//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seventeen (Conclusion) 
// Story: To Befriend the Night 
// by LucidTech 
//------------------------------//

        “What,” Luna deadpanned. 

        “I know, I know. Look, it’s hard for me to admit, but things got complicated. Hendrick is acting split; he’s been getting scared less and less. Things are not going according to plan,” the fire thing rambled off. “Which is why it’s a good thing you’re here.”

        “Why is my presence a good thing?” Luna’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the fire being, but he didn’t seem to notice. He walked away, running a hand through what would be his hair had he been a physical being. 

        “Because you’re the only thing he still cares about, now! There’s a fear for each person or being that won’t fade with time, something they avoid confronting. You’re that thing for him. When all of the other fears lost their sheen, showing him a nightmare of you dying in fire, crying out in pain, forcing him to watch as your skin burned in fire and you turned to a skeleton...” The crackling voice died away as a smile split the creature’s face. “Oh, it really was beautiful. You should have seen it.” The being turned around to see Luna looking unamused.  “Anyway, if anyone can bring Hendrick back into working order, it’s you, and I can help make sure it happens.”

        There was a moment of stillness where Luna took an opportunity to think. “No.” Luna’s eyes gleamed like ice as the words left her mouth and the fire being shivered from some unseen cold. 

        “No? What do you mean, ‘no’? I thought you two had a whole relationship thing going on. You’re just gonna ditch him?”

        “You misunderstand.” Enraged sadness covered Luna’s features as her words bit into the air, sending another shiver through the demon’s body. “I’m going to help him, but you are not. You aren’t going to exist.”

        “But, but you need me!” The flames were flickering away; its voice shuddered from a chill only he could feel. He looked towards Luna and she stared back at him, emptily. 

        “I am Princess Luna, the guardian of the night, the culler of nightmares and bringer of dreams. I do not need you. I do not need a being who treats Hendrick as a food source, a being of pure malice, a nightmare that takes a pony’s worst fear and uses it to their own advantage, twisting and turning their brain to the point that they go mad from imagined fears. No, your time is quite done.” Princess Luna closed her eyes as she finished talking. Her mane began to reach out, the mass of ethereal stars transforming into tendrils that snaked through the air.

        But he wasn’t going down without a fight. “N-no, I’ve put a lot of work into surviving here!” it shouted. Fiery needles exited the being and flew through the air with shocking speed, burrowing into Luna’s skin, digging into her body and crawling to her brain. “Do you even know what it’s like to exist here? I had to carve out even the simplest of livings! The first few weeks were hell!”

        Luna’s mane began to shake violently, her body mimicking the action. The physical flaming night terrors wormed through her body; she could feel them behind her eyes and all along her spine. Is this where it ends? Luna thought as she felt the darkness making haste towards her mind. Then, a surge of determination shot through her. 

“NO! I will not lose Hendrick, too!” Her canterlot voice split the air like an axe. Luna opened her eyes—her white, shining eyes—and her mane wrapped the demon in an chilling vice grip as it shone like diamonds. It struggled and strained against the pincer hold, but all in vain as the ice bit deeper and deeper into its fiery being and it writhed harder and harder. 

Then, all at once, it stopped. 

“Nightmare Moon,” the being said with a defeated tone that held an air of forgery. Silence answered it. Luna’s attack was slowed, though the tendrils still dug into the skin of the fiery creature. Eventually, it raised its burning gaze to face the full form of Luna. “That’s who you are, isn’t it? Or who you were, as the case may be.” A look of sadness shown through the eyes of the captured prey. “My, how you’ve grown.” It grinned a genial happy grin and Luna felt chills run down her spine. 

“Had I but known, I might have let you take Hendrick back from me from the start. After all, the last time you tried to break the hold of a nightmare—” Spikes of ice shot forth from Luna’s mane and the creature’s face was torn to shreds, interrupting what it had been about to say. Luna looked on, full of rage, towards the dying entity. Even as it was pulled apart, however, it didn’t break its expression, didn’t scream. It just smiled at her. Then, with a burst of black flames, it was gone.

        Luna’s mane retracted and black flames licked at her hair, the last remnants of the spirit fighting to survive. She paid them no heed. Her mind was tormented by the after-effects of the creature’s fiery shards, and she found herself unable to move as the incessant pounding in her ears seemed to grow louder and louder. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes while her horn shown in the silent and still darkness as she fought back.

        Magic coursed through Luna’s veins, battling the fire that burned through her soul. It reached greedily for the back corners of the princess’s mind, reaching for the fears that she had placed there, reaching for the food mere inches away. They inched closer and closer through Luna’s being, but just when they were about to reach it, she cried out in pain. Magic coursed through her in uncomfortable levels, tearing the fiber of her being as they traversed her body en masse. The magic collided with the fire, and it was removed from her body in an icy purge.

