Xenophilia: Further tales.

by TheQuietMan

43: No right, no wrong, no rules for me.

No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
Chapter published 8th Feb 2014.

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Let it go, let it go

And I'll rise like the break of dawn

Let it go, let it go

That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand

In the light of day

Let the storm rage on...

“Stop! Stop this, right now!”

On the huge TV in front of them the image froze in place, the camera ceasing its pull-back from the stunning crystal castle positioned halfway up a snow covered mountain.

Lowering the remote, Lero turned to Princess Luna, his companion during this latest of their regular dreamtime movie-nights. After putting both the TV remote and the large bowl of popcorn he was cradling down on the floor Lero turned to face the princess of the night.

Currently they were both settled onto a large, beaten and somewhat care-worn, couch located - as sofas generally weren’t - in the middle of a large crater on the moon. Behind them sat the Eagle lunar lander and in front of them was a massive - at least fifty-plus inches Lero estimated - flat screen TV with its own PS5 acting as a high-definition video player.

“What’s wrong?” the human asked, trying his best to project an air of total innocence, “I thought you’d love this movie.”

“Before we proceed,” Luna stated, pulling herself up to her full height, which would have been more impressive if she hadn’t been sat with her hind legs curled underneath herself whilst holding a large velvet cushion against her chest, “I must know, does this tale end well?”

Lero said nothing, just cocking his head, a sedate smile on his lips.

“The sisters, do they fight?” Luna continued, waving a single forehoof towards the screen, “There was much love there, when they were young, before the isolation and misunderstanding. I have been in this situation myself. In my case it lead to war, many died, many more suffered, all because of jealousy and fear and misunderstanding. If this is how this tale will end then I am sorry but I am not sure we should continue.”

“Really... so you see much of yourself in Queen Elsa?” Lero asked, grinning slightly to himself. He’d chosen tonight’s film on purpose, though he wasn't going to admit it.

“Yes, how could I not?” Luna admitted, closing her eyes. “There is much of me in this queen, from back when I first became the Nightmare; the new found freedom from expectations, the affinity for the cold of winter while others crave the warmth of the sun, the symbolic changing of appearance and accoutrements.”

As she spoke her coat changed from its usual jet black to the midnight blue of the ‘teenage’ form she had worn just a few years ago, when Lero had tended both her and her sister through their time with the blank plague. As her own colouration changed so did her titanium & platinum crown and peytral, shrinking into the form of her smaller black tiara and torc that she had worn in years past.

As Lero watched on, her coat again darkened to black, this time so dark that it seemed to suck the colour out of everything around it. The tiara and torc again morphed and melded, the headware melting and flowing back over Luna’s head as it formed into Nightmare Moon’s dazzling silver-blue battle armour.

As her ethereal mane billowed from around her head, the smell of recently struck matches and scorched steel assailed the human’s nose. As her eyes opened Lero could see bright cyan cat-like irises while her smile revealed rows of razor sharp teeth, a pair of wickedly cruel fangs catching his eye as they pushed their way into view.

Entranced as he was by the transformation, Lero’s attention was soon grabbed by the rumbling coming from beneath their seat. All around them the surface of the moon started to change; dust gathered and solidified as great towers and spires forced their way out of the ground.

The Eagle lander was lifted into the air as a newly formed wall tossed it out of the way, an immense and gothically appointed castle forming around them, created from the very substance of the moon itself.

Starlight pierced through vast silica windows which glimmered with refracted light while the walls radiated moonshine in all directions, illuminating both the human and the alicorn in crystal sharp brilliance.

“When I first came into my powers I danced and sang as this queen did.” Luna’s voice rolled around the room, her tone deeper and more commanding than she had used in many a year, “I marvelled... revelled in what I could do, I thought myself a goddess, untouchable and above all reproach. Drunk on my own power I let it overwhelm me, unleashing untold cruelty and arrogance from the hidden depths of my soul, corrupting my personality into a barely recognisable mockery of everything I held dear.”

Closing her eyes, the cat like irises once again hidden from view, Luna bowed her head.

