The little filly was once again lying on a pillow in her bed. Usually, she would be reading the same book, or just looking out the window, a smile rare on her face. But this time? This time it was hard to catch her face not without a smile. Why? Because today she was spending time with Princess Celestia again.
‘’So I told them that they could either lower the tax or-’’ The Princess was telling the filly how one particular noble had raised the taxes so much that the peasants had to talk to the Princess herself. The filly didn’t really understand what the Princess was talking about, she used words that flew over the filly's head like one of the Thunderbolt performers. Oh, how she wished she could see them again, she only saw them before this curse wrought her body. But they were stunning to watch.
‘’-and so in the end I had persuaded The Duke to-’’ Ah! Duke, she knew that word, her father was one too. She didn’t know what it was exactly, but it was important, that she knew. Her father loved to remind people of how he was one so it had to be important right? ‘’-lower the taxes.’’
The Princess finally stopped pacing around the room and looked at the filly. She would usually do that when telling stories or anything really, the filly found it a little funny and wondered how her head didn’t spin.
‘’Oh dear, I’m sorry I got a little too into it, again.’’ The filly giggles, she doesn’t mind, she could listen to the princess talk about anything for hours, even if she didn’t understand it. Celestia lightly laughs too.
But their moment is interrupted by her door abruptly opening.
‘’Alright, you know the dril-’’ The ‘doctors’ move in as usual but stop dead in their tracks when they see the imposing figure of the Princess with her distinct smile that is absent on the face of the Master of The Sun.
‘’Ah, have I not taught my subjects to respect someone’s privacy?’’ Celestia speaks with her usual tone but a sign of annoyance is clear in her voice which she does not try to hide.
They all throw themselves to the floor when they finally realize what is happening.
‘’W-were sorry, Princess! We’ll leave right away!’’
‘’You have come to administer -------- with her medicine, have you not? I wish to see how it is done. If you would allow me of course,’’ Even when Celestia asked for permission, her voice carried absolute authority, making even the strongest of wills bend to her request.
‘’O-of course! It would be our honor.’’ The thought of rejecting Celestia never once crossed the mind of the unicorn still bowing. He did not dare raise his head even just a millimeter upwards so as not to incur the wrath of the princess.
‘’Well you may start-’’ Celestia sat on the edge of the bed. ‘’-whenever you wish.’’ She looked at the filly and smiled, her smile had relaxed the filly maybe this time it wouldn’t be as bad?
‘’Ahhhh, this is just what I needed,’’ Rarity said while slowly getting deeper into the mud bath. ‘’I’m glad you joined us Applejack.’’
‘’Yeah, I guess.’’ Applejack touched the surface of the mud and smelled it. ‘’You know, you were just complaining about the mud just thirty minutes ago. Now you’re bathing in it, I’ll never understand ya.’’ Applejack joined Rarity in the mud.
Rarity raised one of the cucumber slices in her eyes. ‘’This is a different kind of mud darling. This one is good for you.’’ Just before she closed the slice back a cyan hoof reached over and took the slice.
‘’This feels wayyy better than the weird mud in the Everfree.’’ Rainbow Dash tossed the slice up into the air. ‘’Plus they gave us these awesome snacks to eat.’’
‘’Those are not for eating darling.’’ Rarity caught the slice before it could make its way to Rainbow Dash’s stomach and put it back on her eyes.
‘’Well, they’re tasty,’’ Rainbow Dash shrugs, Rarity sighs.
Fluttershy joins the mud bath without saying any words at all and all of them finally get to relax after a tiring day at the Everfree. None of them speak, and so the silence continues but from behind the door a sound, although faint could be heard. It sounded like something or someone was walking? No, this was someone running. The noise only got louder and louder and when the sound finally reached the loudest the door burst open.
‘’Guys, guys! You need to go to Canterlot, now!’’ Spike was waving a small piece of paper around the air like a mad pony.
Looks like they couldn’t rest just yet. Such is their life, they didn’t ask for it but it’s theirs.
‘’What are you doing?’’ I look at the jester in front of me.
‘’Dancing!’’ I don’t look at the grumpy head in front of me, and continue my glamorous dance.
‘’Why?’’ I try to take my eyes away, forcing my foot to not tap along to my humming.
‘’Why not?’’ I spin around with a flourish and throw my arms back and forward. ‘’Care to join me?’’ I extend an arm with an open hand towards the now less grumpy head.