        Luna slouched, letting the magic bleed from her body. Her mane lay limp next to her, a testament to how much she had put into removing the infection. It no longer shone with the night sky, but had turned back into its old light blue. For a moment, she just laid there, letting the fatigue run its course on her body. As she lay on the black ground, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander, back to the first day she had met Hendrick and the feeling of segregation that had plagued her. 

She had convinced herself she could manage just fine. It had been the norm, a thought that, in retrospect, scared Luna to some degree. To be content with being lonely and forgotten, aside from the constant, comforting presence of her sister. None besides Celestia had cared about her. The guards seemed annoyed when they had to be present for her night court, to which no one showed up day after day.

        It was a numbing kind of despair, entirely different from the jealousness and hate that had fueled Nightmare Moon. This had been a poison she never felt on her. Not until she was cured of it did she realize it had been there at all. Another pony had done that for her once: cured her of corrupting emotions. Luna looked up at the pitch black sky of the soul realm. She couldn’t see anything up there, of course, but her gaze remained steadfastly directed upward anyway. Eventually, a single tear came to her face, a stark contrast against her steady expression. 

        Feeling the liquid on her coat, Luna brushed it away, along with the memory that had stirred it. The sheen was coming back to the princess’s hair, and Luna was feeling much more rejuvenated. She forced herself to her hooves and took a deep breath, an act more for the comfort of knowing she could breath than because she needed to. 

“No use crying over spilt milk,” she said to herself, a sad undercurrent breaking the monotony of the saying.

        With a too-steady gaze, the princess turned herself about and faced every which way, looking for the thing that had broken the omnipresent darkness holding her in its wrappings. Slowly, something began to form around Luna. She didn’t notice at first, as it started incredibly subtle, but before too long, the entirety of a library had come into being around her. She was confused, now more than ever. If she were seeing a library, then she had to either be in a dream of Hendrick’s, or she had to be directly touching his soul. Neither of those answers felt right.

        “Luna!” came a call from behind the princess. She turned to face the voice and was surprised to see Hendrick in his pony state behind her. He had never been a pony in the dreams, and his soul should appear as a human as well. Something was most definitely off. “I’m glad you’re here. I need help—” His voice suddenly dropped a pitch or two and he was replaced by his human form. He didn’t seem to notice, continuing on without stopping. “—culling these rebel scum.” 

        “What?” Luna asked. Things weren’t making sense in the least. 

        Human Hendrick sighed, but spoke again in an annoyed tone. “Your orders are to—” He was a pony once again, and his light voice she had come to know was back. “—help me shelve some of these books? It’s proving to be a rather more daunting task than I had anticipated.” He smiled at her kindly. 

Princess Luna found herself unable to speak, out of shock, and simply nodded her head instead. She grabbed some of the books in her magical aura and Hendrick’s smile widened. “Oh thank you—” Another shift. “—you worthless maggot.”

Deciding not to point out the change, she began to follow Hendrick as he made his way through the library. He would occasionally shelve some books, all the while shifting between human and pony forms. Luna would shelve her own books when she passed by a place where they went, but otherwise kept her full attention on Hendrick, trying to figure him out.

After several minutes of walking, Luna decided to change tactics, having gotten nowhere with her previous approach. “Hendrick, is something the matter?” She posed this question to the human avatar. 

“You dare question your superior—” Pony Hendrick. “—friend?” 

That was still disorienting. “No, I just want to make sure you’re feeling well. You don’t seem like yourself.” 

Hendrick glanced from side to side, then leaned towards Luna. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked, a worried tone evident in his voice. Luna nodded and leaned towards him. “I think I’m—YOU ARE NOT A HIGH ENOUGH RANK TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ME!” Luna backpedaled at the sudden change in voice. “Am I understood!” Her mind still shaking from undue exposure to the surprise shout, she hesitantly nodded. “Good!” 

And then they went back to shelving books.

Luna was worried, not because of what had just happened, but because she had never seen this before. She hadn’t even heard of this before. It was like his soul was trying to be two different people at the same time. Hendrick would end up killing himself from stress if this kept up. The constant shift between militaristic march and soft steps kept Luna on the tips of her hooves as she followed behind the shifting form of Hendrick.  

        Then, something changed. The books began to become disorganized, but Hendrick continued on as if nothing were amiss. He shelved books still, though Luna found herself forced to stop. 

Hendrick had explained his sorting system to her once, and she had managed to remember most of it. But this... this shelf of books didn’t even look sorted by his system at all. Instead, smaller books were placed on the bottom rows and they got thicker as they moved up. Despite this nondescript system, Hendrick still seemed to have an exact location for all the literature he carried with him.

        A shout caught the attention of the duo.

        Luna turned to face the noise moments after Hendrick, whom was currently a pony. A little girl was approaching them and Luna found herself shocked still. This girl.... This was her. Well, not her exactly, but the form she had taken whenever she had dreamt of Hendrick. But how was she here? Was this all truly a dream and not a reflection of Hendrick’s soul?

