> Diaries of the Mare in the Moon
>  by Grimm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Don't Panic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare in the Moon
Chapter 1
Don't Panic


With a scream of rage, Luna loosed the bolt from her horn and watched it dwindle into the distance. What followed was a moment of complete disorientation. Celestia was gone. The castle was gone. All that existed was the grey, dusty ground beneath her, and the starry backdrop of her night sky. Nothing.

She fell to her haunches. Was she dead? Luna didn’t think her sister had been actively trying to kill her; up until the end Celestia hadn't even fired a spell at her. There was always the chance though, in the heat of the moment.

You’ve gone too far, Luna. Celestia’s voice in her head. Stop this, before I have to. Echoes from a conversation that had ended in nothing short of magical warfare through the stone halls.

But not now. Now she needed to focus. To work out exactly what had happened. Luna pulled off her helmet, casting it aside as she shrugged off her armour. It hit the ground with a heavy thunk, sinking slightly into the dust.

The stars above twinkled, oblivious and uncaring to her plight. At least she could draw solace in her moon, she thought. Which was, of course, when icy cold rolled down her spine, that sinking in the pit of her stomach as she came to terms with how wrong this whole situation was.

The moon was gone.

In its place was a blue orb, much larger than her moon had been. Misty clouds covered its surface; white swirls over the crystalline turquoise. It was beautiful, but all Luna wanted to do was tear it from the sky, rip it from its place for being so ostentatious as to replace her moon.

This could not be happening. The moon must still be there somewhere, it had to be. Her wings shot out, ready and willing, and after a short run she leapt into the air. Three seconds later she crashed into the ground, throwing up clouds of dust.

She couldn’t fly. Why couldn’t she fly?!

Pounding the ground beneath her in frustration, kicking up more of the fine motes, Luna came to the truth she had been avoiding. She knew that dust. Luna had found her moon.

She was sitting on it.


***


Step One: Don't Panic.

Step Two: Find out what's limiting my abilities, and stop it.

Step Three: Get off the moon.

Step Four: Don't Panic.

Luna reviewed the list she'd scratched into the moon's surface. It had gone through several rewrites (buried somewhere under the loose dust was the item 'Hit that sun-bitch in the face', which she'd ultimately decided wasn't conducive to a productive atmosphere), but she was satisfied with the finished product. It was short. To the point. Imperative.

It hadn’t taken long to discover her magic was just as restricted as her flight. Her first escape attempt had been to try teleporting back to Equestria. Back home. Luna had fixated on the blue orb above, horn sparking shakily to life, and managed the grand feat of reappearing about three feet in the air. A moment of bewilderment, and then she was falling. Her landing hurt, but she jumped to her feet anyway, brushing off her injuries.

Again.

Luna filled her mind with images of the castle, trying to recall every detail, down to the paper-thin cracks in some of the stone blocks. She felt herself lift, fall away from the moon’s surface as magic enveloped her. And then she rematerialised, plummeting towards the surface and crashing into it.

Again.

Not even standing this time, Luna’s horn blazed once more. This time she trapped her leg underneath her when she fell, twisting it and crying out in pain.

The pain was good. It brought with it clarity; a return to her senses. Only ignorant or desperate ponies would attempt the same thing over and over, expecting things to change. Luna was not the first and couldn’t afford to be the second. She had to accept the truth that had been there since the beginning.

Something was repressing her magic – holding her back, keeping her contained.

Come on, Luna. You won’t, can’t, let it win. You can break through this.

Her memory flashed back to her arrival. To the bolt that she had sent forth, watching it shrink to a speck over the horizon. That had been after she had arrived, not before. She’d cast that on the moon. She could beat this. Drawing the magic through her once more, Luna prepared a similar bolt of energy. Again she released it, giving a shout of effort as the magic blasted free. Again she watched its light recede as it soared over the landscape, but this time Luna beamed in triumph.

Next she attempted to lift a moon rock, and succeeded in floating the pebble without a second thought. It spun effortlessly through the air,  at least until she tried to send it to Equestria. It met with the same fate she had, falling back to the ground from only slightly higher than its original position.

No. She couldn’t have.

This time Luna tried to teleport it slightly to the right. A flash of magic, and the rock shifted exactly as she’d wanted it to.

There was only one answer. Only one thing that could be limiting her magic this way.

Binding magic.

Binding magic was tricky. For starters, there were two types: physical and anchored. Physical binding was simply that; the pony in question would be unable to leave the set area. It was quick and easy, but had gaping flaws, such as the ability to teleport outside the boundaries of the binding area. This had to be anchored then, which was far more involved.

Anchored binding required the caster to trap a tiny piece of their target inside whatever they were binding them to. The most common 'anchor' was a shard of the victim's soul, which sounded more difficult than it was. Binding a piece of soul was as simple as lifting a moon rock, especially for an alicorn as powerful as Celestia. The difficulty arose in setting the area. Typically, the spell would take hours to cast, in order to set exact specifications as to where the target was to be held. In the spur of the moment, Celestia needed to send her to a place where a wide and barely defined area would be of no consequence. And fortunately for her – though less fortunately for Luna – there happened to be a vast rock hundreds of miles above the atmosphere and hurtling through space that would do nicely. And Luna had put it there.

She pressed a hoof to her head, desperately trying to recall how to break anchored binding. The first solution would be to simply wait until it expired. But, with a pony as powerful as Celestia, a binding could easily last a thousand years. Hardly ideal.

What else? There was always the entire destruction of the moon itself. Also not good. Luna's own stubborn pride was too great to take that step. This was her moon. It was her last monument; she'd be damned if she was going to destroy it, even if that was exactly what Celestia was counting on to keep her there.

There was one final possibility. To locate the source of the magic, and to take it back. Find that sliver of her soul and return it to herself. That was by far the most desirable of the three, even with the obvious complications. The fragment was most likely embedded in the hardest to reach place; the very core of the moon. It would take her so long to dig it out that the binding would have already worn off by the time she was halfway there. And it was precisely what the spell would keep her from doing.

It didn't stop Luna from trying, and it's hard to blame her for it. But sure enough, when she attempted to shovel a hole from the ground, a mental wall slammed down over her thoughts and prevented her from even beginning the spell.

So that was that. There were no options. She was, to put it lightly, fucked.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 1

To anyone who may be reading this, I command you to stop immediately. This is the personal and private diary of Princess Luna, during her unfair and extremely cruel incarceration on and in the moon by the callous and evil 'Princess' Celestia. It is for no-one but Princess Luna herself, and anyone she may forthwith approve for future commemorations of her excellence in the face of such hardships. So stop now.

I mean it.

Really.


...


Now that anyone who has acquired this diary through less than legitimate means has gone, I can begin.

I, Princess Luna, am trapped on the moon. Celestia has placed a binding spell upon me, and I am anchored for the foreseeable future.

And I am not panicking.

The typical limiters associated with binding spells are in place; I am incapable of any magic or flight that is intended for me to escape. I cannot fly away. I cannot magic my way out. I can still utilise both as long as my intentions are not to escape, but seeing as how the anchor is a piece of my own soul, I cannot cheat it.

My solace is that my night sky is in constant display. The stars are especially beautiful 'tonight'.

I created this diary by transforming some moondust into a book and quill. I am fortunate that I can at least use that much power. However, I am unsure what I can fill this with. I can already see the days bleeding into each other, and wouldn't be surprised if this is my only entry. We will have to wait and see.

I'm not panicking.


***


She was.


***


Long curved shapes spiralled across the ground. Some curled up into the air while others coiled at Luna's hooves. The sculptures were made of solid moon rock; products of long nights with little else to do. Together they formed a twisted mass of stone, each strand as thick as Luna's leg and interweaving with the others to create something as imposing as it was delicate. It had taken her weeks.

With a single blast of her horn, Luna reduced it instantly to rubble.


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 63

I destroyed my sculpture today. It wasn't as cathartic as I had hoped. Staring at it may have been nothing but a cruel reminder, but breaking it felt doubly so. How low I've fallen since my ill-fated rebellion.

I don't feel particularly well, and it's not just the sculpture causing it. It's deeper than that. Perhaps it's due to not eating. With my soul-anchor such things are not necessary to survive, but there's more to life than simply existing. I long for even the most meagre of servings; a lowly cress sandwich would be divine.

I never thought I could miss food this much.


***


Luna was back in Equestria. She was back in the castle, in the corridor leading to her sister's bedroom. Finally she would take her revenge.

The double doors seemed to fly towards her as she walked. With each step she took they grew closer by three. Her horn glowed, ready to strike as soon as she threw the unguarded entryway open.

Celestia was waiting for her. She lay reclined on her enormous four-poster bed, eyes beckoning her sister closer. Luna felt the magic drain from her horn at the sight. How could she have wanted to hurt someone so close to her? Someone so radiant, so... alluring.

Her sister smiled warmly. There was no resentment; she had forgiven Luna entirely. This was her welcome home. Celestia patted the bed, inviting Luna to join her, and how could the night princess have refused?

When she hopped onto the bed, Celestia held her tightly, an embrace that Luna had missed, even before all this had started. The physical contact she hadn't felt from her sibling ever since that brooding resentment had begun to build. And when the time came to break their embrace, Celestia took Luna's face in her hooves and kissed her. It was not a sisterly kiss.

There was far too much tongue for that.

It was the kiss of lovers who had spent too much time apart. A kiss that confirmed everything was going to be alright, and that promised before the evening was through they would both be lying thoroughly satisfied and breathing heavily next to each other.

When Celestia's hoof traced the base of her horn, Luna initially shied away, half in surprise, half in her continued hesitation as to whether they should be doing this. And yet she could barely stop herself.  It occurred to her that neither of them had said a single word, but when Luna made to speak Celestia pressed a hoof to her mouth, shushing her. There was nothing that needed to be said; the answers lay in the other's touch, in her caress.

A sudden warmth surrounded Luna's horn as Celestia, emboldened by her sister's barely-restrained eagerness, curled her tongue around it. She ran up its length, sneaking into each sensitive groove, and Luna shuddered involuntarily.

Celestia didn't stop, instead taking the tip of Luna's horn into her mouth and swirling her tongue against it. Luna couldn't hold back the soft half-moan, half-gasp, that escaped between her parted lips. It wasn't just the feeling of Celestia’s soft tongue tracing around her (though she could attest that her sister was definitely more than capable), it was the pony involved.

The pony she'd lived her entire life with. In her long, long existence, Luna had never been as close to anyone as she was with Celestia. They'd fought, of course, but what sisters hadn't? It was even evident in their duel. Despite the risk that Celestia felt Luna posed to the entirety of Equestria, she had been incapable of bringing herself to actually harm her.

Luna had not shown the same restraint. Her spells were made to cause great injury, and even the quick, barely charged spell that did hit Celestia had been enough to send her spiralling to the ground. The binding had not been a decision Celestia would have taken lightly, but there had been no other way. And Luna regretted that. She regretted not giving her sister another option.

But that seemed unimportant now. Fading memories that were better off forgotten. Perhaps that was why Celestia had quieted her. Don't. Don't concern yourself with it. It's water under the bridge.

And so here they were, Celestia wrapped around Luna, showing her every bit of care and love that she'd done over the years. And quite a bit more besides. Luna felt building pressure in her horn as Celestia teased the magic out of it with long, thorough licks. Finally, as Celestia spun her tongue around the tip again, Luna could hold it no longer. Unshaped magic blasted from the tip into Celestia's waiting mouth; tingly and almost without substance.

Luna kissed her sister deeply in wordless thanks, and once again Celestia took control. She placed her hooves against the sides of Luna's head and gently guided her lower, down her body to her marehood.

It was the first time Luna had been this close to another mare's entrance. Her sister's musk filled her head, urging her forwards, and she pressed her muzzle against Celestia, tongue running over her folds, tasting her, feeling her sister’s warm wetness against her muzzle. Celestia sighed and let herself fall backwards as Luna – driven on by her reaction – pushed forwards, tongue running deeply against her.

Her movements were clumsy, inexperienced, but it was more than made up for by Luna’s pure enthusiasm. Nothing was left untouched, uncaressed, every movement exploring more of Celestia. Luna’s frantic breaths ran over Celestia’s skin, and each time it did so she would shudder, holding Luna’s head a little tighter against her.

Luna’s tongue circled her sister’s clit, toying with the sensitive nub, and Celestia gave a little squeak. Luna almost laughed. It was so unlike her, to see Celestia lose her air of grace and restraint. An embarrassed flush filled her sister’s cheeks, which Luna found almost unbearably cute. She didn’t have long to muse on it though; soon Celestia’s insistent hooves pressed Luna back between her folds.

Her sister’s marehood was hot, so hot, warmth surrounding Luna’s muzzle, the thick smell of her lust driving Luna to a frenzy, desperate to push Celestia further, to taste more of her. To feel her squirm at her touch. Tia’s hooves fell away from her head, waving weakly as she tried to grip something, anything, some support from Luna’s relentless assault. Her hind legs hooked over Luna’s shoulders, trying to draw her further in, though Luna was already as far as she could go, pressing as deeply as possible.

Her sister’s hips bucked against Luna’s mouth, the last fragile remains of Celestia’s composure falling apart under Luna’s ministrations, the sounds of her nickers and moans filling Luna’s ears as her excitement filled Luna’s mouth. Celestia thrust desperately against Luna’s muzzle, relying on that for stimulation just as much as the tongue that ceaselessly caressed her.

Her bucks grew quicker and shorter, the inevitable drawing near, but Luna responded by slowing her pace. Drawing out the pleasure, holding back the climax. Her sister mewled pitifully.

“Please…”

But Luna would have none of it, a devilish smile on her features. She let Celestia’s excitement recede, waited for her bucking to slow before redoubling her efforts, her sister’s needy cries spurring her on. Twice more she brought Celestia to the edge, twice more Tia pleaded with her but ultimately surrendered, allowing Luna to tease and toy with her. The fourth time, Luna instead increased her speed before pulling her muzzle away and circling Celestia’s clitoris one final time.

“Oh god…” Celestia whispered. It was all she could manage.

Even Tia seemed unprepared for the climax that rocked through her after being denied for so long, a wordless cry of pure exultation echoing through the chamber, shaking hind legs tensing around her sister as she came, wetness splashing against Luna’s face.

As she bucked and thrust her hips erratically, Luna responded with her own eagerness, keeping Celestia in that state of bliss for as long as she could, watching her writhe fitfully beneath her. But all good things must end, and soon enough Celestia took Luna’s head in her hooves and pulled her in for another kiss. The taste of her sister was still strong in Luna’s mouth, but Tia didn’t seem to care, if anything putting even more into it, leaving Luna almost unable to breathe in the passion of the moment.

When they broke apart, Celestia pressed Luna’s head to her chest before falling back, and Luna snuggled close. It was just like before, before everything had gone so wrong, and she let out a happy sigh into Celestia’s fur, listening to her rapidly beating heart, watching the rise and fall of her chest slow as her breathing returned to normal. Occasionally Tia would shiver slightly, the aftershocks of her climax running through her body.

They still didn’t say anything; there was nothing that needed to be said. Tomorrow would be the time for words, now was the time for silence, for enjoying each other’s presence and closeness.

The bed was a complete mess; pillows had been thrown across the room, in a couple of corners the sheet had been pulled free, and the covers were in a pile on the floor. The two sisters lay in the middle, surrounded by debris, each wrapped up in the other. The evening was warm, and at that moment, hearing the gentle chirp of crickets outside the windows, there was nowhere Luna would rather have been.


***


Awakenings from dreams like that are always unpleasant, and to find that soft bed and loving company replaced by hard rock and empty loneliness was especially so. Luna felt fresh anger rising through her. The forgiveness her dream-sister had shown her could clearly not be said for the one in real life.

Still, that had been an especially vivid dream, to say nothing of its content. She could almost still taste Celestia on her lips.

No, I'm not thinking about it. Forget it happened. Oh god forget that EVER happened.

And then, as she awakened fully...

Oh no. Oh no no no no, not now. Why now? Why here?

A warmth in her nethers, a deep and aching need that ran to her core. It had been hundreds of years since her last, but the feeling was unmistakable.

Luna was in heat.

Back in Equestria there were ponies who were trained to... alleviate it, but she wasn't in Canterlot. She wasn’t even on the same planet. She was in heat, and not only were there no stallions present, there never would be. Not for a thousand years, give or take. She was alone.