‘’And why would I do that?’’ I scoff and roll my eyes.
‘’Cause you wanna dance too.’’ I laugh. ‘’We can’t dance now so, you want to do it so bad even though we suck at it.’’
‘’...Fine.’’ I take the hand, and with a foot forward start dancing.
I watch myself dance with…myself? It’s somewhat weird but...amusing.
‘’You want to dance Lai-Lai?’’ The chilling but soothing voice behind me makes me break my gaze to the dance of the self.
‘’No and stop calling me Lai-Lai!’’ Selene’s been calling me Lai-lai ever since I fell asleep and woke up again in this place.
‘’Hmmm-’’ She looks towards the black and white figures dancing and smirks. ‘’-I think you want to dance. I can see you and you dance so fervently,’’ She chuckles. ‘’But I don’t see you dancing.’’
‘’...okay, maybe I do wanna dance but look at me.’’ I gesture towards my pony body. ‘’There is no way I’m dancing.’’
‘’Oh? And why ever not? Do you think ponies are not able to dance?’’ She raises one of her eyebrows, the smile still not leaving her face. ‘’I’ll have you know that…’’ She stops mid-sentence.
‘’Huh? You’ll have me know what?’’
‘’Actually, I can’t dance too.’’ She sighs and her shoulders sag. ‘’But that won’t stop me from trying!’’ She suddenly gets up from the pillow we were sitting on and looks down at me. ‘’And we’ll learn together!’’ Wha-? Where did she get this sudden burst of energy?
I’m pulled up from the ground by two hooves holding me by my shoulders but before I can say anything I catch the sight of her eyes, her eyes so sharp that they could cut steel, her eyes so sharp that would make anyone cower in fear, her eyes so full of excitement and wonder that they betray their shape as if they didn’t belong to her.
I can’t bring myself to reject them.
‘’Okay, let’s dance.’’ I can see her irises widen and her mouth turn into a full-on grin, revealing her fangs, though they don’t feel sharp to my eyes.
‘’It all makes sense now,’’ Celestia muttered frowning, while circling inside her room.
‘’Princess?’’ Twilight tried to keep up behind her but their body sizes alone proved that difficult and her legs were getting tired.
‘’His refusal to be caught, his sudden mood changes-’’ The Princess’s face portrayed one of shock and comprehension. ‘’-his closeness with Luna.’’
Twilight had now given up trying to talk to the Princess, none of her efforts yielded any fruit so she just sat on the ground silently following Celestia with her eyes, though even her eyes were starting to get tired now.
‘’His so few outbursts are surprising considering what kind of mental torture he is probably going through.’’ Celestia’s face changes into one of worry and she stops suddenly. ‘’Twilight, how fast can your friends get here?’’
Her teacher's sudden attention to her surprises Twilight. ‘’Huh? Oh! I uhhh, they should probably arrive by midnight.’’
‘’Good.’’
‘’Princess, what is going on?’’ Twilight was getting more worried by the second.
‘’Nightmare Moon is back.’’ Celestia continues without letting her student speak. ‘’And it’s inhabiting the body of Laika.’’
‘’Wha-? How? Isn’t Nightmare Moon…Luna?’’ Twilight was still in the process of understanding the words Celestia spoke. Nightmare Moon back? Didn’t they defeat her months ago? Princess Luna was saved…wasn’t she?
‘’Yes, but no.’’ Those words confuse Twilight even more. ‘’Nightmare Moon is both a part of Luna and a completely separate entity.’’ Celestia adopts a sorrowful face and looks away from Twilight. ‘’An entity which has probably tormented that poor stallion for who knows how long?’’ Celestia looks back at Twilight with a determined face. ‘’Twilight, we must save him from his torture.’’
''But what about Princess Luna?'' Twilight asks.
Celestia looks away and sighs. ''Luna must not know, only you, me, and your friends shall know of this.''
Before we start dancing, I look around the room.
‘’Is something wrong?’’ Selene asks with a curious voice.
‘’We need an atmosphere,’’ We were still in my room from the castle. ‘’and music too.’’
‘’So change it,’’ I yell while aggressively tapping my feet in a rhythm.
‘’Yes! Some music would be nice.’’ I laugh while swaying my whole body in a smooth motion.
