Lily Glamerspear

There was only one thought on Lily Glamerspear’s mind.

'This is seriously bucked up.'

Everypony knew that when it came to ponies, a horn was an absolutely essential requirement for casting spells. Other creatures could channel raw mana without one -- dragons, for example -- but there’d never been a pegasus sorcerer, or an earth pony wizard. Magic was pervasive, and practically every creature had some connection to that source of power, but for whatever reason, those two pony species didn't get the direct hotline to mana that unicorns did.

They had other abilities, sure, and only a few, crackpot scholars doubted that a pegasus' ability to walk on clouds, or an earth pony's ability to accomplish tremendous feats of endurance, were anything less than magical. But when it came to spellcasting, the hornless races were shut out. Even those vile, verminous pony knock-offs, the Changelings, had a spellcasting leader with a horn!

So if batponies were merely a moon-dwelling, mutated blending of all three Equestrian species, how in the world was this creature standing before her capable of casting spells without the typical focusing equipment sticking out of his head?

And they were spells he had cast, Lily was certain of it -- a healing-touch lullaby and a sand-creature-conjuring ritual song were far too unrelated to be natural expressions of magical power.

Neither of them were unimpressive, either.

Glamerspear wasn’t a medic, but from her scream of pain it was pretty obvious that Ebonshield had suffered a broken leg. Ignacio, the batpony 'Balladeer of Ghosts,' had effortlessly healed it in a matter of seconds, which would be a considerable task for even a journeypone mage with a reasonable background in restorative spells. He looked plenty old enough to be beyond that level of experience, sure, and a master wizard could do it easily, but again -- no horn!

The shadowy, sand-creature battle opponents were a whole other story, on a whole other level, and that’s what was really eating the unicorn up.

‘Just... how!?’

All the ways Lily could think of would be tough, even for an archmage.

But as curious and as eager to learn as she was, she did come down there for a specific purpose. And that purpose was not to learn the secrets of batpony magic.

Ignacio was still staring blindly through Lily with a grin on his face.

"Er... I'd like to, but maybe some other time?" She glanced over at Honour, and then up at her VIP. "...We came here to train the Royal Engineer, after all."

The Corporal gave her a perfunctory nod of approval.

But Anonymous just lifted his eyebrows. "I don't mind a diversion, if it's brief." Folding his arms, he lifted one hand up and scratched at his chin. "To be honest, I feel like I've learned a considerable amount just from watching everything up until now. I have a lot of questions, and I could use a few moments to turn my thoughts over."

‘Yeah, he's not the only one who could use a time-out from all this weirdness.’

To say nothing of Ebonshield! That mare had a lot of questions to answer once they all got out of there!

The Balladeer of Ghosts nodded his head, then picked up his crutch and pointed vaguely in the direction of the Royal Engineer. "Ahhh... I like this one, Pureza. I can see - ehehe! - why the Madre-de-Estrellas requested for him a guardia de corps." Replacing his crutch, he twitched his lips and smacked his mouth. "Such a pity that her request for a volunteer was met with so little enthusiasm."

‘Wait, what?’

Princess Luna had had trouble finding a Night Guard member to serve as the fourth member of the quaternion?

What did that make Sergeant Ebonshield, then?

The dregs of the batponies?

A last-choice candidate?

Hell of a 'last choice,' though, considering how well she’d fought just now!

Lily glanced at the other surface-dwelling members of her quaternion and found them looking equally concerned.

Heedless to the confusion he'd sown, the old batpony colt continued. "And on that subject, Pureza, I should mention also jour brother, Marcos." Ignacio shook his head and grit his teeth. "He has been spreading the most vile calumnies about jou through the rookery, claiming that jou are bringing the shame most immense to jour family, to jour house, to jour temple, to jour race, that jou are abasing jourself, performing all sorts of grotesque and malevolent deeds with Equestrians, and revealing also the most sacred and forbidden secrets." Sneering, pounded his crutch repeatedly into the sand. "Jou must do something about him, Pureza."

Sergeant Ebonshield sighed and pawed a forehoof at the ground. "I know. He made these accusations to me in person last week." She flexed her wings, and as the folding metal blades mounted on them 'shninked' softly against themselves, the meaning of her previous threat to 'feed' Marcos her wings suddenly became quite obvious.