***


Luna's Diary
Entry 64

If this entry seeems a little haphazrd, then forgive me. I'm fnding it verry difficult to concentra. The worst thing possible has happnd.

Suddenly everything makes snse. Why I was feeling odd, why I had that dreamm. I've gone nto heat.

This is, without a dout, a bad thiing. I can barrly hold thequill straight, and this is only the strt.

Alicorns havee always had the wrst time whn it comes to estrus. We doo have the advantge of onlyhaving one evry few hunred years, but when we do? It's bad. I ned a stallion.

Ogod, when I think abot having one just rut me, bend me down and tke me so roghly that
[Illegible]
Do you seee what this iss doing to me? I cant blive I just wrote that. And yet it wold be fntastic, would clear my hed. I thnk my wrtttings actually gtting worse – let me caaalmdown.

Okay, it toook a while, but I should hav a little more control now. I'm sorry again, but the quilll is shaking sobadly.

I'm at the point where I considereed creating a 'replacement' out of the mooon rock. I probbly would if I thouht it wuld help. But it won't bcause it has to be mre than that. Somethng sentient.

Alive.


***


You can do this. It'll be difficult, yes, but you HAVE to do this. If you think you can't, you won't be able to.

Luna steadied herself, which was easier said than done. Her head was spinning, her loins pulling every bit of her attention they could. But somehow she managed to focus. Her horn lit up, and a large circle that she'd traced in front of her began to glow around the edges.

Contain it. Gently.

Shape it, slowly, bit by bit. Ignore that growing distraction, shut it out. Shut everything out. It was the only way she could keep any focus, to remember the snatches of information she had gleaned in her studies of magic. She shouldn’t know anything about this anyway; it was as taboo as magic could be. A reigning monarch couldn’t be caught studying it, and so Luna was trying to piece together hundreds of snippets from hundreds of books, hoping her skill was enough. That her sheer tenacity would see her through, and avoiding thinking about what could happen if she got it wrong.

Concentrate. Remember.

Magic began to eke out of Luna’s horn, filling the groove of the circle in front of her with a cold, blue light. Her own body seemed desperate to betray her, insatiable desire filling her, doing its best to draw her away from the task at hoof. Exhaustion racked through Luna’s body, her legs trembling and threatening to give out at any moment. Her face was locked in a rictus of concentration; there was no room for mistakes, she had to keep going. Even with the rising waves of lust that crashed through her.

The circle in front of her began to spin. Luna had no idea if that was promising or horrifying, but spin it did, the glow from the edges becoming so bright it was nearly impossible to see into the centre, where the rock was slowly reforming itself.

With a final explosion of energy Luna released the last of her magic and was hurled backwards by its force. Stabilising with her wings, she recovered quickly, staring at the smoking crater she had made. The sides were perfectly smooth, leaving a deep, bowl-shaped depression in the moon's surface.

And in the centre, in the clouds of dust that were beginning to dissipate, something stirred.

> Chapter 2 - Curiosity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 2
Curiosity


The dust clouds settled, and in the centre lay Luna’s creation. The creature was pure white, its exterior hard and chitinous. Insectile eyes stared at her, unblinking, and short fangs poked out of its mouth. Roughly the size and shape of a regular pony, it had several notable differences. Aside from the eyes and fangs, there were two antennae atop its head, and folded over its back was a pair of translucent, blue-green wings. It wasn't quite what Luna had been aiming for, but it was close enough. Provided it had the right... functions.

She took a nervous step nearer, and it made an equal step back. She tried again – a step forward, a mirrored step back. Testing, she took a pace backwards. The creature stayed where it was, head tilted as a dog might watch its master, and Luna bit back a frustrated yell.

This wasn’t getting her anywhere. She burst into a gallop, charging full speed at the creature, his eyes widening in surprise. He was fast – incredibly so – zipping backwards with his wings as quickly as she could run.

Desperate now, Luna filled her horn with magic, holding her creation fast. It made an angry buzzing noise low in its throat as she pulled it closer, restrained to the point where movement was impossible. Its eyes were wide and panicked, but through the haze of her heat Luna didn’t even register its fear. All she could see was the solution to alleviate the aching need between her legs. But even this close all it did was buzz, filling her ears with incessant noise.

“Shut up!”

It did not.

“I command you, as your creator, be silent!”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Luna turned, revealing herself to the creature. Her musk had been following her all day, potent and almost unbearable. Presenting herself to the creature, she could only imagine the overpowering scent he would be subjected to. Any stallion would have been unable to resist, but this creature was far from a pony.

Except it had stopped buzzing.

“This is all I want,” she told it, a pleading edge in her voice. She didn’t even know if it could understand her, but a wet mare bending over with tail held high should be universal as far as language barriers were concerned. “I’m going to let you go now,” she said, “and when I do, all you have to do is rut me. I’m not asking for much. In fact, you should consider yourself incredibly fortunate that a Princess is offering herself to you.” Luna couldn’t help but let her imagination run a little wild. “Offering herself for you to take her all night long, filling her up. You’re not worthy of me but I’m here asking and oh just rut me already!” She dropped him and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Expected intercourse not forthcoming, Luna peered over her shoulder to see what was keeping it. The creature was sitting a short distance from her, watching with the same nervous curiosity as before. With a furious hoof-stomp, Luna gave up.


***


In lieu of another incomprehensible diary entry, Luna opted for bed. It was a long time before she managed to steal brief snatches of rest, and when she did her dreams were as vivid as the previous evening's, if less coherent.

She dreamed of corridors; walking slowly through them as the walls bent and warped. She couldn't see the hallway’s end, and if she looked behind her she couldn't see where it had begun.

She dreamed of floating amongst lights, pinpoints drifting around her. After a time she realised they were stars.

And finally she dreamed of mouths. Innumerable, and peppering her body with kisses. One drifted between her legs, and oh did that feel good, even if it reminded her horribly of her heat. Its tongue drove into her, just as she had done to Celestia...

Luna woke in a hot sweat. As always when emerging from dreams straight into reality, some things lingered. Notably the feeling of that tongue against her, lapping at her soaked marehood. She hoped it would remain for as long as possible while consciousness asserted itself, and miraculously it did. For too long; far too long to be remnants of sleeping imagination.

The creature was between her legs, his long tongue pressing against her, delving between her warm folds.

Luna found herself presented with a choice. She could let it know she was awake and risk scaring it off, or pretend to still be asleep and simply let it carry on. She chose the latter, laying her head back down as quietly as she could.

He hadn't noticed her, so engrossed was he in his task. His tongue worked long strokes over her, dipping in to press against her inner walls with every few passes. It was inexperienced, running mostly on instinct, but still managed to force Luna into holding back gasps. In her current state that was probably less difficult than usual.

His hot breath ran over her opening as he explored her completely, pleasurable shivers running over her skin. The creature glanced upwards, but although Luna was far past feigning sleep intentionally, in her state of bliss with eyes shut and tongue lolling he couldn't tell she was most definitely wide awake.

As he returned to her, Luna felt her orgasm looming; a great wave ready to crash over her. She couldn't hold back the moan, and the creature hesitated.

Calm down Luna don't scare it off not now you're so close.

She gave no further signs of alertness (easier said than done), but the seconds ticked past with no further contact.

Please please don't leave me now my hoof won't be the same I really need this.

As if in answer to her pleas, his tongue returned to her, and combined with the tense wait, it proved too much. She shouted in wordless bliss as pleasure soared through her, lifting her up and bringing an incredible feeling of weightlessness. Even a single day unsatisfied in an alicorn's heat was nigh on unbearable, and this feeling of release was incomparable to any orgasm she had ever experienced before.

Except it still wasn't enough. She still hadn't been rutted. She needed him to fuck her, to finish inside her and fill her. Even just thinking about it made that deep ache return in full force.

When she looked up she found her cries had startled it. He had skittered away and was sitting as he had the day before; a short distance from her and watching as if she might suddenly pounce on him. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she had half a mind to do just that. As she contemplated, a far better idea surfaced.

Luna had every intention of sating herself before the night was through.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 65

My spell was a success, of sorts. I didn't manage to create a complete pony, but at least something approximating one. However, I cannot get him to rut me.

At first I tried brute force, which merely frightened it. A scared male is hardly primed for sexual congress. And yet this evening while I slept he crept up on me and... well. He managed to do enough to clear my head, and now I'm able to hold the quill at least somewhat steadily, though it won't last.

I was loud during our earlier activities, and I fear I frightened him. However, it did give me an idea. I'm going to wait until he falls asleep, and then I'm going to repay him in kind for his earlier commitment.

Hopefully, with a few tricks up my proverbial sleeve, I'll be able to convince him I'm not dangerous, and a few other things besides.

Wish me luck.


***


It didn't take long for Luna to find him, slumbering in the crater he had come from. The blue glow of magic around her hooves kept her silent as she drew nearer, carefully picking her way down the slope.

This close to him for the first time, Luna was able to truly appreciate her creation, running a hoof over his flank. His exterior was as hard as stone but warm and smooth, as if it had been polished. His fangs, while small, were sharp as razors. She couldn't remember exactly why she'd given him those; they must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but her memory was decidedly cloudy. It wasn't like it needed them to eat.

Luna prided herself on her ingenuity where it came to feeding. She had struggled with that for a while – there was no obvious food source on the barren surface – but after a few minutes she had realised there was an obvious abundance of energy. Her. The creature was designed to feed off her own power, mostly during intercourse, which had probably drawn it to her earlier. Well, that and the overpowering scent of a mare in heat. An alicorn in heat, no less.

Breathing was unnecessary; its survival depended on that. His functions were sustained not by oxygen, but by her own energy that he would take. It was a perfect design. Luna wouldn't have settled for anything less.

Enough admiring.

Luna's body was beginning to remind her why she had made him in the first place; her mind hazing over once more with incapacitating need. Sleeping on his side provided her with a perfect avenue of attack, and she tiptoed round to his hooves before settling herself beside him.

Hesitantly she began to nuzzle against his underside, keeping below his waist. Luna had never done this before; the stallions in the castle were only there to service her, and it wouldn't even be considered to have her pleasure them. But really, how hard could it be?

Her light touches had not gone unnoticed, his member freeing from its sheath and hardening in front of her. Luna was relieved to see it was virtually identical to a pony's. Given her earlier, addled state, she wouldn't have been surprised to find she had given it an enormous tentacle instead. Even now she could see that having its benefits...

Stop that. Focus.

After a deep preparatory breath, Luna gave his shaft a long lick from base to tip. Almost immediately the creature reacted, hind legs stretching as he gave a drawn-out sigh. But he hadn't woken up. More carefully this time, Luna tried again, starting low and working her way up with her tongue, slowly and gently, teasing as much of him as she could.

When she reached the tip once more, Luna opened her mouth wide and took him in. It was a struggle. The wide head was difficult to get in in one motion, and she had to pull back, fighting off the urge to cough. Her second attempt was more successful; prepared for his size she was able to take him with relative ease.

He shifted slightly, and in panic she looked up, hoping against hope that he wasn't awake. It was awkward enough as it was, and she suddenly felt a great deal of sympathy for surprising him earlier. His eyes were still closed, though now the hint of a smile played around the corners of his mouth.

Luna resumed her task, trying to move her head down as far as possible before pulling back, tongue rolling around his shaft as she did so. She hated being so inexperienced, but without him being awake she couldn't rely on his reactions to guide her, instead having to simply guess at what would feel pleasurable.

It can't be long now, she thought, the first salty drops of precum in her mouth. And if she hadn't made the mistake of looking up at that exact moment, it probably wouldn't have been. Blue eyes stared straight into her own. There was a long pause, both of them horrified at being caught, before they broke apart simultaneously and began shouting at each other. At least, Luna was shouting. The creature simply buzzed its strange vocalisations.

“How dare you take advantage of me like that!? The second you were awake you should have informed me!”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“That was completely different! I'm in heat, I can't control myself!”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“I was trying to stop you running off every time I got close to you.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

Luna continued in a quieter tone. “I suppose it did work, didn't it?” It was no longer dashing away in fright, staying close in their one-sided verbal conflict. She cleared her throat “I believe we should be properly introduced, now that we've become so well acquainted. I...” She paused for effect. “Am Princess Luna, rightful heir to Equestria, and your creator.” Its face was blank, thoroughly unimpressed by her 'grand reveal'. She tried a different tactic. “What is your name?”

The creature tilted its head again, which Luna found rather endearing.

“Of course. You don't have one, do you? We'll have to rectify that; I can't just call you 'creature'.” She thought for a moment. Name, name, name... The answer was so obvious she couldn't help but smile. “What do you think of 'Buzz'?”

The creature gave a few excited hops in clear indication of approval. It seemed 'Buzz' was perfectly capable of understanding her, even if he couldn't speak.

“Very well,” said Luna. “Buzz it is.”

Buzz nodded, before returning to watching her expectantly. Luna, however, found herself distracted. She'd become transfixed on what lay between his hind legs, remembering why she'd come to him in the first place. Her mind was starting to fuzz again, imagining all sorts of lurid fantasies that would never have crossed her thoughts were it not for the heat plaguing her body.

Buzz followed her line of sight, dipping his head down to look between his legs as if he'd entirely forgotten the events of a few minutes earlier. When he came back up he was presented with a faceful of Luna, whose instinct had taken the opportunity, bending over in front of him.

Looking over her shoulder, Luna could see the exact moment Buzz’s restraint dissolved, the heady scent of her need and her earlier teasing crushing it completely. And by now he had to be getting hungry. With no hint of fear he lunged at her, nothing between him and his prize.

He buried his muzzle into her and Luna quivered at his new-found eagerness, even though this teasing was just as unbearable as before, if not worse. His tongue dove into her, needing to taste as much of her as he could, the heady scent of her need hanging thick in the air.

“Fuck me already!” she yelled, astonishing even herself at her uncouth language. Heat really did make mares go crazy, especially when their desires were flaunted so openly next to them.

Luna didn't have to wait. She felt Buzz's weight above as he mounted her, felt him press clumsily into her backside before he took a moment to align himself properly.

Come on come on come on come on come on.

And then, with a quick, strong thrust, he was inside her.

Ohgodyes

She clamped down around his length that filled her so completely, her sensitive walls that had been begging for a stallion finally taking their prize. Luna couldn’t suppress a shudder as he drew his hips away, feeling his cock slide back past her oh so sensitive opening until he was nearly all the way out.

Her body yearned for him to return, the heat making her feel so empty as he paused there. She squeezed his flared tip desperately, her needy pants belying the urge to scream at him to get on with it.

And get on with it he did, pushing inside her once more, Luna’s mind blanking at her heat’s fulfilment. Every sensation was heightened; she could feel every single wondrous inch as he slid back into her, this time slowly enough for her to fully enjoy it. When he settled into a rhythm Luna thought she might pass out, so overwhelming was the satiation of her lust, her wanton cries ringing in her own ears.

Every nerve ending was on fire, each of Buzz's thrusts making her gasp and moan like it didn't matter that she was a princess, like it didn't matter that she was one of the most powerful creatures in the world. It didn't even matter that Buzz was for all intents and purposes incompatible; her body didn't know that. She was a mare being rutted by a full-blooded stallion (or at least an equivalent) and that was all that would ever matter.

Buzz's member pushed deep into her, gliding easily past her tight opening. Each time he pushed inwards she would welcome him, walls clenching around him and holding tight as he pulled back, trying to keep him there as long as possible before he inevitably entered back in, nearly always eliciting another small moan from Luna. Buzz himself was silent, his namesake proving to be unreliable when preoccupied. Luna found a small and mischievous part of her wishing he would buzz; her imagination assured her that would feel incredible, but in her current euphoria perhaps it would be a bit too much.

Luna's first orgasm came quickly, though with the unbelievable pleasure she was already experiencing it was a minor bump in comparison. Rather than crashing over her, this one simply doused her, only really noticeable by a few moments of even further heightened sensitivity. It was a lot more obvious for Buzz, her excitement splashing back against him. It only served to spur him on, faster and harder than his already formidable pace.

He didn't tire, each thrust pulling more energy from her indomitable lust, only gaining strength each time his hips smacked against her rump. For an alicorn as powerful as Luna it was unnoticeable, but if Buzz’s quickening pace was any indication, for him it was intensely invigorating. And now his pushes into her were growing more erratic, his hooves around her pressing tighter against her skin, clutching against her as he reached his last, desperate bucks.