“I drove a wedge between my dear sister and I, created a rift that even now I fear will never truly heal. And my subjects? After what I became, could they ever forgive and forget? As much as I wish otherwise, I doubt it will ever come to pass. All things considered, maybe it would be best if they do not. So yes, you are correct. I am worried that the same would be the fate of this Queen Elsa should she follow me down my trail of destruction.”

Shifting in his seat, Lero reached out, running his fingers across the princess’s face, rubbing a single thumb under a closed eye as he cupped her cheek. Luna didn’t pull away as he had feared she might, instead pushing back into his hand though she kept her eyes tightly sealed.

“Maybe you're right, maybe some things should not be forgotten,” he said softly, feeling her head droop almost imperceptibly beneath his touch “you said yourself before, the past is not to be hidden away, mistakes are not to be buried. And yes, you made those mistakes, but you served your time and returned to your subjects and were reborn. The pony that you were, that Nightmare, that pony is long gone now. This pony, this Princess Luna, she’s got a very long life ahead of her. Perhaps it’s time to let it go?”

Much like ice left out in the sun, NIghtmare Moon’s armour melted away, the battle tarnished metal turning to vapour and floating away on the non-existent breeze. No crown or peytral reformed in their place, even the armoured horseshoes had evaporated away, leaving the princess as bare and unadorned as the day she was turned.

Jet black eyelids flickered open, perfectly normal eyes peeking out from underneath. A gentle smile revealed no points and no fangs.

“Have you told Princess Celestia about how you feel?” Lero slowly pulled back his hand “That even after all these years you still feel this way?”

“No, I would not.” Luna suddenly found her own hooves to be of particular interest, “She is so happy that I have returned, that I am once again the sister she so missed. I do not wish to worry her unnecessarily.”

“Hey, don’t be silly.” Lero crossed his arms across his chest, a movement that those ponies who knew him well recognised as his ‘I’m serious about this’ gesture, “I don’t think she’d even for a second consider that being concerned about you is something unnecessary. Talk to her, please. That’s how this whole movie got to where it is now, with young Elsa not talking to her sister. Isn’t that how the whole Nightmare Moon thing got started as well? You should do the same; talk to her, tell her everything, she can’t help you if you don’t open up to her.”

“But what-” Luna was quickly silenced by a single finger held against her lips.

“Trust me, Luna... you're sisters... family. Familles care about each other, familles forgive each other, families love each other.”

Again Lero removed his hand, but not before rubbing the princess’s cheek again.

”Very well. I will talk to her the next time the opportunity arises.”

Lero give her ‘the look’... Fluttershy was turning into quite the teacher it would seem.

“Very well, Master Lero. I will talk to her over our next evening meal. Art thou satisfied?”

With a grin, Lero rubbed the princess behind the ear, unencumbered as it was without her crown.

“Yes. very.”

Pulling his hand away yet again, Lero leant forward and retrieved the TV remote and bowl of popcorn from the floor. Even with the princess’s impromptu home improvements most of the salty treats were still within the bowl though it was a shame the same couldn’t be said of Luna’s similar though sugary confection. As the princess considered her now empty bowl and the carpet of spilt popcorn surrounding it, Lero held his still partly filled snack out to her.

“But I do not trust this prince fellow.” Luna declared, levitating a hoof-full of popcorn out of the bowl as she waved at the TV screen with a forehoof, “the engagement was too short and this Princess Anna is too impulsive, much as my own dear sister was in her youth. Smitten though I was with Sable Shield, our love initially took much time to develop... after a somewhat rocky start. This though, this is just unbridled infatuation stemming from a deep-seated desire to be loved. And look at him, thirteenth in line to the throne, I smell a plot here, this princess would do well to be wary of his advances.”

“Perhaps you're right, so let’s watch and see if they get to live happily ever after,“ lifting the remote, Lero restarted the movie.

The cold never bothered me anyway!

Author's Note:

I know I said I was giving Luna and Lero a break but I challenged myself to write something in 2 hours and this is what came out.

Let It Go's owned by Disney.

EDIT: Thanks go to LunaEpona for posting this link in the comments below.

