//------------------------------// // 67. Balance // Story: Short Shorts // by Coranth //------------------------------// "I want you to manifest Nightmare Moon again. Can you do that without having her take complete control of you? I would speak with her." At her beloved's question, Princess Luna nodded shakily, before she answered, "I... I can. Why, pray tell, must you speak with her?" "I have some things I want to talk with her about; stuff I need to get off my chest. Please?" Again, Luna nodded... and then, mere moments later her fur and mane darkened, her eyes becoming draconic, as Nightmare Moon surfaced before David. "What," grumbled she, "dost thou want of Us, Beloved?" David didn't answer her question at first; instead he led the Dark Mare over to the balcony which jutted out from their shared quarters and then out such that both might look up at the moon which hung in the sky. "What do you see, love?" the human asked his mare. "The Moon," she snapped irritably. "Our Moon. So what?" David slowly shook his head. "No, love, you only see part of it; the part lit by Celestia's Sun--what all ponies see when they think of 'the Moon.' However, beyond that which you see there is the other half of the Moon, which is never lit by the sun at all. Humans call this place the 'dark side' of the Moon. The Moon has two sides; the Light Side - lit up by the light of the Sun and represented by Luna, and the Dark Side, which..." "... is... is represented by Us!" stated Nightmare Moon, quickly catching on. Suddenly, the ball dropped so to speak, and the Dread Mare turned to her beloved David, her reptilian eyes wide and jaw dropped open. "Art thou saying that We... We art meant to be here? That we art not some foul aberration?" "That's exactly what I'm saying," David replied. "You are Luna's darker half whilst she is the lighter side of you. You are a natural thing; of course you're meant to be here." And so it was that David began to explain. "In life, there in always Balance - the light and the dark, the positive and the negative, the yin and the yang - and I don't think that Celestia understood this at all. What happened in the past was a tragic mistake. You, Nightmare Moon desired to be acknowledged for the wondrous, inky darkness in which the stars and moon of Luna are cradled, whilst Celestia perhaps refused to acknowledge your existence, that the Moon had a Dark Side, and instead perceived you to be a monster when in fact you were not..." "... but--but We are a monster... Darkness... We...!" Nightmare Moon protested, weakly, her eyes becoming misty. David refused to acknowledge this; instead he gently ruffled the dark mare's mane and scratched her behind the ears as he stated, "No. Darkness - in this case - is merely the absence of light. And the absence of light is something which ponies acknowledge all the time; in fact... they're not afraid of it at all and don't even notice it, usually..." "I... buh... wha--!" Flustered, overwhelmed, Nightmare Moon leaned weakly against David, closing her eyes. He was leading up to something... something that would change her worldview; she knew it. "During the day time, when your sister's sun is made manifest... What is the absence of light?" David asked. At that point... the revelation struck Nightmare Moon like a blow to the chest. Her tears now streaming from her eyes, she fell unto her haunches. "Shadow..." she breathed softly, a sob catching in her throat. "Yes!" David stated softly. "When a pony foal rests in the park, where might that be?" he then asked bluntly. Nightmare Moon caught on. "In the shadows of a shady tree!" she laughed. "Where might a farmer rest after a long day?" Barked David like a Drill Sergeant. "Beneath the cool shade or shadow of his porch!" "Where might lovers evoke their passion?!" "In the deepest shadows of my Night, 'neath Luna's Moon!" "You see? Without the dark, what is the purpose of light? Without the light, there would only be darkness. No balance. Both must exist!" It made sense! It all made sense! Half-laughing, half-crying joyous tears, Nightmare Moon embraced her beloved, nuzzle-nuzzling him, wetting his face with the tears staining her muzzle. Every pony whom rested in shade after a hard day's work; every lover whom evoked their passion in the dark; not to mention those whom were deeply grateful to sleep knowing nothing would harm them in her comforting darkness... To think that ponies might have been acknowledging her, validating her, by doing these, the simplest of things... and she hadn't even noticed! And so it was that David escorted his beloved back into their shared quarters. Then, as she watched, the human went over to her desk, picked up some parchment and quills and began to sketch. And oh... the things he sketched... New designs for banners. Flags. Crests. Seals. So many. All had either a moon half-black half-white, the Chinese symbol for yin-yang, or a black-white pair of scales. Some of his designs portrayed her lighter side, Luna whilst others depicted her as Nightmare, and still others had her as a black-white mare representing her dual nature. It was wondrous, and all Nightmare Moon could do was sit there, watching her beloved work even as silent tears rolled from her muzzle to drip unto the bedchamber floor. Deep within her mindscape, the part of her that was Luna embraced her, weeping even as she returned it fiercely, both sides apologizing to the other through their tears... ... and gradually... a change was evoked without; patterns of pthalo-blue appeared within Nightmare's black coat; her cutie mark changed subtly to represent a new Balanced Moon and even her mane became black intermixed with the blue of Luna. When at last the transformation was complete... it was a deeply changed Alicorn Mare whom rose on shaky legs to greet her beloved. As David finished the last sketch, he turned about to face his beloved... and then his jaw dropped. "Luna?" asked he. "Is that you?" "We..." stated the the Alicorn merged of Luna and Nightmare Moon, in soft, two-toned voice, "are Selene, now, beloved. Everything makes sense now. We are in balance." David embraced her then, and never had Selene been happier than at that moment. "Good," breathed he softly into her ear. Then, gently pulling away from her, he gestured to the designs he'd drawn. "What do you think?" "They are wonderful!" Selene answered. "They depict our new nature well indeed; we shall have them sent unto Royal Tailors we can trust. Heh... we cannot wait until Our Sister sees them... and Us!"