//------------------------------// // 7: Heart to Heart with Luna // Story: My Little World // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// It is impressive how fast this floating palace could go at full speed. Lauren almost expected that this thing would go about the pace of a teenage dragon just to get from one place to another. However, seeing the landscape in the moonlight going underneath them, it’s astonishing how much progress they were making. Not only that, but she didn’t expect the ride itself would be so quiet. If anything, the only sound to be heard was the wind and the mechanical flapping of the ship’s wings. And even then, the wings aren’t as loud as the engine of an airplane that she’s been on. Although Alice had been long tired out and asleep, Lauren was too excited to sleep. The guestroom royale was located in the very back of the vessel, which gave the absolute best view of Equestria. In fact, for the last hour, she was leaning up against the railing, looking out to the dark landscape. Above her were the moon and stars with clouds that drifted by. In the distance, Mt. Canter and its golden city, along with Ponyville and its surrounding mountains and forests. From this vantage, she can see farms, lakes, rivers, forests, a tiny bit of the desert, and lines of the railroad. And right beneath them, they were passing over the barren fields that were home of the Diamond Dogs. “I was beginning to wonder why I couldn’t find your dreams.” She heard Luna say. Breaking her hypnotizing view of the landscape, Lauren saw the Princess of the Night flying towards her, making a gentle landing on the balcony. “I was able to find Alice’s dream, but I couldn’t find any signs of yours, so I was starting to get worried.” Lauren blinked. “You can go into her dreams?” “As Princess of the Night, it’s one of my duties to be sure that the dream realm is free from nightmares of those who sleep. And do not fret, Alice was having a good dream when I left it. Still, I’m rather surprised to find you wide awake.” She sat down on her haunches. “Has something troubled you?” “No. I already have gotten enough sleep a few hours ago, and even if I wanted to I just can’t because of how excited I am to be here. It’s like visiting another country that you wanted to see for a long time and finally being able to get the chance to. Only, this country is uh…” “One of your doing.” Luna nodded. “I understand the feeling quite well. Why when my sister and I were able to take some time off for a vacation, I failed to get any rest at all because I was just so excited to get to see what was outside the golden cage.” “The golden cage?” “A rather mean title for the palace.” Luna blushed. “But an accurate one at that. Don’t get me wrong, living in the castle has its perks, but there’s so much of the world that I never get to see. Did you know that I’ve been to the post office for the first time not too long ago? My sister may think it mundane, however, being someone who has been isolated on the moon for so long as well as in the palace… everything to me is still new. This vessel, for example, is a marvel in my eyes. That something so heavy being easily carried off like a feather in the wind. Or for the farmers down there, where they could tame the land so wide and reap an abundant harvest is amazing for its organization alone.” “Does Celestia share your enthusiasm?” “Only aimed at the more extreme. My sister has gained a taste for the thrills of life. For example, we went down a zip line for the first time. We slid down with nothing but a wire to hold us up, flying faster than Rainbow Dash probably ever went. Even with my vocal protests, Celie was having the time of her life.” Lauren hummed. “I guess I couldn’t blame her. After all, she is enslaved to a schedule and to serve an entire country. She had to do so many things for so long from entertaining nobles to just raising the sun every day, and even teaching Twilight – that alone must really have tested her patients.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “I suppose… Believe me, mother, it isn’t that I’m ignorant of what she has to put up with from day to day. The experience that Starlight Glimmer has shown us that we both have to deal with major responsibilities that if done wrong could lead to dire consequences. Still, being that we’re going to retire soon, Celestia and I know that we shall be placing those responsibilities in good hooves. After all, Twilight has come a long way and we have faith in her.” Lauren smiled at this. “I think she’ll do well too.” The Night Princess nodded, turning her attention to the view, particularly at the stars. “To be honest with you… Regardless of what form you take, you’ve always been a mystery to us.” “What do you mean?” “What?” “Well… First the form thing, what do you mean?” Luna thought about her answer carefully. “You see, even as children, you tend to appear and disappear almost at random. We never understood why you did this, sometimes we see you for only an instant, while others for years. But regardless, when you do show up, we notice that you tend to change. For example, we see you as an alicorn. A red, messy mane. A quill and inkwell cutie mark. And your signature smile. While at other times you come by as a dragon, a seapony, or any other manner. Yet, regardless of what form you find yourself in, we still recognize you as… well… you. We can tell that there is an essence that it’s still you.” “That’s interesting…” Lauren muttered. “And the whole mystery thing?” “Ah, well the odd thing is that despite how much you know about us, or that you appear at certain moments in our lives… I don’t think even Celestia knows about you. As the mother who does what she can to make sure we’re taken care of gives us support, and often tells us stories or writes us books, that is all we about know you. Lauren Faust the individual… We don’t have a clue. We don’t know where you come from, did we have a father, where you keep disappearing to when you’re going to come back, what were you doing before us or this world – these and more we don’t know. Not to mention our uh… step-sister.” She craned her head over towards where Alice was sleeping. “We have so many questions about you that… I don’t know where to start.” Guilt struck Lauren’s heart – although she isn’t sure why. Even though she knows deep down that this is all still fictional, hearing from her character that their mother wasn’t always