small icing-topped cakes which towered before her. "Sí, I understand, but some of us wish to admire this great assembly of dishes, before they can be completely devoured."

Pointing a forehoof, she leaned over slightly towards the attendant of the table, a young, rosy-cheeked unicorn mare with a dark violet mane, dressed as the others in the white uniform of the palace kitchens and staring disinterestedly off into space. "What are these called, if you please?"

The mare inclined her head towards them. "These are 'calissons,' Madam. A Prench dessert consisting of paste of candied orange blended with almonds, and topped with royal icing."

‘Oh, I will definitely have one of those.’

"Thank you." Flapping her wings to gain height, the batpony delicately picked one from near the top of the spire so as not to destabilize the impressive structure, then added the item to her plate.

Lily just shook her head at Ebonshield. "You sure have a sweet tooth, Purity. Is there even any actual dinner on your plate, or is it all desserts?"

The batpony spared a glance at her dish, which was close to forming a spire of its own. Well, at least a flat-topped pyramid. "Perhaps buried underneath. But I can always come back to the line of this 'buffet' a second time."

The unicorn scoffed. "Sure, I bet there's restocks for everything in the kitchen. But how th'Tartarus do you keep such a slim profile with an appetite like that?"

Ebonshield laughed in return. "By only eating this much on the occasions especial, of course!" Lifting an eyebrow, she turned her head back towards Lily, even as she fluttered her way to the next table. Lily’s plate, held aloft in her aura telekinetic, bore a selection which was quite modest in comparison. "...I hope you are not worrying about your 'profile' on a day like this?"

Lily whinnied. "Hey, some of us have to wear body armor in our day jobs. And some of us hope to be able to fit into the same dress in a couple of years, too."

Purity made a show of examining Lily’s dress, and particularly her backside. "Of course! But there is plenty of room." Lowering her voice, she continued. "And anyways, what a shame to tantalize the colts with a shapely skirt if there is little for them to find underneath!"

That made the unicorn stop in place, and she scrunched up her muzzle. "Are you accusing me of having a flat plot?" With a confused expression, Lily examined Purity’s posterior. "...I mean, you?!"

Purity had to admit that, in that comparison, she was correct. But the batpony had not yet reached the end of her argument, and she circled back to draw in closer still. "Ay, cariño, my physique is constrained by the requirements of my profession. But you do not have to perform the acrobatics as I do, and you complain often of your need to keep your figure as-is. I do not propose that you neglect your exercise, but I know that the colts, they also like the nalguitas with a little bounce to them, yes? Some mollette for their chorizo."

Her use of the euphemisms gastronomic appeared only to have confused Lily further. "Hunh? Mind translating that into Equestrian?"

‘So much for the route indirect.’

"All I am saying is that, combined of course with the correct exercises for the muscles underneath to keep the tone, I think you would do well not to worry about trying to be so skinny. Your natural form seems to me a little more rounded. There is no shame to that, and many colts appreciate the shape curved."

Even this new, direct approach still left her looking confused. "Sarge, are you seriously giving me some kind of, like, body-positivity chat, here, right now, in the buffet line at the Grand Galloping Gala of Canterlot Palace? Like, just how sloshed are you?"

That, Ebonshield was plenty -- but no more than Lily.

The batpony just smiled and shook her head. "Perhaps the moment is not ideal, but I have been meaning to tell you this for some time. And I want you to enjoy yourself here!" She pointed at the pegasus behind her. "...Look how our camarada takes two plates at once! There is a mare with good appetite!"

Instantly, Artemis lifted her head up from where she was adding more items to one very full plate and a more modest one next to it. "Oh, no, these aren't both for me -- I offered to get Anonymous a plate while he and Honour found us a table."

Her argument did not deter Purity. "But you will be back for more, yes?"

Artemis looked down at the fuller plate -- clearly the one intended for herself. "Yeah, sure! After everypony's had a chance to have their first, I mean. I don't want to be greedy." She picked the plates back up off of the table.

Meanwhile, stepping forward to the next serving station, Ebonshield flapped a knowing wing in the direction of Lily. "You see? I may be a little drunk, but at least I am a happy drunk. Do not let yourself become a miserable one, or you will ruin the mood festive."

