Nightmares May Dream - Part 2
There were many things he had expected to happen during his and the being’s journey through the darkness. Considering how long it had been absent from him, it wouldn’t surprise him if the being spent the entire journey talking about what it had been up to and why it had been gone for so long. Perhaps it would’ve occasionally asked him about what he himself had done all this time, inquiring him about his work and what designs he had made up for it. A part of him even expected the being to suddenly stop and create something out of nowhere to amuse itself with for a few moments, like another patch of grass, before moving on. The possibility of this was great enough that he had even begun to imagine the ensuing quarrel between them in his head. He would scold the being for wasting time, and the being would in return tell him that he needed to relax more.
He had expected many things to happen, but a lingering silence was not one of them. So far, the entire journey had been spent without the being uttering a single word. It wanted to tell him something; that much was certain. It continuously turned to him with its mouth half-open, preparing to say something, only to close it and turn away again. It was as if it was trying to keep itself from talking. Half the time, it even looked a bit frustrated by its own hesitance, a frustration that had begun to spread over to him as well.
Despite the length of their walk, the being had yet to inform him of where they were going and what it was going to show him. It had mentioned something about a “world”, but that was the only clue it had given him. If it was more information about this subject that the being was keeping itself from telling him, it was doing a poor job of hiding it. Curious as he was, though, he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of travelling so far away from his own work for reasons he knew almost nothing about.
What confused him even more were the red marks on the being’s cheeks. For some reason, they had stayed on ever since he had spoken its name when they began to walk, and they seemed to grow brighter every time the being turned around to say something.
After yet another repetition of the being trying to say something, his patience finally ran out. He decided that it was time for it to come clean, even if he had to drag the answers out of it himself.
“What’s keeping you from telling me?” he asked it just as it turned its head away. The question apparently caught the being off-guard, as it jumped in surprise and turned back to him with widened eyes.
“W-What?” it asked him. The red marks on its cheeks had grown even larger than before.
“If you’re going to explain where you’re leading me, then get on with it. This secrecy of yours has only served to confuse me this entire time.”
The being blinked a few times, as if it was processing what he had just said. The silence only lasted a few moments before a glimpse of realization flashed in its eyes.
“Oh. You didn’t mean… Ah, hahaha. Okay, I see. Um, nevermind then,” it said in-between laughs before collecting itself. “I wasn’t planning on telling you what I’m going to show you at all. It’s such a great surprise, and I would hate to spoil it!”
“What could be so-” he tried to ask.
“Sorry! Not telling!” the being interrupted him in a teasing tone while rolling its eyes. He almost couldn’t keep himself from rolling his own, albeit in a different mood. He had not come all this way just to have the being play around the subject.
“Then what is it that you’ve wanted to say?”
The being’s eyes widened yet again, but this time not out of shock or surprise. The red marks on its cheeks returned after briefly fading away before during its teasing, and it let its head fall down a bit as it looked back and forth between him and the void they walked on.
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
He hadn't expected the sudden apology, and it took a moment for him to verbalize a response. “F-For what?”
“For leaving you like that. I lied when I said that I was going to explore the area more. I just had an idea I wanted to try out, and I was afraid that you would… I don’t know… get angry if I told you about it. But once I got started, there was so much to do, so much to keep track of. I wanted to come back and get you, I promise, but I just didn’t have the time. I’ve felt so awful about it all this time… I’m so sorry, **--*…”
“…Your apology is unnecessary,” he answered after trying to piece together the clues hidden in the being’s explanation. Whatever it was that it had been working on, it was not only required to be monitored and maintained at a near-constant basis, but it was also something he would’ve objected to if the being had told him about it. If this was true, it didn’t help to ease his worrying expectations about their destination at all. “I’ve already told you that I didn’t even notice your absence before-”
“STOP SAYING THAT!” His sentence was interrupted as the being suddenly shouted and stepped in front of him. It stared into his eyes with an expression of slight anger and self guilt. “You may not realize just how long I’ve been gone, but I do!”
He stared blankly back at the being, surprised by its sudden outburst, but unable to understand the reason behind it. The being seemingly noticed this, and the anger in its eyes faded as it sighed and sat down with its head hanging.
“I… I’ve thought about you so many times since I left. Every time I created something new, I promised myself that I would go and get you. I even created some things to motivate myself to do so. You know that word I said before, ‘Time’? I made such a thing up just so I could know how long I’ve been gone, and to pressure myself to go back to you.
“…But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave it all behind, I had to stay and watch over it. Something would always go wrong, forcing me to fix it before my whole work was ruined. I even managed to start walking away a bit before having to turn around to fix something else. And I couldn’t just move it all over to you, not in the state it’s in now. I’m actually worried that something else might’ve gone wrong while I was away now, even though I made sure that it was okay a thousand times over before I left.
“All this time, I’ve wanted to see you again, and show you what I’ve made. I wanted to talk to you about it, explain how and why I created it, and what inspired me to do so. I would look over my shoulder to see the look on your face… but you were never there. For such a long time, no one was there. I was… I felt so lonely…”
The being had yet to raise its head up to look at him. It spoke so quietly that it seemed that it was speaking to itself. And all this time, listening to its every word, he looked down at it. His expression remained unchanged throughout the entire speech, and in most part, his mind did the same. Tried as he might, he couldn’t understand the meaning behind what the being was saying. He couldn’t make out the reasons for the way it spoke, its voice quiet and sincere. He couldn’t fathom the origins behind the words that were hidden beyond his sight within the being’s conscience.
“Like I said… unnecessary,” he eventually said, making the being flinch upon hearing him. “You know just as well as I do that we’ve done nothing in the past but annoy and distract each other from our work. You’re a burden to me, as am I to you. When you left, I was finally free from your interference, and we’ve now accomplished things alone that we could’ve never done together. Regardless of what you’ve created by now, you could’ve achieved so much more without spending every other thought on me. Even apart, you keep on distracting yourself by thinking about someone you’ve no reason to care about.”
He walked a few steps forward; stopping next to the being’s sitting form. He didn’t even look down at it as the next few words left his mouth.
“It would’ve been best if you hadn’t returned at all, *--*-*.”
Without looking down to see the being’s reaction, he began to walk away in order to resume their journey. Just like he’d expected, the being had only served to stall their progress. It was still even refusing to answer his questions about their destination. He began to curse his decision to follow it in the first place. He could only imagine the new things he could’ve created by now instead of venturing out on this pointless walk.
He reflexively perked his ears up, expecting the being to lash out at him again, or blabber on about some other, meaningless topic. But instead of words of argument or an annoyed grunt, he found himself hearing something he’d never heard from it before.
Small gasps, sometimes followed by almost inaudible squeals, escaped through the being’s breaths. As he turned around to look back at it, he noticed that it had yet to stand back up from its sitting position. He could see its shoulders shaking slightly with each gasp, and that it had raised its limbs up to its face, covering its eyes as if it was shielding them. He could just barely make out small droplets of liquid falling from its face.
