Moonlight

by Ocean Heart


The Darkness of Dreams

"...Yes...Yes, YES a thousand times yes!"

Luna felt tears roll down her cheeks as she rolled on top of Acrylic and locked him in their most passionate kiss yet. Acrylic's eyes widened, and even through the kiss he smiled and let his arms wrap around the princess once again. In truth...Acrylic expected a delay or perhaps...perhaps even a no. Wintered Tail's words echoing in his mind unplesently, he really did want to show him that Luna was not a mare of terror...Now though it seems that he was proving Tail right by how fast he was moving. Luna broke this kiss and felt her heart sink as they pressed heads again; Celestia would never approve of a wedding...no matter how much Luna would plea, the look in Celestia's eyes still haunted the princess of the night, and chased away any thought of a royal wedding.

Luna tried to bring herself back to the moment, yet the thoughts still racked her mind. The thought of her...wearing a shimmering dress colored pure white...something not overly complex, just a light and beautiful gown that would astound the guests. Looking out from under an elegant veil at him...the raggedy artist..the short romantic in a dashing ebony suite and deep blue tie. None of it would happen..,

"Luna...?"

The princess blinked quickly and realized she was lingering in thought for far too long.

"Oh...yes?"She asked quietly.

"You have gone tense.....we can wait, if that is what thou wants."

Luna smiled brightly and blinked away the tears, hugging her lover tightly and burying her face into his warm and comforting fur. Acrylic still felt the tears fall and soak on his chest..making him even more worried and anxious..

"No, I do not want to wait for my sister to come to her senses...this is our wedding...and it shall be magical,in the castle or in a garden..." She answered warmly..

Luna lifted her head back up and kissed Acrylic one last time before she knew that her time was up. The moon was sinking back into the ground, she wanted to just enjoy a few more moments with her lover...holding him affectionately as the moon falls to the horizon. Soon she found herself drifting to sleep, the moon was still half way in night sky, perhaps she would be allowed a few hours of sleep yet...with a crash against her door and high pitched cry of shock that Luna received, was the only warning of how wrong she actually was.

"Sister..? Why is thine door locked?"

Acrylic's eyes widened almost as big as Luna's...almost.

"T-tia! One moment, I am...using the little fillies room and merely forgot my door was locked for the night!" She said, hoping she was more convincing than it sounded...

"Can thou teleport?" Luna asked in a hushed panic, jumping up and rushing to fix the things back on the nightstand and use a bit of magic and perhaps luck to get out of this without suspicion.

"No! Doth thou remember how advanced that magic is?" Acrylic jumped up as well and rushed to the balcony, wondering why Luna was this panicked, yet not arguing with getting caught in bed by her sister...the goddess of the sun...

Luna wanted to kick herself for asking such a obvious question. Seconds seemed like hours and Acrylic was still trying to find a way out without jumping out of the castle tower...Acrylic,just leaning over the rails of the edge and looking down at the ground with his tail giving an anxious flick. Luna looked at his pastel of colors markon his flank and realized there was only one way she could get out of this mess...

"Maybe I could...levitate myself-?!"

"I'm sorry, love..." She said with awkward remorse.

Luna unlocked the door and watched it fly open with Celestia tumbling in, Acrylic though busy falling in a blue bubble with bright red hoof marks on his flank, apparently the princess thought the fastest way down was plummeting at the mercy of gravity in a soundproof bubble...so in a way he at least was relived enough that Luna was still thinking about his safety. While Acrylic was tumbling though town "out of harms way", Luna stood as confidently as she could and did her best to hide her anxiety. Celesita got up and rubbed her head, looking up at Luna with mixed concern and curiosity...

"Sister...?"

Celestia recovered slowly due to morning grogginess...yet she was awake enough to know something was amiss.

"L-luna...?" She said with a slight giggle and stutter.

Luna did her best to keep the act up..the feeling between her legs making sure she was painfully aware of the fact she spent all night with a secret lover and failed to shower yet...

"Lulu...please tell me I get to make fun of thine mane this time?"

Luna was so stunned that it took a moment to understated what her sister was saying. Of all the things...the mess by the bed, her sheets disheveled more than anytime she could recall and the stark lie just moments ago...Celestia only saw a messy mane and an opportunity to get playful revenge...

Thank mother, father and even distant cousin for this blessing...

Luna looked up at her wild mane and let out a shaky laugh, pretending that her tail wasn't covering between her for and rear legs while she sat and keeping focus on the little joke; tugging at the mangled mess and blushing slightly.

