I’m Wishing
Luna, now a fully grown mare, visited the statue of the creature she once knew as Discord. It had been many years since he had trapped himself in stone and thorns. She came here every year since that day to honor him, and what he meant to her. Luna, under the tyranny of her elder sister Celestia, was forced to work for the rest of her life for ponies who didn’t even seem grateful to her. Everypony thanked Celestia for wonderful summer days, but nopony ever thanked Luna for the beautiful starry nights she would bring. Hardly anyone even noticed the beauty of the night. Luna grew more isolated over the years, coming to Discord in hopes that he would help her out of her loneliness. During the day, Luna slept, often dreaming of strange things she never mentioned to Celestia. She dreamt of abstract images of the moon, and a mare that looked much like herself, but a mare she did not recognize. Despite having a good 12 hours to sleep, Luna would always awaken feeling even more tired. Celestia usually would tell her to wake up so she could do her job. “It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, you must watch over Equestria while I rest.” Celestia had changed over the years. She used to be sweet to her little sister, but now she acts as if Luna is a criminal.
“Just like Discord” Luna whispered as she was awakened by her sister.
“Yes Luna?” Celestia scowled at her, walking to her bedroom
“What?” Luna asked, not realizing she had spoken aloud
“You said something.” Her sister replied “No matter, I’m going to rest. Good night, sister. Don’t cause trouble.” She chuckled, letting herself drift off to sleep.
Luna flew off of the porch, and to her tower where she’d observe and make sure no enemies were approaching to harm Equestria. She had a pretty boring job, and realistically the only good part about it was being able to see the beautiful night sky. For some reason when she’d see the “wishing star”, as ponies called it, she felt a little less alone. She looked up to the star and smiled, although tears ran down her cheeks.
“I wish I wasn’t so alone…” she whispered, then laughed at how silly she was.
She was making a wish that would probably never come true. At least not what she really meant for it to be. She closed her eyes and collapsed on the concrete floor of the tower. Again, she dreamed of strange things, but these dreams were painful. They showed how much she resented her sister, who practically took away her happiness on purpose. But for some reason, this sleep was peaceful. Her peace was soon shattered when she woke up on the castle floor to Celestia yelling at her.
“I KNEW I SHOULDN’T HAVE TRUSTED YOU TO DO THIS! YOU’RE TOO IMMATURE TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO MAKE MISTAKES! That’s it. Luna, I am relieving you of your duties, and you are hereby banished from this castle. You won’t cause any trouble in the streets. At least nothing of any importance will be ruined with you away from here. Guards-“ Celestia started to call the guards to remove Luna, but she interrupted.
“Don’t even bother, I know my way out.” She turned to exit, and whispered “Have fun with your full time job. I bet everypony will LOVE it when the beautiful, sweet Celestia brings the night.” She flew away in the night she loved so much. Celestia was left with the castle guards in a rather awkward situation. She calmly said “It doesn’t matter, she would have caused the demise of Equestria. You may leave now. I have to tend to the night.” The guards nodded and left Celestia to her duties.
Luna flew to the only place she felt welcome; the old garden with her old friend in it. She landed and trotted to the statue, hysterically crying.
“Discord, I don’t know what to do. I can’t talk to anypony about how I’ve been feeling for years. Especially not Celestia. She’s out of control. I just…I wish you were here. I know you’re here physically…but I need advice. I’ve tried so many times to break the stone around you, but nothing works.” As she cried, she looked up at him and put her hoof on him, like she had done every year. “Please come back.” She pleaded, falling to her knees. She looked up at him once again and saw a wet streak from his eye, rolling down the stone. She gasped with disbelief “Discord? Discord??” she cried, ripping the thorns off of him until she stopped to see a small flower. “You’re still here…you’ve always been here!” she heard a familiar voice around her
“Luna, you’ve grown so beautiful. I can’t stand to see my Luna cry.” She looked around frantically, but nothing else was around her.
“I must be going crazy…” she laughed at herself, but when she looked back at the statue, something had changed. Discord was no longer encased in rock. He looked at her, jumping down.
“Over the years, I’ve become quite crazy, myself.”
“You’re free!!” she hugged him tightly
“I couldn’t have done it without you. Every year since that day, I’ve seen you come to visit me. I tried to free myself, and I tried to speak to you. But it never worked until now.”
“Why did you do that to yourself anyway? I’ve missed you terribly!”
“I wanted to make sure you were safe. Although, it sounds like you don’t feel very safe now.”
“No, my sister has taken over all the royal duties of Equestria. She’s become power hungry. She doesn’t even love me anymore.”
Discord sat next to Luna in silence for a moment. Luna sat there thinking until she came to a realization.
“Discord. I have reason to suspect Celestia has been stunting my growth physically and she has been holding back my true power. Do you think you could help me break free and see what I really am?”