After a moment to parse her words, the unicorn scoffed and then hustled up to join her at the next station. "Sheesh, you really pick weird times to dole out advice, Purity." Softening her expression, she continued. "But hey, since you're in the advising mood, maybe I can ask you a few questions about something else I've been dealing with?"

Even with so much alcohol clouding her mind, the subject of this discussion was instantly obvious to the batpony. "How goes your training with Ignacio?"

Lily flattened her ears and furrowed her brow. "Okay, I guess. Things have been going slow, but I've been improving."

Another pony in front of them was still busy with the serving platter, so Purity gave the unicorn her attention undivided. "He is an experienced teacher. And I am sure that you are a quick learner."

Lily nodded, her horn still glowing from levitating her plate. "Yeah. I'm just not a hundred percent sure on the why of it, sometimes. Did you know this other Eclipse colt, Ro-the-nan-tay?"

"Rocinante? I have heard of him, but I have never met him..." Thinking back, Purity looked briefly up towards the vaulted palace ceiling. "...Once, when I was waiting to meet Ignacio at the entrance of the Halls of the Blind, I heard beautiful singing, the voice of an old colt. The melody was entrancing, enchanting. Later, I mentioned the music to Ignacio, and he said that was Rocinante whom I had heard. I wish I could have witnessed him perform in person."

Lily took a deep breath. "Yeah, well, this Rocinante, apparently he called out on his deathbed, told Ignacio that he needed to teach me their ways. No explanation why. I'm not against learning -- heck, I'm pretty interested, but the idea that there's some kind of prophecy behind it gives me the heeby-jeebies, ya know? Especially on top of the already-creepy subject matter and the pretty weird place we have to go for it."

Purity waved a forehoof dismissively. "Mmmm, yes, I see, but I must correct you. This was no prophecy; the Eclipse do not prophesize."

Lily lifted an eyebrow. "Really? It sure sounded like one. And there're prophecies attributed to famous unicorn mages. Why not your mages, too?"

Shaking her head, the batpony continued. "I do not know why, but the Children have only ever had one prophecy -- on the subject the long slumber of our Great Mother -- and this was issued from the Great Mother Herself, before she fell into torpor..." She chuckled. "... And of course, what a confusing prophecy She gave us! Bad enough that we had great difficulty at first in keeping track of the Equestrian years from the Moon, but in the phrasing, She said She was to sleep for 'an age.'" Finally seeing an opportunity to avail herself of the gourmet delicacies from the table following, Purity took a step forward to hunt for something appetizing, still talking. "'An age' -- what is this, eh? A hundred years? Five hundred? Eight hundred and eighty eight, since for us eight is the number sacred?"

Following after her, the unicorn squinted. "And your mom was the only one to guess that it meant one thousand years?"

Ebonshield nodded. "She was not the only one to realize this, particularly after the other dates had come and gone, but she also calculated the date correctly. Many others who thought the same way were off by some months or years, since we had lost track of the time precise. The rest were waiting for one-thousand-and-eight or later dates."

Haphazardly telekinetically picking something off of this table for herself, Lily nodded. "Huh. Anyways, if what Rocinante said isn't prophecy, what is it?"

Taking one of a dozen small pre-served bowls of luxurious custard, Purity answered plainly. "Simply a dying request, as you said." By the confused expression on the unicorn’s muzzle, the answer had not satisfied her, so she continued. "...I cannot truly answer this for you. As close as I am with Ignacio, the ways of the Eclipse are still alien to me. You and Artemisa are the only ponies not of their kind that I have ever heard of being invited into the Halls of the Blind. I can only guess that Rocinante wished to make sure that their knowledge is passed on, since the Eclipse are a dying breed."

Lily nodded, glumly. "Yeah, I heard -- no more births under the solar eclipse, no more Eclipse magicians. The Rookery under Canterlot mountain must be full of pregnant mares when one of those events is forecast."

Remembering one such event in the last year, Purity chuckled. "Yes, and quite cramped. As spacious as those caves may seem, when everypony gives up space to allow the one or two hundred mothers and their foals some room to breathe, then things are different." Laughing again at the sheer chaos that occasion brought, the batpony reflected for a moment, and placed a forehoof on Lily’s shoulder. "My advice to you is to learn as much as you can, and be prepared to pass what you know on, in your own fashion, lest the knowledge be lost." Purity shot her a grin. "Who knows? Perhaps, as you complain your brothers have been to the universidad de magia, you will one day find yourself there as a teacher, mentoring others in these arts."