He didn’t know how long he stood there, standing in silence as he listened to these strange sounds. The moment he first heard them, he had begun to sense something build up within his chest. It was as if a void was forming within it, creating a hole in his very soul. He had no idea what it was, or why he was feeling it now. He only knew that whatever it was, it was growing more and more unbearable.
He remained quiet as he walked back to the being, stopping in front of it. This time, though, out of curiosity and other unknown reasons, he leaned down to get a better look on the being’s face. He didn’t even notice himself raising his limb to it, slowly lifting it by the cheek to let the being’s eyes look back at his.
The red color on its cheeks had now nearly spread out over the being’s entire face. Its eyes were red as well, almost swollen as drops continued to fall from them. Its jaw was held shut, but its lips were parted in a grimace, leaving its clenching teeth visible for him to see. As it stared at him, he could see anger boiling within its eyes even more than before, mixed with something else he had no word for. He didn’t ask it what it was. In fact, he refrained from saying anything at all. His chest had begun to ache even more upon seeing the being like this, and he felt like it would grow even worse if he spoke.
Despite his silence, the being’s expression slowly began to soften. Its anger made way for confusion as it stared at him; as if it was listening to the unspoken words he was stopping himself from saying. After lifting a limb back to its face to dry its eyes one more time, it suddenly spoke to him with a shaky voice.
“…If you think we’re better off apart… then why did you stand up to go and look for me before?”
While their journey had been silent before, it was nothing compared to the silence that now reigned over the area. The being seemed to stare beyond the mere borders of his eyes, its own not wavering in the slightest as it waited for his answer. It was as if it was looking for something even he was unable to see deep within himself. Was it trying to read his thoughts? Was it trying to look into his very soul? Or was it trying to sense his… his…
My… feelings…
The being had mentioned that word shortly after returning to him, and he had grown to despise it the moment he heard it. What these ‘feelings’ were had been no concern of his. His ability for creation had been the only thing to fill his mind, and he had needed nothing else. Even the being’s presence had served as nothing more than a nuisance to his work. As long as he could let his thoughts take shape in his designs, nothing else had mattered to him.
And yet there had been something missing, a piece of his existence missing from his soul. No matter how much he created, he never managed to fill that hole. So he had tried again, changing and erasing his work over and over to find the one thing he unconsciously sought. But regardless of what uses his designs had, they never fulfilled the purpose he had in mind. How could they? He didn’t even know what he was trying to make in the first place, what it was that could fill up the void in his chest.
But now, as he stared into the light blue eyes in front of him, that sense of something missing began to fade.
Was this why he had suddenly noticed the being’s absence? No matter how much he thought of it, it didn’t make any sense. The being had only served to annoy him. Every moment he spent with it was frustrating. When it was near, he couldn’t focus on his work, and he couldn’t make up new designs without having it object or creating something pointless in return. By every sense of logic, he would’ve had it better if he had never come to know the being at all.
But in the back of his mind, he knew that it wouldn’t have been better that way. Because regardless of how the being made him feel, the fact remained that it actually made him feel something at all. Something he couldn’t duplicate with a wave of his limb into some kind of object. For all the times it complained about his designs, he knew that it was because it was interested in his creations. For all the times they argued, he felt a feeling of warmth in his chest, knowing that he had someone to talk to at all. It was enough to make him want to have the being at his side, because in the end, it didn’t simply irritate him. It made him feel… feel...
He didn’t know what he felt. Nor did he know why those feelings were so important to him. As he continued to stare into the being’s eyes, he still found himself unable to answer its question. Why did it mean so much to him? Why was the being itself always thinking and caring about him? Why did it make him feel complete, giving him purpose beyond just aimlessly creating things in the dark?
Why do I want to be with you? he asked himself in a final attempt to gather his thoughts. In the end, however, he was left with only one answer.
“I… don’t know.”
His eyes fell from the being’s own, breaking their eye contact as he suddenly didn’t want to look at it anymore. Not out of annoyance or irritation like all those times before, but simply because he didn’t want to see its reaction to his answer. It was strange how much things had changed, how different he was now compared to mere moments ago.
He didn’t have long to ponder his change, though. Small giggles interrupted his thoughts as the being brought a limb to its mouth in a pointless effort to block its laughs. Strangely enough, he could feel the ache in his chest settle down as he heard the familiar sound. The giggles eventually ended, and the being raised its head back up to look at him.
“Don’t worry… It’s fine.”
It lifted its limb back up, this time placing it on his cheek before slowly, with the tiniest bit of force, pulling his head closer to it.
“You may not realize it… but I do.”
“W-What’s happening? Where am I? Who’s there?!”
“FEAR NOT, YOUNG DISTANCE DROP! THY PRINCESS IS HERE TO HELP THEE CONQUER THY FEARS!”
“No… not you! S-Stay back! Don’t come near me!”
“W-What? No, wait, listen to us! We only wish to help-”
“Stay away from me! By Celestia, somepony help me! HELP!”
With a heavy sigh, Luna opened her eyes in the looming darkness. As she did so, the world around her also became visible once again to the disoriented Lucario. Before focusing on Luna’s new whereabouts, he tried to make sense of what he had just seen during her conversation with a colt named Distance Drop.
What was that? The whole world suddenly felt… unstable. It seemed like it was constantly changing before my- Luna’s eyes. I can’t even recall it all completely…
Realizing that dwelling on it wouldn’t get him anywhere for the moment, Lucario took notice of Luna’s current surroundings. He could see everything around her clearly, but he could still tell that it was nighttime. Everything was quiet, and only a mild breeze was audible in the air. As for Luna’s location, she was standing by the side of a building, looking through one of its windows. Instead of glass, a simple drapery hung in front of it, which Luna was currently holding up using her magic. From what little time Lucario had to tell from the room inside, it was the home of a rather poor family. The furniture was heavily worn out, and it seemed like the entire house only had one, big room.
On a small bed located in the far corner, a panting colt was sitting up with his thin blanket thrown down on the floor. His entire body was shaking as he just stared into space, too scared out of his mind to look around. Luna seemingly knew better than to wait for him to see her through the window, though, as she turned around and began to walk away down the dirty road next to the house.
*sigh* “Why do we even bother anymore?” she quietly said to herself. “As if entering their dreams like that will ever work.” A hint of sadness was clearly detectable in her voice, but she didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind it for Lucario to hear. While he was able to see and hear everything she did, he was still unable to read her thoughts.
So that strange scene with the colt before was a dream? Lucario thought to himself as he heard Luna’s words. But why did she enter his dream in the first place? Is that part of her duty as the princess of the night?