Hmmm, what should I do? …aha! I got it.
‘’No…’’ My eyes widen in horror, yet I do not stop dancing.
‘’Hahahahaha, yes!’’ My eyes widen in excitement and anticipation, and I continue dancing.
The room around us slowly fades into nothingness and then the floor slowly gets covered in colorful LED panels all flickering light with so much power that it looks like they could break down easily but they do not hurt the eyes.
‘’Wh-what is this?!’’ Selene looked from over my shoulder around the floor. She reaches slowly with one hoof and touches it lightly, the panel reacts with light and Selene instantly retracts her hoof back.
I laugh and get on the dance floor, turn my head back to her, and extend my arm. ‘’This my dear, is an arena of dance.’’ An upbeat, catchy music starts, and Selene’s eyes widen further.
She takes my hand and joins me on the floor, I smile and she nervously smiles yet it is still filled with enthusiasm, two figures of black and white rush past us.
‘’Whoooo! Let’s go, time to bust out my moves!’’ I let my legs move and stop in command of the rhythm, filling the stage with a burst of color.
‘’Move over, I’ll show you some moves.’’ I don’t let the rhythm take command of me and do the robot.
‘’Don’t look at them, I don’t dance like that normally.’’ I look away from her eyes.
She laughs. ‘’Really? Maybe you should, it seems fun.’’
‘’Yeah embarrassing too,’’ I laugh back. ‘’Well come on then-’’ I gesture with my hand for her to hold it. ‘’or are you scared…Sel-Sel?’’
‘’Did you just-’’
‘’Yes, it’s payback for calling me Lai-Lai, Sel-Sel.’’
Her nervousness slowly fades away and gives way to a genuine smile. Taking my hand she steps into the arena.
The filly was wrong, it wasn’t any better this time. It hurt so much again, it was a searing hot pain all over her skin, she felt as if she was on fire. Did the doctor do this on purpose? He already left with his posse after another quick bow. She was now panting on her bed sweat dripping down her forehead. She tried so hard to not make a sound so as to not inconvenience The Princess, but it was so hard.
‘’Does it hurt?’’ The Princess asks in a quiet voice.
The filly doesn’t say anything but nods. She tries not to cry but a few tears dare make their way to her eyes. Suddenly the pain drops down in intensity and she glowls in a soft golden hue. The filly looks up and sees The Princess’s horn glowing.
‘’I’m sorry dear, but this is the best I can do for you until the pain passes away.’’ She sounded sad, was the princess sad for her? For…her? The filly's arms reach forward sluggishly as if searching for something and she finds it.
Celestia leans forward and wraps the filly in a hug. The filly buries her face deep into the chest of The Princess and she cries, she cries until the pain goes away. It hurt so much, yet she was so happy. So, so happy. She would bear the biggest of pains just to experience this happiness again. Can anyone, anything even make her happier?
‘’How would you like to move into the castle with me dear?’’ Celestia says in a soft tone while patting the fillies’ back.
…
It seems she was wrong, she could be happier.
I bop along to the music with my head and my shoulders, swaying them from right to left, right to left trying to keep up with the rhythm as awkward as it is. I can see Selene watching me with curious eyes. I smirk, get up on my hind legs, and hold her shoulders for support, her eyes widen in surprise but she makes no move to step back.
‘’Are you just gonna keep watching me? You dance too.’’ I let her go and turned back to my swaying. ‘’You gotta fight in the arena or your out!’’ I laugh.
‘’I-...how?’’ She seems conflicted.
‘’Just do whatever your body tells you to.’’ I see her tail, ethereal it maybe swinging from side to side in line with the song, and one of her hooves is tapping along with it. ‘’Let the music flow through your limbs.’’
She looks away but slowly I can see her start to move more and more, hoof forward and backward, backwards and forwards. As the song picks up she starts to throw her head around from side to side in a gentle manner.
I join her and try to use all four of my limbs to my best advantage. ‘’Yes! That’s it, you're getting it!’’ I take a step forward, get on my hind legs again, and hold her shoulders. ‘’Now show me what you got!’’
‘’O-okay!’’ She laughs and with her stature, she doesn’t need to bend down for us to be on equal footing. While we dance together, with me on two legs and her on four, with each step we take the ground fills with colors. I feel like…I feel like I’m human again, hehe, I can dance on two feet.
