//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - What was Lost... // Story: The Lunar Ponies // by bonedragon17 //------------------------------// Lunar sat in the dark of his living room, unmoving and without expression. Wind howled through his chimney bringing in the cold, causing Goosebumps to rise on his skin. The building was quiet, nothing to distract him from remembering the events of the teleportation. He thought back to the faces that disappeared right in front of him in a flurry of moon dust and bright light. A tear formed in one eye as he started to hear the screams of his brethren as the spell made them all disappear. He lost his family that day but there was one that he knew survived. “Hey Moon Drop, are you hungry?” No answer. “Oh right… You’re with mother now.” Said Lunar as his ears lowered and he got up. His mind drifted back to Nightmare Night, remembering how his mother had the time of her life connecting with her people through the childish games and small scares everypony would play on each other. Lunar wasn’t very enthusiastic about it, sure, but he could still smile seeing his mother and sister playing again. As the night started to die down and the ponies of Ponyville started to head home, Princess Luna decided it was time to talk with her two children of the moon. “What are you two doing here? Don’t get me wrong but I never would have expected…” “Cresta found a teleportation spell mother. We all wanted to see you so bad and we were worried something bad may have happened.” “I’m sorry Lunar, after my transformation back into my true self, I’ve haven’t the magic to bring you down to the Earth. I haven’t even told my sister about the kingdom because I wanted to be the one who brings you all to your new home. Where are the others?” Moon Drop stopped with her playfulness and Lunar’s face turned grim. They didn’t want to look towards their mother but with choked words, Lunar answered her. “They… turned into statues after the spell was cast. We found their shattered bodies in the Quarry just west of Ponyville.” “… Lunar…” “Don’t mother… It was our fault, Cresta and I. She knew the spell and I was foolish enough to let her try. We destroyed our family and we are no longer worthy to have you call us your children.” “Lunar~” “But Moon Drop… She’s without fault. She followed only because she had no other option… Mother please. Take her with you to Canterlot. She deserves to be with her mother and not to live in some run down building on the outskirts of town.” “LUNAR!” Moon Drop spoke up this time, her eyes filled with fear and anger, not agreeing with Lunar in the least. “What are you saying? Sure I want to live with mother again but I don’t want to leave you alone here. If I go, you come with me.” Her eyes were starting to break out in tears and Lunar could relate to how she felt. She was going to gain a mother, but she was going to lose her brother who took care of her for so long. A brother that she knew loved her… No… Lunar told himself that he was not worthy of being called brother to such innocence. He shook his head. “Mother. Consider this my one and only request. Please take Moon Drop to live with you and Moon Drop, I’m not budging on this decision…” Not another word was said as Princess Luna wrapped a wing around the filly, gently guiding her away from Lunar and towards the carriage, her own gaze looking back towards Lunar with concern that he met with a practiced smile. He watched as the last of his known family disappeared into the clouds, the image of Moon Drop’s devastated face looking down at him clear in his mind. _______________________________________________- He wandered out the back door into the garden and looked around, gazing at the various grave markers he set up for his siblings. The garden itself was starting to wilt, having not been tended to like it used to since Moon Drop left a week ago. She was always volunteer to do much of the house chores so Lunar could go to work but now that he was alone, he found it difficult to leave time for everything and keep a social life. He walked up to a gravestone and stared at the engravings he carved into it, reading the names over and over again remembering their faces one by one with some nostalgia of the good times. “Lunar?” A voice broke him from his daydreaming. His ears perked up as he looked around only to see a worried Twilight standing in the entrance of his back door. She took a few timid steps forwards before speaking. “Are you okay? You have been staring at that gravestone for nearly 20 minuets without blinking.” “What kind of question is that? Of course I’m okay. You do know that breaking and entering is against the law right?” “Your front door was unlocked and I was worried. Lunar, you haven’t left your house in nearly a week. The town keeps asking if you are going to come work again.” “Why can’t you ponies just leave me alone? Why must you all keep pestering me?” “Lunar, you can’t keep beating yourself up for what happened. You didn’t know much about magic so how could you know what side effects could possibly occur?” “How little you know… I had the authority. I could have said no.” Lunar