"I made my displeasure at his vulgarity quite clear then. But apparently I did not make the point forcefully enough."

The balladeer just fixed her in his sightless gaze. "There is no reaching a pony like Marcos with reason or threats." He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "Jou will have to kill him, Pureza."

That was the third batpony death threat Lily had heard, and although it was still shocking -- she heard Sparkshower gasp, too -- it was starting to seem like that was all these cave-dwellers did! They may not actually suck blood, but they sure seemed to love threatening to spill it.

Sergeant Ebonshield didn’t have anything to say in response to that pronouncement, and Ignacio continued, leaning in even further. "He is a Crusader to the bone, Pureza. For him, the Reconquista is not cancelled -- only postponed. He will never accept the way that things are now."

Purity swallowed. "He should have stayed on the moon."

Ignacio leaned back. "Another would have taken his place. There is no shortage of Crusader conquistadores blind to the reality which faces them."

Lily’s batpony sergeant nodded, dejected. "I know. But at least he would not be my brother."

"Brother or no, this is the work for an estelar, and there will be more to come before matters in the Rookery -- to say nothing of the Moon! -- are finally settled."

Ebonshield said nothing, and there was a long pause where the only noises echoing in this 'Grand Hall of Stars' were the soft shuffling of the musicians in their seats. Lily was not quite sure she understood everything that was exchanged just now.

What was it exactly that Marcos didn't accept?

That Princess Luna had reconciled with her sister, Princess Celestia?

That there would be peace between the batponies and Equestria?

Maybe even that Princess Luna was no longer Nightmare Moon?

The thought of the last one made Lily shudder inadvertently, and Ignacio swiveled his head towards her. "Hmm... I have darkened the mood with my words. Allow me, then, to chase away the shadows that I have brought into this hall. Unicorn: jou wish to understand my techniques, jes?"

Lily nodded her head, forgetting his blindness. "I'd like to. It was very impressive, sir."

At this, he gave her a slight bow. "The unicorn thinks that my magic is impressive! And she addresses me with the term of respect! Ahh, I am most flattered, hehe!"

Licking his lips, he turned his head sideways. "Answer my little questions and perform my little tasks and perhaps jou will be enlightened. And the first task is this: retrieve for me my mask using jour magic only, and replace this on my head!"

Weird idea of an apprentice's job. Then again, some of those professors in the Schola Magia did have some weird requests…

He was standing not two hooves away from where he dropped his mask, but obviously, being blind, he would have to scratch around to pick it up. With barely any effort at all, Lily lit up her horn, lifted the mask up, shook the sand off of it, and then floated it over in front of his eyes.

The batpony mage felt the red tassels brush up against his snout. "... Jes... now tie the ribbons in the back, also using jour magic."

Stepping forward to get a better look, she telekinetically seized the two fabric straps, wrapped them around the back of his crest, then tied them into a neat ribbon. "Okay, done."

Ignacio lifted a hoof and inspected her work, adjusting the blindfold slightly. "Good. The mask is the mark of my station, after all..."

‘Seriously?’

‘His uniform is a black sleeping-mask with red leather tassels?’

‘Weird.’

"...Now, tell me, unicorn, could jou not have done with the sand as jou did just now with my mask, and thereby reproduce the effects 'impressive' which I performed?"

Lily had thought about that one already, and her answer came quickly. "I could use my telekinesis to shape blobs of sand, yeah, and coloring them black would be a simple illusion on top of that. But to make them move like actual soldiers, all at the same time?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't keep my concentration on them like that. At best, I could move maybe one or two, and it'd be pretty janky motions, too, like an amateur marionette show. Things like wings flapping or legs pushing wouldn't correlate with actual movement."

Ignacio nodded his head, agreeing with her. "Mm-hmm, but surely jou could get better at this, no? Perhaps I am merely an expert at the puppeteering?"

That was no explanation, and she furrowed her brow. "But... you can't even see what you're doing! How could you sculpt those creatures to look like things you'd never seen before? And how could you make those creatures react so realistically to what Ebonshield did? Their motions were so fluid, it can't possibly have been simple telekinesis."

