• Published 7th Sep 2013
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Dark Paradise: the TwiLuna Group Collab - Habanc



100-500 word prompt-based minifics from the TwiLuna group. Contains copious amounts of adorkableness.

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Insomnia - Knight of Lycaeus

Written by: Knight of Lycaeus

*****

"Luna?" Twilight asked as she walked on the balcony of Luna's suite in Canterlot Castle.

"Good evening Twilight" said the mare who sat the edge of the balcony gazing at the city and beyond.

Twilight shook her head, "You know evening is long past us, I know you can feel the time by the movements of the moon and sun."

Luna sighed as Twilight closed the distance to sit next to her, "I am aware of the hour. I am tired but my mind is also uneasy."

"This has been how many nights that I find you seating here saying that we tired and unable to sleep?"

"One could certainly count but it has been far too often." Luna looked at Twilight, "Though I just as often find you out in the night here or in Ponyvile for the same reason."

Twilight sighed, "Seems like we both have issues sleeping."

Luna nodded, "It is rather ironic in a sense. The nights were when I used to be awake but there is less need for that than before. There are less monsters that prowl so near settlements and fewer enemies who so threaten our borders. I may spend some nights running the Lunar Court or some element of my half of the Diarchy but not to the same extent as before when mine and my sister's duties were more strictly divided."

Twilight leaned herself in allowing herself to rest slightly on the larger mare, "You still patrol the Realm of Dreams, you still guard us from dangers even if it less physical than what it once was. But I have noticed you sleeping less since the more recent…. crisis."

Luna wrapped a wing around Twilight before sighing again, "Part of my problem rests with the escape of Tirek. Tirek when I was a foal was told as a foalhood story meant to scare us to behave. Tirek the Endless Devourer whose maw was infinite and he hunted down all without impunity seeking their magics to add and bolster his own. I may not have been a foal for many long millenniums but his story still resonates with me."

"I have heard of Tirek in a few tales here and there but I never imagine how terrifying he would be in person. Even diminished he still seemed more, more than the terror Nightmare Moon inspired, more than the madness of Discord, more than the destruction that Chrysalis wrought, more than the hatred that Sombra cloaked himself in." Twilight shuddered, "He was more, more in ways I couldn't even begin to put into words."

"Tirek's return has set me on edge and as a result, I have slept poorly as of late. It is not entirely from old foalhood stories but from the feeling of being drained and being powerless to stop him." Luna's eyes hardened, "I was once known as a terror and not just for Nightmare Moon! I led our armies to face terrifying foes that we could seldom imagine exist in the bare light of the day!" Luna sighed and her eyes became downcast, "Being so powerless is far too much like when I was a Dusk Bringer. I was young during the waning years of the Kingdom of Unicornia; for me and many others the unification seemed to be a long awaited godsend. It finally ended the long fighting and uncertainty, for a time we thought we were safe, safe from fighting with other ponies and safe knowing we had a new land to call our own. Then Discord came…. In the Years of Madness we fled to the Everfree, the only sanctuary in the chaotic storm and there we stayed. For so long we were unable to bring down the Mad Tyrant from his ever shifting throne. After we did I knew I never wished to feel so…. helpless again. Yet Tirek in his endless hunger for magics brought me down again, down to where I never wished to be again…. How could I feel safe enough to sleep, to rest again? I fear that this is a mere lull before the next threat." Luna gave a dark smile, "All those threats sealed so long ago seem to be awaking from their slumber once more. I know not of all the terrors and monsters that I and others before me have locked away only for their imprisonment to be lost to time."

Twilight hearing this only leaned in closer, "I can't even imagine anything like that. You are right; this world is so different than the one you once knew. Ancient beings aside this is an age of peace, ponies have been safer than ever before and not just from the Royal Guards and the Equestrian Army that protects us but other nations have likewise settled. So few nations are willing to fight once more on the battlefield knowing that advances in magic and technology would render our world uninhabitable and yet and the same time many have come to enjoy the prosperity this peaceful age has brought." Twilight paused for moment before leaning to nuzzle Luna, "I know what you mean though about Tirek. You've been finding me here as much I've been finding you here far too late in the night. I haven't slept well either with Tirek's rampage still running in my mind." Twilight sighed, "I can imagine him destroy my home, my friends, my family, everyone and everything. Nothing would stop his endless quest. We came so close to losing everything, no other threat came as close as he did in destroying everything. I understand what you mean by how it seems we're in a state of peace now only for another ancient evil to return. But the peace, the downtime is certainly something we should appreciate. I learned before that worrying endless about the future does nothing, there are some things we can change and others we can't but we'll face them when it comes."

Luna stood up and offered a hoof to Twilight. Once both we're sanding did Luna speak, "Thank you, I know I should not worry so but Tirek was a powerful reminder of the terror I once knew. The hour is growing ever late but perhaps we could still have a few hours rest." Twilight nodded hearing the unspoken request to stay and followed Luna back inside.

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