had gotten up and was slowly walking towards Twilight. Each step punctuated with another point. “I COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS FROM HAPPENING! But no, I was blinded by my selfish want and they were the ones that suffered for it!” Twilight was backed up against a wall now, her eyes wide in fear for what she was seeing. A faint glow was emitting a purple miasma from the corner of his eyes as his teeth were barred against her. Darkness seemed to swirl around them as he moved his face incredibly close to hers, anger flaring like fire in his eyes. “YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY SINS OR WHAT NIGHTMARES I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH!” Lunar struck the wall just by Twilight’s head, causing her to flinch in fear. He realized what he had just done and pulled back, stepping away from Twilight keeping his back to her. He could hear to starting to cry behind him, a muffled attempt to hold back her tears. “Fine Lunar… I leave you alone like you wanted. But I just came by to let you know that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are coming for a feast dedicated to them at town hall. I’m sure your sister would like to see you again… So come if you want, Lunar. I’m sure everyone would be happy to see you.” With that, Lunar could hear her gallop out of his home, the front door slamming open in Twilight’s hurry. He could feel his heart drop in shame for what he did. Twilight didn’t deserve this and he knew that he had to apologize. He looked towards the moon, a tear dripping down his cheek as he sighed. “I guess I’m going to the feast then.” _______________________________________________- Lunar slowly walked through the town, seeing how deserted it was. It looked like everypony went to the feast in an attempt to see the princesses and give them their praise and love. His mind drifted back to Princess Luna, a tinge of guilt sweeping over him as he remembered just dropping the responsibility of taking care of Moon Drop on her so suddenly. He froze for a moment, hesitant to see his mother again but forced himself forwards. The moon was starting to rise, the town silent and the street lamps were starting to light up one by one as the fireflies began to glow in contrast to the darkening sky. It was eerie though, it felt as if someone was watching him, following him. He looked behind him, stopping in his tracks as he scanned the area. “Is anyone there?” Asked Lunar, his voice filled with authority in hopes to flush out somepony. There was no reply but the feeling didn’t go away. He stood there for a minute longer before deciding that it was just nerves and started to continue forwards. He passed Sugar Cube Corner before stopping again, this time hearing hoof steps behind him. Lunar spun around to see a shadow slip behind a building. “I knew it.” Muttered Lunar to himself as he gave chase to the shadowy figure. Rounding the corner, he continued to chase the pony for a while until he finally caught up but when she was within grabbing distance, he saw a familiar glow of magic coming from the shadow’s horn. Lunar suddenly found himself lying on the ground, having been flipped back the magic used by the unicorn before looking up at her under the light of the streetlamp. “It’s been too long brother. How have you been?” “Cresta?! Oh thank mother you are okay!” “Of course I’m okay. I was the one channeling the magic for the spell.” “Cresta… The spell went wrong… Our siblings, they are all-“ “It didn’t go wrong Lunar. We don’t have the amount of magic necessary to teleport everypony without having to expend all of their magic.” “What? Wait, then you-“ “Yes, I sacrificed them but I knew it would all be okay once we found mother again. She could make them whole and awaken them again and we can be a family once more!” “Are you listening to yourself? They trusted you and you stabbed them, stabbed us ALL in our backs! They are in pieces Cresta! PIECES! There is no way we can bring them back as they were! We even almost lost Moon Drop to becoming a Terror because of what we found!” Cresta looked surprised, her eyebrows raised as a smile crossed her face. “Moon Drop survived? That’s wonderful! Where is our little sister?” “She’s with mother but Cresta, don’t change the-“ “THAT WOMAN IS NOT OUR MOTHER!” Lunar froze. Cresta was breathing hard now, anger was starting to show in her eyes. “Our mother is Nightmare Moon, the source of ultimate strength and magical prowess. A being who would not bow to anypony even if it were her own sister. No, this pony is not our mother… But I intend to change that. I made a spell that will be able to change her back into her old glory.” “No, mother is finally happy Cresta. Why can’t you see that?” “How can she be happy living under the hoof of that tyrant? Celestia has no right to keep our mother is her shadow. No, I will revive our old mother and together, we will destroy Celestia and remake this world in mother’s image!” Lunar jumped to grab Cresta as he horn started to glow but she vanished in a flash of scarlet light. He pushed himself back to his feet before looking around and cursed under his