From how she has described her brothers -- and Purity’s beau, Gilberto -- the batpony almost expected her to shudder with revulsion at the suggestion. But instead, she simply unfurrowed her brow, raised her ears up again, and looked off in the distance.

"Maybe."

‘For such a response brief and unemotional, she must have considered this possibility already.’

Artemis came up behind Lily, having added to her two plates from this station as well. "Whew! This all looks so yummy! Looks like there's only two stations left."

Her exclamation seemed to prompt something in the unicorn. "Yeah. Hey, Purity, tell me something else. You and Ignacio both said that all Stars train to hunt down abominations -- ponies that get possessed by the Accursed Shadows. What's that like?"

The batpony lifted an eyebrow and glanced at Artemis, who suddenly went a bit pale. "You have seen this for yourself, no? When your comrade allowed herself to be used in demonstration?"

They exchanged glances, before Lily nodded her head towards the pegasus. "Yeah, but she was magically restrained, forced to just stand there. What are abominations like to fight?"

That was a shadowy subject, unsuited to the hallowed and gleeful halls of the beautiful Palacio de Canterlot. But there was quite a queue for the next station of service -- which meant there must be something quite good there! -- so, Purity supposed they had a little time. And if Ignacio was teaching Lily the ways of the Eclipse, she should know everything that their magic entails.

Both Equestrians sat in line behind her, waiting anxiously.

"...To fight an abomination is a challenge extraordinary. Even the sand creatures summoned in the pit are but pale imitations. The Accursed Shadow, once inside a body, will fight with all their might to keep what they now possess." Purity cast her mind back to the time when she underwent the training; a long time ago, now. As with all Stars, this training was conducted early; she was scarcely a First of the Order of the Shining Stellar Dance.

"Master Draxon likened the abomination to taking a creature and removing the shackles of mortality. They do not need to eat or drink, they do not sweat and never run out of breath. They put all their energy into every movement, and their reserve of such power, at least in the short term, is almost limitless." She glanced up at the ceiling above her, easily forty hooves high. "I have seen an abomination jump -- simply jump, for his wings were broken and useless -- higher than the roof above our heads, in the blink of an eye. That was on the Moon, admittedly, where the gravity is less; but even so, this is a feat quite substantial. They can gallop faster than an avalanche, they see perfectly even in the darkness absolute, and they are said to hear better than rabbits and smell more than hounds."

She remembered cornering the abomination, ganging up ten against one, cocksure of victory. After all, had her people not once been plagued by them, only to rise up and wipe them out?

But the grin of that cornered beast foretold what happened next.

"...When they strike, they hit with a force that ought to break even their own bones, yet does not. And these attacks come with the velocity almost blinding. Usually, in our training against them, nopony dies -- usually. But even so, a group of novice hunters will return injured, sometimes gravely..."

Two cracked ribs and a twisted ankle, and she was lucky to have gotten away from the fight with only that. Others in her group had suffered far worse: a high price to pay for the knowledge of how to defeat such creatures.

Taking a deep breath, Purity noted that she could now take a step forward in the queue, and did so. "But the part which truly terrifies me, and should scare you also, is this: the abomination I describe to you was formed from an Accursed Shadow in possession of an old, frail, and injured batpony; a former warrior, long since past their prime." She looked over the large, athletic, and youthful pegasus. "...What nightmare would we face if they possessed someone who is at their peak, and a challenging adversary in their own right?"

Lily just nodded, but Artemis furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Nightmare Moon, that's who."

Purity shook her head. "No, the Great Mother was not abomination; at least, not in our dogma. With an abomination, the Accursed Shadow commands the body. But for the Nightmare Moon, the Princess Luna was still in control -- so says our scripture. And, I should add, the abominations are feral creatures: intelligent in their brutality, but almost completely unrestrained in their violence. This is part of why armies made of their kind ultimately fell apart. Whereas on the other hoof, our Great Mother was a great leader of the rebellion of our ancestors, the League of Stars."