"Oh, yes...karma would have that my mane resemble a gryphon nest during a hurricane..." She said with a real laugh this time.

Celestia scrunched her face and pouted, seems that gryphon comment was her joke as well. Luna laughed hard that time...her sister like a filly again with that face, now all she needed to do was pony-tail her pink mane and it would be foalhood all over again. Celestia smiled and laughed with her, glad that she could still make her baby sister laugh with funny faces. Luna felt her ear twich at the sound of her spell bubble crashing to the ground up into her room, Celestia seemed to miss that one as well during her giggle fit.

"Thou are so foalish, Tia." Luna said, feeling strange to be the mature one for once.

Celestia smiled softly and re-assumed her regal posture, the warm smile comforting and full of sisterly kindness. It almost made her forget the stallion, no doubt stumbling and dazed after a crash landing in the streets below. Once the two fell int silence, Luna knew it was time yet again...

Luna closed her eyes and felt the god powers flowing though her...wind causing gusts in her room and blowing the drapes on her balcony door around mystically. The moon slowly completing its decent into the darkness once again to make way for the coming sun...and like a flare it rose, the great ball of light and fire breaking the horizon and casting bright orange hues across the sky and clouds that lay flat over the city. It almost rivaled her night...

"Get some rest, sister...judging by the look in thy eyes...thine bed must look very appealing." Celestia said once her part was complete.

Luna nodded but didn't move, not wanting to chance reveling her secret..

"Oh..I apologize, sister..I shall take my leave." With that soft, yet understanding tone, Celestia turned and left for the court.

Luna would join her in the afternoon no matter what, yet the moment that the door shut, she collapsed on the bed once again and felt a big grin wash over her face; just barely keeping the joyous laughter inside. The princess of the night just got away with murder...

Luna let out a long sigh in relief....

Somewhere , Acrylic was hopefully recovering without injury down bellow; Luna would have to find him later and apologize...but for now...it was her only chance to get some much needed sleep before her second day in the courts. Luna pulled the sheets up to cover her head and avoid the light of the rising sun, a swift flick of magic brought her curtains down over the balcony door, washing the room in darkness once again. The soft bed felt empty though...Luna wished that her special somepon- ...that her fiancé was with her, unfortunately, she would have to settle with pulling the sheets tightly around her and finding comfort in the scent of her raggedy artist left on the sheets.

_ _

"Princess?"

Celestia blinked and looked back up, a guard was trying to get her attention for a few moments now. Celestia didn't realize she was still outside Luna's door...but she was trying to figure out what was different about her sister. A little nap after a long first day is understandable, so she excused the fact that her sister more than likely forgot her duties for a few hours...yet this was just plain off. Luna's room was a mess, which never happened; and her room had a very...very odd smell. In fact...the only thing Celestia could label the smell as was...

"Oh my word, Luna..." Celestia said with a crimson blush and facehoof...

The guard tilted his head, Celestia had to dismiss him before he got any wild ideas...the smell was of course seeping into the hallway, and if she could catch it...

"She is...merely going though a stage in her life...as I did before her." Celestia rationalized as best she could...

_ _

"Tail! Tail!" Acrylic shouted as soon as he burst into the mansion.

Wintered was reading in the living room when Acrylic burst though the door, Tail set the book down and sighed to himself. After the eventful morning, Tome surprised his father by sitting him down and making him promise to support Acrylic...no matter how things got. Just further proof that his son had wisdom beyond his age...

Tail smiled warmly when Acrylic ran pas the living room, rushing back when he realized his brother was simply waiting. With excited glee, he skipped into the room with noting but joy in his jumps and smile.

"Brother! It has happened!!" He shouted happily.

Concern started nagging at his ear...

"What has happened?" Tail asked, still smiling.

"I am to be married!!"

Wintered Tail couldn't hid the disappointment on his face. The false smile grew into a worry filled stare, though this time it did nothing to dampen his spirits.

"I know what thou would say...but I know this is serious! Luna has no intention to harm me."

Tail was about to add his thoughts but was quickly cut off.

"Ah! I don't want to hear it! She is the love of my life and I to her. Now no matter what, I wish you to be there. To be at my side...like ye have always been..."

Wintered resisted snapping back at Acrylic, the way he smiled, that light in his eye...this was completely different from the brother he knew. Tail knew a sulking and hostile teenager that matured into a humble and quite artist, this...he was happy. Acrylic Evenfall was just happy to be with somepony that understood how he felt...he found another outsider...and it made Tail's heart break. Wintered just couldn't even see just how his only brother could be this blind...

