//------------------------------// // The element of forgiveness // Story: Love Is Magic // by TwinkleSparkle //------------------------------// After the fall, Luna got up to her feet and continued running to find her lover. But this time it was stranger. It was like she’d been running for hours nonstop. She was also running in a really dark and long tunnel. No matter how hard she tried to illuminate her way, something seemed to make this light diminish. But after she thought that she would never find Twilight, she found her running not far from her. She started to run after her, but no matter how hard she ran she couldn't catch up with her. No matter how loud she called, Twilight wouldn't even look towards her. Eventually they got to the end of the endless tunnel. It was so bright that Luna had to cover her eyes to give it the time to adjust to the new level of light. But this was strange, everything was just blank white. She looked down to see there was no solid ground; it looked as if she was standing on thin air. She looked in front of her to find Twilight sitting, severely crying. She ran to her and gave her a delicate touch on her shoulder. Twilight slowly turned to her with tears still in her eyes. “Twilight.” Luna said softly. “P-p-please stop. I-I’ll do anything b-but please don’t hurt me.” “Twilight what are you talking about? It’s me your beloved Luna.” Twilight slowly got up to her hooves. And pointed towards a mirror standing not far from them and said. “You were, once.” Luna turned slowly to face the mirror. She slowly walked towards it and stood in front of it. Her coat was darker than usual. Her mane was wilder than usual, like a cloud of dark blue smoke. She was different, familiar, but different. She stood there in shock, slowly moving her hoof to her face. She wanted to make sure that it wasn't a joke, but it wasn't. She wasn't Luna anymore. She became…….. “NIGHTMARE MOON.” Luna said loudly as her upper body became violently up righted. She blinked a couple of times. She wasn't in that place anymore. She was in a white room. She heard some beeps by her side. The source was some devices that indicated that she was in a hospital. She was still dazzled from the situation. She felt a soft touch on her right shoulder. She turned to see a tan mare with another white mare by her side. She felt another touch on her left shoulder. But this touch was more familiar. She turned to see the smile of a purple unicorn. “How are you Luna?” Twilight said with the softest tone she could manage. “T-twilight, what happened?” Luna said. She was still dazzled. Also she felt a strong headache. She raised her hoof to her head to nurse the position of the pain. “Calm down darling.” Twilight said, trying to make her lie again on the bed. “You need to rest.” “But I don’t understand anything. What happened to me?” “You were knocked unconscious after you came out of the bar.” Rarity said. “And the doctor said that it gave you a concussion. And it seemed that you were under the strong effect of alcohol and that sent you in a coma for the past three days.” Luna lied silent for a few moments; trying to soak up the information she was just given. Then she looked at Twilight. She couldn’t help herself but to shed some tears. She felt so ashamed and furious at herself. She wanted to say something to her, but every time she thought of something to say she found that it wasn’t good enough. Twilight noticed the tears forming in the corners of Luna’s eyes. She said to her with a very concerned look. “Luna, are you okay?” That’s when Luna couldn’t help herself but to cry. She seemed like she wanted to talk but her crying was keeping her from it. This made Twilight look even more worried. She tried to say something but Luna started to speak. “I-I’m really, really sorry Twilight. Please, I didn’t know what happened to me. I’ve been horrible to you. But please for-“ She was stopped by a hug from Twilight, who started to brush her mane slowly. She was tearing a little but succeeded to hide her tears from Luna and to maintain the calm tone of her voice. “Calm down, it’s okay. We’ll talk about that later. Now you need to have some rest. I promise we’ll talk about it later.” Luna calmed down and tightened her fore limbs around Twilight. Twilight responded by burying her face in Luna’s chest. They both loved each other no doubt about that. But at that night a new fear grew in one of them, and an old fear returned for the other. But as much unforgettable as it was, it must be put aside, at least for now. They kept this position for a long time. They felt like the whole world faded and the only existence was them and their bodies. It was a perfect moment, too perfect to be completed. They were rudely interrupted by the entrance of the doctor. “Ehm, sorry for my interruption your highness.” The doctor said with a very business-like tone. The two mares broke their embrace and looked around to see almost every nurse in the hospital looking at them and whispering to each other. Needless to say Twilight and Luna’s faces became so red that you could mistake it for the real color of their coats. Twilight quickly stepped away from Luna and stood by the bed. “Not at all doctor.” Luna said, trying to look as casual as possible. “We were just, ehm, discussing some important issues. That’s okay Twilight, we’ll continue later.” “Huh?” Twilight said, apparently taking a while to catch up with Luna’s lie. “Oh, of course your highness, allow me to leave. I’ll come back later to see how your highness is doing and finish our discussion.” “That would be wonderful. I shall wait for your return.” Twilight said nothing more. But gave a graceful bow and left the room with a pace between walking and running. “Well, I think we should go with Twilight your highness.” Rarity said, trying her best not to bust out with laughter. “Of course, I shall not hold you any longer.” The two mares gave the princess a graceful bow and left to catch up with Twilight. They saw her at the door of the hospital. When the three mares saw each other, they burst out laughing. “Well, that was a good escape.” Rarity said in the middle of laughter. “It sure was sugar cube.” Applejack said. “Haha, yeah. Well, I don’t know about you too. But I’m starving.” Twilight said. “We certainly are. After all we missed lunch.” Rarity said. “Same place as yesterday?” “We don’t know any other.” Applejack said. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Twilight said as she sped towards the restaurant. After the mares finished their meal, they headed up straight to the hospital. They had shared small talks all the time in an attempt to ease up Twilight’s grumpy mood, but as thoughtful as she was for their attempts most of the time. She was thinking about how to deal with that situation. She was beaten by her lover. But Luna wasn’t herself at the time. What if this happened again? Luna sincerely apologized, that’s true. But will she feel safe again with Luna after that? She was debating with herself. She had the scientific suspicion asking questions to guarantee safety. And her heart was answering these questions. But none of the answers were sufficient. None was logical enough to satisfy her mind. So, she came up with the solution that Luna should be the one to answer these questions. Yes she still loved her. But after what happened, it’s really hard to find an element of forgiveness. When they reached the hospital, Luna was asleep. They talked to the doctor and he said that Luna was stable enough to leave the hospital tomorrow morning. She only needed some rest, and she had already got all the rest she needed, so there’s no fear of any dangers whatsoever. So all they had to do is to wait for her to get up and they’ll be back to Ponyville. And there, Twilight will fulfill all her suspicions. And she decided to go directly for it. The next morning they all got up early. Luna packed up in no time and, after filling out some forms and papers, they were ready to leave the hospital. The royal carriage was waiting for them outside the hospital. They all got in and they started getting back to Ponyville. The trip was very quiet from the beginning to the end. All the noise to be heard was the flapping of the wings of the four pegasi flying the carriage. They can’t be blamed for such quietness as each one of them was drowning in his own thoughts. Twilight was thinking of how to talk to Luna on this topic. Luna was searching of a way to make up for the unforgivable mistake that she did to Twilight. And the other two mares were just soaking up the sun and enjoying the view. Rarity and Applejack were dropped off at Sweet Apple Acres. The pegasi stopped at the library to drop off Twilight. At the door, each mare stood in front of the other with thousand words to say. But neither of them had enough courage to speak. Two hearts were filled, one with shame, the other with doubt and fear. After about ten minutes of this motionless standing, Luna turned to the carriage to leave. “Luna, please wait.” Twilight said in a sad, but serious tone. “I really need to talk to you. Can you please come inside?” Luna nodded and stepped inside the library. They both sat in front of each other, waiting to see what the next moments would hold for them. As much as Luna was eager to speak, she couldn’t find the right words to describe the regret that she felt. So she thought she would let Twilight go first, and that’s what was done. “So, how do you feel now?” Twilight said. “I’m fine Twilight.” “That’s good.” “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” “Well, I- I want to know what happened that night.” “I can’t really tell myself. All I felt at that moment was the feel of anger and then. It’s- It’s like my mind went blank and my body was moving on its own.” “So, you say that you lost control of your body?” “Y- Yes, that’s the nearest thing I can describe it with.” “I see.” That’s when Luna started tearing. Then she said with a mid-crying voice. “I- I know that what I did was horrible. And that you think that I’m the worst mare in the world. But please Twilight, forgive me.” That’s when Twilight began to cry too. She had a flood of emotions in her heart. She was feeling fear, anger, empathy and love all at once. “But how can I?” Twilight said, really crying at that moment. “Even if I did forgive you, how can I feel safe around you anymore?” Luna stood blank at the response. The only thing moving in her body were the tears streaming from her eyes. Twilight was right; how could she feel safe again after what happened? She felt somehow frustrated. But she knew that she was right. Twilight realized what happened. She stretched her hoof to touch Luna’s face. “L-Luna, I’m sorry. I’ve been carried away.” When Twilight’s hoof touched Luna’s face, Luna moved her face away. “No, Twilight. You’re right. I’ve had the most precious treasure in my hoof. And I pushed it away with my foulness. You deserve better Twilight.” “But I want you Luna. I still love you.” “But what will guarantee that I won’t turn like that again? I’ll go away to save you from me.” “Luna, please no. Do you want to kill me?” “K-Kill you?” “Yes, when you take my soul from me you’ll kill me. And you’re my soul Luna.” “Your soul almost killed you.” “No, it wasn’t my soul. It was a wicked spirit. I sensed it.” “Y-You don’t mean?” “We can’t be sure. But there might be some remains that can come to the surface in the weak states of mind.” “B-but I’ll still be a danger.” That’s when Twilight threw herself on Luna and caught her in a deep kiss. Luna was caught off guard but when she realized what was going on, it was too late, as Twilight had already broken the kiss. She then looked deep in the eyes of Luna. “And we’ll deal with this danger together.” They then had another passionate kiss. And after they parted their lips they kept their body close in a very soft embrace. They may have fears, they may have problems, but that what gives life its joyful meaning, and they both learned a valuable lesson. That is whenever the element of love exists, it must be alongside the element of forgiveness. As they were like this, there was knocking on the door of the library. When Twilight answered, she found Derpy with a package from Princess Celestia. In it was a little spell book. But at the end was an uncompleted spell. Well, I guess that you know the rest of the story.