Lily squinted in thought. "Hold on a minute. If Princess Luna really was in charge of herself the whole time, then how come she stopped being, well, evil, when the Elements of Harmony blasted the Accursed Shadow out of her?"

That was a very good question; one for which the batpony had no answer. She could only shrug. "Who can say? Our dogma concerns the events of the past, during the rebellion actual, a thousand years ago. No-one is alive who remembers the Great Mother as she was then, besides Herself and the Princesa del Sol. What might have changed, in her form or in her thoughts during her long slumber? "

Lily nodded. "Yeah, fair, maybe she changed. A thousand years is a long time, after all..." She chuckled. "I know I can have a change of heart after a good sleep."

Artemis remains concerned, however, staring down at the ground even as she hovered in the air. "I don't really remember what happened while I was possessed, but I remember that the shadow seemed to know me. And didn't Ignacio say he couldn't perceive Anonymous when he first met him? Yet he managed to summon a shadow that took Anonymous' shape with the sand..."

The pegasus raised her head. "... What if when you're training to hunt shadows, the shadows know they're being hunted? So that's why they fight so desperately to escape?"

A curious thought, but surely wrong.

"There is no escape. This training is done using a network of tunnels with only one exit, and that one is sealed against passage by another Eclipse on the outside, maintaining a barrier like the one used to restrain you during your own possession. If the Accursed Shadows are aware of the situation, the action clever would be to simply restrain themselves and deny us the opportunity to train."

Artemis could only shrug, still holding the two full plates. "Maybe they just can't help themselves. Anyways, it looks like we can move up."

Taking steps towards the next station, Purity was rewarded with an outstanding selection of cakes. These, at least, required no introduction. But which to choose? Looking to the steward, a colt in white, she decided to take guidance from above. "Could you tell me which of these delicious pastries is preferred by Her Majesty the Princess Celestia?"

The colt raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he pointed a forehoof towards a round, violet-robed confection topped with strawberries. "I understand that Her Majesty is most fond of the strawberry génoise, ma'am."

There had already been several slices cut from that one, revealing a golden-brown interior. Purity eagerly held out her plate. "I would have a slice, by your favor."

"Certainly, ma'am."

The colt wasted no time in bringing up a knife, cutting a moderately-sized slice, and then grabbing some kind of trowel for cakes to transfer the batpony’s portion to the top of her now quite towering plate. "Gracias. With this, I think I am now finished, or else my plate will surely fall over. I will visit the station final afterwards."

Lily looked over the cakes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm with you..." Then she glanced up at the batpony with a smile. "Thanks for the pep talk, but I'm gonna lay off the cake until later. That's an after-dancing type of treat in my books." She turned to the pegasus. "How about you, Artemis? I think you've got more than enough there."

The poor young pegasus mare hunched her shoulders with disappointment. "But we just got to the end!" Then she considered the towering contents of her plates, one of which teetered dangerously with each flap of her wings. "...Well, okay. I'll take one piece of the strawberry génoise as well, at least; if Anonymous wants some, then we could share it." After receiving her slice in turn, the three of them exited the line of the buffet and headed towards the dining tables.

Lily nodded her muzzle at the two plates borne by the pegasus. "I guess I shoulda asked earlier, but didja want me to maybe carry one or both of those? I'm not so tipsy that I'm gonna be spilling stuff out of my telekinesis yet."

Artemis shook her head. "Oh, it's okay, Lily, I'm managing just fine! These plates are a lot lighter than my armor after all, hah. I just hope that Anonymous likes what I picked out for him."

The unicorn lifted an eyebrow. "Did he have any requests?"

"No, only to avoid things with hay in them," Artemis replied.

"Makes sense. I don't think actual monkeys eat hay either."

"Lily! You shouldn't call him that."

"I wasn't. But, I mean, he is related to them. I'm just sayin' their diets are probably similar, that's all."

Immediately, the pegasus flapped her wings and whipped around to impose herself in front of the unicorn. "Lily Glamerspear! Our Very Important Pony may not be a pony, but he's no monkey! Could a monkey have helped you beat Lieutenant Kilfeather? Could a monkey have built a self-propelled air-defense weapon? Could a monkey have led us to victory against a subterranean ambush?"