As she walked, Luna occasionally cast a few glances to the buildings around her. Judging by their numbers, Lucario guessed that she was walking through a fairly large city. The buildings seemed to be just as old as the one Luna had just been to, as many scratches and cracks were visible on the rocky house walls. All of them had windows with the same, dirty kind of drapery hanging over them as the other house, and the roofs were made out of straw, similar in design to the ones used by common villagers several centuries ago.
Luna mentioned at our meeting in Canterlot that she and Celestia began to rule Equestria over a thousand years ago. This must take place sometime before her transformation into Nightmare Moon. Is this how Canterlot used to look like back then?
While this theory sounded plausible at first, Lucario suddenly remembered the conversation he had overheard between the two royal guards he encountered in the caves below Canterlot.
No, that can’t be right. If what that guard said was true, then Celestia didn’t build Canterlot until after Luna’s banishment. And those words she said to the ponies after beating Discord… ‘Ever free’… The guard did mention that the princesses used to rule Equestria from a castle inside the Everfree Forest. So that would make this... Everfree City?
While Lucario thought about all this, Luna passed by a narrow alleyway on her left side. Instinctively lifting her gaze from the ground to look at it, she noticed a pair of shadows disappearing around its corner. An empty basket fell down from the barrel that the shadows had passed by; serving as proof for Luna that she hadn’t been seeing things.
“Who’s there?” she called out, trying to be as quiet as possible so that none of the ponies in the nearby buildings would wake up. Like she probably expected, she received no answer. Normally, she would’ve left it at that and kept walking, but Lucario noticed how she kept staring into the alley. The shadows, from what he had the time to tell, were noticeably smaller than those of an adult pony. This fact must’ve caught Luna’s attention as well, as she transformed her body into stardust before flying up above roof level.
After a bit of searching, she found what she was looking for. Stepping through the darkness of the alleyways were two young unicorn fillies. One of them, who had a clear white coat and a pink-colored mane with a purple stripe through it, was moving so stealthily from cover to cover that it was almost comical. She pressed her back up to almost every wall and object she hid behind, throwing overly dramatic gazes all around her in search of potential danger. Behind her, walking much more realistically after her over-the-top companion, was another filly of similar age. She had a simple blond mane, and her coat was a multicolored mix of chestnut and different shades of brown. Even from this distance, thanks to Luna’s night vision, Lucario could make out the annoyed expression on her face. More importantly, he could hear them bickering quietly between each other as they snuck.
“I told you to be more care-”
“Shh! We’re trying to sneak here.”
“Exactly! Do you have to tackle nearly every barrel you see to the ground when you hide behind them? What if somepony saw us?”
“Pff, you worry too much. Remember who you’re talking to here.”
*sigh* “That’s exactly why I’m worrying…”
Luna stayed hidden above the fillies for a few more moments, watching the more serious one of the two lift a hoof to her forehead as they slowly made their way through the alleys. However, after probably assuming that they wouldn’t say anything of interest, she dived down in front of them both, taking on her normal form as she did.
“Greetings to thee, our young subjects,” she said as she landed. The fillies’ reactions were roughly what Lucario had expected from such a sudden greeting. The one at the front, who had just walked out from behind another trash barrel, jumped up into the air while yelping in fright. Either by complete accident or intentional comedic effect, she somehow managed to fall perfectly into the barrel she’d just hid behind. The second one had a similar reaction, but instead chose to throw herself into cover behind a pair of crates. She rolled into the wall a little harder than she’d probably intended, but still got back on her hooves in order to watch Luna from the edge of the back crate.
“No need to be afraid,” Luna hurried to assure them. “Thou are but speaking to Princess Luna, ruler of the night, and younger sister of Princess Celestia.”
A rather long and awkward silence followed as Luna waited for the two to say something. She tried her best to hold up the reassuring smile on her face, but it was getting more and more strained as the fillies just continued to look at her. The shock they received from her sudden appearance was still present on their expressions, and it wasn’t farfetched to assume that they would soon change into looks of fear.
It was this assumption that caused both Lucario and Luna to be surprised when the white-coated filly’s lips slowly began to tug themselves into a smile. By the time it had turned into a full-out grin, her other friend finally threw a quick glance away from Luna to see the up-building reaction.
“Sneaky, calm down.”
“I don’t think I can…”
“You’re going to wake up the entire block.”
“Worth it…”
“Listen, I’m just as excited as you are.”
“Doubt it…”
“But we have to stay quiet, even if it is-”
“PRINCESS LUNA!”
The ironically named Sneaky shouted at the top of her lungs as she shot out of her barrel prison, making it fall over with a loud thud. She barely even touched the ground before leaping towards Luna, wrapping her hooves around her neck and squeezing her with all her might.
“Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh, it’s actually you! The real you! Not a demon trying to devour me in my dreams or anything, but just you! Oh, oh, can I touch your mane?! Can I hear the stars twinkle in it if I put my ear to it?! Can I-”
In-between trying to pull the overly excited filly off her with her hoof and wheezing for air, Luna turned her head to one of the nearby windows upon noticing lights being lit within the building. Even through all of Sneaky’s loud talking, muffled voices could still be heard coming from inside as its residents woke up from the noise. Clearly not wanting to be caught like this by her already mistrusting subjects, Luna took a quick step towards the other filly, who had remained hidden behind the crates with a worried frown. Her horn lit up briefly before she and the fillies disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the investigating ponies that peaked out from their windows to simply find an empty alley with a fallen over barrel.
When Lucario’s sight returned to him, he found Luna and the fillies standing on the side of a small street. Judging by the poor condition of the nearby houses, it was still somewhere within the city’s poor district. These houses, however, had actual glass windows, and the roofs were made of more modern tiles instead of straw. It was quiet around them once again as Sneaky, still clutching onto Luna’s neck, looked around a bit in surprise upon noticing how they’d suddenly teleported. She was undoubtedly about to comment on this before her friend leapt up to put her hoof to her mouth before she could even open it.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” she punctuated as she locked eyes with Sneaky with a venomous stare. Probably getting the hint at last, Sneaky let go of her grip and softly landed back on the ground. She threw a quick shrug in her friend’s direction.
“Sorry. It’s just…” She looked back at Luna in awe. “It’s her. It’s really her.”
“As you were kind enough to shout over that entire block,” her friend deadpanned as she dusted off her coat a bit. “But… you’re right.” To both Lucario’s and Luna’s surprise, the filly’s voice grew soft as she too looked up at Luna, her eyes even more awe inspired than Sneaky’s. “Princess Luna…”
Caught off-guard by the fillies staring, Luna kept quiet for a few seconds before eventually catching on to her very un-royal behavior. She immediately straightened herself and made a quiet cough as she regained her composure.
*cough* “Indeed, our young subjects. We’re the one and only Princess Luna, like we’ve already assured thee. We’re… grateful for thy enthusiastic welcoming, although…” She lightly rubbed her neck with a hoof. “…We would appreciate no more sudden invasions of our personal space.”
