Title: Desert Sands

TDesert Sands

• MLP: FiM
• Dark
• Sad

The sun never sets within Luna's nightmares.

• Violence
• Death
• Alt. Universe
• Celestia
• Luna

DarthBall · 16k words  ·  59  1 · 1k views

Summary: Luna is having nightmares wandering a desert with no end in sight, and this constant strain begins casting doubts if she truly is asleep, or awake. 

Analysis:  

I’ll start off by saying I really enjoyed this one-shot. 

There’s a lot to take in, and to avoid spoiling the twist and ending I’ll keep my review to the theme and atmosphere of this story. Right out of the gate, the word usage and descriptions kept me invested as I found myself in the company of a mare many in the fandom have cherished since her first appearance in the show. This tag-along I found myself apart of was nothing short of mesmerizing, and heart breaking as I watched this princess bake under the relentless sun, a possible metaphor for her the pressures of her nightly duties. 

She would stumble, curse, and bake under its rays, but continue her trek looking for something other than the vast emptiness of the sands. 

In recent memory, this brought with it a sense of borrowing inspiration from the book/movie ‘DUNE’, and having listened to the first four books while loving the movie couldn’t get enough of the feeling the story was involving.  As with both, Paul and Luna have to enter the desert (willingly or not) while enduring its trials so they may possibly find salvation; Luna unknowingly is plagued with problems, and lingering anger that carries over into her sleep where the desert reflects her feelings perfectly. 

For weeks Luna partakes in this expedition searching for an answer to a question she can’t even figure out is worth asking, else it destroys everything she holds dear. Even the brief exchanges with Celestia really drive home both ponies are stressed and like good siblings will unnecessarily snap at each other, only hammering in the point Luna feels like Celestia’s sun really is causing her grief in all hours of the day and night. 

The entire time I read this story, I noted a ‘DUNE’ feel, and was happy to confirm it when I can stumbled upon this line:

“For most, fear was the mind-killer, something that all creatures went out of their way to avoid.”

Not an exact quote, but it's enough confirmation this story wasn’t going to be cut and dry, but will have so many more layers to it. One example would be the sisters’ interactions toward each other never left me feeling the exchange was forced, or their reactions were over the top, but genuinely feeling their discomfort. They actually acted and spoke in accordance to normal siblings having an argument. This tension also paved the way for much Luna’s anguish, and eventual return to the desert trying to find anything that could help get Celestia off her back, and while I had some ideas where this might take my favorite princess, the twist ending left me surprised. The payoff and final reveal if my favorite night princess finally escapes the desert or is doomed to forever wonder it alone was worth the price of admission.

I can’t praise this story enough, and actually earned me a favorite, and following the author. 

Rating: 10/10

Thank you so much for reviewing this! I’m glad you enjoyed it!