Slaves, hunger, infections – Helovia was not the paradise that Alysanne had first believed when she arrived here. She tried to recall whether there were those that could be stolen or enslaved in Nocturne, but realized with guilt that she had been far too engrossed in her own life and her family to worry about the politics of the herds that just happened to exist around them. If she had known, maybe there would have been something that she could have done. No one deserved to be captive.
But there seemed to be a specific type of enslavement that Ampere was truly passionate about – and Alysanne’s attention remained on the blue mare as she explained, starting out rather calmly, about the injustice of companion bonding. Now, Alysanne had never viewed the bond as anything but that – a bond. She had little experience with companions, having only met one before entering the caves and only seeing them from a distance down here. “That’s terrible!” She couldn’t help but exclaim at the idea of the animals being forced to fight against each other – but as she had pointed out earlier, the idea of anyone battling rather unnerved her. Whatever Ampere said about justice without force being powerless, Alysanne believed different. “I did not know…” Alysanne did not believe that it was all as terrible was Ampere was saying, though her knowledge on the subject was not adequate. She could not find it in herself to believe such negativity was the norm. “But isn’t there love there too? I’ve only seen kindness between those bonded – surely companions are the greatest friends to those that they become bonded to, even family.” There were more questions that she wanted to ask, but the subject had been changed by the arrival of Aurelia.
Ampere did not seem to share her fear that the newest addition to the dark was a wraith, the infected version of sweet Aurelia. Though she had not been there the last time, so Alysanne couldn’t blame her. The white-and-black mare tried to stay calm, willed none of the fear to rise up inside of her and take over until she knew, and it almost did. When the leaping, electric rabbit left them in darkness Alysanne felt as though she would drown in her despair. One steadying breath and then another until Aurelia had joined them.
Her fears were unwarranted, which was good. Ampere might have need to give her a crash course in justice-with-force had everything gone wrong.
It took another few moments for her anxiety to completely fade away – but a blue-lit smile was easy enough to manage when she realized her friend was healthy again. The golden mare seemed to have no recollection of the actual last time that they had met – which Alysanne was thankful for. She did not wish to dredge it up, to remind the young mare of what had happened. No, better to leave the idea that the last time they had met was in the meadow, where Alysanne had trouble with her landings.
The smile becomes easier as Aurelia came to stand beside her and she reached out to nudge her affectionately on her neck, so thankful to see her happy and healthy again! “I can’t wait to hear about it!” It was as if nothing had even happened, and that was a farce Alysanne could live with. “This is Ampere,” She introduced the other mare with no lack of fondness despite their short acquaintance. They might have different ideals, but she admired the passion with which the other spoke. “She was just teaching me a little about companions and Helovia.”
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