Both she and the other filly glanced at Sneaky, who took a moment to realize that the request was referring to her.
“Oh, right, sorry. Your mane really did twinkle, though.”
“What my friend is TRYING to say is…” The other filly jabbed Sneaky in the side before forcing her head down in a bow with a hoof. “We’re so sorry about before.” She looked back up at Luna with a mix of worry and adoration. “And it’s an honor to meet you… your majesty.”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
“Be quiet.”
Luna couldn’t help but smile a bit at the fillies’ humorous bickering. “It’s quite all right, young ones. Do not worry thyselves about it anymore. Now tell us, what are thy names?”
“Oh! Oh!” Sneaky immediately lifted her head back up despite her friend’s grip on it and waved her hoof like a scoolfilly in class.
“Thy name we believe we’ve already been acquainted with,” Luna said. “Sneaky, if we’re correct.”
“That’s right!” Sneaky answered proudly before suddenly throwing herself to the ground in a prone position. “I’m the stealthiest and most undetectable pony in all of Everfree! No, make that all of Equestria!” She began to crawl around as she continued to boast. Upon reaching a discarded pot of withered flowers under a nearby window, she quickly grabbed them and held them in front of her face, as if they were supposed to hide her. “Once I’m in the shadows or behind a clever disguise, I’m practically invisible! ”
Sneaky’s two-pony audience watched her little demonstration in awkward silence before her friend turned to Luna with what must’ve been a regularly practiced neutral expression. “She’s deluding herself, I know.”
“Hey!”
“It’s so unfitting for you. Just because 'Sneaky' is your name doesn’t mean it’s your talent. I mean, if your name had anything to do with it, you would’ve had your cutie mark by now.”
“To move on from the subject…” Luna said, sensing an approaching argument in the air as the fillies exchanged grumpy stares. “What does thy name happen to be then, young unicorn?”
“Landlubber, your highness.” The filly quickly answered with a straight and proud face.
Your name doesn’t fit much better… Lucario thought, unbeknownst to him exactly at the same time as Luna thought the same.
“Very well then, young Landlubber and Sneaky. Now that our introductions are out of the way, may we ask what the two of thee were doing out here in the middle of our night? The dark streets are no place for children like thee.”
“Lubby was just escorting me home after our nightly walk,” Sneaky answered as she bounced back to Landlubber’s side, just in time to have her friend’s hoof pressed against her mouth once more.
“Nightly?” Luna repeated in slight surprise “Thou mean that thou go out like this every night?”
“Of course!” Sneaky exclaimed happily as she shoved Landlubber’s hoof away. “We always climb on top of a tall rooftop and watch the stars and the moon together.” Turning to Landlubber for affirmation, she instead found the unicorn filly giving her what was certainly by now an often seen frown. “Oh come on, why wouldn’t we? You like it just as much as I do, not to mention all the other kids.”
“Others? There are more of thee than just thou two that… watch our night?” The surprise was this time clear in Luna’s voice. In fact, Lucario almost thought he could hear a trace of… disbelief.
“They already went back on their own,” Landlubber explained. “But we meet up every night we can to watch the night sky, like Sneaky said. We know we’ll get in trouble if somepony finds out, but… we really don’t have much else to do together.” She looked up at Luna with a hint of worry in her eyes. “Are we in trouble?”
“Huh?” Luna responded, having seemingly drifted off in deep thought. She quickly shook her head once the words registered. “N-No, of course not, child. We would never think of punishing thee for simply… enjoying our night. But still, we believe it’s best for thee to return home now, before morning draws too close. Tell us where thou live, and we’ll make sure thou will get there post haste.”
“Right! Leave it to me, princess!” Sneaky saluted before starting to spin around in circles, scanning the surrounding area with her hoof. “If I got our location down right, my house should be riiight… here, actually.”
Sneaky ceased her spinning search as she found herself pointing right at the building they were all standing by. She blinked a few times before turning to Luna with an impressed smile. “Wow, you’re good. Or am I good? Who knows?”
Landlubber rolled her eyes. “Well, in that case, I better head back as well. See you tomorrow, Sneaky?” She asked, surprisingly with a hint of hopefulness in her voice, considering all of the two’s bickering up until this point.
“You bet!” Sneaky beamed and gave her friend a hug. “And it’s been so fantastic meeting you, princess! Thank you so much!” She ran up and gave Luna an only slightly less painful hug than she’d given her neck before, which Luna returned as unawkwardly as she could. After letting go, she walked towards the door while waving back at them. “I hope we can see each other again! Bye, Lubby! Princess!”
Luna and Landlubber watched as Sneaky casually opened the door and went inside without a second thought. For someone calling herself the stealthiest and most undetectable pony in all of Everfree, she sure could use some more lessons in subtlety, Lucario thought, wondering why the filly didn’t seem to care about risking her parents waking up from all the noise.
“Now then,” Luna said as she turned to Landlubber. “Shall we be off, young one?”
“Y-Yes, your highness.” Landlubber bowed her head, and Luna followed her lead as they began to make their way down another alley.
The walk was mostly spent in silence, with Luna only reassuring Landlubber once that there was no need to walk so carefully anymore with the princess of the night herself escorting her. As they moved onward, Lucario took the chance to ponder over Luna’s strange reactions from before.
Did I just imagine it? She reacted as if ponies have never even looked up at her night sky before. This may take place a thousand years ago, but surely astronomy had been invented at this point. Why is she so surprised?
As he thought this, Lucario noticed Luna’s eyes drifting to Landlubber from time to time, occasionally opening her mouth a bit as if wanting to say something.
Whatever it is, she’s troubled by it. But I still don’t understand how all of this is connected to Nightmare Moon.
Thinking back on his encounter with the fallen alicorn, Lucario gathered what he knew for sure about her. She was prideful, but not arrogant like Chrysalis had been. She held her night in higher regard than anything, and was easily enraged when anyone dared to speak ill of it. And most of all, her dream of ushering forth an eternal night over Equestria was something she was more than happy to proclaim to whoever she met.
All of these traits pointed towards a mare with a single-minded purpose. A mare who cared about little else than fulfilling her goals, sparing no thought of the ponies that would suffer because of her selfish dream.
A mare who contrasted greatly to the shy, shut-in princess who were now escorting a small filly home in the middle of the night, and who had nearly been left speechless upon hearing of her and her friends’ nightly escapades.
That colt from before, Lucario thought as he reflected on the memory of Luna’s prior dream visit. He wasn’t the first to react that way, was he? He was just one of many, if not countless others who have shunned away like that. Shunning her night. That must’ve been why she was surprised to hear about a group of children sneaking out to watch it all the time. Because this was the first time she’d heard anyone ever speaking well of it.