Once again, the batpony mage hummed in agreement, grinning. "Very well, then, unicorn, if I did not use the telekinesis, then what did I use?"

Lily shook her head again. "I don't know."

Ignacio's grin widened. "Bueno. To admit ignorance is the beginning of knowledge. For today, I will say that jou are correct and that this was indeed not the method. Jour task for the next lesson is to do research and propose some other way or two..."

‘Guh!’

So much for getting answers! And was this strange old colt seriously giving her homework?!

Well… Maybe if she took a stroll through some of the books in the library, she could think of some alternatives. Even the 'De Magia Unicornis' might give her some ideas. It was worth a shot if it gained her some more insight into this batpony's magic.

Ignacio turned towards where Ebonshield was standing. "For when jou are done here today, jou all will be back again, no? One does not learn to be a warrior in a single day, after all."

The sergeant nodded. "We will be back, if we are allowed."

Yawning, Ignacio grumbled. "As the Mother-of-Stars wills, so things shall be. Only, come during the night instead, when we are all awake! Or at least the evening, when we are just waking up."

Ebonshield bowed to him. "I will see if this is possible, Ignacio."

"Very well. Now, is there anything else, or shall I return to what passes for slumber in this hall of the noises cacophonic?"

The Royal Engineer spoke up, glancing at Ebonshield. "I have a question, actually, although I'm worried it may give offense."

From beneath his mask, Lily saw a curious eyebrow rise up on Ignacio's face. "Ah? Yet these are often the questions the most interesting. I insist that jou ask this question, 'Ingeniero Real,' although I make no promises that I shall not be offended, ehehehe."

Anonymous cleared his throat. "It's about etiquette. Estelar Ebanoscudo bows to you, and shows you considerable respect."

Before he could continue, Ignacio interrupted, glancing over at the sergeant with a smile. "She does, does she? Surprising. I would have expected an estelar to profit from my blindness; their schooling drives them to seek such advantages. Perhaps I should not have been so rude, earlier..."

With Ebonshield looking a bit embarrassed by his comment, he turned back to the Royal Engineer. "... And jour question is what, then?"

"Are you simply a higher-ranking member of the Star caste, or do you belong to the Lunars?"

‘Star caste? Lunars?’

Lily was at a loss. Clearly, Ebonshield told Anonymous more than she’d told her.

The Balladeer of Ghosts turned back towards the sergeant, who looked mortified. "Aaaaahhhhh... Jou have indeed been sharing the secrets, Pureza."

Grinning, he waggled his crutch in her direction. "But I am not offended by this; the Mother-of-Stars would approve, I am sure. And jour brother is still in the wrong."

Replacing his stick, he tamped it on the sandy ground. "... What does offend me is that jou have told him of the Five Phases of the Moon, but failed to teach him of the Hidden Sixth!"

‘What the buck, how can there be a secret phase of the moon?’

‘It's right there in the sky!’

Ebonshield swallowed, no longer quite so horrified, but still looking quite concerned. "My Lord was inquisitive as to the social customs of the people in whose territory he was going to tread, so I informed him of the basics."

"Ehe! A curious Lord, and a bold one, also, to have asked this question of me instead of jou!"

Anonymous spoke up in his own defense. "I apologize, sir. I just felt as if you hadn't been properly introduced."

Ignacio licked his lips and then loudly smacked them together. "Jou are correct: I have not been properly introduced. Let us rectify this immediately."

Pausing a moment, he sat up. "... I am the Balladeer of Ghosts Ignacio Blazon, of the House Rima de Serenidad, and I wear the symbol of my Phase, which all Children of the Stars know, and which all pregnant mothers-to-be fear -- the halo of red around the centre of shadow..."

Leaning on his crutch, the batpony raised up his forehooves to his red-fringed black face-mask, then spread them up and outwards in a sweeping mystical gesture.

"... the Eclipse."

Suggested interlude music: Paul Ruskay - 'The Gaalsi Arrive', from 'Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak' [2016]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcgQLp7Oj3M&t=2041s Listen to 34:15.

No embed today; timestamped youtube links don't function correctly.