‘’That’s a huge smile.’’ Selene remarks. Did I really smile that much? Maybe I did, but I can’t help it, I’m just having way too much fun. Dancing with the bodiless voice inside my head.
‘’Yeah? You don’t like it?’’
‘’No…’’ She leans forward and our eyes meet, though we both don’t stop dancing. ‘’It’s the best smile I’ve ever seen.’’ She leans back with a small smile on her face. ‘’Keep it on please.’’
‘’W-well, if you ask.’’ I look away to…what am I doing?
‘’Go! Go! Go! You’re killing it!’’ I cheer on my comrade in dance.
‘’Watch and learn, watch and learn!’’ I do a headspin and keep it going with my hands with the music building up in the background I get faster and faster. When the beat drops I stop and pose. ‘’And that’s how it’s done!’’
‘’Yeahhhh! My turn!’’ I throw myself to the colorful floor and masterfully perform the worm.
Maybe I should not look away…I look towards Selene again and…my foot slipped. Nice going hooves. Seems like I can only feel like a human. I stumble forward and crash into Selene, we both fall down onto the vibrant floor.
‘’Uff, sorry my foot slipped.’’ Nothing hurts though, well I guess since it’s a dream nothing would hurt. I look to my left and see Selene on her back laughing.
‘’Oh oh, I never had so much fun!’’ She turns to me and looks at me with a grin.‘’Let’s dance again!’’ She says in a way akin to a kid which betrays her piercing voice.
‘’Sur-’’ I catch a sight of her eyes again. How can one’s eye be so scary and so…innocent? Her deep teal eyes, so deep that one could fall down in it, yet as safe as a shallow pool, so predatory yet so soft.
‘’...Beautiful.’’
My heart tingles.
‘’Oh no.’’
‘’Oh no.’’
Oh no.
‘’I-...oh, I-’’ Selene tries to say something but keeps stuttering. She was not ready for those words. I wasn’t ready too, why did I say that?
‘’Uhh, sorr-’’ I try to apologize.
‘’No! It’s…okay, t-thank y-you.’’ She doesn’t let me.
How can one feel the heartbeat so fervently in a dream?
But suddenly everything goes black and my eyes open again, I’m in my room. What happened? S-selene? You need to get up and lock the door! What is going on? I sense Celestia’s magic in the hall. So- And the rest of the elements! oh fuck.
I rush to get up from my bed and fall down in the process, get up. I scramble to get up and run to the wooden chair. Faster. She’s almost at the door! You’re not helping!
Gripping the sides of the chair I almost break the chair, I throw myself to the door and place it under the doorknob as fast as I can and then take a step back and take quick breaths keeping my eyes on the door. I hear the sounds of walking outside my door, the sound only a lot of ponies can make and then they stop. The door’s handle slowly turns without making so much as a noise. But it doesn’t open. After a minute of this-
*knock-knock*
The voice of Celestia comes through the door. ‘’Laika, could you open the door?’’
Selene, you’re with me, right?
…Always. I want to dance with you again later. Her voice brings a certain calmness to my nerves.
Yeah…me too.
The filly was being carried on Celetia’s back. She still couldn’t believe it, The Princess asked her to live in the castle with her and so she was now being transported to the castle. But the filly couldn’t walk, even her legs had now lost all function.
She was prepared to crawl to the castle if need be but that didn’t happen. With a smile, Celestia took her on her back. Passing through the garden of her previous house she finally sees it. The Princess's chariot looked breathtaking, and the Moonlight made the golden shine even further. Celestia gently laid the filly on the back of the chariot and told the royal guards the takeoff.
The filly watched as the chariot sped up and slowly rose from the ground. This was it, her life was going to get her a good ending, a better life, a new life and what does a new life need?
She nervously touched The Princess’s back to get her attention.
‘’Hmm? Yes, dear?’’ Celestia leaned down to hear what the filly had to say, the filly whispered her desire. ‘’You wish to…have a new name?’’ The filly nodded and pointed to the Moon.
The Moon, the only thing she loved, the only one who was always with her through the lonely nights, she wished to be related to the moon in a way.
Celestia's smile wavered for a second although the filly couldn’t catch it. ‘’The ponies of Southern Equestria call the moon, ‘Selene’.’’ Celestia raised her head and looked at the moon. ‘’Would you like that dear?’’
Selene…
Selene loved her new name.