around was still sad to her. The fact that their mother closely resembled her was a bit of a double whammy as hearing this made her feel responsible somehow. Perhaps she should have given them a mother from the start or… something. Even if they weren’t her children in any sense, her compassion said otherwise. “What do you want me to say?” Lauren asked. For a long minute, Luna didn’t have an answer to that. But decided to change the subject. “What are you like where you come from? What do you do?” “In general, or…?” “I suppose we could start there.” “Well… I started as an artist many years ago then eventually an animator. Which is someone who draws one picture at a time to make a cartoon. Eventually, I worked my way up to become a storyboard artist and screenwriter for a few shows and movies. My husband Craig is the same way-” “Ah-ha! So we do have a father after all!” Luna leaned forward. “Is he good to you?” Lauren laughed at that. “Yes. He really is sweet and creative. This is good news for both of us as we help each other out to bounce ideas off of each other. Eventually, I was asked to create a show.” “Our world?” The creator nodded. After looking thoughtful, Luna asked, “What inspired you?” “Oh…” Lauren breathed deeply. “Big question. Well, there were several things. One of which, to be honest, is actually to reboot a show that nobody had faith in.” The Night Princess blinked. “What do you mean?” “The truth is the show, My Little Pony, this isn’t the first time someone made the show. There were three – well four – versions that came about. In fact, I was only a kid when I saw the show when they did it the first time around. Needless to say, it was very different compared to this. Like for example, in the original show, this land of ponies was once called (and I’m not making this up) Ponyland.” Luna snorted, “Oh how original,” she chuckled. “Yes, I know, looking back on it, that show is very simplified compared to this. If anything, the show was originally meant to sell us toys. Heavy plastic dolls where you could brush their manes and tales. By the time it was my turn, I was asked to do it so they could sell toys too.” “Wait, wait,” Luna held up her hooves. “Give me time to wrap my mind around this… You’re saying that one of the reasons why you invented Equestria, is because someone out there wants to sell toys of us?” “Pretty much.” She nodded. “But even then, I didn’t want to be lazy with it. I wanted it to be smart in its own way. This leads to the other inspiration that, when I was a kid and I got a hold of the toys, I often pretended to make a Ponyland of my own. I still have memories as a kid where I used to have this toy castle and I set it on top of a dresser that I pretended that it was a mountain. And below that, I saw parts of my bedroom were different places of this magical land. Where the carpet in the middle was a valley. Or the bed had caves underneath the sheets. Even the toy chest was at one time an evil lair where the bad guys were. I used to come up with different adventures and situations for those dolls I played with.” “I see. Like a prototype of Equestria.” Lauren shrugged. “Something like that. And there was something else too.” “Which is?” “Well… I think I was so obsessed with ponies that when I was a kid, I had a dream about it.” Luna froze. “Oh? And uh… do you recall anything from this dream?” “Not that much. All I can remember is that when I was twelve or thirteen, a talking pony came out from under my bed and I followed it through until I ended up at a castle. There were some princesses and other ponies, then at one point, I got lost and… I can’t remember much. But I will still say that out of the bits and pieces that I did remember, ended up helping me figure out what Equestria was going to look like. Especially the characters that were inspired by that dream. Of course, some things needed to be changed around before we could make the cartoon, but I must say, I am proud of what it’s become.” “Oh… I see…” Luna looked away from both her and the stars. “Mother… are you… proud of me too?” This question hit hard for Lauren, for she knew exactly why she was asking that. “Despite what I’ve done in the past. Despite my selfishness, my shortsightedness, and even my stupidity… are you still proud of me?” That, for Lauren, was heartbreaking to hear. With nothing more than her motherly instincts kicking in, she hugs her neck. “Don’t beat yourself up, Luna. All of us make mistakes, and we don’t learn the first time around. You didn’t have that many ponies to turn to when you felt lost, and if it were me, I probably would have done the same too.” “Mother?” “Luna, if there’s anyone worth blaming, it’s me.” The eyes of the Princess of the Night widen. “Mother, don’t say that!” “But it’s true. I made this world, and you know what? I think I’m responsible for what happens here, including what happened to you.” “Mother, stop it.” Luna nuzzled her. “What happened all those years ago was of my doing. I chose to become jealous instead of finding a more peaceful way to resolve things. Being on the moon, creating the Tantabus, distancing myself from Celestia, convincing myself that I have to deal with my problems on my own, all of that falls on me. All the jeers, sharp criticisms, and condemnations I received were of my doing. Not yours. You didn’t drive me to my banishment on the moon. You didn’t guilt me into creating a monster that I made to torment me. Nor did you give me cause to become distant with my sister.” “But Luna, I wrote the story that caused all this.” Luna frowned. “Even so, did you do so for the sake of harming me?” “No! Of course not! If I had known this was real-” “But you didn’t, and that is why I don’t hold you accountable. To you, all this was a story. But to me, I did those things not because I was pocessed or because I was always evil. But because I didn’t know what to do with the loneliness, how to forgive, or trust those I deem as friends with something that they could help me with. In this world, I am responsible for what I ended up deciding. And from you…” She sighed. “I don’t ask for your forgiveness. Rather I hope to gain your understanding of what I have done. That maybe… you could tell me that it’s okay to be a screw-up.” Lauren hugged her tighter. “I do understand. Coming from someone that messes up too, it’s okay to make those mistakes as long as you learn from them.” Luna wrapped her wings around her. “Thank you, mother.”