Making his way down into the depths of the castle, quietly humming to himself, Obsidian began to think about how he was starting to learn the layout of the castle. His trek led him back to the passage that opened into the room that he had been using. Choosing to ignore the presence that was following him. He could feel no ill intent from whomever it was that pursued him, just one of curiosity.
As he made his way to the bookshelves, he relented “I can only assume that you wish to talk to me, at least that is what I am lead to believe. I can’t imagine that you followed me all the way down here without some form of interaction being expected.”
Turning to face the stranger his breath caught at the sight of Luna appearing before him. Dropping to his knee “I apologize for my lack of formalities. Had I know that it was you, Princess. I…” He couldn’t finish his line; the words died on his lips. This was the last person that he expected to have followed him here.
“You need not bow in such a manner.” came her flat response.
“By your command, your Highness.” Obsidian stood but kept his gaze from her. His shame still too great to grant himself the privilege or pleasure of gazing at her, “How may I be of service this day.” He kept his head low even now. It was quite the challenge to do so considering that he stood at least a head higher than the Princess of the Night.
Luna looked at him with a critical eye “Why do you prevent your gaze from falling on me?”
Taking a shuttering breath Obsidian responded “I avert my gaze because I am unworthy to look at you. I shamed our friendship; I destroyed what was once freely given. Until I can be forgiven…I.” He couldn’t bring himself to continue, so great was his shame.
“I must ask, Obsidian the Black.” She had used his title; he felt the knife in his gut twist “Why are you here?”
Steeling himself, he responded “Princess Celestia has given the task of instructing young Spike about the culture and history of Dragons to me. As well as any magic that he may possess. I have also begun to instruct Princess Twilight on how she might guide her son so that he will avoid the mistakes that so many of our kind have made.”
“Mistakes like you have made?” She shot back in an accusing tone.
He jumped as if she had punched him in the gut “Yes princess. I hope that he will learn from my failures, I would hope that he will be able to learn from the past, lest he is doomed to repeat it. My failures will be his teachers. He is blessed to have the Elements to augment his lessons. My greatest hope is that he never finds himself in the situation in which I find myself.”
Luna looked at the drake, trying to find anything that might expose him as being dishonest. Finding nothing, she asked the question “Why did you abandon me when you fell into your sleep?”
The sadness in her tone was a thousand knives in his chest. “I… I didn’t mean to, I..”
She stopped him mid-thought “Why did you close your mind and dreams to me. I felt so abandoned, so alone. My dearest friend just shut me out.” her voice was choked with emotion. The raw feelings of betrayal evident in her tone.
His heart felt like it was breaking, his act, that one act, done in desperation, caused so much pain. “Princess, I-I can’t even begin to understand what it was that you went through. I… I didn’t do it out of malice, I…” his face flushed “I was having, well I was having rather personal dreams. I didn’t want to have you wandering into one. My attempt was not to lock you out of my dreams. I was trying to prevent myself from having them in the first place. I was embarrassed.”
Luna did not like his answer “I am the mistress of dreams, do you think I haven’t wandered into dreams such as that before?! Do you think I am so vain or fragile that seeing something like that would negatively affect me!? That it would change what I thought of you! Do you think so little of me!!”
Her rage sparked a bit of his own “Well excuse me if I didn’t want the subject of my dreams finding me in the middle of one!!!” As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized it was too late. He had let the real reason out, and there was no taking back what he had just shouted.
Luna took a step back, trying to process the information “you mean that you were trying to stop yourself from having dreams of an intimate nature… about me?”
Obsidian was mortified; his deepest held secret was exposed. He had been madly in love with Luna for years. Their relationship had started out as nothing more than two political parties looking for peace, then it grew to acquaintances that were friendly with one another, then to Friends. After that, he wasn’t sure when the idea had started, but he knew when it took a firm hold on him. It had been just a year before his sleep. Luna had invited him to watch her raise her moon. But she had given him something that night. She had created a new constellation in the sky, one dedicated to friendship. She gave it to him on the night of the winter solstice. The longest night of the year, it was the one holiday that he made a point to observe.
He had been silent this entire time; his response was nothing more than a nod. As he looked up, he found that Luna had disappeared. Muttering to himself “I guess the idea of a dragon thinking about her in that manner is disgusting to her. I can’t say that I blame her. It’s not like my own family ever accepted me, why should a goddess.”
Obsidian turned away from the stairs back to his books. “At least the authors of old can’t judge you. They only give knowledge.”
What he didn’t see was that Luna was standing on the other side of the door, her hand held to her breast, her heart moving at an incredible pace. “He thinks of me like that? I need to speak to Tia.”