All of a sudden, a familiar feeling of sympathy grew inside Lucario. He realized that this was the sole connection he could find between this past Luna and the present’s Nightmare Moon, as he’d felt just the same when he saw a wave of sorrow invade her eyes when he held her up against the tower wall.
“So you oppose my dream as well…”
…I do, Lucario found himself thinking. The only question is… why you’re still fighting for it.
By now, Luna had given up her attempts to speak, instead opting to just walk a few steps behind Landlubber as she led the way through the alleyways. As they passed onto a main street, Landlubber turned her head to the small tunnel that came into view around the corner. Next to its wall, under a single leaning layer of plywood held in place by a couple of rocks, slept a colt around Landlubber’s age. His coat was dark brown, almost black, and his curly mane and tail were bright white in color, although slightly faded from dust and dirt. His mane was long and unkempt, with strands sticking out everywhere in different directions. His sleeping spot was understandably uncomfortable for him, as his posture seemed somewhat strained and non-relaxed.
As she caught sight of the colt as well, Luna stepped up next to Landlubber and regarded him with curiosity. “Who’s this, pray tell?”
She barely finished the question before the colt’s eyes shot open. Luna had tried her best to stay quiet, but the colt’s hearing must’ve been that of a bat to immediately pick up on it. After noticing his sudden company, he spared no time in jumping to his hooves and dashing away, his little makeshift shelter collapsing as he disappeared around the corner. His light hoofsteps grew continuously more distant as he ran further and further away, leaving a confused Luna and Landlubber in his wake.
“That was Whiteout,” Landlubber answered Luna’s question. “He’s a new colt in the area, and nopony knows where he came from. He’s the only one in the group who doesn’t come with us on our night gazes. Although… he really isn’t a member of our group at all. More like the outcast.”
“We see…” Luna answered slowly, soon giving voice to the question that had struck Lucario’s mind as well. “But why was he sleeping out here by his lonesome? Surely he would have it better with a roof over his head?”
Landlubber didn’t answer immediately, but a small frown grew on her lips as she looked at the fallen plywood. “It’s best if I just show you, your highness.”
With that, she resumed her walk down the street, getting a few feet ahead before Luna followed after her. Both of them remained quiet for the remainder of the journey, which came to an end as the two reached a small plaza. A small fountain stood in the middle of the area, turned off for the night as its unicorn handler had went to bed. Both Luna’s and Lucario’s focus, however, laid themselves on the big building on the end of the street. While definitely in better shape than the rest of the buildings around it, its walls and roof were still showing signs of lacking caretaking. It was seemingly located at the border of the city, as what Lucario guessed to be the Everfree Forest was visible just a hundred feet behind it. Aged iron gates stood on each end of the property’s surrounding wall, far too short to reach each other across the open main entrance leading to the front doors.
Luna’s eyes eventually fell on the small signs located by each gate, and she stepped up to wipe the dust away from one of them to get a clear view. There was no name or writing underneath. Just the black silhouette of a prancing filly, a mark that a princess like Luna was no doubt familiar with.
“Thou are… an orphan?” Luna breathed out the question more than she actually spoke it, but Landlubber’s downcast gaze proved that she’d heard her.
“We all are. Me, Sneaky, and everypony else in our group. Whiteout too, probably, although he has never told us. Miss Flour is the only one who takes care of us in there, but she’s too old to give it much effort or even care. Sneaky is the only one who’s lucky to live somewhere else, although she’s just as much on her own as we are. That’s why I accompany her home while the rest come back here every night. Heh, Miss Flour never hears us, not with her bad hearing. That’s another thing she’s bad at, I guess. As well as making food, keeping track of us, cleaning the place, taking…”
Her rambling was interrupted by a small sob, and she quickly raised her foreleg up to rub her eyes.
“She… she barely does anything, really.”
As the young filly tried to regain her composure, Luna silently stood in front of her. It was clear that she had no idea what to do or how to act at the moment. Any other pony would probably run up and embrace her, and Lucario was sure that many would’ve been angry with how Luna instead kept her distance from the distraught filly.
But Lucario wasn’t. Because after having walked through the streets of Rota under Lady Rin’s service for several years, he was no stranger to the bottom of the economic ladder. Neither was he clueless to the reason for Luna’s awkward handling of the situation. As a princess, she was living a life of luxury in the castle. Hers and Celestia’s wealth was undoubtedly big enough that their savings could take care of a normal pony’s economic needs for life. With a simple summoning spell, Luna could’ve probably brought forth a bag of money or food to give to Landlubber in order to secure her and her friends’ daily needs for quite some time. However, treating one or even a few subjects with such unbiased care would inevitably lead to others demanding the same treatment. And no ruler, alicorn princess or otherwise, could do that. They could donate some of their funds to various needing groups, but there’s a limit to how much they can give. Even the most kind-hearted leaders can’t hope to please everyone.
Lucario had learned all this from both Lady Rin and Sir Aaron. Not from their teachings, but from simply watching them during meetings and councils. It was hard to accept such harsh facts about one’s limits, especially when the ones calling for aid are right in front of them. That much could be seen in his queen’s and mentor’s eyes when they regretfully turned down requests, both before and during the war. He was pretty sure a similar look could be seen in Luna’s own eyes now when she stood in front of Landlubber.
“I-I’m sorry,” Landlubber eventually forced out after drying up most of her tears. “I’ve already wasted enough of your time without breaking down like this. I’ll just get inside and let you get back to your duties, your highness.”
Luna regarded the small, but surprisingly mature filly for a moment before nodding. “It’s been no trouble, child. Our time has certainly not been wasted in thy company, thou have our word.”
Landlubber threw Luna a small smile before beginning to make her way to the orphanage. Luna turned to leave as well, but she stopped herself and looked back at the distant filly, briefly letting her gaze fall to the ground in thought.
“Landlubber?”
Both Landlubber and Luna jerked their heads up. Landlubber, because Luna suddenly wanted to talk to her again. And Luna, because she’d just called one of her subjects by name without any honorifics.
“Yes, your highness?” Landlubber walked back to Luna and sat down in front of her. At first, Luna seemed hesitant to continue, but eventually decided to get her question out.
“Why do all of thee watch my- OUR night? What’s so special about it to thee that thou risk being found out by thy caretaker, not to mention the guard?”
Landlubber clearly hadn’t expected such a question, but she still furrowed her brows in thought as she thought of an answer.
“It’s… complicated, I guess. I’m sorry, but I can’t really explain why. We just…”
The filly looked up at the night sky, and a smile grew on her face as she gazed upon the stars and the moon.
“We just love your nights so much, princess.”
Landlubber continued to watch the sky, unaware of the strange expression that fell over Luna’s face. Lucario didn’t know what she was thinking about, but the filly’s words must’ve had deeper meaning to her than most would realize. As flashbacks to his battle with Nightmare once again flooded his mind, Lucario slowly began to understand the reasons for the alicorn’s dream.