breath before galloping as fast as he could to the Town Hall. ___________________________________________ Lunar slipped through the front door, his breathing was heavy as he gazed over the crowd. He knew that Cresta would not just appear when Princess Luna and her sister were together. He had time, he just needed to find her. As he was looking, Applejack, who was attending the drink stand, noticed Lunar and walked over towards him with a disapproving look on her face. “Lunar! How dare you show yer face here after what you did to poor Twilight. Making a mare cry like that, you should be ashamed!” “Applejack, now is not the time-“ “I’ll say, I reckon you shouldn’t be here if you ain’t gonna apologize to Twilight.” “Applejack, you have to listen-“ “No, YOU have to listen Lunar. Yer gonna march yer sorry flank over to Twilight and apologize or I’m gonna buck ya into next Tuesday.” Lunar lost his composure as he suddenly grabbed Applejack by the shoulders, knocking off her hat and his eyes looking intently into hers. “For the love of Princess Luna, Applejack, listen to me! My unicorn sister, Crescent Eclipse, is here and she wants to change Princess Luna back into Nightmare Moon to subvert the throne. I need you to warn the Princesses while I try to stop her.” Applejack froze with a look of surprise on her face as she stared at Lunar, his words slowly registering in her head over the shock of his sudden attitude change. She snapped back into control as Lunar let go of her and put her hat back onto her head. “Why didn’t you say all that sooner? Pinkie! Yer in charge of the punch! And Lunar, if you are just tellin’ a fib, you better be running fer the hills.” Applejack ran off through the crowd, heading forwards the main table that had been set up on the stage where Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight sat in each other’s company talking with each other and the ponies trying to gather around them. Lunar didn’t waste time looking through the crowd. Several times did he spot his sister but each time he got close, she would manage to slip out of his view. After nearly fifteen minutes of this, he looked towards the table to see Twilight and Luna alone at the table, a Unicorn now jumping onto the stage closer to Luna. “Princess Luna. Hah, to think you would try to replace my mother.” “Crescent Eclipse? Oh, I’m so happy to see that you are alright… What did you say?” “You heard me. I do not accept you as my mother like my other siblings. You are not the one who birthed me or taught me how to bend my magic to my will.” “But Cresta, I am-“ “I don’t want to hear anything you say imposter.” Twilight is now standing, anger starting to show in her eyes. “What right do you have to talk to royalty with that tone?” “Royalty? The only royalty I acknowledge is the majesty of Nightmare Moon. Tonight, I will return this woman back to who she really is, the beauty and strength of Nightmare Moon, my mother.” Cresta’s horn started to glow as she lowered her head, a beam of red light firing towards Twilight who was struck in the chest and blown off the stage. Lunar managed to catch her as the rest of the crowd scattered to avoid getting hurt. Luna stood up from the table, her eyes filled with fear and indecision. “Crescent Eclipse! You don’t want to do this. I don’t want to hurt you.” “I said I don’t want to hear you speak!” Cresta’s horn started to glow scarlet her eyes starting to glow with a small tinge of purple. Luna, seeing her child growing impatient, hesitated a moment before her own horn started to glow. Lunar put Twilight down as he shouted for both of them to stop but his cries fell on deaf ears when they both fired a beam towards one another. “NO!” A tiny voice cried out from a shadow that flew from the crowd. The silhouette quickly slipped in between the two beams and time nearly stopped for Lunar. There was a flash of light as the beams collided with the small figure, a scream penetrating the bodies and souls of everypony there. The flashes stopped, a body flying through the air, Cresta and Luna staring wide eyed, Lunar running as fast as he could to the filly. The child hit the ground with a resounding thud that seemed to make time resume as normal for Lunar as he reached her. “Moon Drop… Why?” Whimpered Lunar as he picked up Moon Drop and caress her in his hooves. Wounded and bruised, the filly weakly turned her head towards Lunar, eyes looking up through half-open eyes and her mouth curving in a weak smile. “Is… mother… okay?” “She’s fine Moon Drop… You saved her…” “That’s… good…” The filly’s eyes slowly drifted towards the ground, catching a glimpse of her own body before closing her eyes. The smile on her face started to widen as her breath grew shorter with every breath. “Cutie… Mark…” Lunar’s ears picked up, his face filled with surprise and sadness. He looked towards her flank and saw what she was referring too. Her flank was no longer barren but now bore a full moon in the shape of a droplet of water, underneath it looked to be a ripple that flowed outwards like water. Lunar nuzzled Moon Drop in the crook of her neck, wiping the tears that started to flow out of his eyes like a river. “Yeah… It’s beautiful Moon Drop… Just like you and mother.” He could feel her starting to stiffen in his arms, reverting back into a statue state and in the original position she stood before being animated. He continued to cry as Crescent Eclipse approached, timidly taking each step as she observed the situation. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she started to realize what she had done. “Moon Drop… My sister I’m-“ “Don’t you dare take another step towards her or say anything at all. Cresta, no… Crescent Eclipse… Do you realize what you have done? You destroyed the magic she had inside her for a stupid goal. You took the magic that animated our brethren for your own selfish wants and desires and NOW you decide to grow a conscience?” “But, Lunar-“ “I told you not to speak! You are not the Crescent Eclipse I once knew… You are nothing more than a murder and a traitor!” “Lunar, please-“ “You and Mother once told me that sometimes, there are things that cannot be forgiven... So I want you to leave. Leave and never, EVER show your face to me again… LEAVE! GET OUT OF HERE!” Cresta took a step back, hesitating on whether she should stay and try to talk it out. Her gaze looked towards Princess Luna who was now lowering her head by Lunar, wrapping her wing over his shoulders and tears streaming down her cheeks. Everypony around had a mixture of sadness of Lunar’s loss, and anger of Cresta’s attack on their Princesses. Everypony’s head turned towards the sound of running hooves as Celestia burst into the room, out of breath with Applejack by her side. Surveying the room, she quickly assessed the situation and turned her attention to Cresta, horn glowing a golden hue. The unicorn took a few steps back before casting a spell, teleporting out of the room before Celestia could do anything to stop her. The building became silent out of respect, as the only sound that echoed within its walls were the muffled cries of Lunar and Princess Luna. ______________________________________ The following day, Moon Drop’s statue was brought to the Canterlot statue gardens for a funeral procession led by the Princesses Celestia and Luna. Though the crowd was small, it consisted of the main six, the CMC and a few of the townponies who grew to know Lunar and Moon Drop. Lunar sat in the back, his eyes glazed over as he continued to think about the days when he would see Moon Drop laugh, smile, play, and struggle to show what she can do. A small, weak smile crossed over his face as he fell further into his thoughts. “…ar… Lunar… Hey, are you okay?” Lunar looked up, broken out of his trance to see Twilight sitting next to him, a worried look over his face. He wanted to say something, he wanted to let everything out but in the state he was in, he was afraid he would lose himself. He just stared at her as she looked him over, his eyes still looking as if he was staring at something far away, far from his reach. “I can’t say I know how you are feeling, nor can I say everything will be alright… But I can say that we are here for you. If you want to talk, you can trust us alright?” Lunar’s glossy gaze turned towards the procession, everypony was staring at him with worried looks on their faces. A small tinge of pain started to grow in his chest, becoming more intense as he stared into the eyes of each and every pony present. His bottom lip started to quiver as tears started to form in his eyes. He brought a foreleg to his eyes to wipe the tears away, trying to act strong but stopped. He felt as the tears started to stream down his face like rivers, his arms becoming heavy. He leaned over and rested his head upon Twilight’s shoulder as she wrapped a wing around him and started to cry, letting himself be comforted by the princess as everypony came to comfort him too. _____________________________ Back in Ponyville, Lunar continued to live his life though as the days grew into weeks, and the weeks into months, he started to leave the confines of his home less and less until finally, he just stopped showing up in Ponyville, even to buy food or to help with any jobs he was hired for. The townponies started to visit less and less as they felt it has been long enough to grieve over the death of a loved one. The CMC no longer came by the house to even talk, the girls started to come by less and less (with the exception of Pinkie Pie who he kept telling to go away) and even the plants that surrounded his home started to wilt from lack of gardening. Lunar laid down on his bed, the dark room shrouding his vision of the decaying state of his home. His body was starting to feel heavy though he could feel the magic fueling his existence running strong. Though no matter how dark he made it, he could still see everything: the craters that held the broken pieces of his siblings, Crescent Moon’s maddened look for a mother long gone, Moon Drop’s lifeless form turning back into a statue… He just wanted to forget. Forget everything like the other ponies seemed to have. He didn’t want to feel the pain in his heart stabbing at him every second he is awake. There was a creak that echoed through the house, reminding him how