“Well, I’ve spent a long time in stone, only using magic once successfully in my life, but alright.”
They put their horns together and closed their eyes. Discord felt Luna changing, but he was afraid to break concentration. Finally, Luna shouted, “Look!”
Discord opened his eyes. There stood a deep black mare, with beautiful eyes that stood out from the rest of her body, which was slightly larger. Her horn had also become longer, her wings as well.
“You’re…you look…Luna…you’re beautiful. So beautiful.” He said as he stared at her.
She looked over her new body, and blushed. “Th-thank you, Discord.”
He blushed and looked away “Well, I’ve got to get my body up to where it should be…” he grew taller and more muscular.
“Did it hurt being trapped for so long? Surely your body must have needed to grow.”
Discord chuckled lightly “Not really. It was a bit of a squeeze, but I didn’t think about it really.”
Luna tilted her head in confusion “Well what did you think of, then?”
Discord wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her forehead, making her blush again. “I thought about you. Every year you would come to see me…Luna you were the only one who cared about me.” He pulled away to look her in the eyes for a moment. She kissed his cheek and said “I know what you’re thinking. I feel the same way.”
Suddenly a flash of light scared them. Luna looked over in the bushes, where she thought the light was coming from. It was a camera! Somepony was taking photos of them!
Luna used her horn to catch the creep, and lift them out of the bushes.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! DON’T HURT ME! PLEASE DON’T FEED ME TO THAT MONSTER!!!” Luna looked over at Discord “What monster? That is MY FRIEND! Who are you, and what are you taking photographs for? Answer, NOW!” Another flash of the camera. “I’m just here because the Princess wanted me to catch you, Nightmare Moon, and she wanted me to show her what you were up to! She told everypony that you were going to destroy Equestria and my mission was to show them proof of your evil!” Luna gasped and dropped the pony. “Nightmare Moon? I’m Princess Luna, bringer of the night!” the photographer had already gotten away screaming “NIGHTMARE MOON’S TYRANNY IS NOT FAR AWAY! SAVE PRINCESS CELESTIA!! EVERYPONY RUN!!!” among other crazy things. Luna didn’t even want to bother making herself look more evil by chasing him down. Discord walked over to comfort her, hugging her as she cried. “I’m not evil. I’m not a monster.” He cried along with her and said “No, Luna, you’re not a monster at all.” After an hour, she was finally calm enough to make a big decision.
“Discord, I’m going to have a word with my sister, and then I’m coming back to get you.”
“Get me? Where are we going?” he asked, puzzled.
“I’ll explain when I get back.” She flew off to the castle without saying anything more.
“Celestia!” Luna shouted as she landed in her bedroom
“Yes, sister? Oh my, what have you done to yourself?! You look hideous!” She asked, pretending to be shocked at Luna’s physical change.
“I’ve had it with you. Nopony else may see what you’re doing, but I know what you’re doing. I’m leaving Equestria. I’m going somewhere far away. The moon. I just came to tell you before I left. Goodbye.” She flew out the window as Celestia watched, smirking, and then bursting into false tears as guards came in.
Luna landed near Discord and said “Alright let’s go. Can you fly?” she asked as if she was in a hurry.
“Probably not very well, but-“ he tried to stretch his small wings
Luna touched his wings with her horn, and they suddenly grew larger and opened up, ready for flight.
“We need to go now, follow me!” she flew up into the air as Discord followed, enjoying his new ability.
“Thank you, Luna. I’ve wondered what it was like to fly.”
They flew for a long time, Equestria looking smaller and smaller below them as they headed up to break through the atmosphere.
“Okay, this is where it gets tricky. Discord, hold onto me and don’t let go until we have landed!”
He grabbed her waist as she began to fly as fast as possible. She picked up so much speed, Discord could feel heat from the friction. She concentrated as she was almost going to break through, her eyes glowing white. It was as if her horn had pierced a balloon; she was struggling to get out, but suddenly with a burst of air, they shot out of the atmosphere towards another large spherical object. She continued to fly towards it until she had landed on it. As soon as she landed, she fell to the ground.
“Luna! Luna!!” Discord’s voice echoed through her mind until it became distorted and she was out.
She woke up hours later, to find Discord laying next to her, sound asleep. He still had his arms wrapped around her. She looked out past the land she was on, back to Equestria and decided it was better here. For her, and for Discord. She went back to sleep, not wanting to think about Equestria.
They slept, not knowing that Celestia had plastered photos of them across Equestria claiming “Nightmare Moon” and Discord were plotting the destruction of the world. Celestia had everypony believe that Luna had been murdered by Nightmare Moon and Discord, but luckily she had banished them both to the Moon. She told all of the residents of Equestria that because of the “tragic events”, she would be taking over a full time job “protecting” them from the horrors of Nightmare Moon.