Luna… you…
“Wait here.”
Landlubber was effectively brought out of her stargazing when Luna suddenly gave her an order. Lucario had noticed a friendlier tone to Luna’s voice, but it seemingly passed over the surprised filly’s head.
“W-What?” she stuttered.
“Wait here, and don’t move,” Luna said as her horn suddenly began to glow. With a spark of blinding light, Landlubber was gone, as was the orphanage and the street they were standing on. Instead, Lucario found Luna face-to-face with a young unicorn mare carrying baskets of bread and fruit in her magic. She predictably whelped and fell to the floor, the baskets and their contents swiftly caught up in Luna’s own magic before they could be launched all across the kitchen in which they were now located.
“Thank thee, young Bonfire,” Luna said as she once again teleported away, returning to Landlubber with the two baskets in her grasp. Landlubber’s eyes widened drastically upon seeing the food, although she failed to get a single word out of her moving mouth.
“Take these inside and hide them where Miss Flour won’t see them. They’ll keep thee and thy friends full for at least a day or two.”
Luna floated the baskets down by Landlubber’s side, who was still either speechless or unsure of what to say about this sudden ordeal. Whether she would eventually shake herself out of her shock or not remained unknown, as a blue wing slowly wrapped around her and pulled her close to the alicorn in a gentle embrace.
“Don’t worry… It’ll be all right.”
The small form remained motionless inside Luna’s wing for several seconds before a pair of hooves slowly wrapped themselves around Luna’s chest. Nearly inaudible sobs could be heard coming from within, but Luna kept the filly close without opening her wing to look at her. Her own eyes closed themselves, leaving Lucario’s sight in darkness.
“And thank thee… for loving our night.”
“Your highness?”
Lucario didn’t know what had happened after Luna closed her eyes, but he quickly noticed the change of scenery as Luna reopened them upon hearing the voice. Landlubber, the orphanage, and the city streets were gone, replaced by some kind of bedchamber. Luna was sitting in front of a desk, having been in the process of signing a pile of documents stacked on top of each other. She placed her quill back into its inkwell before turning around to face the royal guard standing in the doorway.
“Yes, Moon Shield, what does thou wish?” she answered.
“The day's official meetings are about to begin in the throne room, your highness,” the guard answered with a salute. “Princess Celestia has already arrived there, and they’re all eagerly awaiting your presence.”
Lucario couldn’t help but notice that something was off about the guard’s report. The tone in his voice made his words sound almost sarcastic, as if he was hiding away some personal opinions about the matter. Luna seemingly noticed this as well, as she rolled her eyes and looked back down at her documents.
“Yes, verily. Return to our sister and inform her that we will be with her shortly.”
“Yes, your highness,” the guard answered before leaving the room. Although Luna didn’t turn around to look at him as he left, the sound of the chamber doors closing rather quickly gave Lucario the impression that the guard hadn’t keen on staying.
Although she had pretended to focus on her documents as if they were of greater importance at the moment, Luna sighed upon the guard’s leave and moved them to the side. Lucario hadn’t gotten a chance to read them in detail before they were pushed out of his and Luna’s sight, but nothing of critical importance had stuck out from them from what he’d gathered. If they were anything like the documents he’d seen Lady Rin and Sir Aaron work on back in Rota, they were probably just trivial reports and already made political decisions that simply needed to be officially signed by either a royal or noble name.
Luna brought her forehooves to her eyes and rubbed them in fatigue. While most of the room was covered in darkness, he could detect traces of daylight behind the curtain-covered windows. He had no idea how far into the day it was, but Luna’s lack of energy suggested that she hadn’t had a long night’s sleep. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why Luna was awake to begin with. Being the princess of the night, he’d expected her to be asleep at this hour before waking up to continue her duties during nighttime. If this was supposed to take place the day after Luna’s meeting with Landlubber and Sneaky, she couldn’t have had more than a few hours of sleep at most.
“Why does she keep inviting us to these meetings? She wants me there even less than the nobles do.”
Luna’s words caught Lucario by surprise. Of all the words he’d imagined her ever saying about her beloved sister, these were among the last he’d expected. They weren’t spiteful, nor did they hide any traces of hate, but they made it sound like the relationship between the sisters was rather strained.
There must be something going on here. Is it somehow linked to the poor reputation of her night, seeing as she mentioned her lacking standing with the nobles?
Standing up from her seat, Luna walked up to a window and lifted up part of the curtain covering it. Lucario was only briefly blinded by the light before his eyes readjusted themselves, letting him take in the view of the city spreading out below the balcony on which Luna was now standing. It was smaller than Lucario expected it to be, although it was still larger than Ponyville. As far as he was able to see, it was surrounded on all sides by the Everfree Forest, and what he guessed to be the future Canterlot Mountain stood in the distance. Apart from the castle tower Luna was located in, there weren’t any other tall buildings in sight, although Lucario guessed that at least one more tower should be located somewhere behind them, seeing as Celestia was in need of her own residence.
“We better deliver another basket or two to the children tonight,” Luna said to herself as her eyes fell on the distant orphanage. “It’s been three days since our last visit, after all.”
This must take place more than just three days since that night, judging by her choice of words, Lucario deduced. Which means that she’s been supplying the kids with food for at least a little while by now?
Luna remained silent as she drifted off in her own thoughts, leaving whatever questions Lucario had about the current situation unanswered. While the lack of a conveniently told explanation annoyed him, he knew that wishing for Luna to talk about everything out loud to herself for him to hear was too much to hope for. He was just about to try and piece together whatever information he had by himself when Luna suddenly raised her head in what seemed to be some kind of epiphany.
“Of course! Now’s our chance to talk to her about this, before her next meeting begins,” she said as she turned back inside her chambers. After hastily looking around her room for anything out of place, she went out the doors and began to make her way down the tower stairs.
The castle, from what Lucario could see as Luna walked through the proceeding corridors and hallways, was expectedly in much better shape than the rest of the city. Majestic pillars and decorated windows were present in almost every section, and various maids and servants could be seen running around, cleaning every inch that was even the tiniest bit dirty. Lucario quickly took notice of how the majority of them eagerly left when they noticed Luna’s presence, including the unicorn mare whose baskets Luna had taken the other day. The numerous guards they passed by kept their serious and focused stature as Luna walked by, but Lucario was sure that at least one of them eyed her a bit as she passed by.
Come to think of it, there weren’t any guards stationed outside her bedchambers, Lucario remembered. And all I’ve seen here yet seem to be of Celestia’s personal guard, judging by their armor.
The evidence supporting Luna’s lack of popularity among her subjects was already overwhelming as it was, but simply walking through the castle gave Lucario more proof of that fact than he ever needed.