Comments

[wiiman]

Good chapter as always, one small problem.

”Very well. i will talk to her the next time the opportunity arises.”

3915991
CLAIM ON FIRST DENIED!

[Sabspaz]

Second
...
It was good I love the development between Lero and luna

I stand corrected

[cunning_linguist]

3915991
i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/assmonkay/lex-luthor-wrong.jpg

[RandomString]

Good chapter. Thanks for sharing it.

[Grahf]

only good song in the entire movie... well 'wanna build a snowman' was cute

[Keeper of Jericho]

I stopped reading the moment I saw Luna was in it again. I've had it with the Luna bias in the Xenoverse.

[Lasairfion]

I read it immediately as soon as I saw it was Luna again.

The Luna chapters are one of my favourites in this series, because she has such depth of character, and the interaction between someone who is so deeply affected by the past, when held up against one whose entire race has a past that shames even Nightmare Moon's worst excesses, often brings about discussion and interaction that can be touching and poignant at the very least.

Please write more.

[cosmofur]

916133

Wait Only Good Song ?Are You forgetting The Masterpiece 'Raindeer Are Better than people' ? I Mean What Could PossibEe Top That? :°)

[FanOfMostEverything]

...created a rift that even now I fear will truly heal.

Either you're missing a "never" there, or that's one hell of a Freudian slip.

In either case, a great chapter. I haven't even seen Frozen and I enjoyed it. Lero is best Royal Therapist.

[Eclipseaurorastone]

I needed this today

[Morphy]

Is it wrong to want to scritch behind all the pony ears?

MLP:Fingers Is Magic!

[warpd]

Lero, you are sneaky.

[Frustaz]

.........

All of my Internets. Just. Yes.

Compared to many of your Chapters, which have length and are good in their own right, This Chapter takes the kinship between Luna and Lero much farther than I anticipated. I could honestly see Luna joining Lero's herd with many of the interactions between them. I realize that the Original Couple was Rainbow and Lero, and it grew to encompass Twi and Lyra....

Just... All my internets. I cant Explain myself clearly enough without having to hear the song and having just read the chapter, and I dont think I ever will.

[RandomString]

3916133

Frozen Heart (the intro song at the beginning) was pretty good too, in my opinion.

Edit: corrected auto corrected typo

[3Power]

Remember when this fic used to be about Lero and his herd and not whatever song the author's had stuck in his head?

I mean, I applauded how you ignored the new rule but come on, it's getting old.

[Taliesin of the Forest]

3916818 What's wrong with old things?

Luna and Celestia ain't exactly new.

[Goldfur]

As much as I want to see more Rainbow and Lero stories, these interactions with Luna are fascinating and give even more depth to her character. I approve of their growing relationship, but how does Rainbow feel about it?

[AccidentalGryffindor]

Good job, spoiling the big twist in the movie. t(omot)

[LunaEpona]

Not my video but somepony showed this to me earlier today and then this chapter happened. So I had to share the link.

http://youtu.be/wm9xmmvlVjQ

[Rainbow_Dash82]

I am liking how Luna and Lero character's are developing in this fic.

Looking forward to the next Luna chapter.

[Pvt PartyPooper]

I sort of want to see more ponies reacting to movies now

sort of.

But yeah, this interaction has been a bit too consuming.

[Remmy4warlord]

3917556
I hate to say this, but your link is broken.

[BlueNinja]

NIghtmare Moon’s armour melted away,

Double capital.

Familles care about each other, familles forgive each other, families love each other.

I'm thinking he needs to follow Frozen with Lilo and Stitch.

[ANW]

“But I do not trust this prince fellow.” Luna declared, levitating a hoof-full of popcorn out of the bowl as she waved at the TV screen with a forehoof, “the engagement was too short and this Princess Anna is too impulsive, much as my own dear sister was in her youth. Smitten though I was with Sable Shield, our love initially took much time to develop... after a somewhat rocky start. This though, this is just unbridled infatuation stemming from a deep-seated desire to be loved. And look at him, thirteenth in line to the throne, I smell a plot here, this princess would do well to be wary of his advances.”

Wow