‘I’m going to tell you a story about someone who travels, and everywhere they go, they make everyone’s lives better. I’m not that creature. That creature doesn’t exist. I wish it did. I’d believe in it.’

-Unknown.

Luna would have preferred for Eufremia to not state it, but she obliged to the old mare’s request.

For sixty years, even when old age had started to eat away her nimbleness, the mare that became Eufremia still followed Luna – being the sole person admitted in her continuous presence. For sixty years, she courted Luna and shared the last years with her. Now, her body reaching its limits, and preventing her to properly walk as she once used to – though she bitterly kept trying until the very end – Eufrimia accepted that her life reached its final chime.

For the past two years, she laughed at it, but Luna was never in the mood for laughs anymore. The mare sensed her mind had devolved back, more troubled than ever before. Luna could not sleep and neglected everything to simply be in Eufrimia’s presence, even if they would share nearly nothing for hours on end. It had even come to the point of Eufrimia reading book aloud, sarcastically or seriously, to calm her friend. For results that only dampened Luna’s moral even further.

They entered Eufremia’s quarters; Luna quickening her pace toward the bed. The room, per Eufremia’s desires, was not an ornate one, at first glance. There, everything she had collected from their travels laid in perfect arrangement. In her life, Eufremia had visited all of Equestria. Her father would accompany them but had remained mostly quiet when around Luna. While he had remained forever grateful for Luna’s actions, his only daughter’s safety had been a point he would have lengthily debated. Luna was not negligent, but Eufremia had used to tease her father with that concept, until she would become the recipient of his built-up frustration. But Eufrimia never accepted to restitute the forsaken name her mother had given her on her birth. He had calmed down with time, but had never truly accepted his daughter’s decision.

‘Here you go, Eufi.’ Luna tucked the old mare into her bed, her voice too calm for Eufremia’s taste.

‘Maybe. I rarely was the most observant. But you have that look age gives you. In those typical places.’

‘Under the eyes and around the mouth.’ She snorted in amusement. ‘I am well-placed to know what age does to someone. But I can’t tell with that bloody mane of yours – it is still shiny.’

‘I am tired, Eufi,’ admitted Luna, knowing she could not hide it from her. ‘Nothing more.’

‘You are making yourself tired. For once, do what I say! For the past decades, you have made yourselves tired! And perhaps even more than only the decades I was present in…’ she said in a worried tone, like a mother addressing her daughter.

‘You are dying,’ said Luna. ‘It is not the first time I stand next to someone in their final moments. Every time they had gone quietly – with a story I tell or me just standing there as they found comfort in my simple presence as life slowly goes out from them.’

‘And since you won’t be able to again, just, for this time, tell me the occluded things!’ Eufremia felt her blood pressure drop. Dizziness struck her. Her breathing turned heavy with every breath taking effort. She had so much to say for her friend; she had so little time for it.

Luna looked at her almost unfazed by Eufremia’s dying tribulations. She almost was… desensitized to her plight.

‘I will tell you, Eufi. I did see. But those are things I do not like to communicate about. I hate experiencing them-’

‘I… I just can’t. I don’t want to.’ There was a breach in the wall she had imposed upon herself.

‘I love you too. I really mean it, Eufi.’ Luna grabbed her arm, the rugged skin of Eufremia contrasting heavily with the centuries-old silk-like skin of Luna.

‘Let us talk…’ She pointed to the horn, her voice fading away in a low rumble.

Eufremia closed her eyes. Luna’s pupils widened and her breathing quickened. She did not want it to end. She had not given Eufremia a good end. She had to provide for her.

‘Really?’ The etheric mist finally coalesced to a recognizable form in the ever-night of the Realm of Dreams, circling shyly between the white oneiric wheels.

‘I’ve lived long and saw many people, of many personalities, but rarely – very rarely – have I had such company. The best company.’ She smiled.

Eufremia regressed in age to her early twenties – when her father had let his daughter freely join their savior – and returned the smile back.

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ asked Luna, happy to see Eufremia look more like her.

‘Just stay with me.’ Her voice returned to its youthfulness. Luna felt a weight being taken off of her. ‘And I want to see my father again. Only briefly.’

Luna granted her the wish. He appeared next to Eufremia; Luna left them alone. She was in control of him and could guide his every action, but she let Eufremia’s memories speak freely.

The day Cherry died was etched clearly in her mind. It first had started with her coughing blood. Luna had attempted to tend to her but no matter what the blood would return. Then, when the day had come, Eufrimia had insisted to stay with her friend till the end – she insisted Luna take her into the Realm before ever-night. In truth, neither had anything more to add to each other. Everything had been said and done. They had only joked a little and shared a last embrace. Luna had been there, standing silently on the outskirts. Cherry thanked her; she only answered with a nod. Cherry thanked Eufrimia, and she then went into her final good night.

