//------------------------------// // Intimacy of the Moon // Story: The Value of Detail // by Tsunami Rain //------------------------------// The Value of Detail Intimacy of the Moon Solar Wind ruffled her undeveloped wings as her Aunt Luna tucked her into bed. Giving her biggest smile yet, she pleaded with the Princess of the Moon: "Please may hear a story before I go to sleep, Aunt Luna?" Giggling, Luna thought about the filly's request. teasing her with exaggerated motions. "I can do much better than that, little one. Did you have anything specific in mind?" She finally replied. Upon hearing the return question, Solar Wind blushed and hid behind the covers. "Um... I was kinda hoping... that you could..." drifting off at the end of the sentence as she lost what confidence she had. Smiling, Luna gave the filly a soft poke right on the forehead. "You're going to have to speak up dear, I didn't quite catch that." As she watched her niece struggling to build up confidence to ask her question, Luna again smiled reassuringly at her. After having built up enough confidence, the little pegasus asked her question once more: "I was wondering if... if you could tell me a story about when you were on the moon, Aunt Lulu." Luna froze for the smallest fraction of a second, and recovered before the filly in front of her could even notice. "I can tell you, but I must forewarn you. This was a very dark time for me; the moon put me through many challenges, and brought much change to me. It was a hard time, but without it, I would not be here now. One last question before we begin, are you sure?" At this, Solar Wind nodded, eyes wide as she was actually going to hear about Luna's legendary imprisonment on the moon. Luna chortled at the sight of the filly's face. "Let us begin, little one." And she slowly leaned her head forward sending a stream of magic through her horn and touching it to the little pegasus' head, sending them both into the realm of dreams and memories. Darkness. That's all it was, darkness. Slowly, the filly realized her eyes were closed. Cautiously, she opened them and that was the moment she lost her breath. "It's so pretty!" Upon turning to her aunt, she saw the sad look in Luna's eyes. The alicorn quickly hid her sadness, and motioned for the pegasus to follow her. "Come little one, we shall begin our story just over here." Pausing for a moment as the filly scrambled to catch up with her. Solar Wind spotted what looked like Nightmare Moon sitting on a hill just a stone's throw away, staring balefully at Equus. 'On this day in a thousand years, Celestia. I will return and invoke eternal night!' Slightly shocked by the dark alicorn's sudden outburst, Solar Wind jumped behind her Luna, peering curiously at her aunt's evil incarnation. Luna took a deep breath. "I will begin with a short description on how I got here. Celestia and I took over the leadership of Equestria after the three pony tribes had founded it under the basis of harmony. But while the ponies laughed and played during the day, they slept through and neglected my night. This greatly saddened me, and I grew jealous. I soon plotted to make nighttime eternal. Hence leading to the fight between my sister and I; ending with my ultimate banishment to the moon." Solar Wind listened intently, watching as Nightmare Moon just sat there unmoving. "Is this your first day on the moon?" "Very observant, little one." Luna praised her niece's cognizance. The filly jumped as the scene suddenly changed. Now, Nightmare Moon was seemingly arguing with herself, stomping around and screaming into nothingness. After a time, she just stopped and burst into tears- her image momentarily flickering to that of a young Luna. "The moon is a kind spirit, it is full of mercy and compassion, and watches over everything with a love that can be matched by no other. This caused conflicts within myself; having these qualities within me just from my connection to the moon, and also the hatred and jealousy of Nightmare Moon- it was unhealthy for my psyche." Luna narrated the scene before them. She fell silent after a while, crying her own tears as she watched Nightmare Moon. Time sped up, and the little pegasus watched as Nightmare Moon struggled: argued; cried; screamed; and simply sat in silence. As more time passed on, she slowly started appearing as Luna more often than the dark alicorn. "It slowly changed me, calmed. The moon is like my soul mate, we share an intimate bond with one another, she loves and cares for me. as I do for her. As you can see I slowly learned to control myself, and one day I lost Nightmare Moon altogether; I didn't know where she went, she was just gone." As time continued to pass at an accelerated pace the little filly and the alicorn princess sat next to each other and watched. Luna pointed to Equus, upon which the pegasus noticed the weather patterns creating a picture. "Is Aunt Celestia doing that?!" she exclaimed. Bewildered, Nightmare Moon watched as a picture was slowly painted on the surface of her world. It created a mural of Celestia reaching out to her sister, telling her that she was still loved, still missed. Solar Wind noticed that there was always a patch of night sky which was darker than the rest, and she pointed it out to Luna, "Very good, my niece. I didn't realize this at first, but Nightmare Moon ha actually been physically expelled from my body due to the power of the moon. It was on the last day of my exile that she showed herself again-attacking me-and forced herself back into my body ready to once again enact her plan. I tried fighting her, but she was too strong. And the rest, my dear, is history." Upon the end of that sentence everything seemed to shrink into nothing; and then, darkness. The next time Solar Wind opened her eyes, it was early morning, and Luna was nowhere to be found.