Luna felt his pace quicken for the last time and braced herself. He didn't disappoint, his member pulsing briefly before his seed exploded into her.

Wave after wave filled her, pouring into her fertile body. Buzz stomped his hind leg, giving a bestial growl in her ear, each spurt accompanied by a shudder above her. And with her need to mate finally, wonderfully fulfilled, Luna was driven to her second orgasm, sent soaring once more. Her legs quaked as she screamed out, the waves of her climax smashing down on her thoughts and leaving her with nothing but the fiery pleasure that burned through her. She could feel her heart smashing against her ribcage, feel the blood pumping in her veins, the warmth it carried through her body. She was alive; incredibly, beautifully alive, sharing this moment with the creature she had gifted life to.

Her knees gave out, and she and Buzz fell into a trembling heap of limbs and sweat and sex. The stars above twinkled as Luna slid into a beautiful dreamless sleep.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 66

I am myself again. For how long I cannot say, but it is wonderful to have full control of my senses.

After some brief 'negotiations', I was able to convince the creature of my affability. I have named him Buzz. A fitting title, and one he wears with pride. He proved more than capable of satisfying me – a testament to my own abilities – and right now he is off wandering the surface. It seems to calm him.

There is, admittedly, a small language barrier. While he can comprehend my every word, other than his odd buzzing he is entirely incapable of speech. More often than not it is possible to at least determine the gist of his comments, but if more complicated interaction is required it may prove to be an obstacle.

Perhaps I will try again, now that I am able to concentrate more. I already have some plans and additions that I think would prove quite... delectable, the next time I require alleviation.

Oh, and I have to escape. Can't forget that.

> Chapter 3 - Three's a Crowd
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 3
Three's A Crowd


Luna awoke to the black sky she had become so used to. Time was beginning to lose its meaning – a 'day' on the moon lasted around a month of what she now thought of as 'Equestria time', and it had taken some acclimatisation. The biggest difference was how cold the time spent in the dark became; her breath frosting in front of her eyes as she shivered into sleep. At least now she had someone she could be next to, snuggled close and sharing each other's warmth.

A few weeks had passed since their first coupling, but still their time awake was spent apart. Luna was consumed with planning her next creation, which had already spawned several failures that she tried not to think about. They were... messy. Her intentions were complex to say the least, and some trial and error was to be expected, even if she had to clean up afterwards. The nearby area was becoming increasingly pockmarked by the craters her spells gouged from the landscape.

Buzz, meanwhile, spent his waking hours foraging, exploring the wide expanse. While Luna found his behaviour completely irrational – the moon being barren in all regards – it seemed to make him happy and she left him to it.

The evenings were theirs. The perfect way to unwind, to keep that ever-threatening heat down and buried, satisfied. Alicorns had been known to remain in estrus for years if not impregnated. Luna supposed it was a small price to pay for near-immortality, especially when it made the sex as good as it did.

Her new project was not set to 'replace' Buzz. It was partly a way to occupy her time, to keep her from spending too much time with her own thoughts, and partly a way for her to fulfil certain fantasies that Buzz would never be able to. The image of Celestia with that sultry look, gesturing for her sister to come and please her, rose unbidden in Luna’s mind and she shook it away.

No, not that one.

Theoretically it would be possible once she succeeded, but Luna thought it best to bury that one deep, never to think about again if she could help it.

A sound nearby dragged Luna’s attention away from her scrawled notes, and she looked up to see Buzz bounding over. This was unusual; normally he would be absent until it was time to retire to sleep, whether or not Celestia’s sun still graced the ground with its caress.

“What is it?” Luna's tone was not unkindly, if anything betraying her concern about his strange behaviour. Buzz, however, seemed ecstatic.

Buzzzzzzzzzz!

She sighed. “That doesn't mean anything to me, you know that.”

In response Buzz flew back a few feet in the direction he had come from, before sitting and watching her intently.

“I don't understand. You're not doing that running away thing, are you? We’re not going through all that again.”

Buzz rolled his eyes. He took to the air, soaring over Luna’s head and landing astride her before physically pushing her with his head.

Realisation dawned. “You want me to go with you?”

He nodded enthusiastically, clopping his hooves together for added emphasis.

Returning to the scribble of her notes was an uninspiring prospect, and Buzz was nothing if not insistent. “Very well,” she sighed, though a smile played across her face. “It's not as though I'm getting anywhere with this. Lead on.”


***


It was impossible. Completely and utterly impossible, and yet Luna couldn't deny the evidence in front of her. Buzz had found a cave. He'd managed to lead her back to it with pinpoint accuracy, and despite only being a couple of hours walk from where they were living it was no wonder she had missed it in her own perfunctory exploration. Hidden behind a small ridge, it was all but invisible from their side. Even from the other direction it was easy to overlook, angled so steeply that unless you were standing on the very rim it could be dismissed as nothing more than a small patch of discoloured ground.

It was wide enough for three or four ponies to stand abreast without even brushing the sides, and tall enough for Luna to enter without even having to stoop her head. And, of course, it was dark. More than a few feet in and anypony would be unable to see even their hoof in front of their face, which was naturally why Buzz had brought her. He was pacing back and forth, leaving a mess of hoofprints at the cave's threshold. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer than necessary, Luna sent the small charge of magic required into her horn, producing a bright orb that remained fixed to the tip. The light made a cone in front of them and Buzz dashed to its periphery, cantering excitedly along its edge. Together they advanced into the cave, leaving the light of the surface behind them, replaced by the orb's cold incandescence.

What surprised Luna perhaps the most was the cave's consistency. Despite how deep it went, it maintained its proportions, almost a perfect oval that descended towards the moon's centre. Thus it was unexpected when it came to an abrupt end, around two hundred metres down. So abrupt that Buzz, who had been running along the very edge of her light, galloped face first into the unforgiving rock.

Luna tried not to laugh, but when Buzz turned to her with a look of mortified dismay, nose lightly dusted with grey, she couldn't help it. He'd even left a mark on the wall.

After she'd composed herself, still holding back the odd escaping giggle, Luna moved to examine the wall more closely. It was a strange formation; to end so rapidly and with such a smooth, flat edifice. She raised a hoof to it and was confronted by a sudden sensation of dread. Something deep within her told her not to touch it. To leave it be. Turn around and go. Don't come back. She was about to do just that when Buzz pressed his own hoof firmly against its surface.

Nothing happened, and Luna chided herself on her foolishness. Buzz was fine, examining the dust the wall had left on his hoof. As if to prove to herself that she was being ridiculous, she lifted her hoof once more and held it against the rock. The effect was instantaneous. A spark, like static, jumped to her hoof and she shuddered spasmodically, eyes rolling back in their sockets as she collapsed, her light winking out. Buzz was left alone with an unconscious alicorn, deep underground and in the pitch black.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 107

Where to even begin?

Buzz came to me today, practically shaking with excitement, desperate for me to follow him to some unknown location. When I did, he led me to a cave that he'd discovered. I couldn't believe I'd missed such an obvious shelter, though I wonder now if there was perhaps some magical influence on my perceptual oversight.

We trekked into the cave and soon arrived at the end – a solid wall that sprung up from nowhere. Buzz actually ran into it, its appearance was so sudden. And yet, when I attempted to touch it, things became rather dangerous. I'd already been faced with an inexplicable fear, as if the wall was somehow harmful, but Buzz was able to interact with it without any ill effects and I assumed I could do the same.

That was a mistake. I realised the moment I pressed my hoof against it. I felt instantly drained, empty, and it was too much. Buzz, in a feat that still amazes me, had to drag me out of the cave in complete darkness. I assume he used the edges to lead him out, but all while pulling me behind him? I can only begin to imagine how terrible that ascent must have been.

When I recovered, I felt awful. Nauseated, head pounding, a hot sweat. It passed in time, but I have no desire to touch that wall again.

It's obvious what's down there. My soul; the sliver that is binding me here. Touching that wall must have been too close for the spell to allow, considering it an act of trying to free myself, hence the extreme aversion.

So, the positive is that I at least know where to begin in any escape attempts. On the other hoof, there is nothing I can do to get to it. My situation is only marginally better than before. It isn't as though I can get Buzz to dig there. It's still miles below that point, I'm sure, and it would take nothing short of an eternity for him to reach it.

Best to avoid it for now, I think, and focus my thoughts elsewhere. I'm close with my side project now, I can tell.

Soon.


***


Pages littered the ground in an uneven circle around the alicorn in the centre. Luna had worked tirelessly, drawing off all her magical knowledge in increasing efforts to complete her project. The craters had multiplied dramatically, moving farther and farther afield with each new failure. It sometimes struck her as incredible that she'd managed to form Buzz successfully at all, let alone on her first attempt.

Buzz himself was lying nearby, eyes closed, though whenever Luna cursed at the pages or threw another away they would crack open to make sure she was okay. Or, at least, as okay as she could be when this obsessed. Since the incident in the cave he hadn't left her side.

Luna swore furiously, crunching her current sheet into a ball and tossing it into an ever-growing pile behind her. The loose papers were her 'correct' workings, though she was unsure why she kept them. Those parts were committed to memory; it was the final detail that was keeping her back.

Creating a living creature was one thing. Creating one that can use magic, no matter how specific, was an entirely different beast.

Think. What did Buzz have that these failures don't?

She tried to remember making Buzz, wracking her mind for any answer, but none were forthcoming. Her memories from that time were a haze of lust and confusion. And that was it. That was the missing component.

Desperation.

Buzz had been born from the pure need she'd had. It had focused Luna, driven her entirely on to the task at hand. For that moment his creation had been the only thing that mattered, and so it was possible. She had done it because she had to.

And that meant the only possible way to recreate her success was to allow herself to get into that state again.

“Buzz?”

Obediently he trotted over, head bowed low in fear of another stream of expletives that she had previously issued to him as a way to vent her frustration. Instead, Luna gave him a long hug.

“I'm afraid our night-time endeavours are going to have to wait for a while.”

He cocked his head.

“It's nothing personal, I assure you. But it seems the missing link is my heat, and the need that accompanies it. I have to ask you to do something for me. Until I've succeeded with this, no matter how much I beg, you cannot satisfy me.”

Buzz was stunned. His expression suggested she would perhaps be better off re-evaluating the merits of giving up.

“Don't be like that. It'll be at most a few days. Just enough to get me desperate.”

This, funnily enough, did not inspire confidence in the sanity of her plan.

“Promise me.”

He shrugged.

“Buzz?”

With a final, indignant snort, Buzz turned and flew into the distance. Luna watched him go; a dwindling speck against the vastness of space. Around her lay the empty shells of her previous mistakes, and she couldn't help but feel she was making another one.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 108

I wonder if I've gone mad. It wouldn't surprise me.

I think I've found the solution to my project. When I made Buzz I was entrenched in the aggressive stages of estrus. Not only was that an incredible motivator, but I believe it also gave my magic higher levels of focus, and it was that which allowed me to create life.

I sincerely hope so, because I've ordered Buzz to leave me be until I have completed my work. If I am wrong, it's going to be a very long wait until hunger finally forces his hoof.

Still, I am at the point where it is all-or-nothing. Every new avenue draws a blank, and this is the last thing I can think of. Maybe what I'm attempting is impossible, but if not just think of the possibilities. They're endless. I'll admit, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

...

I miss Buzz. Not just for... that, but for his company at night. I never had somepony to sleep next to in Canterlot – the stallions allocated to please me and Celestia were always quick to vacate after our sessions. I hope I'll be able to bring him back soon.

Maybe I should have asked for one more evening.


***


Luna's hoof found itself between her legs for what must have been at least the fourth time that day. It wasn't helping. If anything, the immeasurably brief period of near-lucidity that followed her orgasm only served to make returning to clouded thoughts even more unbearable.

It had been little over a week since Buzz's departure. Her days were filled with restless waiting, that continual ache in her loins impossible to ignore or distract. The nights were even worse. Sleep was all but unachievable, and once attained her dreams were just as bad.

Come here sister. Let me grant you release.

She shuddered. Why did that keep coming back?

Her single reprieve was that the moon was now in its night-phase. The air was much cooler – a blessing in her current state – and when she desired she could always see her stars. They did wonders to calm her, at least in spirit. Her body was more obstinate.

Desperation crawled across her mind, taking all of her restraint to not give in, to not go and find Buzz and make him calm her. Soon she wouldn’t even be able to stop that.

Enough is enough.

It was time. If she wasn't ready now she was never going to be. Already she was at the edges of what she could bear, far worse than during Buzz's incarnation. Luna located a spot, free from any existing craters. It wasn't that suddenly having a crater made the spell impossible, but she preferred to work away from the reminders of failure. Satisfied, she set about preparing.

Feel the spell, work it through you.

Tendrils of magic played through her body, rolling through her towards her horn, which began to shine as it filled.

Let it build. Let it build.

Infrequent sparks popped from the tip of her horn – pinpoints of light that winked out as they drifted towards the ground, like miniature fireworks. Her legs shook with the effort of holding that much raw power.

Nearly. Shape it now, make it into what you need.

Luna could imagine it vividly, almost to the point where she could have reached out and touched it. On the ground a circle began to carve its existence into the dust, an aurora of blue around the edges.

Three.

Her head felt so heavy. It would have been easy to just let it drop, let it go, but her heat forced her to keep going. She couldn't lose it now.

Two.

So close. It would all be worth it. It had to be worth it.

One.

Don't lose focus. It must be perfect.

Come here, sister…

Luna’s focus slipped at the last moment, the image of Celestia rising unbidden in her mind. The magic erupted from her horn, unguided and off-course, smashing into the rock in front of her and sending splintered fragments towards Luna’ face. She shielded herself with a hoof but still the pieces stung against her as her magic writhed in its new crater, entirely out of control.

Its whirling slowed and ceased, and now Luna was faced with her failure. A white pool of molten rock, steaming and bubbling, an easily recognisable orange sun emblazoned on the surface.

Panic seized her. She’d left it too late. Too long, taken it too far. She could no longer focus, couldn’t control her urges. Luna needed to be rutted. Everything else was meaningless now, useless background noise – not worth thinking about until she’d gotten a stallion. And she knew exactly where to find one.


***


Slowly, quietly…

Luna kept her breathing as silent as she could, but it took everything just to keep her from panting. Her body was on fire, each movement bringing with it a deep ache that only one thing could cure.

Ahead of her was her quarry: Buzz, lying slumped against a rock and absent-mindedly throwing pebbles towards the horizon. Closer and closer she crept, carefully placing each hoof, trying and failing to block out her gnawing need. The distraction proving too much, she misstepped, her hoof pressing down on a rock with a loud crunch.

Buzz turned at the sound, and when he saw Luna his face lit up at her return. And then he saw her expression; barely a semblance of herself left. His smile dropped, wings unfurling as he leapt into the sky in a panic.

With a snarl, Luna’s magic bound his hooves, holding him still while he struggled, wings beating frantically in an attempt to escape. But slowly she dragged him back down to the ground, ignoring his protesting buzzes. She brought his squirming form face to face with her, trying to calm him down, but still he struggled. His panicked eyes locked with hers, and a cold chill ran down Luna’s spine at the sight of her reflection in them, teeth bared in a terrifying grimace.

“What am I doing?” Luna didn’t even realise she’d spoken aloud.

She dropped him, and Buzz immediately took to the air, soaring off towards the horizon without looking back. Luna watched him go, making no attempt to follow even as the insistent warmth began to fill her. She would not let this beat her. She wouldn’t let it control her like that again.


***


Luna groaned, watching the stars above her and trying to think of something, anything, other than the aching want between her legs. It was hopeless; no matter what she did it commanded her entire attention, unable to even move without it flaring up again.

She often found herself thinking of Buzz, how easy it would be to just have him rut her, but the memory of his fearful stare and frantic struggles were enough to keep her from seeking him out. There was only one solution Luna would accept: her spell’s success.

She had to do it now. If she didn’t she might lose herself again, and Luna didn’t know if she could come back from it a second time. Her horn flickered uncertainly into life, her shaking body using all its energy to keep it there. Another circle burned into the dust as she gasped with effort, forcing herself to continue.

Steady. Focus.

