//------------------------------// // Chapter 24. Sleeping under Luna. // Story: The Choice // by Not_available_now //------------------------------// Chapter 24.                     “You’ll turn into what? And why would that happen if I am near you too much.” Martin asked her with a worried look.                     “Nightmare Moon. She’s a horrible creature that plagued Equestria 1000 years ago,” Luna said as tears started to well up again in her eyes. “And it’ll happen because of that stupid corrupted magic.” She wiped the tears away with her hoof, leaving streaks of wet matted fur behind. “Nightmare Moon was created by my jealousy and me doing test with corrupted magic. I wanted to see if I could use it to make the moon more attractive to ponies or find a general use for it, but a large amount of it was stored in my body and reacted with me hate filled mind. That created a monstrosity named Nightmare Moon. She wanted to make the night last forever. She succeeded in that plan and held the moon in the sky for 2 weeks. Then Celestia thankfully found a solution.”                     She sniffed some more and continued. “She used the elements of harmony against her and banished her to the moon. She stayed there for a thousand years until she returned one and a half year ago with the same motives. She tried again, but the elements thankfully released me from her bonds. Celestia had been helping me get used to this time until now, but she still acts if I am a  little filly.”                     “You mean that you first were almost just like you’re now then you changed into an evil being. Celestia imprisoned you on the moon and the elements freed you. And this will all happen again if I stay near you too much. That is not good.” Martin said, a bit sad because of how things turned out with this whole magic thing.                     “That is true. Now I understand Celestia’s decision to keep us apart, but the effects shouldn’t be so severe. It took large amounts of magic to transform me and I don’t think that this t ime it would be any different.” Luna said as she leaned a bit more on Martin.                     “I’m sure we can work something out. I don’t think that you will turn into Nightmare Moon if I am near you for a few hours.” Martin said while stroking Luna’s side.                     “I hope so.” She says while rubbing her eyes. “I am a bit tired. Do you mind if I lay down for a while?”                     “No, I don’t. Let’s take a nap.” Martin said while letting himself fall back on the bed.                     Luna silently agreed and lets herself fall back too, landing on Martin’s chest. She curled up a bit and they soon fell asleep.                         Twilight, after finishing packing, walked towards the dining room for a quick snack. On the way there she passed Celestia’s room and heard scribbling come from inside. She decided not to bother her mentor, but she did see a book laying sprawled on the floor in front of the door.                     She was alarmed with how someone would handle a book and picked it up, deciding to clean it later. She sat down in the dining room and grabbed herself a glass of orange juice and a daffodil sandwich and her curiosity got the better of her and she took the book she found out of her saddlebags. The title was ‘Corrupted magic.’ Nothing else was on the book, nothing on the cover, no author, nothing. The pages looked old, very old.                     She carefully looked through the first one and was surprised.  The book started with the uses of corrupted magic and all of them were evil and/or harmful. As she looked through the book she saw passages that described in detail how a pony’s organs would shrivel if one was injected with a certain type of corrupted magic. She got disgusted with it and soon closed it. She probably missed some important stuff and wanted to know more, but if she had to dig through all that horror than she wouldn’t want to learn anymore.                     She quickly ate her food and left for the library, leaving the book on the table.                         Celestia sat in her study, scribbling on a piece of paper. What she was scribbling included notes on Luna’s change to Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago and how she was freed and on the few other cases of corrupted magic.                     To be fair, there had been only a few known appearances of corrupted magic and those came mostly from vague eye witnesses who saw the horrible acts that were conducted with the magic. She didn’t had much to work with, but wrote down everything she knew. She knew that Luna kept a journal of her findings on the magic somewhere, but that was a thousand years ago and Luna wasn’t in the best mood then.                     So she scribbled on, trying to come up with a remedy, cure or something that could help Martin get rid safely of the corrupted magic and without turning Luna back into Nightmare Moon.                         ‘Who would be the only creature to benefit when Nightmare Moon would return? It is the lord of chaos, Discord.’ Discord through while he silently watched over Celestia’s shoulder.                     ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be magnificent to have Nightmare back. We could rule together.’ He thought while he teleported his mind out of Celestia’s room and back into his stone prison. ‘Basking Equestria in darkness will bring so much chaos that I will be satisfied forever.’                     ‘Just joking. There never can be enough chaos. If I can get that human rooting for my side that things will be perfect. Maybe I can do that with a nice deal.’ ‘I think that letting him chose between Equestria and his beloved Luna will do the trick; and then I let Equestria fall into darkness and the human fall into the dark pit called his mind.’ ‘Ooh, what a lovely plan.’ Discord squealed, for as far as a mind can squeal. His mind went quiet as Discord’s mind took a nap.                         Martin woke after napping for an hour or two. He quietly slipped away from under Luna and decided not to wake her because she looked so calm and cute when she slept.                     His stomach made some sounds which he interpreted as hunger. He decided to grab a quick bite, but before he left he quickly made a small note saying that he would be in the dining room.                     He opened the door as silently as he could and walked towards the dining room.                     He entered through the door and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed some large tomatoes, a couple slices of bread and peanut butter. He put the things down and the then noticed the book on the other side of the table.                     He walked around the table and picked up the book. He recognized it as the book he took from the library. The title was ‘Corrupted magic..’ He noticed that there was some dirt on it and wiped it away, revealing some more words. The full title said ‘Corrupted magic. Part, It’s uses.’