She seemed quite upset. Was this outburst solely because of drinking the alcohol?
Purity thought that perhaps no, for there were several other signs quite telling. The kiss on the cheek after the dance, the questions for Anonymous about happiness, the fetching of a plate of dinner. And now, the defending him against even the slights unintended?

The unicorn and pegasus were staring each other down. Hovering in place, the batpony decided to inject a little chaos. "Indeed, could a monkey have danced gracefully the Waltz Lipizzaner?"

Artemis seized immediately upon her statement. "That too!"

"Could a monkey have such kindness and care for his friends?"

"Right!"

"Could a monkey be so deserving of respect and admiration?"

"Yeah!!"

"Could a monkey appear as statuesque and attractive?"

"You see, Lily? She understands!"

‘Now I have her.’

"Could a monkey attract the attentions romantic of Artemis Sparkshower?"

"Exactly!"

A moment later, she realized what Purity had said and dropped to the ground on her hind hooves, throwing her wings around her muzzle in embarrassment. Without a thought, her unicorn friend immediately seized up the two plates in her telekinesis, yanking them almost violently away from the rosy-cheeked pegasus. "Yeah, exactly! I knew you were actin' funny, Sparks; should've seen it earlier. Didya forget what Corporal Bound told you about crushing on our VIP so soon after your breakup?"

Immediately, the protestations began. "But that was over a week ago! I'm over it!"

With a nod to the pegasus, Lily took Purity’s plate as well in her magic, allowing the batpony to land and throw a wing over the poor mare to comfort her, pulling away her wings and letting her down onto all fours. The speaking, however, she left to the unicorn.

"Yeah, right. You're still on the rebound, Artemis. The way you were acting at the club on Tuesday, all the colts hanging off your hooves?"

Still the protestations continued. "So? Aren't I allowed to have admirers? Anyways, you're one to talk with the way you and Purity were crudely teasing Anonymous about his... his 'preferences.'"

This at least was a point Purity could refute. "That was perhaps not the most commendable action, but she was done in the spirit of fun and of engaging our handsome VIP more closely with the party. Perhaps he has learned more about himself as a result, as well."

Artemis looked down at the floor for a moment. "Well, you also teased me about finding a colt, too. And then we were dancing, and I was so happy, and... then he dipped me."

Lily laughed, snorting. "Pfsh -- 'course, he did, 'cause he's a stud. Why else would we tease him about getting himself a mare?"

That was a comment not so helpful in the situation current. Artemis continued, however. "And then I kissed him, and he smiled, and I blushed, and I felt my heart racing, and then Mister Bound showed up and even he assumed that we were a couple, and then I offered to get Anonymous his dinner plate, and he accepted, and isn't that how things are supposed to go when you're with someone you like, I mean really like? Maybe we're not anything right now, but aren't those, well, signals?"

Ebonshield’s own relationships, having never been quite so involved, had left her at a loss for words, and she looked to her other Equestrian comrade for assistance.

The unicorn only rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh, brother; you really are head over hooves, talking about signals. Look, let's just bring him his plate and you can clear it with the Corporal when she gets up to get hers."

While expedient, Purity wondered if such a statement would be sufficient. As she removed her wing from Artemis, the batpony took a moment to look her in her eyes. "Artemis, are you serious about your interest in the Engineer Royal?"

She nodded. "I think so. If he's interested, I mean. It's just flirting right now, isn't it? I never really flirted with anypony before, I guess."

Ebonshield smiled. "Certainly. But the rules of the flirting, they are these: the objective is to establish interest, not to overwhelm the subject of your affections. And likewise, not to be overwhelmed in turn. You must be calm in your actions and reactions. For against the attacks frequent, we all raise our shields in defense. And as my master Draxon told me: 'only the blade slow will penetrate the shield.'"

After a moment of thought, Artemis straightened up and nodded. "I understand. I guess I was kind of getting ahead of myself a bit."

From the unicorn beside her, however, Purity heard a snort. "Yeah, great, hoof-me-down dating advice from the batpony master of assassins, all the way from the bucking Moon. Can we go find our table and sit down now? I need some food in me to temper all this booze before the dance floor opens up."

Without waiting for an answer, and levitating all four plates above her, Lily pushed on through the crowds of ponies looking to join the buffet line towards the dining tables. Smiling, Purity followed after her.

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