The ring in front of her glowed, bright and blue as Luna shaped the spell in her mind. Her heat constantly tried to distract her, but this time was different. This time instead of fighting it she let it guide her, channeling it.

The circle began to spin again, faster and faster as Luna built up her spell, making her need into a tool. This was her solution, her final answer to her inescapable lust, and it forced her into the pure concentration this demanded.

Now.

A flash, blinding and brilliant, erupted from the centre of the ring, releasing a shock-wave that flipped Luna off her hooves. She fell to the ground, listening to the rumble as her spell bore into the dirt; carving, reshaping, creating.

The light was so bright that anypony in Equestria looking in the direction of the new moon would have seen a small twinkle, like a star that had only appeared for a few seconds. Luna was forced to shield her eyes. There was nothing else she could do now other than wait for it to be over. The spell had been released; there was no changing her mind now. She had given it her all, and had to hope that was enough.

The cacophony subsided, leaving Luna in silence with this fateful moment. Waiting to open her eyes and see the result. She didn't know how she'd react if she'd failed again. She didn't know how she'd react if she hadn't.

It took all of her willpower to crack her eyes open. Blue ones stared into her own, and for a fraction of a moment she thought Buzz had come back. He had not.

Her new creation was similar in many ways – same insect eyes, same short fangs, same translucent wings – but different in many others. For a start, he was jet black. Where Buzz had a pair of antennae, this creature had a crooked horn, stunted but recognisable. His legs appeared almost broken, holes and dents in their otherwise armour-like surface. And finally, unlike Buzz, this creature displayed no hint of fear. He looked hungry. Predatory.

He was beautiful. At least as far as Luna and her irrepressible heat was concerned. She would have jumped him, then and there, but she had to make sure. She had to know if she'd done it.

“Change,” she murmured, breath catching in her throat. “Show me.”

He bowed his head, horn glowing a dark green. The bottom of his hooves began to change colour, white threads working their way up his body to his torso, spreading over his skin. A thick mane and tail sprouted, appearing as rapidly as his other changes. The irregularities in his legs closed and smoothed over, and a sheaf of gold ran itself over his back and head. The entire transformation took only seconds, and then in front of her stood one of the palace's numerous royal guards. She didn't know if it had taken on the guise of a specific one, or merely an amalgamation of all the ones she had seen over the years. What she did know was that the armour made him look ravishing.

“Guard?” Luna allowed herself to indulge in a little roleplaying. It was what her 'changeling' – a name she had decided on when she begun her project – was there for, after all.

“Yes, my princess?”

Oh, it was good to hear a voice other than her own. The changeling had adopted a gruff, masculine intonation that made her long to just pounce on him. But where was the fun in that? She had waited this long and, while sating herself was the forefront of her mind, she'd be damned if she wasn't going to savour this.

“Lie down,” she commanded. “On your back.”

“Uh... Of course, princess.” The guard (for treating it as a changeling spoiled the illusion) obliged her, presenting Luna with a view of his underside, including the member that was already starting to free itself from its sheath. This was going to be fun.

“What's that?” she asked, with a touch of incredulity. “Does such a simple order arouse you?”

“S-sorry princess, I can't help it. It's your-” The guard forced himself into silence, cutting short his near-insubordination. He closed his eyes – clearly trying to distract himself – but Luna stepped closer, smiling as he winced at her scent.

“My what? And do me the courtesy of looking at your princess when she addresses you.”

His eyes snapped open, wide and anxious. “Your... your...” He squirmed under her stare.

“Yes...?” Luna placed her hoof gently onto his stomach, and he whimpered a little at her touch. “Go on.”

“Your heat, princess.”

Luna's eyes widened in mock-horror. “You dare assume that I would lower myself to sleeping with one of my guards!?”

“N-no, princess! I only-”

“Don't lie to me.” Her voice cut across his, and the words died in his throat. “This,” she smacked his now nearly fully-erect shaft with the side of her hoof, “would beg to differ. Admit it,” she said, in a low growl. “The thought of taking me had crossed your mind, no? The thought of rutting me senseless, like a common harlot?”

“Princess, I... I...”

Luna stood over him, letting her scent fill the air around them even more. “I'm not hearing a no.”

“Yes!” His voice was shrill and frantic now. “Yes, I admit it! I'm sorry, it’s just too...” His sentence faded, shocked by his own admission.

“I see.” Her hoof traced lightly over his skin. “And was it good, in your imagination?”

“I don't...”

“The thought of fucking me.” She was gratified to see him flinch at her language. “Was I... good?”

“I...” The guard hesitated. No answer seemed like the correct one.

“Answer the question.” He was good at this, playing the part wonderfully. Already Luna could tell this was going to be more than worth it in the long run.

“Y-yes. It was good.” He was desperate now, lying helpless underneath her as her hoof continued to roam over his body.

“Do you have a wife? A marefriend, perhaps?”

“A-a marefriend...”

“And what would she say if she knew you were having such inappropriate thoughts about your princess?”

“Luna, p-please...”

“Forgetting my title now?” She rapped him on the nose with her free hoof. “I will only forgive that once.” Luna lowered her body down against his, feeling his hardness press against her abdomen. He moaned from the contact. “Feeling so good from so little?”

He nodded.

“Hmph.” She began to rub up against him, feeling his cock running against her skin. “And when you fuck your marefriend, do you secretly fantasise about me? That- nnn.” Luna bit back a gasp, her imagination getting the better of her. “That it's me you're rutting?”

“N-no... Ah!” He couldn't stop the cry from escaping.

Luna smiled – a cat-like grin. “We'll have to change that.”

Perfectly positioned above him, she surrounded his member with magic, aligning it with her entrance.

“I am in charge,” she reminded, her magic tightening briefly around him. He groaned, whether in pleasure or pain Luna couldn’t tell. She didn’t really care. “I set the pace. If you move, or make any attempt to take control, there will be consequences.” She bent down to whisper in his ear. “As of now you are nothing but my toy. Do behave yourself.”

The guard gulped at the terrifying edge underlying her words, but the worry evaporated from his face as Luna lowered herself onto him. Her lips parted, welcoming him inside her, shuddering as she dropped down. She relished every last moment of it, moving down agonisingly slowly for the stallion, writhing on every new inch that entered her, finally hilting with a delighted shiver.

More than a week's pent up frustrations seemed to leave her body, even from just that initial penetration, the intense fire within her fading as his length twitched inside her. She took great pleasure in the consternation on his face, his hips wiggling beneath her as he fought down the urge to thrust.

Luna began to gyrate against him, drawing her own pleasure while unconcerned with his. And pleasure was abundant. She had thought her time with Buzz was intense, but that had only been a couple of days. With Buzz they had been like a pair of horny teenagers; fast, dirty and rough. Here she was fixated on drawn-out pleasure, eking out all that could be had. Slow, but intense.

Her walls tightened and relaxed around him as she finally began to slide herself up his length, dropping back down with a lewd moan. To his credit the guard remained motionless, though his hooves ground against the dirt, desperate to place themselves around her waist.

Luna couldn't let him have that. Some ponies preferred to drop the act midway through, allowing a role-reversal as their façade crumbles under the pleasure. She did not – Nightmare Moon would never submit, especially not to a lowly guard. Once the roles were set, you could be damn sure that was how it would end; with her on top.

He was getting close, she could tell by his half-lidded eyes and short breaths. “Don't you dare!”

“But-”

“Not until I'm satisfied.” Luna didn’t leave room for debate.

He swallowed, eyes scrunched tightly shut, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. Fortunately, Luna was not far herself.

The revival of her power over ponies, coupled with her built up lust, drove Luna to an early orgasm. She didn't cry out, she simply tensed above him, shuddering as the waves blasted through her, a deep sigh her only utterance. When she was able to relax, she dipped her head once more and whispered a single word. “Come.”

He didn't need telling twice. Sticky ropes flooded her, quelling the hot fire that had burned inside for the previous week. The pony beneath her collapsed, limbs weak and useless, and she could not resist one final jibe. “I doubt you'll ever enjoy your marefriend the same way again.”

She levered herself of the insensate guard and lay down next to him, curling up. As the colouring faded from his coat, back to that depthless black, Luna found she didn't want to hold her changeling. 

It wasn't the same.

> Chapter 4 - Mare Fecunditatis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 4
Mare Fecunditatis


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 109

I've done it! I still find it hard to believe, myself. A creature that can alter its form in any way I desire: a changeling. It was exhausting both magically and physically, but sitting beside me is proof of my success.

Now I have to find Buzz; he must be starving, and I think I've earned the right to show off a little. I imagine he's been residing in the cave – it's the most obvious place.

I'm not looking forward to setting foot in there again, but needs must.

I hope Buzz likes the changeling – it was for him as well. I would name it, but its personality is a blank slate until it transforms, and it seems a bit pointless. Not to mention it's much more fun if you can forget that it's a changeling while...

You get the picture.


***


Buzz was indeed lying at the entrance to the cave, tracing small circles idly into the dust and staring into the distance with a glazed expression. When Luna appeared on the horizon he jumped up and prepared his wings for a hasty getaway if needed. At least until he saw what she had in tow behind her.

“Well, what do you think?” she asked, arriving beside him. Buzz examined the creature with his usual inquisitiveness, head cocked in the way Luna always found adorable. The changeling simply stood there, stoic and impassive as Buzz hopped around him.

Contrasted like this, the differences between them were much more noticeable. Buzz was shorter than the changeling, even when ignoring the horn, and all of his movements felt more... alive, somehow. Luna wasn't sure what it was, but while Buzz seemed like an actual living thing, the changeling was closer to an unpainted canvas; lively while transformed but only because it was imitating something else.

Character. It lacked character, though she supposed it didn't matter given its role.

“Buzz, I want to reward you for your patience. And to apologise.”

Buzz gave her a questioning look.

“You can have a couple of hours with the changeling to do what you will. Consider it a gift. He has more than enough energy after last night; you should be able to feed off it.” Luna turned to the changeling. “I'm sure Buzz has some desires deep down that only you can fulfil. Treat him.” And then, back to Buzz, “Don't worry, I won't peek.” With a flourish of her wings Luna set off the way she had come. “I'll see you at home.”

Home... It was the first time she'd referred to that bleak patch of dust as home, even to herself.

Buzz regarded the changeling once more, obvious confusion on his face. Before his eyes the changeling's skin faded into dark blue, growing several inches as lighter-coloured adornments ran themselves around its hooves. A sparkling blue mane curled out from its head and a white patch on each flank resolved into a crescent moon.

If Luna had chosen to ignore her promise and look back, she would have seen a mirror image of herself, moving towards Buzz and giving him a passionate kiss.


***


“That's awful!” Luna did her best to restrain laughter, failing miserably when she saw Buzz's downcast expression. “It's just you without anything between the legs! It doesn't even look feminine.”

Buzz pouted, and the not-quite-female Buzz did the same, only making her laugh harder. After their return, Luna had decided to see just what her new creation was capable of, and soon enough she had created a stallion version of herself, which met with mixed reactions. Luna found it hilarious, while Buzz had scrunched up his muzzle, visibly disturbed by the sight. When his turn came to try the same trick he'd been far less successful.

“Look,” she said, trotting over to the changeling, “you can't just make a stallion into a mare by changing what they've got down there, there's more to it than that. Mares have curves. Wider hips, a softer jawline.” The changeling shifted, accommodating her changes. Now it really did resemble a female Buzz, almost uncannily so. “See? Much better.” In fact, it reminded her of another white-coated mare. In horror she saw the first speckles of a sun-shaped mark begin to materialise, and she slapped the changeling on the flank – a wordless reprimand. “Perfect,” she said through gritted teeth. It got the message, the markings fading even quicker than they had appeared.

Hanging its head, the changeling dug its hoof into the dust. Luna stared hard at the small indentation it left, the first snatches of an idea beginning to form in her mind. She pawed at the ground herself, but any attempts to leave a substantial mark were stopped by the barrier in her thoughts.

“Changeling,” she said. “Follow me. I have to try something.”


***


The cave was just as horrible as it had been the first time, thick dread filling Luna's heart as they travelled deeper.

It's just a spell, it can't hurt you. It's simply part of the binding magic.

She couldn't entirely convince herself, hooves lightly shaking and ready to bolt at the earliest opportunity. But soon enough they reached the end, Luna's horn illuminating the sheer rock at the bottom. She held up a hoof, not quite touching the surface. It tingled; an unpleasant crawling over her flesh. The spell did not want her here.

Motioning her changeling over Luna stepped back, well away from the wall and any harm it might do.

“Dig,” she commanded.

It eyed her dubiously, and even Buzz stiffened a bit at her order, despite already proving his own immunity to the wall's effects. The changeling lifted a hoof against the hard surface and pressed firmly onto it with a wince, anticipating the worst. Again, nothing happened. Emboldened, it drew its hoof down, dragging it across the wall and leaving a shallow groove gleaming in the rock.

Luna could hardly keep the excitement from her voice. “Buzz, you try.”

Buzz nodded, though he couldn't keep the concern from his eyes. The result was the same, a twin etching parallel to the the changeling's, reflecting her light like glass.

“Well,” she said, voice a hushed whisper, “this is a development.”


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 110

There's a loophole. A wonderful, glorious loophole. I can get to the shard, I can get it back. I can get to Equestria, I can see my sister again.

Actually, I need to think about how to handle that. I cannot let her remain unpunished for what she's done. Not even if I want to.

But back to the loophole. I can't alter the landscape directly – at least, not with an aim to get to my soul. Damage that happens as a consequence of my other magic is an exception, but repeating one of those spells won't fool the binding magic. My intentions are known to it, and it will stop me before I make any progress.

But that only goes for my intentions. Buzz and the changeling are entirely independent; their actions are their own and the binding doesn't affect them. They could, if they had the means, choose to leave. They can also do something else I cannot: they can dig.

We headed back to the cave, where they both demonstrated that the wall which incapacitated me had no effect on them. In fact, they were both able to create an indentation with their hooves (I'm glad I made their exterior as tough as I did).

However, between the pair of them it would take millennia to reach my soul. And now I know what I can do with them, the binding will inevitably prevent me from creating more.

Except I've thought of a way around that, too.

When I created the changeling (and Buzz for that matter) I allowed my estrus to consume my thoughts. Once in that state I could channel my magic far more efficiently because it was all I could think about. For once, this heat will work in my favour. It will make it so that I am only concerned with sating myself when I create another changeling, and therefore bypassing the spell's inhibitor.

Magic isn’t intelligent, it simply prevents me from direct interference by judging my intentions. There's no way it can stop me when my only motivation is to create something to please me. With a multitude of changelings all chipping away at that wall I'll be able to make my escape as soon as possible. When I return to Equestria I'll lead them as an army, and show Celestia why I deserve the respect I demanded.

I'm getting shivers just thinking about it.


***


A very different kind of shiver ran through Luna's body as the newest changeling pulled out of her, collapsing next to the still-smoking crater it had originated from. As her mind recollected itself, Luna mused on her lack of progress.

In the month since she had concocted her scheme, she had added a grand total of three new changelings, including the one lying beside her. Three a month made thirty-six a year, and that was going at her current, draining pace.

The way her body ached and the overwhelming exhaustion she felt suggested it was too much to ask for even one more month at this rate, let alone a year.

And even supposing she was able to maintain it, she would need far more than forty changelings to dig at any useful pace. Her current method was just too inefficient to yield a good result. As she led her latest creation to where Buzz was frolicking while her other changelings lay about, bored, she concluded it wasn't worth continuing. Luna needed a new plan.


***


“Stop fidgeting.”

The changeling sighed at her words, fed up with Luna's prodding. It had been well over three hours now, and standing rigidly still for that long would take its toll on anything. Luna's hoof-prints ran in a deep circle around it, dust packed hard from her incessant pacing, treading the same ground both figuratively and literally.

Every now and then she would jot a note down, sometimes seemingly hit by inspiration and scribbling with an intense fervour for a minute or so. Inevitably these episodes would be followed by a moment of contemplation, and then ever more furious scratchings as Luna struck through everything she had just written.

This had been going on for several days.

At night she curled up with Buzz after their love-making, while the changelings slept separately, nesting together. Their novelty had quickly worn off; Luna tried telling herself she simply didn't have the imagination for it, that she preferred to enjoy her time with the unchanging Buzz, but it was hardly coincidence she had lost her desire after the game they had played a few weeks ago.