The fuel behind Nightmare Moon’s birth is clear to see by now. All that’s left is the spark…
Pushing open a final set of doors at the end of a long hallway, Luna finally entered the castle’s throne room. While in Canterlot, Lucario hadn’t gotten the chance to see its own throne room firsthand, but memories of Cameran Castle flashed in his mind as he beheld the spacious room. It wasn’t as big as the one in Cameran, but it was still an awe-inspiring sight in its own right. Dozens of guards stood stationed along the left and right walls, and an additional four were placed on each side of the actual throne, on which Celestia was currently sitting. Her flowing, multicolored mane was easy to make out, even from the other end of the room. As Luna took her time to approach her sister, both her and Lucario’s eyes fell on the elder looking unicorn stallion that was sitting just in front of the throne, facing Celestia.
“I’m fully aware of the countless other duties you have on your shoulders, your highness, but I must insist that the discovery of my master’s whereabouts must take priority. Our family simply cannot afford to-”
“If thy master has been kidnapped like thou fear, Mr. Bitworth, we’re certain that thy house would’ve received a message of demand from the culprit long ago. The royal guard is searching through the city and the surrounding forest as we speak, but we’re afraid that there’s not much else we can do at this point. Be patient, and thy master will return to thee in time.”
Celestia lifted her gaze from the stallion to acknowledge Luna’s arrival. Mr. Bitworth turned around to see who was interrupting them, but his expression swiftly changed when he saw the other alicorn. He gave a curt cough as he stood up and bowed once to both princesses, although much staler to Luna.
“Very well, your highness. We’ve now surely taken up enough of your time with this matter. Thank you for your ever generous assistance.”
With that, he was escorted out of the room by a pair of guards, the doors closing behind him loudly. Luna didn’t look back at him as he left, instead locking her gaze with Celestia, who stood up from her throne and walked up to her.
“You’re late, as usual,” Celestia said simply. While the words were harsh, they were more filled with annoyance than outright anger.
“And you didn’t wait, as usual,” Luna calmly countered with the same tone. It occurred to Lucario that both princesses had ceased their use of the ‘Royal We’ in their speaking, reverting to a more casual language with each other. It was the first positive sign of their sisterly bond Lucario had seen in the vision thus far, which did little to ease the overall tension between the two.
“Leave us,” Celestia commanded the surrounding guards. They all saluted before beginning to leave the throne room, the two princesses staying quiet until they could have some privacy. As the doors closed behind the final guard, Celestia began to pace to the side of the room while Luna followed closely behind.
“Did I miss anything important this time?” Luna asked.
“Not especially. Requests for renovations, planned parties, tributes, you’ve heard it all before.”
“And this Mr. Bitworth?”
Celestia sighed. “He’s a butler from one of the more high-standing families. His master went missing some time ago, and he’s already sent me letters requesting assistance for the past few weeks. This was the first time he came in person, which means he’s getting desperate.”
“You have relayed to him the possibility that-”
“His master has gone lost in the forest?” Celestia finished as she sighed yet again. “Yes, I have. Several times, in fact. I think he just doesn’t realize how easy it is to… encounter danger out there.” She stopped her pacing and looked down at the floor with contained anger. “Discord’s cursed influence on that place still hasn’t left, even after all these years.”
“I fear that it probably never will, big sister,” Luna said in melancholy. The revelation that Discord was behind the unnatural nature in the Everfree Forest was pushed to the back of Lucario’s mind for the moment, the sisters’ discussion taking priority.
“Still, things aren’t so hectic that I can’t keep up with them,” Celestia said with a gladder voice. “The nobles’ requests are tedious, but not impossible to grant. We should be happy that we don’t have any more coming to our doorstep every day.”
She flashed a smile in Luna’s direction, but Luna didn’t return it, a frown instead growing on her lips.
“True,” she agreed. “The nobility only takes up 5% of our population, after all.”
The smile immediately disappeared from Celestia’s face, and she turned her head away as she walked a few steps ahead of her sister.
“Luna, we’ve talked about this.”
“And I will continue to talk about it until you listen to me,” Luna declared. “That’s why I came down here today, sister. The orphanage in the city is in dire need of aid. It’s understaffed, lacking provisions, and the children are most of the time all on their own. There are even some that sleep out on the streets every night. If we don’t do something soon, they’ll all-”
“Luna.” Celestia’s reprimanding tone cut Luna off, and the smaller alicorn found her sister glaring at her in irritation. “I’ve already told you that there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Why?! Because they aren’t nobles?!” Luna shot back, her voice now loud in fury. “They’re our subjects just as much as those arrogant messengers you greet every day, sister, and you know it! The entire city is in ruins because you neglect to aid them!”
“What do you want me to do then?!” Celestia stepped up to face Luna nearly head-on. “Empty our entire treasury just to care for everypony in this town for a few days at best? Create a scandal among the nobility because we wasted our resources on a market stand instead of their requests? If the lower class has it as badly as you say, they wouldn’t still be here after all these years!“
“Don’t talk as if you know what they’re going through!” Luna now pressed her head against Celestia’s in defiance. “When was the last time you took a stroll through the streets, or flew across the rooftops? Years? Decades? I’ve been out there almost every night since we defeated Discord, sister. I even neglect my own sleep to stay up as much as possible during the day in the hopes to see you finally do something about the city you’re supposed to protect! Not just lead! Protect! You’ve no idea what everypony is going through!”
Both sisters remained silent for a minute as they engaged in a contest of will with their eyes. Celestia’s eyes were unwavering, and it occurred to Lucario just how firm she was in her belief about the situation. He’d never met the sun princess personally before, but he was sure that the Celestia of the present had erased all of that. The one standing before Luna now could’ve just as well been a different mare entirely.
“…Well,” Celestia slowly said as she leaned her head away from Luna’s. “Maybe if you actually showed up and helped me at every meeting, I would.”
Luna, struck speechless by her sister’s sudden words, remained motionless as Celestia walked back to the throne, gathering some documents that had been left behind after her council. It was now an uncomfortable kind of silence that hung in the air, far more so than even before. Slowly, almost painfully, Luna lifted her hoof up to rub her eyes.
*sigh* “I’ve told you that it won’t work, sister. The nobility hates me, and they foalishly fear my night more than they even feared Discord.”
“Then why don’t you do something that will change their minds?” Celestia countered.
“I can’t!” Luna stomped her hoof on the floor.
“Why not?!” Celestia shouted while stomping herself.
“BECAUSE YOU KEEP STOPPING ME!”
It seemingly took a moment for the echoing words to sink in for Celestia, because it was only a few seconds later that her expression softened a bit. She looked down on her hooves, although Lucario couldn’t judge if it was a sign of regret or hopelessness.
“The only way for our subjects to accept the night is to make them actually experience it,” Luna continued quietly. “Not just sleep through it, but walk through it and be awake during it, just like they’ve done all this time under your sun. I know dangers unknown to the day come to life during our night, but I wouldn’t let them harm anypony, sister. Not as long as I’m watching over them. And I know that I already have supporters. Those children in the orphanage? They’ve snuck out almost every night to watch our stars and moon together. They think they’re beautiful, and they’re unafraid of the darkness that comes without the sun. If you’d just give me a chance, I could-”
“Is that what this is all about, little sister?”
