Convergence Series: Journeys

by TheGreatEater


Chapter 37: Luna: A Moonlit Meeting

Luna rested her head against Rarity after the room returned to normal. The horror of living a devious mix of corrupted and real memories that highlighted the worst that she had to offer. It was a small miracle that Rarity was there for her. If she had been than who knows if she would be able to survive the horrors she inflicted upon the world.




“Don’t worry, the next part will be make things so much better.” Rarity said nuzzling her.




As Luna finally noticed her companion, seeing her slightly grayed coat she asked worriedly, “Are ... Are you going to be alright as well? I don’t want anypony else to suffer from my actions.”




“Of course darling. I’ll be fine,” some day. I was warned that what ever I did was not going to be able to be healed from the next part. But I know someday this draining feeling will pass, and it was worth it to help Luna.




As they walked down the hallway Luna marveled in the warmth radiating from Rarity. She hadn’t had this level of closeness with another pony for a long while. Even if it was only friendship that Rarity was offering it was more than the miniscule amounts of random physical contact she got from any pony. Well since she was a filly and her sister would wrap her in her wings and rock her to sleep. But that was lifetimes away it felt like sometimes.




Unlike Rarity who was prepared to more fully appreciate the change of scenery, Luna was lost in her introspection when the room they entered in shifted. It transformed into the hillside outside Ponyville, in a majestic, cloudless midnight. Every star shown with vivid intensity, and the moon was positively radiant. It took Rarity nudging her delicately for Luna to be brought out of her mental revelry.




“What manner of demon is to torment us now?” Luna asked as she looked at her surroundings apprehensively.




“None Darling, this is where everything gets better. Just you see.”




With the wounds that weren’t just torn open, but were ripped open then lye poured in the wounds. She was wary of this place. Even with Rarity’s vouching she was waiting for the other horse shoe to drop as it were.




Then she saw it, Nightmare Moon. Even though it held none of the anger or malice in its form. The very image of who she was made her taste bile in her throat and feel as if great claws were twisting her guts.




“Do not be afraid Luna, I am not here for the same reasons that I was before."




“LIES! THOU DECIETFUL DEMON! BEGONE FROM THINE EYES! I WILL HAVE NOT TO DO WITH THEE!" Luna yelled with the Royal Canterlot Voice.




“Really now thou are just acting like a foal throwing a temper tantrum.” Nightmare Moon replied with a shake of her head.




She of course didn’t pay attention to a rampaging Luna, and thus only became aware of the hillside being transformed into a stockpile of projectiles being held by an irate Goddess of the Night as the first volley grazed her wings. With a wave of magic they struggled with rocks, Luna to demolish the source of her inner pain, and Nightmare Moon, or more accurately Luna’s Moon form to put the rocks back into place so that they could proceed in a civil manner. This continued as both mares ignored Rarity who was split between stopping the struggle and getting Luna better, and fear of getting hurt in the clash of godly wills. The stress of what should have been a time of recovery slowly turned her into a steadily darkening shade of grey as fear over powered love within her.




For what seemed an eternity of struggle between all three in the place caused Rarity to snap, “STOP IT! Both of you! Please?! Luna this isn’t who you think it is. I promise that she’s here to help. Just please stop this fighting!” She said the stress of all that she had gone through, and all she redid finally caught upto her in force as tears of pain, frustration and fear ran down her face.




The surrounding hillside fell around them as Luna was shocked out of her fit of rage. And for once in her life, Rarity didn’t complain about being covered in dirt and grime. Looking over at Rarity and seeing how her body had progressed from a light grey, to a discorded pony grey. She looked straight into Rarity’s eyes, “Tell thee truly. Are we going to become better in this place?”




“Truly? You will return to normal, and I’ve already been through here. So who can tell, all I know is that you should trust her, after all when have I turned you wrong in this horrid place?”




“None at all. Alright I will trust thou,” turning to her Moon form, “Alright Demon! Tell us what thy will, but any treachery and I will not stop until they head is mounted on thy wall.”




“That is fair. By the way, I am no demon, I am thy Moon Form. It was your darkness and rejection of thee that transformed us so. I was as much a victim as thee were. Although it looks as if thou hast made her mind to hate us just as others hated thou once.”




Luna ever since her return had made that part of her a villain, a boogie mare to herself. Since she needed somepony to blame. But to have what she knew but had ran from so bluntly thrown in her face drained her of her self righteousness and caused her to lay on the ground with her head resting on her forelegs. There was no real good way to put it, other than she felt empty. Without that anger, all her pain and depression had finally peaked and she had no words to describe the insurmountable bleakness that had engulfed her very being.




While Rarity cuddled up to one side of her, trying to comfort her from one side. Luna’s Moon Form lay on the other. Wrapping her other half with a comforting wing, “Sometimes there is noone pony or otherwise who is in the wrong. Yes we, as in both of us, have done horrible things that will weight upon our soul for all of time. But we became what we became through a turn of fate, it was neither of our faults, although that doesn’t change what has happened. The blame of how it all started rests on everypony’s shoulders, so there is no reason to hold all the blame for thy self. Now here is a place of healing, a place to remember the good you so readily forget about yourself, and to allow your soul to bathe in the light you so eagerly yearn for.”