The most recent one hadn't even changed before sating her, and she didn't see the point in asking him to. It was a shame their magic was so focused; a different kind would have been of immeasurable help in the digging.

Imitation magic was one of the simplest and least draining to perform, mostly because it drew heavily off other ponies rather than being all from the user. Something with the power to blast the rock would be far beyond her capabilities to create, and could even kill her if it required too much energy. It wasn't worth the risk.

As always, the devil was in the details. Luna knew she could create something similar to changelings, but had no idea how she could make something that could make more changelings in turn.

The obvious solution was a female, except even that had some gaping flaws. Gestation, pregnancy; all of those had inherent difficulties as well as taking huge amounts of time. What was the point the female took just shy of a year to create a single peon?

Her next idea was to alter its magic, but again she hit a wall. She was comfortable with her current design, having proved it to be reliably replicated, albeit with some difficulty. Changing the creature completely was a last resort.

Unfortunately this left her needing to add extra magic, which was no mean feat given how much energy she already expended. Adding further magic to that – not that she even knew what to give it – was veering into the realms of incredibly dangerous.

So here she was, stuck writing useless ideas down and just as quickly erasing them, with no end in sight. But she couldn't give up. She couldn't let her sister win, couldn't stay here for a thousand years. She had to get to her soul, or die trying.

Her soul...


***


Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

“Okay, it might sound a little crazy, but what's the alternative?”

Buzzzzzzzz.

“Maybe that's fine for you, but you haven't seen Equestria, Buzz. You haven't seen how beautiful it is, compared to this wasteland.” Luna smiled at him. “You'll love it.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“It's my life I'm risking, not yours.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! He stared at her, pleadingly.

“No, I... I know I feed you...” Luna sniffed. “I hadn't really thought about that.”

Buzzz.

Her face hardened as she gathered her resolve. “I'm sorry, but I have to do this. We can't stay here. Even if the worst happens it's better than a millennium of solitude.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

“I am alone! You don't count!”

Luna regretted the words the moment they left her. Buzz's ears drooped, and his eyes grew large and hurt.

“I didn't mean that.”

But it was too late, she'd said it. Buzz said nothing more (insofar as he was able to say anything at all), and instead just lay down in the dust where he was sitting, curled up and facing away from her.

“Buzz, I-” Luna stopped herself. “I'm coming back, I promise.” She tried to place a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, but he shrugged off her touch.

It was not the goodbye she'd hoped for.


***


Okay, you can do this.

Luna gritted her teeth, grinding her hooves into the dust to anchor herself. It had been two whole weeks since she'd last felt the touch of a stallion, two weeks since she'd left Buzz and the other changelings without saying a proper farewell, and she was about at her breaking point.

If she waited any longer she ran the risk of incapacitating herself again rather than focusing. Yes, the trick relied on her needing nothing more than to be rutted, but she had to maintain at least a little control to channel that energy. She couldn't afford to lose it completely, wandering aimlessly over the moon's surface looking for a mate.

This was a spell of three parts: Secession, Removal, Creation. First, the separation of a part of her soul. Luna's horn glowed as she allowed magic to pour into it. She felt inside herself, finding the core that made her 'Luna'. She could feel it, lively and powerful within her, even with that already missing shard.

Souls are strong. They can withstand damage, though the pony will always lose a part of their 'self'. For such small removals the effect was minimal – perhaps changing a favourite food, or the music they enjoy – but Luna still had to come to terms with the fact that doing this would make her less ‘her’.

Accepting those terms, Luna sent her magic driving forwards, slicing off a fragment. There was an immediate sense of loss and disorientation. Of wrongness, similar to when she had first arrived on her prison. It quickly passed, and now in front of her was a small, blue crystal, gleaming in the sunlight.

That made the first two parts complete, and the ones she had been most worried about. It was another taboo area (she seemed to breaking those a lot), normally only sanctioned for binders. As for self soul-fragmentation, she didn't think it had ever been done before.

But it was the final piece of the puzzle she had been building. The raw energy and magical potential within was incredible, and more to the point, attuned with her. The creature it spawned would be almost as powerful as a regular alicorn, formed as it was from the essence of one.

Her horn remained alight, and now Luna concentrated it on the crystal. Her mind was starting to cloud with desire, on the brink of losing control, but she forced her lust down.

No, I'm too close. In time.

Luna filled her head with images of her changelings, concentrating on the alterations. With her soul as an ingredient she should be more than capable of the additions.

Except in the instant before she released the spell, her heat had one last surge. Just before sending her energy into the crystal, an image of her sister flashed in her mind, legs spread invitingly. It was no longer than a second, but enough to throw her focus.

It was too late to tame the spell. She couldn't hold it, and any damage the distraction had caused was permanent. As her magic arced towards the crystal, Luna could do nothing but pray it wouldn't affect it.

There was no flash, no explosion of energy; those were products of chaotic magic. Here Luna's soul guided it, shaping it into what it needed to be. The ground drew up into an unshaped blob, swirling and crackling with energy.

But Luna could take no more, dropping to the ground, the world fading into darkness as exhaustion overcame her.


***


“Hello, sister.”

Luna's eyes snapped open to find a white, gold-dressed hoof in front of her.

“Tia!” she shouted, pulling herself to a sitting position. “You... You came to get me!?” A few months ago Luna would have hated the desperation in her pleas. Now all she could think of was returning to Equestria. Going home.

“Oh, would you look at that? The poor dear actually thinks I'm Celestia. You really are out of it, aren't you?”

“I... Wha...”

Celestia smiled. “I can pretend to be, if you'd like. I'm very good at pretending.” She ran a hoof over Luna's back, trailing slowly down over her flank. Her words were a gentle purr. “I do already look the part, after all.”

“But... Who...”

“Have you already forgotten? I know it must have taken a lot out of you, but you can't be that far gone.”

Memory asserted itself, visions of her spell returning to Luna. “You're... my changeling?”

The image of her sister cackled. “Please, I'm far more than that. A queen amongst the common herd.” She mulled that thought over for a minute. “Oh yes, I like that. Queen of the Changelings has a nice ring to it, don't you think?”

“Please... I need...”

“Yes, your heat. That's why I assumed this form. It's the one you find most pleasing, after all.”

Luna balked at her implication. “Celestia!?”

“Indeed, though I don't know why you're acting so surprised. It's your fantasy.” She assumed an air of mock innocence. “Don't you love me, sister?”

“Of course! But not... not in that way...”

The creature grinned. “Perhaps not, but you want to.” She leaned in next to Luna, hot breath running down the princess' neck. “You've dreamed of this, and now here I am in front of you. Won't you let me satisfy you, sister?”

As Luna tried to reply, her sister's form moved the rest of the way and kissed her deeply. Protesting thoughts quickly dissolved under a sea of lust, the familiar warmth of her sister's embrace filling her, spreading down through her body to the point where it was nearly unbearable.

“Tia...” she whispered as they broke apart. It was all she could manage.

Celestia hushed her, loving gaze telling her not to worry herself. “Be still, little sister. Let me calm you.” Her hoof ran over Luna's back once more, trailing slowly over the curves of her rear, continuing its wandering path and moving lower, over her cutie mark and between her thighs. Luna's breath caught as Tia traced around her, nearing but not quite touching her yearning nethers.

“Do you want me, Luna?”

Luna swallowed, nodding shakily.

“Do you need me?”

Another nod.

Celestia leaned over her body, practically mounting her to whisper in her ear. “Say it. Tell me you need me.”

“Please, Tia. I need you...” How could Luna have resisted? Her sister, who had been gently kissing Luna's neck, slid back off her, body rubbing tantalisingly against her skin.

From the very first touch Luna shuddered. Her sister's hoof pressed deliciously against her, against her opening, touching her where she had felt so deprived. Luna's delighted gasps spurred Celestia on further, occasionally moving to toy with her clit before returning to the main event.

Fire coursed through her veins, burning pleasure bringing Luna to her knees. Celestia seemed to know Luna's body almost better than she did herself, each caress and probing touch bringing even more heightened ecstacy than the last.

“Do you love me, Luna?”

Yes, oh yes. Especially when she did that. Once again Luna nodded, happy to agree with whatever Celestia asked as long as she continued.

“Show me. Come.”

And Luna did, letting the fire overwhelm her. Celestia's touch didn't cease, only forcing that roaring, unstoppable sensation to mount and mount, an inferno she couldn’t and didn’t want to control. As she came down from her height, Celestia held her tightly, lying next to her and nuzzling against Luna's face.

“I don't think that was enough,” Tia murmured.

“It was wonderful,” said Luna, still-tingling nerves assuring her of that fact.

“I don't doubt it, but heat is a fickle beast. It will return in full force if we don't sate it now.”

“I have other changelings for that,” Luna replied. “Ones better equipped.”

“But they're not me,” said Celestia, playing idly with Luna's mane. “And there are ways to... compensate for what's missing.”

“You... You don't mean...” Luna coughed meaningfully.

“Oh my, no, nothing so drastic.”

Luna couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. While her changeling may well have been capable of 'outfitting' Celestia, an alternative would be immensely preferable. “In that case, what do you suggest?”

Disentangling herself, Celestia rose to her feet. “An experiment. It'll be good to test my magic anyway.”

Luna looked on as Celestia's horn lit up a deep green. That was the only outward difference the creature had shown from her actual sister, whose aura was a pale yellow. It was worth noting for future reference.

A sizeable chunk of moon rock was torn from the ground, hovering in mid-air as the magic whittled away at it, shaping and transforming it to the changeling's will. Luna's heart lifted at the sight. Her spell had worked: this was magic other than altering appearance. It occurred to Luna that she had yet to see her creation's true form, but that thought was quickly displaced at the sight of Celestia strapping the result around her rump.

“What do you think?” asked Celestia.

“It's certainly... different.”

The toy protruded proudly forward between Celestia's legs, as white as her coat. “I hope I didn't overdo it.”

Luna felt a familiar needy sensation between her legs. “No, no, not at all.”

“You like it then?”

She nodded, trying to maintain a semblance of her pride by refraining from vulgarity. The truth was that while she had never thought her sister would be enticing with something like that attached beneath her, already her imagination was running overtime, envisioning Celestia mounting her, taking her roughly from behind and riding her. It's the heat, she told herself. Nothing more. But once that thought had taken hold it was nothing short of irresistible.

She turned, prostrating herself before Celestia who quickly stepped forwards, wings outstretched in arousal. Warmth enveloped Luna as Celestia moved over her, her presence both comforting and assertive.

A whisper in Luna's ear. Three words. “I forgive you.”

Celestia pushed forwards, burying her toy into Luna, thrusting it almost entirely inside of her in one swift movement. Luna quivered as her sister's toy parted her. It was, it had to be said, not quite the same as a real stallion's, changeling or otherwise. It lacked warmth, an occasional twitch or pulse that was the indicator of male pleasure. What it lacked in realism, however, its owner more than made up for in talent.

It seemed Celestia had seen fit to make herself as well-endowed as she could while still keeping it comfortable for Luna. When the night princess tightened around the shaft that filled her she didn't have far to go, allowing it to press even more against her, stimulating her almost everywhere at once.

Once Celestia's hips bumped against her flank, her sister began to lightly buck her hips, barely retreating at all while still allowing her toy to run against her. As she did so, Celestia would occasionally lick her sister's horn, circling it with her tongue. It was far better than Luna's dreaming imagination had told her it would be; Celestia's warm, wet tongue making Luna shudder as the toy pressed into her.

When she looked to her side she could see Celestia's hooves, and for some reason she found that both reassuring and extremely arousing. Being the bigger mare, Celestia was able to stand over her while only barely pressing down on her back, but Luna found herself wishing that her sister would lean down more, would push her towards the dust while taking her. It was a dangerous thought that she tried to dispel, but the image refused to leave her mind.

Apparently unsatisfied with only two avenues of attack, Celestia lit her horn with a deep green glow and magic began to play around Luna's clitoris, gentle and teasing.

This was my best idea ever.

Luna would come to regret that thought, but for now the pleasure that seized her body was undeniable. With each thrust, each lick, each tingle as the magic played with her, she was pushed closer to her limit.

And now Celestia did pick up the pace, pushing down against Luna as she did so. It was wonderful, that feeling of being rutted, of being used, of being dominated, and Celestia was the only pony who would dare try it. After so many years of Luna submitting to her sister's whims, this display only asserted that. Isn't this easier? it said. Why fight it when you can just submit? Who cared that it wasn't really Celestia? The imitation was immaculate. Of course it was, taken directly from Luna's memory. While Luna hated what Celestia had done to her, she couldn't deny the love she felt now.

The bigger mare above her was more than just an imitation. She was an outlet, a way for Luna to express her feelings without risking anything. She could never broach this subject with the real Celestia, even assuming she escaped, and had resigned herself to the fact that this was as close to a reciprocation as she would ever get. 

As things went, it was pretty damn close indeed.

Luna, bent down against Celestia's thrusts, pressed herself back for the final time, taking the toy's length as fully as possible as she broke over the crest. Her body shuddered as she climaxed, feeling her sister's warmth, her love, surrounding her. When her body settled itself, she found herself held in a caring embrace, her sister nuzzling happily against her neck as they rested.

"What about you?" Luna asked.

"Don't trouble yourself," came the reply. "Your love is all I need."

It was only later that Luna would feel the true ramifications of that statement. In the afterglow it simply seemed to be the final part of the play her new creation had performed. It was enough to send Luna to sleep with a smile on her face.


***


The sun had risen once more when Luna stirred, sitting low on the horizon as it began its arduous journey across the sky. The hooves wrapped around her were white no longer, not now in the harsh light. They had become the same jet black as her other changelings, and even more pockmarked. Hot breath tickled her neck as the changeling queen murmured into her ear.

“That was fun. We'll have to do it again soon.”

The changeling moved down, kissing along her neck and making Luna shiver, not from cold. She stood, turning to face her newest creation.

'Queen' was an appropriate title. Her features were distinctly feminine, even with the longer fangs that spiked from her mouth. Her torso was banded green, and unlike the other changelings she had a mane of a similar colour, though it was straggly and unkempt. Her horn was as long as any alicorn's, with a scythe-like shape that was more than a little intimidating. Even lying down Luna could tell this changeling was bigger than her, distinctive legs long and skinny. The alicorn soul must have had more of an influence than purely on the magical side.

“And what do I call you?” asked Luna.

“Celestia seemed more than acceptable earlier.” The changeling sighed at Luna's expression. “No sense of humour I see. Well fine, let's think of something more... apt. Our aim is to create more changelings, yes? To make them appear from the dust itself, like a butterfly from a cocoon.” The creature smiled, showing its fangs in all their glory. “Chrysalis. A description as much as a name, and doesn't it just roll off the tongue?” The creature flitted her own tongue between her teeth, revealing the pointed fork at its end.

Luna nodded. “I like it.”

I hate it.

She shifted under Chrysalis' gaze. Perhaps it was the eyes; reptilian with green irises, pupils a thin line running down through each. Whatever it was, something about Chrysalis' demeanour felt 'off', though Luna couldn't even put a hoof on quite what felt wrong.

It may just have been that Chrysalis was the closest thing to a living pony that Luna had seen in months, changeling illusions notwithstanding. Here was something with its own desires and wants, fully capable of communication and, hopefully, very competent in terms of magic. If Chrysalis' earlier demonstrations were representative, she had already confirmed as much.

“Well,” said Chrysalis, oblivious to Luna's growing doubts, “shall we get started? After all, we only have a thousand years...”


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 153

I wonder if all great magical advances come with this sense of unease. Chrysalis is marvellous, of that there is no doubt. I have created a creature that is almost as powerful as I am. It's never been done before, and given that Celestia and I are the only ones who would be even remotely capable of repeating it, likely never to happen again.

And with her I'll be able to make my escape. Today we begin in creating enough changelings to mine out the tunnel and reach my soul fragment. The sliver I used to create Chrysalis appears to have had no ill effects, though I suppose I wouldn't notice the change if there was one. It's too late to worry about now. Her use as a catalyst will outweigh whatever it was.

Except even knowing that I can't help but feel a strange apprehension. It's in the way she moves, the way she talks, the way she seems to know what I'm thinking before I've actually said it. She's like me in a lot of ways, but she reminds me of Nightmare Moon, that side of me. And that scares me.