empty the building was without the small hooves of Moon Drop running through it. Lunar moved a hoof over his eyes, wiping away the tears that were starting to form there as he started to whimper. Rolling to his side, he thought about Cresta; his ex-sister as he continued to think if there was another way he could handle it. But no matter how much he tried, her words kept drifting back into his mind. “Mother already told us that there are some things that cannot be forgiven Lunar.” He gritted his teeth as he didn’t want to admit it. These words rang true in his head as he started to mutter to himself. “She can never be forgiven… She can never be forgiven… She can never be forgiven… Right?” A sudden knock at the door broke him from his trance, making him jolt upright. It has been a while since his last visitor. Hell, he had just managed to get Pinkie Pie to stop coming by to cheer him up. He set himself back down on his bed, thinking that given time, the unwelcome visitor will eventually leave. Knock, knock, knock. The rapping on the door just continued for minuets but for what felt like hours. Lunar placed his hooves over his ears trying to shut out the noise before losing it. He jumped off his bed as he felt his way through the dark of his home towards the front door. “Go away! I don’t want any visitors! That means you too Pinkie!” The knocking continued, there wasn’t even a pause in between anymore, just rapid rapping at the door. Their hoof must be getting sore. “I said go away! Leave me alone!” He kicked the door with one of his front hooves which caused the knocking to stop for a moment, but then the knocking continued. Lunar started to grit his teeth as he started to stamp on the ground in an attempt to show how aggressive he would be if they didn’t leave. The knocking continued unrelenting. Lunar suddenly had enough, he reached out at the door knob, flinging the door open but the anger on his face suddenly changed into a look of surprise and shock. “M… Moon Drop?” “Hi big brother. I’m home,” said Moon Drop with a teary eyed smile before she gave Lunar a hug around his neck. He hugged her back, tears starting to stream down his face. “Welcome home Moon Drop… But how-“ “I’m sorry Lunar… But there’s someone else you need to see.” This voice was familiar. Lunar looked up to see Twilight standing nearby, her head turned and eyes looking down towards the ground. “Twilight? What are you do-?” Lunar cut himself short when he saw who Twilight was referring too. Not too far away, Lunar saw an elegantly made cart being pulled by a few members of the royal guard. On the cart was a statue of a unicorn mare, Cresta, head bowed low and eyes closed. The expression on her face was that of sadness mixed with the feeling of renunciation. Lunar slowly let go of Moon Drop before taking a few steps towards the cart which stopped a few feet away from the pathway leading up to the house. “Were would you like her your highness?” Asked the guards towards Twilight. She shook her head and looked towards Lunar for him to give them their instructions. “… There’s a garden in the back… We can place her there… Along with the others.” Said Lunar as his ears drooped. He watched as the unicorn guard lifted the statue out of the cart and walked around the building into the backyard. Lunar pointed out the place he would like them to set Cresta down in a patch of flowers which were slowly withering away from lack of care. As the guards left, Moon Drop walked towards Lunar’s side and leaned her body against his. “I saw everything Lunar. When I turned into a statue, there was enough magic for me to retain some presence… I watched you push her away, I watched everypony give me a funeral, and I watched the days go by in loneliness. But just yesterday, around midnight, Cresta came by. She sat with me until the break of dawn, telling me stories of how she really felt about me and that she was sorry. She told me she was blinded by her selfish wants and lost sight of what she should have kept her eyes on. Then she… Then she…” Moon Drop fell to the ground, crying as Lunar moved to hold her. She didn’t have to finish, Lunar could guess the rest. Cresta had known the animation spell and he knew that it would take a lot of magic to make it successful. Cresta expended all of her magic to bring back Moon Drop, sacrificing herself in the process. Lunar looked up to the statue of his sister, feeling the pain she must have been in when she forced the magic out of her. Lunar picked Moon Drop back onto her feet before walking up to the statue. He placed a hoof gently on the side of her face as he put his head into the crook of her bowed head. “Cresta… I’m sorry… I didn’t want to lose you too… But what happened to Moon Drop, I just couldn’t find myself able to forgive at that time and truly believed that I could never forgive you… But now I see I was wrong. I’m sorry, my beloved sister. I can only hope you will forgive me.” Said Lunar before backing away from the statue. As he and his sister started walking back to the house with Twilight following closely behind, Lunar looked back to the statue just in time to see a single tear drop fall.