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Luna saw her younger filly self the day after her first transformation into her Moon Form. She decided that she would do what she could to hide that, that was a piece of her. So that nopony would show the level of hate towards her that her sister showed her last night. She looked around as the sun had started it’s decent towards night and saw her sister with red, puffy eyes fly towards her.




“Oh Lulu! I tried looking everywhere for you after you disappeared! I’m so sorry. I promise that I’ll protect you from that monster from now on. No monster will hurt my little sister! That’s a promise.” She said her tear stained muzzle nuzzling Luna.




“But you got your Cutie Mark! We have to celebrate! I’m going to make you the bestest cake in all the world. But first I have to get you the most perfect gift. So the party will have to be in a week while I get everything together.” With that Celestia gave Luna a kiss on her forehead. Ever since their parents left them, Celestia had taken the mantel of not just big sister, but surrogate mother quite well. Even if she did stumble from time to time in her responsibilities as the later of her roles.




As the days rolled by towards the party. Luna slowly started to explore her starry domain. When it was just Unicorn’s raising the moon the stars were all clumped together. A giant mass of stars that just lay clumped together since it was to much work to place them in their individual places. But Luna being an artistic soul started to not just raise the moon, but make the entire night sky her canvas. Slowly creating the Celestial beings that lived in the night sky, and the descendants of the few who fell to the earth when Nightmare Moon rose to power.




When the party arrived Celestia told Luna to close her eyes. Luna could feel the waves of magic rolling off her sister and when she was told to open her eyes she saw something beautiful. The worlds first fire rainbow lighting up the sky.







“Wow that is beautiful Tia, but what is it?” Luna asked her voice filled with wonder at the beautiful sight.




“I call it a fire rainbow. What I do is I use the clouds themselves to hold spectra, and then I use the suns light to pain the clouds with rainbows. I wanted to make you something beautiful for the party. Also I have this.” She said pulling out a tiny box. Inside of it was a silver necklace with a gem that glittered with a thousands shifting colors, “ I know the sun isn’t really your thing, but you and the sun are the most precious things to me. So I made you a necklace with a fragment of the sun sealed in a crystal. I hope you like it Lulu.”




Luna was speachless, and the adult form watching this memory was in tears as her coat slowly started to turn from the palest of whites to a steely grey, “I forgot about this day. My it was so long ago, and that Necklace. I will have to have Discord get it for me, since it was he who stole it to torment Tia, before loosing it for his own amusement. Although it’s more sad to know that some of the Celestials I created fell with me when I became corrupted.” Luna said dismally, shaking her head at lost memories, and innocence.




“They don’t feel sad. Well at least not their descendants. You’ve watched over them since your return, and they are just the same as when they first were put in the sky. They just have a different way of being now in days. Both their Celestial ancestors in the sky, and they who stayed on the planet.”




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Luna had just finished putting the last star in place. It had taken her several centuries, but everything was now finished. Each Constellation had it’s own personality, powers, and gifts to bestow on those who would connect with them. But a few were more vocal, with a greater personality than the others. These were the Ursa’s, Lupus, Scorpio, Hydra, and Saggita. Of those Hydra’s decendants gained flesh and blood, while retaining their Celestial heritage. While Saggita became hidden, the Celestial Arrows, were so powerful that Celestia sealed the ones that came to earth away where noone, pony or otherwise could use them again. And the Constellation of the Bow was lost to the sands of time to prevent it’s misuse.




But back in their infancy. Those stars were the most vocal of Luna’s friends. And would help her keep her subjects safe from the things that went bump in the night. Eventually she even worked out a spell that would allow their power and strengths to enchant those who called upon them. Allowing her subjects to receive Celestial Blessings, thinking it would bring her more playmates, and more approval from her subjects. And even when that proved fruitless. She played and loved her stars with all her heart, and they in turn played with her and gave her love back. She was their creator, their friend, their kin. Feeling the embrace of that love and kindness, Luna’s dark grey lightened slightly.




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It was several centuries into their rule. When they decided that Winter when the nights became longer needed some sprucing up, and tasked the various ponies to come up with things for Winter. All races and ages were welcome to join. Of that journey two ponies not only stood out, but would stick in Luna’s mind as treasured memories.




The first was a two year old Earth Pony colt name, Gracious Gift. Luna had just raised the moon when she heard a foal speak up, “That the MOOOONNNN!” the last word was drawn out and filled with excitement.




“Yes honey, that’s the moon.” She heard a mare say with laughter in her voice.




“The Moon flying?” the foal asked innocently, and Luna couldn’t help but chuckle.




The Mare caught sight of Luna and froze for an instant, but Luna gave her a hoofwave as if to say, go on, it’s alright, “Yes honey the moon’s flying in the sky.”




“Hi MOON! I Wuv you MOON!” He yelled waving at the moon, trying to blow it kisses.