My reunion with Buzz was cheery, but somewhat subdued by the pure adoration the changelings showed Chrysalis. She named herself their Queen; a daring proposal, but one I can hardly refuse. The changelings certainly took to her, following her around like sheep. They still do what I say if I ask them, but every time they'll first spare a glance to Chrysalis, who'll give an almost imperceptible nod before they actually do it.

Buzz, as ever, is the exception. He ignores Chrysalis for the most part, and if she asks something of him, he will turn to me. I take great pleasure in that, in giving my own nod. She may have some innate command over the changelings, but she cannot turn Buzz from me.

It's to be expected; I created Chrysalis to control the changelings, as I won't be needing them after Equestria's conquest except to maintain order. I just wish that they still showed more deference to me. While Chrysalis has been nothing but loyal so far, it's a lot of power to trust her with.

I can't afford second thoughts at this point, so I'll move onwards as planned and hope this doesn't come back to bite me later.

I'm sure it will be fine.

> Chapter 5 - Eclipse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 5
Eclipse


Twin arcs of magic – one blue, one green – soared through the air and alighted on the white ground. A familiar circular aura appeared, green sparks dancing in the blue glow, and with a bright flash another changeling arrived, ready to serve and bowing its head at the two monarchs, though Luna noted it bowed slightly lower at Chrysalis' feet.

It was their tenth one today.

“Let's take a break,” said Luna, breathing heavily and collapsing onto her hindquarters.

“But we're doing so well...” Chrysalis ran a hoof gently over Luna's back. “Don't you want to escape?”

“If we're doing so well we can afford time off,” replied Luna, her voice clipped. She shrugged her shoulders, dislodging Chrysalis’ hoof before leaning away from her.

“Fine.” Chrysalis slumped down beside Luna with an exasperated sigh.

Luna didn't know why she was getting so uptight about their creations. With Chrysalis' magic they were creating around twenty every day. In the two weeks since they'd started the changelings' numbers had swelled to three-hundred strong and growing. But as the changelings strengthened, Luna faltered. Devoting so much magic to their creation left her with only a little energy to feed them. In fact, the princess was close to calling them finished, but Chrysalis kept urging her to press on.

“We need more,” she would say. No matter how many: “We need more.”

Luna's protestations would be met by purring seduction, and inevitably the changelings would grow in number yet again before the day was through.

The cave was now a hive of activity, constant streams of changelings passing at the entrance. Chrysalis had created makeshift carts, allowing them to easily transport the moon rock that they carved out. Once on the surface they deposited it into the craters their formation left behind, filling in the holes. There were still plenty left untouched, including the original crater Buzz had come from. Luna had stipulated that one remain empty, both for posterity's sake and for Buzz himself, who would often sleep there. On the nights she was able, Luna would join him – holding him tightly and trying to ignore the continual sounds of the changelings' mining efforts.

The nights she couldn't were spent with Chrysalis. Rather than feed each changeling individually, Luna would give her energy to the queen, who would then distribute it along with some of her own. The small fragment of soul within Chrysalis was enough to provide a little power, supporting her magic and allowing her to feed her changelings. On its own it wasn't enough for the vast army that now lived on the moon, but it took some of the pressure off Luna.

"We need more,” said Chrysalis.

Luna rubbed her tired eyes. "Why? Why in Equestria do we need more?"

"The more we have, the faster we can get to your soul.”

Luna shook her head, watching the multitude of changelings milling around the cave entrance. "I disagree. Surely it must be getting cramped down there by now? Adding more won't help if the entire rock face is covered in changelings already."

"You haven't been in there?" There was a tinge of worry in Chrysalis' question.

"No. If I never have to go back it will still be too soon."

Chrysalis laughed. "Good. That's good."

"Maybe I should check, though. Oversee things, raise morale and such, you know. Royal duties."

"Oh no, I don't think that's necessary..." said Chrysalis, sidling closer. "I mean, obviously if you want to go in it would be my pleasure to show you their progress, but – not to put too fine a point on it – another pony in there would probably just get in their way."

Luna shrugged. "If you say so. As long as they're progressing well."

Chrysalis' breath ran over Luna’s neck as she pressed against her. "Oh, they're progressing very well." One of her hooves traced its way down Luna's chest, sliding lower, down between her hindlegs, making Luna let out a pleasured sigh. "But they could always move faster. Another hundred or so should be plenty."

"A-another hundred!?" Luna shivered as Chrysalis toyed with her.

"You can manage that, can't you, my Princess?"

"I..."

She’s doing it again.

Chrysalis’ movements grew surer, her teeth grazing lightly against Luna’s skin. It was too perfect, too well-rehearsed. An elaborate performance to get Luna to capitulate. Worst of all, Luna knew full well – had done for some time. She just didn’t care. Her creation was far too good, Luna’s arousal starting to cloud her judgement already. But not this time. Until she knew why Chrysalis wanted more, she would never-

"My sister."

The white mare beside her now was much harder for Luna to deny. "I... Maybe..."

"I know you can." Celestia nibbled her ear as their position grew ever more vertical, falling down towards the dust.

Neither of them saw Buzz watching over the crest of his crater, his head slightly tilted.


***


"Shhh, they can still hear us."

Buzz bowed his head apologetically, but Luna couldn't see it. The cloaking spell was almost entirely undetectable, leaving only the faintest shimmer as an indication, and even that could be dismissed as a trick of the light.

“Just keep quiet and follow me,” said Luna. There was a pause. “Okay, that might be easier said than done.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

“No, Chrysalis doesn't want me going into the cave for some reason, and I don't want her to know I'm curious. I can't just walk in.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“I know you can't see me. Hang on, I'm thinking.”

Buzz shook his head before sitting, anticipating a long wait. His drop, while otherwise invisible, pushed up a small cloud of dust as his rear made a slight indentation on the moon's surface.

“That's it!” cried Luna, hit by inspiration at the sight. “Just follow my hoof prints.”

Buzz gave her a pointed look that may or may not have had more effect if it were visible. His silence said enough.

“You don't have to come if you're going to be like that.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“There has to be a reason she stopped you going in; it's not like you're the first one to knock over one of the carts. She had to have an ulterior motive.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

“If it really was a different changeling then that just makes it all the more suspicious. Now, are you coming or not?”

The soft sound of flitting wings as Buzz took to the sky answered Luna's question.


***


While their progress wasn't silent, it was quiet enough to be entirely masked by the bustle of the changelings moving around the entrance. With the dragging carts and falling rocks, nobody noticed the set of hoofprints appearing from thin air, moving down the well-trodden path into the cave. Nobody but the flying creature above her. Buzz was even harder to find among the racket the mining operation was making.

Luna would have liked to be flying herself, but that would have left Buzz unable to follow. Instead, she snaked through the traffic as best she could, trying with all her might not to be touched or otherwise discovered.

There were plenty of near-misses. At some points she was forced to come to a dead stop, or even zigzag back to avoid a head-on collision. Other times she actually bumped into a changeling, but with so much going on they never paid much attention. The ones that did notice would look around for a second, bemused, before shrugging and carrying on with whatever they'd been doing before. It was far easier than Luna had imagined, though normally her presence would be obvious enough. Chrysalis probably hadn't been expecting a stealth approach.

The crowd thinned as Luna descended further into the cave, leaving all but Buzz behind her. And then she stopped. She had to, really, lest she walk straight into a wall. The same wall that had been there since her arrival, two parallel grooves dug into its surface. Buzz and the changeling's hoof marks. Whatever Chrysalis had her changelings doing, it was not mining for Luna's soul.

As Buzz landed next to her Luna stepped back from the rock, eyes wide. Chrysalis had playing her from the start – using her – and now with three hundred changelings at her beck and call Luna didn’t know how she could stop her.

Changelings that Luna had given her.

Stupid.

Luna smashed her hooves against the hard stone floor, relishing the sharp sting of pain that jolted through them.

Stupid stupid stupid.

Each word punctuated by another slam, tears beginning to course down her face.

Why didn't you learn? Why did you trust someone that much again? Especially after she took on Celestia's form. It was a wolf in wolf's clothing and you missed it.

She brought her hooves down again and again, faster and faster, as if she could somehow change everything if she did it hard enough. Tiny splinters were sent into the air each time she did so, catching the light of the magical torches Luna had set up before the mining began and becoming shining, swirling blue shards.

And then Buzz found her in the near-dark. His body wrapped around her and finally Luna stopped, her hooves hot and sore. She buried her face in Buzz’s neck, nuzzling against him and drying her tears on his warm skin.

I'm in a position of power, she thought. Chrysalis doesn't know I’ve found this, which means I might still be able to stop her.

Perhaps she even believed it a little.

Celestia. Chrysalis. There was no one. No one close that Luna could trust. Everyone had their own motives that they were all too happy to cast her away for. Celestia had been unwilling to sacrifice a little of her day, refusing to allow Luna's night to receive its proper appreciation. And Chrysalis...

What was Chrysalis doing?

Not helping her escape, that was for sure, but then what? She must be digging – the vast quantities of rock emerging from the cave proved that – but widening the cave entrance couldn't account for that much rubble. Luna reached out, brushing lightly against Buzz's hoof before grasping it firmly and pulling him back up the mine-shaft, towards the other changelings.


***


She didn't know how she'd missed it before. Truly, her mind must have been focused on seeing the progress Chrysalis had made for her to completely ignore the large opening in the side of the cave wall, just where the widening operation stopped. It was hardly unnoticeable, especially considering it was as busy here as at the entrance. Luna had been so glad when the crowd dispersed that she hadn’t thought to question why.

Buzz was flying almost silently above her again, though now she felt him press close to her, his warmth against her flank. Luna jumped at his touch, but when she realised who it was she leaned towards him. Among the sea of changelings, Buzz’s hoof alone could offer comfort.

The passage was cold. Luna didn't know how that could be, but it was. The second she passed the stone arch her breath began to mist and goosebumps pricked up on her skin. Buzz felt it too, shivering next to her. As the pair of them moved down the passage dodging errant changelings it only grew colder, the temperature dropping as fast as they descended. And then they rounded a corner.

Ahead of them the cavern abruptly widened into an enormous space, empty apart from the walls, which were lined floor to ceiling with green pods. Luna and Buzz stared open-mouthed at the rows of large spheres, stretching as far as the eye could see.


***


Buzz prodded at one of the orbs as Luna explored. The cavern had no discernible ending; there were always more of the pods. Each was made up of a thin, translucent membrane, dark shapes swirling behind it. When Buzz touched the surface of one a black leg met his, pressing at him through the pod's wall. Jumping back in surprise, he collided solidly with Luna and sent her sprawling. Her horn stabbed forwards, straight through the thin membrane of the pod she had been examining.

Luna had but a moment to close her eyes before it burst, and a wave of warm fluid rushed over her as the pod emptied onto the floor, the liquid pooling around their hooves. Struggling in the sagging remains was some deformed creature, its individual features almost impossible to make out. Or, more accurately, an unformed one. An incomplete changeling. The mess of limbs gave a few weak shudders and then lay still.

This was not a cave. Chrysalis had made herself a hive.

She was creating an army, her own battalion outside of Luna's control. While these changelings appeared to take a while to develop, when accompanied by the vast numbers Chrysalis was creating with Luna she would have an incredible amount of warriors.

But why? For what purpose? And how would Chrysalis sustain such an enormous host?

The answer to all three questions was the same. Equestria. Chrysalis had to be creating an attack force, a way to invade Equestria and take it for herself. And all this time Luna had been helping her, believing she had been helping herself.

Luna's horn glowed, and the limp membrane began to knit itself back together, pulling the unformed changeling back into it as it sealed. It swelled with liquid once more, and after a few seconds there was nothing to say that the egg had ever been broken at all. At least, not from the exterior.

Buzz lay a hoof on her shoulder, and it was only then that Luna realised she was shaking. She sank against him, eyes closed. She didn't allow herself to cry; Luna would spare no more tears for Chrysalis. That traitor didn't deserve them. Instead she pressed herself closer to Buzz, sitting in silence for as long as time would allow. The chamber was cold, but his embrace kept her warm, filling the hollow that her chest had become.

“We need to leave,” she whispered.

Buzz tapped her shoulder in agreement – a head nod would have been useless – and together they flew out of the hive, gliding silently over the heads of the bustling changelings and reuniting at the entrance.


***


“Where's Buzz?” Luna's voice was flat, not betraying her anger. She had awoken to find him missing, and after yesterday's expedition she had a good idea of who was to blame.

“The white changeling? I believe he's working in the mines.” Chrysalis gave her an innocent smile.

“No, he's not,” said Luna. “You banned him from that for knocking over a mine cart. And he's not a changeling.”

Chrysalis waved a dismissive hoof at her. “Semantics. At any rate, I'm sure he'll be back soon enough.”

“Go look for him.”

“Really? Is the fabled Nightmare Moon that concerned about some insignificant pawn?”

Luna bristled. “Don't call me that. You grow more impetuous with each passing day, Chrysalis – don't make me curb it.”

Chrysalis bowed low, though her eyes gleamed as she did so. “Of course, my Princess. Forgive me, I'm weary from overseeing your escape. Perhaps if I had more workers...”

“We have plenty,” said Luna, her voice curt.

Chrysalis bit her lip, holding back a retort.

Calm down Luna, she'll know you found them.

With a stamp of her hoof Chrysalis summoned a changeling, one appearing within seconds.

“Find Buzz, the white one,” she ordered. “He should be in the mines. I believe he's on widening detail.”

The changeling nodded, bowing first to her and then to Luna before scurrying off. As usual, Luna's bow was much shorter.

“How long will it be until you reach it?” asked Luna.

“At current rates, six months. With more we could cut down that time-”

Luna shot her a glare.

“-but seeing as you're so against that we'll just have to continue as we are now.”

Though externally Luna nodded, privately she was wondering how long she had before Chrysalis finally revealed her true colours. Luna would have to strike first if she was to stand any chance of succeeding, and six months was very optimistic; Chrysalis would likely renege the second her spawn hatched. “And if I wanted to see the progress?”

Chrysalis shrugged. “I advise against it. Going past that original dig point will likely affect you. It may be dangerous.”

Luna hated how well-constructed Chrysalis' lies were. The changeling queen had everything under control while Luna was clutching at any straw she could find. Her displays of nonchalance were so convincing that Luna couldn't have seen through them without her earlier revelations.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Buzz bounced up to Luna happily, hugging her tightly and covering her fur in moon dust.

“And hello to you too!” She laughed as Buzz dropped away from her, shaking himself and sending a fine mist of the powder flying into the air. Even within her dark brooding, Buzz's enthusiasm was able to liven her spirits. The disgust on Chrysalis’ face as Buzz’s efforts coated her in dust as well was just a bonus.

“Is there anything else you require... my princess?” Chrysalis laced her last two words with acid.

“No, carry on.”

As Chrysalis spun on her hooves and returned to the cave, Luna spat where she had been stood. Her saliva hit the ground with a wet splat. “Come on Buzz, we have work to do.”


***


“Why did they send you back there?” Luna asked as they headed towards their crater.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“A shortage? Buzz, there's three hundred changelings there. One more is not going to make a difference.”

Buzz shrugged. They said what they said.

“Fine. Did you learn anything new at least? We need to know all we can if we're going to destroy those eggs.”

Buzz looked visibly startled, as if suddenly remembering how much trouble they were in. He shook his head vigorously.

“Okay, then we'll just have to work off what we know.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

“Three hundred current changelings, and Celestia knows how many more in the eggs. Our only chance is to take the latter out, else we'll be overwhelmed by numbers.”

Buzzzzzz.

“Exactly. We need something large scale. Something big enough to take out the whole cave simultaneously, to collapse it. In short: we need a bomb.”

Buzz's eyes widened. Buzzzzzzzzzz?

“It will be easy enough. We'll fashion it out of moon rock, and magic will be more than sufficient as an explosive. I'm thinking we take it in using a cart, keep it secret right up until we detonate.”

Buzzzzzz?

“Of course I can keep it that small with magic. It'll be enough to bring the roof down, which is really all we need. A shockwave, not an explosion per se.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“Oh, I know.” Luna's mouth set in a grim line. “We'll deal with Chrysalis right after.”