"To be at thy side..." Tail said absently.

Acrylic nodded happily...Tail though felt himself starting to lose his composure. Old memories were bubbling to life under Acrylic's words, some of the memories that were best left forgotten...

Thou cannot fathom what she and I feel!

It echoed in his mind over and over while Acrylic rambled on about his own plans for the wedding. The look on his colt..the glare on his filly...Acrylic had caused all this with his naive actions. Would he drag them all into this madness by actually inviting him to the wedding? Could he watch his foals fall under Nightmare Moon's spell....?

Be at my side...like ye have always been...

"When have thou been at my side...?"

Acrylic stopped his rant and blinked a few times, caught off guard by the hallow tone in the question. Wintered Tail got up and forced him to take a step back, the look on his brothers face was filled with the worry and anger that was buried inside. All of it surfacing when the metal pony could no longer keep inside what was truly happening..

"Doth thou understand what I say? Thee asks us to join in this...matrimony...yet where were ye? Thy were late to my wedding and then thou fails to even show up at her FUNERAL!"

Acrylic cringed visibly and lowered his head...he knew that someday, this would haunt him. When he first chose to live alone, he received a letter after a few months from his brother, telling of the horrific last moments inside this hospital...where Celestia chose her life...for two new ones...

Tail was shaking with rage, eyes watering up from the old memories he thought left long buried. The pain still seemed just as fresh as the first day. What Tail didn't know...was how deeply it hurt Acrylic, knowing he had to live with that shame. The shame that he let his only brother down and spat on family ties by ignoring the death...Acrylic sat down and lowered his head deeply, grey mane falling to cover over his face and voice holding a deep sorrow that made Tail re-think his choice of words...but not his anger.

"I know...I know I failed thee....I know I was never there, to see her to the next life...and I won't defend myself. I wish I could go back and change what I've done...but I can't..."

Tail felt the water in his eyes build up more until he shouted in anger, striking his brother hard with his hoof. The metal pony saw red, his only brother was still under this spell of nightmares, and he had the gall to even try and make him feel guilty. How could he understand how he felt?! To lose the love of your life, forced to continue on like it never happened for the sake of the foals she died bringing into this abysmal world...it wasn't fair....

"HOW IS IT FAIR, THEN!?!" Tail screamed though the tears, striking Acrylic again...

"Why do ye get to look so happy?! So joyous while thee ignores thy own brothers problems!? How is it fair that I suffer everyday, to see her in my daughter and son but know that she is never coming back! Whilst thou...thou speaks of feelings that I cannot understand..."

Acrylic felt blood run down his nose,mixing with his own tears of shame...he couldn't bring himself to speak, even if he had an argument.

"I will not be at thy wedding, brother...nor will my foals." Tail said, now that the anger was boiling down to hatred...

Acrylic nodded in understanding. Wintered gave his brother a glare that spoke a thousand words...all of them telling him to get out. Acrylic wiped the blood pouring from his nose and lip, turning around without looking up at his brother and walking slowly for the door. Tome and his sister was listening on the staircase again...both of them holding each others hoof for comfort as they silently let tears flow... watching Acrylic grab his painting case and stand in the doorway; leaving a small trail of blood staining the carpet in his wake.

"T-tome..."

The colt wiped his face and blinked away as much of the water as he could, unable to answer without losing all control and breaking down...and he had to be strong for his sister...

"Silent Hope...I'm sorry...for not being there..."

Before they could form some answer, Acrylic walked though the door and let it shut slowly behind him. Somehow he knew...as he walked onto the streets of Canterlot...with all the bustling streets, and loud ponies...that he would never set hoof in this city again. Luna would run away with him...run back to his home deep in the forest and leave this life behind...this life of living in shadow and fear...where they could be happy together...

To my brother...

It must be strange to be here...after all these years, to finally see thine brother wed. Yet I know that with this came sorrow, I would be a fool to say I was ignorant to thy pain...Radiant Soul filled our hearts with light and laughter, and while I know you can never forgive me for what I've done....I only ask..no..I beg that ye will understand my actions. I know one day that you and I will once again be brothers...but until that day, ye will have to settle with a new sister-in-law. Mind you, she has a few extra quirks than your average mare..but would it not be me, to see only a mare that can be called astonishing and surprising...rather than average? So let us drink! Let us drink, eat and be merry, for the sun rises soon; and our festivities must last us a lifetime of moons...