Luna was awestruck. It was the first time she heard anypony say anything good about her moon, and that it was from the mouth of babes made her heart melt. Trotting over to the mother holding her colt as he was trying to start up a barely coherent conversation with the moon she gave a warm smile that made her face light up, “Hark thy subjects! Who might thou be?”




“Hello your majesty, I’m Query, and this is Gracious Gift. We are sorry if we interrupted thou, and thee royal duties.” She said with a tremor, clutching the navy blue colt, whose silvery mane was sticking out in a cute little afro. His inquisitive aquamarine eyes looking at Luna.




“Don’t be. It is quite adorable to see one love our nights so. It truly is wonderful to see that he not only loves our night, but speaks to it as well,” Bending down to look at the colt, “Tell us young one if thy mother allows it, would thee like to see the moon more closely?”




He gave a vigorous nod, and with a little bit of hesitance his mother handed her foal to Luna. Gently holding him in the crook of her arm, she took off and flew high into the sky. With a spell around the young one to keep him warm and with plently of breathable air. As they reached the highest point in the sky with the moon hovering larger than on the ground below. Gracious Gift squealed in delight. Speaking in a mix of gibberish, and Equish while laughing all the while. Before turning in her arms and giving her muzzle a kiss, and giving her the biggest hug his little foal forelegs were capable of giving.




At that moment, that show of innocent affection and appreciation of her night was more valuable than all the gold in Equestria because it was not only freely given, but given with all the joy a foal could give. And that to Luna made Luna’s decade. As she slowly flew down with her cargo in her arms, before she left. She summoned a Moon Rock, and gave it to Gracious Gift, letting him know that it was a gift from the moon. The smile that split his face could have rivaled the sun at the moment. And it was all worth it.




The second pony was a young, blind, Pegasus called Snowdrop. She while blind listened to the stars and used what she heard as an inspiration to make what were to be the worlds first Snow Flakes. Just as every star was an individual that formed a beautiful whole. The snow flakes were each beautifully individual with their own uniqueness to them. That formed together to form a giant whole. She was the one who eventually started a very small, but important group in the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation, The Snowflake Creation Squad. A group of snow artists that used a portion of the water gathered each year to create all the Snowflakes used each year. But while the SCS grew in popularity over time. It was that blind filly who showed the world that even without sight, that beauty of the night could be found by anypony that made it precious to Luna.




Although a bittersweet memory was when Snowdrop was about to die from old age. She called Luna to see her one last time, and when Luna arrived Snowdrop told her, “My highness, I have for all my life carved the joy of the stars for those to see what I can hear. But I spent years building something just for you. Something that I hope that you’ll cherish as much as the song of the stars.”




With that she pulled out from under her blanket a glass jar and within it was the last Snowflake that Snowdrop created. When Luna grasped the container the elderly Snowdrop asked, “Do you love it Princess?”







“We will cherish it forever, thy dearest Snowdrop. From the bottom of thy heart, thank thee dearly. You have always captured the beauty of our Night. We will never forget thee.”




“Thank ye Princess, thank ye for the song of the stars. Even though we could never see them, they were our dearest friends before we met thee. I just wish that I could see them, at least once.”




“For thee, I shall grant thee this boon.” And before Snowdrop could respond Luna gave a copy of the memory of her stars. Their personalities, their voice, their beauty. For one instance, she showed another the full beauty of her stars. And when she was done Snowdrop was dead, but had the greatest smile on her face.




The Luna looking down at her much younger self had tears of joy running down her face at those memories. Gracious Gift had grown to become part of her royal court and a few to have a Lunar Right done on them to become blessed by the night, and until his dying days had an unadulterated love for the night. And Snowdrop was the first to not only listen to the stars, but to share their song with the world. Those were good years, and she was so lost when they died only decades of each other.




“Those ponies were my heroes back then. In their own way, they gave me the love and appreciation I yearned for. I don’t know if they ever knew, but those ponies meant almost more to me than my sister and will always have a place in my heart. I’m blessed to have known them.”




With that her body returned to normal. The love she gained in life, as well as the friendship she had from her creations had filled her. Washing away a little of the weight she carried on her back. As she returned to the hillside she was aware of Rarity sleeping on her, the weariness that she didn’t know she had, had caught up to her and caused her drift off to sleep. Transforming the Mare she was comforting into a pillow to be spooned.




Her Moon Form leaned in and whispered softly, “When she awakes you both may pass through the gateway I will create for you. I wish you two the best of luck, be well and please do not forget about me. I get lonely stranded all alone in the darkness you shove me down in, and I hope that someday I can see our moon again without the evil of the nightmare to taint it’s beauty.”




With that she faded as a door appeared behind her. When Rarity awakens we shall pass through together and what ever challenges we are faced with we shall conquer them side by side. And Rarity, you truly are the Element of Generosity. Risking life and sanity to save the likes of me. Then when you learned about the evil I’ve done, you forgave me. Still choosing to stay by my side. I don’t know how yet but I will reward thee. Sleep well for we shall be off unto the unknown shortly.