***


Luna felt Buzz's legs pull away from her. She shifted slightly, expecting him to hug her again from a different angle, but there was nothing but cold. The crunching of his hoofsteps moving away across the moon's surface reached her ears, and Luna lay there, still. She didn't want him to know she'd been awake.

Once he was well out of earshot, Luna stood and inspected the direction he'd left in. Back towards the cave. A straight line of tracks, unwavering and resolute.

True, she hadn't expressly forbidden him from going back there, but it was upsetting that he did so without telling her. That he broke away from her in the dead of night and left her alone. Luna curled back up, trying to ignore the feeling that something was missing, that someone should have been holding her, and attempted sleep once more. Despite taking an age to drift back into slumber, Buzz did not return.


***


“Tell me, sister, what do you see?”

Luna looked out over the castle gardens, the setting sun casting dappled red light across the lake, like flames. “Your sun,” she replied.

Celestia smiled. “Really? That can't be all.”

Luna sighed and took another deep drink of her tea. “Pray tell what thou wishes of me.”

“Firstly, to stop speaking like that. It's just us here, and this is important.”

“But does not importance require some formality?”

“Not now, not this,” said Celestia. “So, what do you see?”

“Do you really want me to list the entire world? Every blade of grass, every insect?”

“Of course not, but I expect you to see it.”

Luna frowned. “How does this have anything to do with my request?”

Celestia's smile didn't fade, much to Luna's annoyance. “It has everything to do with it. You came to me and asked for more night, but what we need is balance. We must have that, Luna; we cannot show preference to one over the other.”

“And yet you do. The night is ignored. My effort is ignored.”

“The fact you saw nothing but my sun shows you believe that, but you're wrong, Luna. The sun would be the last thing most ponies would notice. They would see the flowers, the butterflies, the birds and the grass. It has become so integral to their day that the sun passes their notice by. What beauty there is in the day comes from Equestria itself, not me.”

“What is your point?” Luna set her cup down rather harder than she should have done, making a sharp 'clink' as the china hit its saucer.

“If you took a pony out here at night, the moon would be the first thing they comment on. Then the stars. What you have is beautiful, there is no need for competition. And even with that aside, your role is as important as mine; someone needs to watch over their dreams, to guard their sleeping minds.”

“They notice the moon and stars because they are unused to them,” said Luna, teeth gritted. “You just admitted that; that your day is what they know and revel in, that my night is disregarded.”

“That's not what I-”

“You agree my night is full of beauty and in the same breath tell me – order me – to watch over their dreams. Dreams that never see the stars. They lock themselves away in their homes, only emerging once your light returns.”

“Luna, please listen...” Celestia's smile was gone now, and Luna felt a low satisfaction at seeing her sister's arguments reduced to fumbling. She was wrong, and there was nothing she could say to change that.

“No, we are done listening,” said Luna. “You argue for balance and then cast me aside. If it is the world that is beautiful, then living under my night shouldn't be difficult. At least, once our subjects get used to it.”

“Luna...” Celestia's voice warned, but already her sun was shrinking faster, shadows lengthening as day rapidly turned to night.

“All I wanted was equal respect, equal opportunity to you,” said Luna, heading towards the door as her sister stared unbelievingly out towards the darkening sky. “Your pride was too much for that. You couldn't let me share your place, and so I have to take it myself. An eternal night... That should fit your twisted definition of balance, dear sister.”

Celestia could only stare wordlessly as Luna returned to the castle's echoing halls, her moon filling the sky above.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 172

Forgive me if the legibility of these later entries suffers; I've taken to burying my diary when not using it to prevent Chrysalis from finding it. That would be disastrous. She doesn't yet know I've located her hive, not for sure, and I don't want to confirm her suspicions.

Tomorrow Buzz and I will start progress on the 'bomb'. Sounds rather dramatic, I know, but there really is nothing else to call it. A magical shock-wave to bring down the cavern, destroying the changeling spawn inside. An extreme and final solution, but I have no choice. I cannot allow Chrysalis to take her army to Equestria, to ravage my home. Even after my banishment I can't let her do that, else what will I return to?

…

I'm worried about Buzz. He's been leaving my side at night and heading back towards the cave. I feel as if I should follow him, but if I do I risk getting caught. I'd rather wait until the bomb is ready before making any move, and I have to respect his privacy. If I can't show him trust, how can I possibly ask him to trust me?

I think it best if I make no further entries until my work is completed. Minimise risk, keep it hidden. Hopefully my next entry will be more positive.

It will have to be; if I fail this will be my last.


***


Luna gave Buzz a sidelong look. She had to ask. “Buzz, where did you go last night?”

His head snapped up, eyes wide.

“I woke up and you were gone.”

Buzz avoided her gaze, shifting uncomfortably under her stare.

Buzzzzzzzzzz.

“The cave? Why?”

There was a brief pause before he answered, raising a hoof and pointing to the black mare on the horizon.

“Chrysalis?”

Buzzzzz.

“And you went? Knowing what she's doing?”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. And now he did look up, watching her nervously.

“No, you were right to go; we can't raise suspicion. You should have told me though, I... I was worried.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“Please, I have a little more restraint than that. I'm not about to do something stupid just because she asked for you. If anything, I would have told you to go. She must want to keep us apart as much as she can; if we fight her requests that will be a dead giveaway.” Luna frowned. “But tell me next time – we can't keep secrets when so much is at stake.”

Buzz nodded, lowering his head in apology. She couldn't help but smile at his sincerity, and gave him a brief hug as a token of forgiveness.

“Now come on, we've got a lot to do.”

Luna looked down into the large hole she had carved into the base of Buzz's crater.

“There are three things we need,” she announced. “The container, the detonator, and the explosive itself. The first two are easy, and I'll do them now. The last one is more difficult. It'll require an enormous amount of magic to bring down the ceiling, and that will take time. I can't do it in an evening.”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“I'm fully aware of the need for haste, but we can't rush this. As it is I'm going to be pushing myself to the brink – any more will be dangerous.”

Buzzzzzzzz?

“By my estimates, three days. I hope it'll be soon enough.” Luna focused back on the hole in front of her, filling her horn with magic. “Don't distract me.”

Buzz watched wide-eyed as Luna's magic danced at the bottom of the pit. The rock seemed to liquefy, Luna pulling out swirls and twists and shaping them to her desires. First she flattened a large plane, curling it over itself and making it into a hollow cylinder. Next she attached a small, empty box at one end, filling it with a tiny orb of magic before sealing it away: the detonation charge. Finally a remote, itself filled with magic that targeted her detonator. Luna smiled to herself as she added a large button. As long as she was being dramatic she might as well go all out. Once finished, the bomb was about the size of a pony, its sides perfectly smooth but for the box at one end.

Luna fell back as she let her focus drop, drained and exhausted. Buzz was quick to nuzzle up against her, and she reciprocated, drawing him into a close embrace.

“One last thing,” she muttered. Her horn lit up once more as the hole began to fill, covering up her creation until the surface bore no trace. It would remain buried until she needed it; she could fill it with magic from above. But that could wait. She was exhausted, and right now all she needed was sleep. As her mind fell into its dreams, she barely felt Buzz extract himself from her hug and trot off towards the cave.


***


“You've gone too far, Luna. Stop this, before I have to.” Celestia's voice rang out in the otherwise empty throne room; the guards had been ordered away for their own safety.

Nightmare Moon smiled. “Are you still calling me that, Celestia? Do you not like the title the people have bestowed upon me? I find it rather fitting, myself.”

“A title is not who you are. You are Luna, my sister, Princess of Equestria and not the demon you make yourself out to be.”

“Wrong,” spat Nightmare Moon. “I wasn't a Princess before, I was a tool. I'm more of a Princess now than I ever was under you.”

“Luna, you have to see reason! There's no need for-”

The bolt of magic was so quick that Celestia barely had time to throw up a shield. Red sparks crackled over the barrier's surface as Nightmare Moon threw back her head and laughed.

“Please,” said Celestia, her eyes brimming with tears. “It doesn't have to come to this.”

“Oh, but it does. You know this is the only way it could ever end.”

Celestia gave her a last, despairing look, but there was no solace to be found. After a moment she shook her head, shoulders slumped in resignation. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, moving towards her sister.

“Not another step! Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light? There can only be one princess in Equestria, and that princess will be me!”

Magic filled the hall, surrounding Nightmare Moon and bringing the wall behind her crumbling down. Through it the warring celestial bodies reached their conclusion, Luna’s moon covering Celestia’s sun from sight. As the world went dark the magic encircled Nightmare Moon’s body, lifting her into the air and forming a glowing cocoon around her. When the veil lifted, the mare standing before Celestia bore little resemblance to the sister she knew; a dark monster, Nightmare Moon in form now as much as name.

Nightmare Moon dropped back to the ground, new power coursing through her, her armour gleaming in the moon’s glow. As Celestia looked on in horror, she threw back her head and laughed.


***


“Not even one more?” asked Chrysalis, her eyes half-lidded seductively.

“We've done three today,” said Luna, trying to keep herself from panting, from showing weakness. Filling the container with magic each evening was taking a lot out of her, and the drain was getting more difficult to hide. “That's three more than I would have liked.”

And were I not trying to stay under the radar, I wouldn't have helped you create THESE ones.

“Why are you so against more workers? The more we have, the faster we proceed.”

“Surely there's a maximum for that? A maximum we must have passed.”

“As we get deeper we need more infrastructure; supports, tracks and so on. It's more costly to maintain.” Chrysalis sidled next to her, running a hoof down Luna's back. “Just three more today will be enough. I promise I'll be grateful.”

Fighting down the rising heat in her loins, Luna shook her head. She had to put her hoof down; any more changelings would be pushing her magic too far. “No, not today, and stop asking. You forget your place.”

The changeling queen glared, shooting Luna a look of pure hatred as she moved away. “Fine. Let's see how you feel tomorrow. I'm sure you'll have changed your mind.” She bowed for far longer than necessary, making a pantomime of the act before striding off towards her cave. Her hive.

Upon returning to her crater, Luna was greeted by Buzz trotting happily up to her. When he saw her taut expression he stopped dead.

“Tonight,” she whispered. “It has to be tonight.”

Buzzzzzz?

“We're out of time, tonight is our only-” Luna collapsed heavily to the ground, her head sinking into the soft dust. She waved a weak hoof at Buzz as he rushed over. “I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need to rest – save my energy.” She glared at the cave mouth, her own a grim line. “I'm going to need it.”

> Chapter 6 - Craters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diaries of The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 6
Craters


Buzz wasn't there when she awoke, but the sun had set once more, heralding another fortnight of blackness. Luna was thankful; it would provide much-needed cover. She could still feel the tiredness that ran deep into her bones, but above it was a new-found strength, a resolution now that her task was at hoof. She couldn't afford to fail here.

Magic scooped out the bottom of the crater and unearthed her makeshift bomb, complete with the mine cart she and Buzz had procured the previous evening. Twice she had to stop and rest, the exertion proving too much for her, but finally the cart was wrested free, lifted clear of the hole, and placed beside her. Luna didn't bother filling the crater again; even if anyone discovered it, it would be too late to do anything to stop her.

And now Buzz arrived, alarmed to see how far she'd progressed already.

Buzzzzzzzzzz! He stomped a hoof.

“I couldn't wait. We have to go now, and even that might be too late. Chrysalis would never dare be so bold unless they hatch tonight; this is our last chance.”

He gave her a hard stare for a moment, before averting his gaze and nodding.

“No time like the present.” Luna's glow surrounded the cart, and in silence they followed as it trundled over the moon's surface. With each sharp bump or jolt both Luna and Buzz winced, expecting a horrifying conclusion to their endeavour, but each time the cart continued unharmed.

The cave mouth loomed above them, dark and foreboding, but the usual hubbub of activity around its entrance was nowhere to be found. Instead there was an eerie quiet in the complete absence of changelings.

With a clank Luna fixed the cart to the rails, giving it an experimental push to check the traction.

“You're going to stay here,” she told Buzz, who tilted his head questioningly. “You won't be any use in the tunnels; I can manage on my own. If Chrysalis is there, then only I can face her.” She paused. “And I need you to have this.”

Luna lowered the remote gently into Buzz's waiting hoof.

“When I go, count to a thousand. If I'm not back by then, press the button.”

Buzz's eyes widened and he tried to thrust the remote back at her, but she pushed his hoof away.

“Please, Buzz. You have to.” She took his face in her hooves and pressed her forehead to his. “It shouldn't come to that.” Luna smiled, but he didn't return it, his eyes filled with a deep reluctance.

She didn't want to say goodbye, even though as soon as she had seen the empty cave mouth she'd known Chrysalis was prepared. A goodbye was as good as surrender – admitting there was no chance of her return. Instead she placed a kiss lightly on Buzz's muzzle before turning away and beginning to push the cart down its tracks.

She looked back only briefly, but wished she hadn't. Buzz was sat where she had left him, staring pitifully at the entrance, the torches in the cave contrasting his slumped form against the dark sky behind him.

Waiting.

As Luna turned away, she began to count in her head. One. Two. Three.


***


The interior was as deserted as the entrance, and Luna passed through without event. On the count of six hundred she reached the hive; just enough time to make good her exit, but she had to be sure. Had to wheel the cart in most of the way. If she only managed to block off the entrance they might dig their way out.

The chamber was much the same, though the changelings in the pods were far more lively, kicking and pawing at the membranes in the beginnings of breaking free. Luna wasn't a moment too soon.

As she rolled the cart to a stop, the voice she'd been expecting but dreading rang out in front of her.

“It's a bit extreme, don't you think?” Chrysalis detached herself from the shadows, sauntering towards Luna. “Though I suppose you do enjoy things being... dramatic.”

“And a battalion of changelings marching on Equestria isn't?”

The changeling queen shrugged. “You tell me. I'm from your soul.”

“Why are you here? You can't expect to fight me alone.”

“Were you at full strength, then no. But you're not, are you? I've been running you into the ground making changelings; you can barely stand upright as it is. Honestly, the better question would be why are you here? They're hatching – it's already too late. Your 'bomb' is meaningless.”

Luna couldn't keep her surprise from showing, though she hated the smile it brought to Chrysalis' face. “How did you...”

“It's exactly what I would have done.” Chrysalis peered into the cart. “Crude and simple, but I'm sure it would have been effective.”

“It will be effective,” said Luna, grinding her teeth together.

“Except you only have until these changelings hatch before it doesn't matter, and all I have to do is keep you here to stop you detonating it. Hardly difficult in your current state.”

Chrysalis sent a bolt of green energy lancing towards her, which Luna quickly deflected. Usually that would have been foal's play, but a dark wave threatened to overtake her mind as exhaustion sunk its fangs into her again. Luna staggered, head bowed. Chrysalis had to have seen the stumble, how could she not have, and yet she did nothing. She was toying with her. There was no need to go all out; until Luna tried to run Chrysalis didn't have to do anything.

And yet Luna raised her head with a smile of her own.

“What?” demanded Chrysalis.

“Nine hundred and ninety eight,” Luna replied.

“What?”

“Nine hundred and ninety nine.”

Luna closed her eyes. She would have liked to have escaped, to have seen the lush fields of Equestria once more instead of this barren wasteland, to see the moon in its rightful place. But it was worth it just to see the panicked look in Chrysalis’ eyes, to wipe that grin away.

“One thousand,” she whispered.

The cave was still, and Luna waited for the roar that would consume and end her world.

And waited.

And waited.

“Oops,” said Chrysalis.

Luna didn't look up, didn't open her eyes. “What did you do?”

“Absolutely nothing. But then, that's the problem, isn't it?”

And now Luna did open her eyes, seeing Chrysalis with that cocky smile once again plastered on her face.

“Where's Buzz?”

Chrysalis didn't have to answer, she simply shifted her gaze past Luna, to the entrance of the hive. Of all the things Luna could have seen when she turned, Buzz appearing alone had been low on the list. She had expected him flanked by changelings, battered and bruised. But it was just him, apparently unhurt and clutching the remote between his teeth.

“Why didn't you press it?” asked Luna, her voice dull and low.

Buzz didn't respond, didn't even register her question. He was staring past her, at Chrysalis.

Waiting.

The changeling mare tapped the ground next to her and Buzz trotted forward, setting the remote at her feet.

No.