        “Rakya, I thought I told you to stay with the others, dear,” Hendrick said in a calm tone. The girl kept her gaze locked on Hendrick’s face, not paying attention to the fact that he was currently a pony, nor the giant blue alicorn standing behind him.

        In response to Hendrick’s statement, the girl only shook her head and pointed to the shelves behind him. He turned to glance as well and a half smile crossed his face. “I promised you I would read it to you later. It’s not safe for you to be moving around the library right now. You should head back to the reading area.” Rakya shook her head fiercely and crossed her arms, universal body language Luna easily deciphered. 

        Hendrick cringed. “Please, Rakya. Please.” His voice was growing weak and Luna quickly approached him to make sure he was okay. Rakya, however, remained steadfast in her stance. Just as suddenly as it had been all times previously, Hendrick changed into a human again and the girl began to back away in fear instantly, as if knowing what was coming.

        “A no good tribal. Just like all the others. You aren’t worthy to breath my air, you filthy, worthless piece of trash.” Hendrick pulled an odd device from his clothes and leveled the open end of it towards the head of the small child. The look on his face told the princess exactly what he was planning. Acting instantly, Luna moved between them. She wasn’t sure why there was a child here, she wasn’t sure why they were in a library, she wasn’t even sure what Hendrick was going though, but she was still going to live by her morales. 
        
        “No, Hendrick. You can’t do this.”

        “And who do you think you are to tell me what I can and can’t do?!” Using the thumb of his finger, he pulled back the piece of metal attached to the device. This change caused Luna to remember it. She had seen in one of the dreams; it had killed people. Or she thought it had killed people. She thought it might have killed her. She couldn’t remember it correctly, anymore.

        Her mind stopped for a second, contemplating if she could die in whatever this place between dreams and the soul was called. But she pushed on. “I am Pr—” She stopped immediately. She had been about to announce herself in the same way she had with the fire spirit. Now, though, she realized that would be a bad choice. “I am your friend, Hendrick, and I want you to be well again.” The words rang with truth and a spike of hope filled her as human Hendrick began to lower the gun. 

Then, he raised it again. “You lying maggot. I don’t have any friends!” He practically hissed the last words. 

“No, Hendrick, you do.” Luna stepped forward, her fear of the gun forgotten. “You are friends with Octavia and Vinyl. You are practically a father to Moon Light. A friend to Shining Armor and Cadence.”

“Then where were they?!” His voice had taken on an edge of sadness that went all too well with the rage that currently sat in his voice. “Where were they at?! Where were you?!”

A shallow scowl came over Luna’s face. “I’m sorry we weren’t there for you, Hendrick, I really am, but you never gave us an opportunity to help you, either. Would you rather, when you act like you want space, we just crowd you? Do you honestly want that?”

“Y-yes.” Hendrick was a pony once more and tears were beginning to gather in his eyes. “Just... please don’t leave me alone.” The library began to fade from view, as did the young child. The book disappeared and all that was left was Hendrick and Luna in the crushing blackness that made up Hendrick’s soul area. “I can’t handle being alone...” 

Luna looked around, a reassuring sense of normality filling her body. She leaned in towards Hendrick, as if to whisper something in his ear, then pecked a kiss lightly on his cheek. She smiled as Hendrick smiled and stepped a few feet away from him. With one last glance towards Hendrick, she cast a spell and disappeared out of the realm.

Luna found herself back in her body, not that it felt like she had ever left. She glanced towards the form of Hendrick that was beginning to stir. Then, her eyes looked around at her surroundings. Both of them had been encompassed by what looked to be a whole battalion of guards while they slept. Luna caught the eye of Shining Armor, but made no move to speak with him. 

Hendrick’s eyes began to flicker open and all the guards took a step forward to be prepared. Luna, however, maneuvered herself to be in front of Hendrick. His eyes opened fully and when he saw the princess, a blush came to his cheeks and a soft smile crossed his face. “Thank you, Luna.”

“I would do it again, Hendrick.” Luna’s voice was unnaturally cold for so cheerful a statement. Her voice lowered and she spoke again. “But, I can’t do anything if I don’t know something’s wrong. All right?” Hendrick nodded. “Good.” 

She stood, Hendrick mimicking the action, and several nearby guards moved forward to contain him. They found themselves slowed by a blue magic aura that had sunk around their knees. “Oh, Hendrick, I almost forgot. Vinyl has invited us to a dance party in a week. I expect to see you on time. Also, I’ll have to get in touch with you later. Celestia informs me that flowers are a good thing to bring for a date, but I don’t know which ones you like.”

Hendrick made no move to answer, a wide smile speaking for him instead. The guards cuffed him and began to lead him away. As they did so, Luna approached Shining Armor. “Make sure to tell the judges my judgement is parole. And that is final. I doubt many of them will argue.” Shining Armor nodded, a jovial smile on his face, and teleported away.

Luna remained in the alleyway for a period of time, thinking. Then, with as much force as she could muster, she shot into the sky with a heavy down beat and made her way towards the castle. Celestia was going to have quite the story to listen to today. 



The End