With her father, the same scenes had occurred. Though, again, there was nothing to add. A long, very long embrace was all they had done. Eufrimia had expected he would have wanted to see her young again, to see the child she was. He did not. He had done everything for her, and the results were perfect for him.

She had told him her name was Eufraty. He told her it did not matter. She complained. And they returned to that long, silent embrace between a father and his daughter.

Luna had stayed away, unseen to them. He whispered a thank you; she appeared; he thanked her again for being there for Eufrimia (he said the name); she only nodded; he jokingly nodded back; letting out the last joke he and Eufrimia shared. And he was gone.

Eufremia felt terribly alone afterward. Everyone she had shared a life with was gone. Her former teachers, lover, father, and friends. Her tribe was effectively extinct and she could not do anything about it. Only Luna remained. And for the first time, Eufrimia understood, truly, how it must feel. The stone-like expression, the distancing, and the fear of lost.

Eufremia hugged her father, then gestured for Luna to make the apparition disappear, smiling idly.

‘I’ve never asked, I think,’ began Eufremia, striding toward Luna with an awkward smile. ‘Did you have par-’

‘Yes,’ interrupted Luna, not wanting to hear the rest of the question. She silently fixated Eufrimia, her silence preventing the old mare to continue in her previous thought.

‘Do you still remember your…’ She hesitated, wary of Luna’s look. ‘…childhood?’

‘I have flashes,’ admitted the Princess, her gaze wandering toward the nothing drawing forward. ‘Everything else is gone. All I remember was Celestia… I-I am not sure. I remember our parents through vague recollections of voices and faces… But what we did when we were kids I don’t remember. Things had seemed brighter then. Brighter and more… sincere. All I can say with surety is that the Luna of old would have been ashamed of the current one. You would have preferred her over me.’

Eufremia moved to embrace her. She snorted again in amusement. ‘Well, I like this Luna.’

The old mare stayed calm. ‘But you love it when you see me. Your concerns would go until you made them rush again yourself. You loved gifting me trinkets and helping me choose the best and most interesting items.’

‘Or this is the Luna you envy manifesting back?’ She snorted again. ‘No matter, Luna; take us to… What was that place’s name? The Fields of Crystal?’

Luna chuckled, enjoying the effort Eufremia was taking. ‘It is just one. Do not fall when walking this time.’

‘I was admiring the sky! Oh!’ She recalled. ‘And can you play that song I like?’

A slow melody played in the background. Eufremia walked to Luna’s side, and rested her head on Luna’s shoulder. Then the world around them changed to one filled with high-reaching crystals, all like touching the night sky. Each sported a different color glimmering shyly under the moonlight. Some glowed brightly in the darkness, acting as beacons in the darkness where the few nocturnal animals that eked out a living in the vegetation that sprung up between the crystals would gather for a comforting surety. Cedar trees grew freely in that remote mountain valley. There a village exited decked to a water stream. Small, it relied on the few neighboring aristocrats and middle-class folks of close towns to vacation there during the summer months and the trading of cedar wood for its economy to be kept afloat. That area laid under Luna’s privy in a fashion, and so, in the rare time she had shown interest to the goings-on of the West, she had offered tax breaks and subsidies to the villagers. It was exploited by opportunistic creatures, but Luna had left the unofficial and noble-appointed regent to deal with the issue – as for most issues.

For all their beauty, the crystals of the valley lacked the appropriate purity for magical use. They could be refined for this very purpose, but as long as the bountiful mines located beyond the cursed grounds of the once Crystal Empire were still accessible during the limited good season, there was no need to expend efforts in converting crystals.

Luna had not wanted the villagers to know of their presence; she had taken them here for Eufremia to observe the majesty of the landscape, taking caution to sheave their fangs with magic. As predominantly creatures of the night, the reputation and myths spread and imbedded in the popular conscience, showing their distinct features would a detriment – some had even described the Batponies as Changelings proxies. For Luna, it had lost what had once made it special; there was no longer that awe to it, but she knew Eufremia would love it. The villagers spoke of a shadowy being walking at night in the forest. It would appear without a word or even any action was taken against them. Some saw it as a good omen – the sign of good fortune or a bountiful harvest. Others singularly saw ill-fate attached to its appearance. Either way, both shared good and bad stories of the “Lost Traveler”. She would take a room in the village’s inn, owned – according to its proprietor – by his family since the beginning of their reign. She tended to believe him as the ancient idol of the Sisters was hanging above the door entrance – showcasing a sign of greeting and good fate for all visitors. Even during those early days, the Sisters were depicted of similar height, had noted Eufremia.

Luna did not wish to expand on the matter when Eufremia would ask the same question every summer, when Luna would take her and her father to that place. Eufremia knew the answer would never come but liked to annoy her with it.

To remember the mountain village, a piece of wood carved into the shape of a cedar had her real name and her father’s name etched upon it. Eufremia later would crudely add Luna’s own next to the father’s.