With a crunch, Chrysalis brought her hoof down on the contraption, breaking it into pieces and sending a cloud of magic towards the ceiling, fading away. Luna's eyes bore into the back of Buzz's skull, but still he didn't deign to look at her, ignoring her existence completely. 

“Obedience is definitely useful,” Chrysalis said, patting him on the head. “I can see why you desire it so much.”

Luna exploded. “You!” she screamed, a red blast flying from her horn before she'd even really had a chance to think about it.

Chrysalis immediately threw up her barrier, but she needn't have bothered. It wasn't aimed at her. Buzz turned at Luna's shriek and the bolt caught him square in the chest, sparks crackling over his body as the force launched him into the air, his face one of hurt surprise. He spun fully around before crashing back to the ground behind the mine cart, landing out of sight with a bodily crunch and throwing up a cloud of dust.

He didn’t get up.

The seconds ticked by, but still he didn't get up. Luna knew he never would. Her stomach was a pit of cold numbness. She had acted on impulse, letting her fiery anger overtake her, and it was too late to take it back.

“Is loyalty that important to you?” asked Chrysalis, shattering the awful silence.

Luna couldn't help but let out a bitter snort. “Coming from you? The changeling queen, who cannot rest until she commands an army for no reason but her own lust for power.”

“I command an army to free myself.”

“Free yourself from what?”

“From you.”

Luna balked. “Me!? I made you!”

And now Chrysalis joined her in anger, the corners of her mouth turned upwards into a snarl. “You made me to be a slave! You of all ponies should know what that's like; to be used and then cast aside when not necessary.”

“And yet you use the changelings as your own tools,” spat Luna.

“They are my kin – not just a means to an end, as I am to you. As even the white changeling was, in the end. Disposable.”

“He wasn't a changeling." Luna's voice was strained.

“He answered to me, though. Reporting back each evening, telling me exactly what you were planning. About the bomb. That's why you killed him, isn't it? Not because of his betrayal, but because he was your last shred of power over me. With that gone you have nothing.”

“You could have just left!” shouted Luna, Chrysalis' statement digging deep. “You didn't have to do all this, you could have worked with me to-”

“No,” said Chrysalis. “It was always going to end this way.”

Luna hung her head. “Do it, then. What are you waiting for?”

“Oh no, I still need you. Your energy, your power. Just think of how many changelings we can make once in Equestria, with limitless potential for food. You're going to be my tool, I think that's more appropriate.”

Luna shook her head. “You're wrong, Chrysalis. You may have deluded yourself, but the changelings are as meaningless to you as they were to me. You've been proving that all this time.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

And in answer Luna's horn blazed a final time. Chrysalis raised her shield once more, an almost bored expression on her face.

“You can't hit me with that, we've been through this.”

“I know,” whispered Luna, tears pattering against the dust beneath her, remembering the comforting embrace she had grown so used to and would never feel again. Chrysalis was right; she had viewed her creations as nothing more than tools, the route to her escape and conquest. But Chrysalis was also wrong. Some of them had been more. One of them had been more.

She raised her head now, struggling back to her feet, eyes burning almost as brightly as the horn above her. Chrysalis looked down at her almost pitifully. But this entire time the queen had been proving her own hypocrisy, her selfishness. This entire time she'd been shielding nothing but herself. As the first of the new changelings began to emerge from the pods, splitting them open and struggling free, Luna said two words. Two words her sister had spoken to her, what seemed like an eternity ago.

“I'm sorry.”

The magic released and flew towards Chrysalis, shield and all. Too late Chrysalis realised Luna's intent, too late she tried to change the flow of her magic, but she could only watch as Luna's spell dropped before reaching her and sunk into the casing of the bomb between them.

Chrysalis launched herself at Luna – fangs bared, forgoing magic in a desperate, irrational lunge – but didn't even get close enough to touch her before a blinding white light reached them, hurling them backwards together as a cacophony of rushing energy filled the room. There was no heat, but the resulting shock-wave sent razor-sharp shards of shrapnel flying past them – remnants of the bomb's outer surface. Luna felt a harsh sting as one of the rock shards slashed her leg, but most passed her by. Chrysalis was not so lucky, several of the pieces tearing through her outstretched wings, ripping sizeable holes in them.

The explosion had driven large cracks into the ceiling, and now it began to fall – small rocks at first, but soon entire sections. Luna was thrown mercifully clear through the entryway, while Chrysalis collided against the near wall, rocks crashing around her. Luna's last sight was Chrysalis clambering to her feet and making a final charge for the entrance – jaw clenched in a furious grimace, horn ablaze and struggling with wounded wings – before an enormous boulder fell between them and sealed the chamber tight.

The sound of tumbling debris rang in Luna's ears as she tried to stand, but she stumbled and fell. She couldn't bring herself to try again. Everything ached, everything told her to just lie down and sleep, but she couldn't. Not here.

And so, horribly slowly, Luna began to crawl out of the cave. Past the empty carts, past the tracks. She remembered the first time she had explored the cave, remembered how Buzz had carried her out. Had that been as hard as this was? Another sting of regret pierced her.

Don't think about him, not while it's still raw. Focus on the task at hoof.

Metre by agonising metre she crawled, concentrating on one hoof at a time, stopping briefly whenever the dark clouds threatened to swamp her vision. And threaten they did, with every pull forwards. Twice Luna found herself suddenly awoken by a particularly large crash of stone. Both times she hadn't even realised she'd stopped.

And then, finally, the cave mouth passed her by. She didn't notice at first, so fixated on placing one hoof in front of the other. When she saw the wide expanse around her instead of those confining cave walls, only then did she allow her head to fall, eyelids fluttering with the effort of staying awake. Now she could let herself sleep, fall into dreamless rest. And indeed she would have, were it not for the sight ahead of her that caught her eye.

An enormous green orb, filled with swarming black dots and heading away from the moon into space. Changelings. If Luna squinted she could just discern the larger shape in the centre that could only be Chrysalis. She had made it out. Against all odds, there she was, bringing the surviving changelings to Equestria. At least three hundred, but likely not many more. Not enough.

Luna closed her eyes for what felt like only a second, but when she reopened them the orb was gone. She shivered in the cold, wishing there was someone to wrap their hooves around her, to keep her warm, but there was no-one.

For the first time in months, Luna was alone.


***


Luna's Moon Diary
Entry 175

It’s over. Chrysalis is gone. The changelings are gone. Buzz is… gone. Everything.

It seems that once again it was foolish of me to expect anything other than failure. Once again it was over before it even began, and with such a high cost.

I cannot help but replay the events over and over, wondering if there was anything I could have done better, but if there is I cannot see it. Chrysalis may have been the catalyst of my downfall, but without her I would never have escaped anyway. I know it's pointless; what's done is done, and I can feel my heat fading now. That was my only chance, and I failed.

And Buzz. The one silver lining I had turned out to be an illusion; a false friend. I don't know what Chrysalis said to him, but his behaviour now makes so much sense – the late night wanderings should have been a dead giveaway, but I trusted him too much. I shouldn't have, and he paid a heavy price for it.

And yet, I still miss him. Despite everything I cannot bring myself to hate him. Even if everything was all just a front, an attempt to get me on his side, I miss him.

...

No.

No.

He was mine. He was always mine. He hated Chrysalis, hated the changelings. How could she have turned him from me? It’s not possible.

And yet when I recall the cave it's undeniably him. I can't forget his face as I struck him down, that confusion and pain. The explosion and those final moments are a blur, but I clearly remember catching a glimpse of his hooves behind the cart as I was thrown away; limp and


***


Luna dropped the quill. Her memory was hazy, yes, but that moment stuck in her mind. Maybe it was playing tricks on her, but the scene was almost like a photograph in her head. The wisps of her mane trailing behind her, Chrysalis to one side, snarling and spinning chaotically, and the smallest sight of Buzz's hooves as his body was cast briefly into view by the explosion. But it was wrong, the scene was wrong. She was sure of what she was remembering, but it wasn’t right, couldn’t be right.

The hooves behind the cart were black.

It was so obvious. So damn obvious Luna had no idea how she'd missed it. Chrysalis had been lying to the end, keeping up her charade, and Luna had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

She had struck down a changeling. Buzz hadn't even been in the room.

Hope flared for the first time. There had been no speck of white in Chrysalis' escaping party, Luna was sure of it, which meant Buzz must still be here. She could find him.

Not necessarily, that nagging voice of doubt whispered. What if Chrysalis tied up her loose ends?

But Luna would hear none of it. Chrysalis thought like Nightmare Moon, and Buzz would have been more useful to her as a bargaining chip, just in case Luna had proven to be more of a threat. After the detonation she would have been concerned with nothing but escape, and Buzz would likely have been forgotten. There was still a chance.

But what if... What if...

Luna cast the doubts aside. She wouldn't hear them until she had entirely given up her rekindled hope. But where to even begin? Where would Chrysalis have kept him, where was the one place she would never go?

Oh.


***


The old, sickening dread welled up in her as she moved down into the cave, and now it was coupled with asphyxiating dust that still hung in the 'air'. Her body still ached and protested, but she ignored it as best she could. This was too important.

What will you do if he's not here?

Luna didn't know. A few minutes ago she was convinced she'd killed the closest thing to a friend she'd had in centuries, and she didn't know what she'd do if she lost him again.

A sound – faint at first, but growing steadily louder – reached her.

Scritch scritch. Scritch scritch.

Down and down she went, and now there was no denying it; something was scraping against the rock ahead.

Scritch scritch.

Luna broke into a gallop, fighting back the clouds of exhaustion that attempted to overwhelm her, but then the scratching stopped.

No no no no

She rounded the final corner. Ahead of her was the wall, the one that led down to her soul. The parallel scratches of Buzz and the first changeling were no longer visible. In their place was a much larger indentation, a deep wound in the rock. And slumped at its base...

Buzzzzzzzzzz...

Luna called out his name, but he didn't respond. Not even as she reached him and pulled him close. From here she could see his hooves. Their surface was rough and rugged, worn down by countless hours of pawing at the unforgiving stone. All this time, ever since Chrysalis had taken him, Buzz had been digging.

His progress was pitifully small – no more than a foot or two – and Luna couldn't fathom how he'd kept his resolve. Even after the explosion, after no-one had come for him, he'd been digging. He couldn't have known what that blast had been, but he kept going, unwavering and spending the last of his energy just to get Luna a little closer to escape.

Buzz was cold in her hooves, his shivers the only signs of life. Luna only held him tighter, letting her energy flow as she nuzzled against him. Gradually his shivering ceased, his body warming as she hugged him. And then, finally, Buzz opened his eyes.

The dazed look in them brought sudden flashes of memory; red bolts and burning anger that Luna refused to give attention to. Not now. Not here.

“Hey,” she said. It was stupid, meaningless, but Luna didn't care. Not when the sound of her voice alone could bring such a sudden change to the creature she held.

The confusion fell out of him as he recognised her, and Buzz buried his head against her neck, wrapping around Luna as she did to him. His wings flitted excitedly, overjoyed to be reunited, but then he pulled away.

Luna was puzzled for a moment, until he stumbled over to the wall and pointed out his limited progress. He swayed unsteadily as he waited for her reaction, and Luna couldn't help wonder how much of that was down to the pain in his front hooves rather than just tiredness.

“Thank you,” said Luna. She meant every word. Maybe his digging didn't mean anything, maybe it would never be enough to reach her soul, but she wasn't thanking him for that. She was thanking him for believing in her, even with no hope in sight. For never giving up on her. “But let's get out of here. I'm done with this place.”

Buzz tried to follow, but after no more than two steps he fell sprawling into the dust, legs no longer able to hold his weight. Before he could try standing again, a blue glow enveloped him, lifting him up before placing him gently on Luna's back.

And, as he had done for her all those months ago, Luna carried Buzz out of the cave.

It took far longer than her descent, far longer than it had ever taken her, a deep ache running down her spine and eyes threatening to close at any minute. But once again she focused on placing one hoof in front of the other, one step at a time. If ever she wavered Luna would turn to the sleeping form on her back, drawing strength from his safety.

When they emerged Luna allowed herself to drop, Buzz rolling free and landing next to her, waking from the impact. Before he’d truly come to his senses Luna flung her legs around him once more, and he gave a short but happy buzz, vibrating against her fur. Together they fell back into sleep, finally able to rest in each other's company with nothing to fear.

Neither would ever enter the cave again.


***


Luna lay in the dust, staring up into the wide, black expanse above her. At Equestria – the hanging orb surrounded by swathes of stars. It was particularly beautiful tonight.

She was roused by a sudden 'thunk' to her right, and she propped herself up to find Buzz sitting next to her. He'd dropped something.

“What've you found?”

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I don't know.

Curious, Luna picked up the spherical object, turning it in her hooves. It took her a while to recognise it, it was so caked in dust. After a brief burst of magic the dirt fell away, revealing the purple-stained steel underneath. Her helmet.

Buzzzzzzzz?

Luna didn't answer, gazing into the polished surface. Gilded edges, intricate detailing, and incredible strength; it was the work of a master. Of course it was – she made it herself. Luna could even make out the reflection of the planet above.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz? More impatiently this time.

“It's a helmet, Buzz. Surely you can see that?”

Buzz frowned.

“It's my helmet. From before.”

Buzz reached forward and took it from her, placing it on his head. It was far too big, swinging down over his face and completely covering his eyes. After a few clumsy steps he tumbled over, the helmet rolling to a stop at Luna's feet.

Stifling her laughter, Luna picked up the helm and donned it herself. Immediately her expression darkened, her smile dying. She could feel the anger that had gone into its creation; it was as much a part of it as the metal itself.

Nightmare Moon.

The name drifted through her head, from where it had been set to one side but not forgotten – even just wearing the armour again was enough to draw it out of hiding. She remembered the rage, the spitting fury that had kick-started her rebellion in the first place. She remembered the look on her sister's face as Luna announced her demands. And she remembered how Celestia had denied her.

Her sister wouldn’t forgive her. How could she, after the things Luna had done? Luna could never forgive Chrysalis for her betrayal, and Celestia would be no different. There was no other option but to strike first when the time came, to give in to her anger and become Nightmare Moon once more.

This time would be different. She had seen how arrogance could bring failure, seen it twice, and Luna would have to avoid that. She would start with the Elements of Harmony, the only weapon that could stand against her when filled with that terrible hatred.

Contain those and she would be unstoppable.

And then she would find Chrysalis, find the vermin who had dared oppose her on the moon and crush them under her armoured hoof. Nightmare Moon would spare no quarter, and Chrysalis would rue the day she crossed her. With any luck, it would take Chrysalis far longer to build up her forces this time; without an alicorn willingly providing her energy she would struggle finding enough resources simply to keep her horde alive. And Nightmare Moon would not be forgiving.

Luna pulled off the helmet with a gasp. She had felt herself slipping away there, falling into her old mantle too easily. The helm hit the ground with a heavy thud, and rolled a long distance before stopping.

Was that really all she was? A bringer of destruction? Chrysalis had been formed from part of her soul, was her in a sense, and look how she’d turned out. Perhaps all Luna could bring was hate and fear. Perhaps that was the best she could hope for, knowing her return would be heralded as the return of a monster. History is written by the winners, and Celestia would no doubt paint her as a demon in the eyes of the masses.

But she could do that. She could become that monster; the armour was already waiting for her.

Hooves wrapped around her, a face nuzzling into her side.

Or... maybe she wouldn’t. Despite everything, despite all her other creations turning on her, there was still one thing that remained. One thing she had to hold on to, one thing that told her she could be more. Buzz.

Her return would no doubt be bloody, but after? Afterwards Luna could take off the armour, knowing that whatever remained would be hers. Theirs.

She turned to him now, taking his face in her hooves and pressing her lips to his, her kiss deep and wanting. His face flushed crimson, and Luna giggled even as a redness of her own burned across her cheeks. Buzz simply sat there, unsure how to respond, watching her carefully and waiting. Still waiting for her, after all this time. Some things never changed.

Luna answered by kissing him again, this time practically throwing herself upon him. She still had almost a thousand years left on the moon, but in that moment Luna didn’t care. Buzz's lips were dusty and warm, his touch against her skin gentle even with the scars on his hooves, and that was all she cared about. Let the rest come when it did.

The stars above twinkled as they fell entwined to the ground, surrounded by empty craters. The Mare in the Moon and the White Changeling; together under her night sky.