Luna’s words ceased as a dark shadow seemingly fell over Celestia’s face, filling her eyes with the same harshness that had been present there just before Luna’s explanation.
“W-What are you talking about?” Luna asked, genuinely confused.
“You want to help those children just because they support your night, don’t you? All that talk before about aiding the lower class, and you were just concerned about a small portion of them.” Celestia’s eyes shot daggers at Luna, making the other alicorn cower backwards slightly. “It’s just an act of selfishness on your part, isn’t it? You would’ve never even batted an eye in their direction if they hadn’t liked your night.”
“They’re CHILDREN, sister!” Luna shouted, but her words were now falling on deaf ears. Celesta calmly gathered her documents and walked past Luna on her way to the exit. She only stopped once to look back at her younger sister.
“No, Luna. To you… they’re your nobility.”
The doors slammed shut loudly behind her, and Lucario’s vision began to fade as Luna’s sight became blurry from growing tears.
Lucario knew that the next part of Luna’s past had begun, but it wasn’t because of what he saw. In fact, he couldn’t see anything at all. Darkness had claimed everything around him, leaving his conscience floating in a sea of nothingness. Without a body of his own, and without access to his aura abilities, he had little choice but to patiently wait for Luna’s sight to return.
Because even though Lucario couldn’t see, he could still hear. And what he heard was slowly beginning to break his heart.
Luna was crying. Her sobs and quiet cries would’ve been barely audible to anyone standing near her, but to Lucario they were almost deafening. Every time they came and went, he found himself reflexively trying to raise his paw in a hopeless attempt to reassure the princess. But each time, he was reminded of his current status, and even he was surprised by just how much it devastated him. He’d heard crying in the past, and had supported the ones who did. But never before had he ever felt such a powerful inner need to do so than now.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Luna opened her eyes. Just like it had been after Celestia’s exit, her sight was blurry from the tears still rolling down onto her pillow. A noticeable stain had already made its mark on it, and Lucario was sure that Luna’s cheeks were damp from lying on it. She slowly pushed herself up with her forelegs, bringing one up to wipe away the worst of the tears. For a moment, she simply stared into space, either lost in thought or too upset to even think. She didn’t even seem to be aware of how her eyes slowly drifted to the side, falling on a pair of food baskets lying in the corner of her room.
After a while, Luna’s breathing suddenly slowed down. She was now definitely focusing on the baskets, her tears ceasing as she did. She closed her eyes, and Lucario heard her take a deep, only ever so slightly shaking breath.
“I’m sorry, sister…”
With that, she got up from her bed and walked out on her balcony. The city below the tower was only partially lit up by a few lights, and they were one by one being put out as Luna simply looked on. The moon and the stars were shining brightly in the sky, and a light fog had crept into the city from the nearby forest. Luna’s posture was tired and a tiny bit reluctant, but the way she was holding her head high seemed to give no room for uncertainty.
What is she doing? Lucario barely had the time to think before Luna began to sing.
Come, little children. I’ll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children. The time’s come to play
Here in my garden of shadows
A flash of bright, white light flashed from Luna’s eyes as she finished the familiar song. Throwing a quick glance down directly below her balcony, she saw a pair of guards outside the tower’s entry suddenly fall to the ground. Even though he was shocked by this, Lucario still managed to make out their slow, peaceful breaths from this distance.
She’s… putting everyone to sleep with her magic. What is she going to-
Interrupted by the next line of Luna’s singing, Lucario simply watched as Luna flew off her balcony and sailed down to the city’s streets. She passed by Sneaky’s house and the small tunnel in which Whiteout was once again sleeping before coming to a stop in front of the orphanage. As she continued to sing, magic surrounded her horn as weak lights suddenly lit up within the building. Seconds later, Lucario’s nonexistent eyes widened as Landlubber and several other colts and fillies slowly floated through the opening windows. Luna took flight once more as the confused, but strangely happy children followed her, and as they rose higher and higher into the sky, Lucario could see even more joining them. Sneaky approached with a beaming smile, and even a perplexed Whiteout followed soon after.
Together, they all disappeared above the clouds, with Luna floating Sneaky in close to lovingly nuzzle her. She was still singing, but while her voice was ringing with long-desired happiness and freedom, Lucario’s inner thoughts were filled with anything but.
Luna… What have you done?
Lucario had already figured out the fuel behind Nightmare’s birth. And now, as the ponies slowly sailed towards the distant moon, he was sure that he’d seen the spark.
To be continued…
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Okay, so one of the beings from that part in the beginning created time. So that probably means that they're Dialge and Palkia.
And Sneaky has got to be Pinkie Pie's ancestor. After all, they both have the same comical attitude. And Landlubber, with her mane and tail having their colors interrupted by a single different-colored stripe running down them, must be Twilight Sparkle's ancestor.
So now we see how Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. And it was a jab to the feels.
Here's badges of the two Princesses!
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/057/f/a/princess_luna_approved_by_ambris-d4r3ibw.png
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/060/f/5/princess_celestia_approved_by_ambris-d4rftlj.png
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/277/6/6/derpy_approved_by_ambris-d4bv8qn.png
Wait a minute, how did you get in there, Derpy? You weren't even born yet during this Whole Episode Flashback chapter!
Oh well, I'll just quickly check Fimfiction before calling it a night.
*Logs in, sees updates*
Oh, wonder what it is.
*Sees FIA updates*
Who needs sleep nowadays?
I see...so this ties in with Children of the Night...
Hmmmmmm...
YES! Finally an update! Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter...SO MANY FEELS. And I could've sworn I heard Luna's song somewhere before...
Listened to Children of the night whilst reading the last bit! AWSOMES!!!
Did Sneaky really just say goodbye to herself?
3399785 wow I missed that one. OH PLEASE FORGIVE ME GREAT KANG I HAVE WRONGED YOU AND YOUR STORY HAVE MERCY ON ME!
makes you wonder why the Elements even worked for Celestia when she had to use them on Luna later on. Man, this version of her could really use a Focus Punch to the face...
I recognized the KH part. Nicely put.
I've been waiting SO long for this, you wouldn't believe!
Thanks for getting back to it!
3397733 Whats this "Sleep" thou speak of?
The begining. It is Tartarus and Lauren isn't it?
I just want to give Luna a hug so badly right now...
Oh, and I love how you're tying this in with Children of the Night.
5494348 if this is how NMM actually came about, then I love Luna even more now
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Wait..that ...in Greek mythos..if Tartarus is the same..wouldn't that make Laruen equivalent to Gaea..? ..and Discord is basically Chaos. Neat....