On one of the nights they had stayed there, Luna arrived, and shortly after a trail of fire lit up the sky with incandescent light. It continued forth, descending and descending until it no longer illuminated the heavens. The trail blazed its last in an intense orange before returning the night to its calmness. The villagers imagined an ill-omen, and rumors abounded. Usually coming hooded and cloaked with a spell, she heard all the stories being circulated. For the entire week afterward, she had remained with both Thestrals, they had occupied the minds of all, and the anxious feeling did not abate. Children had been lost in the forest the day the comet had appeared and retrieved the one subsequent.

‘I am joking! It’s not that bad. Still better than the monster that makes children disappear.’

‘They were lost children! I just helped them. It’s not my fault if they fret over everything remotely out of the ordinary.’

Eufremia knew well what Luna intended but better leave that long-buried moment in the dirt. ‘Weird how all monsters are from the night. I was once – yes – but I was called beautiful by many afterward.’ Her mane had not lost its orange color with age, a surprise to Luna and those once still surviving members of the tribe. Up until her father’s passing, he had been the one checking her mane’s cleanliness on the daily; Luna had taken the mantle afterward.

‘Because they don’t learn!’ barked Luna. ‘Some do and have accepted that I will protect them from whatever lurks, but the majority don’t. And even for the former, I am still some distant protector that is barely remembered.’

‘They will say Celestia had protected them.’ She referred to the scattered retellings of Celestia having guided the children out of the forest. ‘That the light engulfed the dark. Tsk. You should finally abandon her.’

‘Then why have you not spent time with her? I will die – you knew it – but she will linger.’

‘I don’t!’ bellowed Luna. ‘Because you will die; because you are mortal, you would not have understood how we think!’

‘I am not lying!’ She doubted herself for a second but shook the thought out. ‘She’s better than me at governance and other… things…’

‘You could be better if given the chance. If you step into the light and engulf the dark you made to yourself,’ Eufrimia smiled.

She had ignored her. Eufrimia regretted her words, sensing the unease they had brought to Luna. Perhaps she truly loved Celestia, twisted and transformed over years into neither of them understood fully and was too scared to face the implication of that change. Both of them had let the dark engulf them, and it saddened Eufrimia like nothing else could.

Astra’s admonition of Luna had not gone idle. The regent and her words had acted as a sort of catalyst, reinvigorating Luna’s resolve to prove herself to a subject that, no matter what, she respected immensely. And, perhaps most importantly, to prove her worth to her sister. In the wake of that renewed ambition, Celestia had come to congratulate Luna for giving new life to her part of Equestria. While at first, everything had gone well, bits of advice were made into critics and kind words of support reshaped into diminutive insults. Astra had stood with Luna, encouraging her to further dig the canyon. That day ended Luna’s brief re-involvement in material affairs. She became more reclusive afterward, distancing herself from all except Eufrimia.

‘I want to see the Sun,’ finally said Eufremia, not wanting to extend that moment. She felt her body weaken even further; Luna’s expression made clear that she knew only mere minutes remained.

As Thestrals, the Sun was something they naturally lived little underneath. They could adapt their circadian rhythm to it, but the effort was meaningless most of the time if the incentive was lacking. Eufremia’s tribe’s unfortunate past had not changed that, instead they were inflected with terrible sunburns instantly when exposed to it. Luna would sheave them with a protective spell, but which effects would only be limited due to exposure.

Eufremia stiffened her pose, Luna reassuring her that nothing would inflect her in the Realm. The old mare snorted and sighed. ‘You would have done a better job in Celestia’s stead. The Sun would have shone brighter and gentler.’ Eufremia had that fascination with the life the others would enjoy during the day. Even behind the protective barriers of a house, she felt the Sun could have been improved upon. Ironically, it felt lesser to her.

Eufremia grimaced. ‘You are not beholden to it – none of us are. If it was the case, I would have not been there.’

‘Rising the Sun? Perhaps in another world.’ Luna smiled at the thought. She felt the realm faltering, her grip upon Eufremia’s dream loosening incrementally at a pass that shocked Luna. The song was ending. Luna faced her in a hurried panic. She had to contain herself; to not let Eufremia perceive her tribulations.

‘I did everything to please you.’ Eufremia smiled, understanding the sentiment behind Luna’s words.

‘Thank yo-u for thi-s life. I wou-ld have not asked fo-r mo-re. Good night, Luna.’

She did not want to say the words, but Luna had to have the last words. ‘I love you too, Eufi! Good night, Eufi!’

The world began to flicker out intensely. Eufremia rushed for a final hug, then she with her dream faded it out into the nothing as they dissipated in bright white flickers.

The world that had been Eufremia’s dream was replaced by the night-void of the Realm of Dreams.

Dawn of Midnight

by TheApostate

Crumbling