//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Broken // Story: The Unity Pact Side Stories: The Teacher And The Pupil // by Truthseeker //------------------------------// The work and demonstration of the armor for the Community Welfare Guardians had been a success. Chris' brilliant mind had been the perfect resource for Luna to bounce ideas off of and the demonstration the previous day had gone perfectly. Luna teleported into her chambers and quickly trotted away from the usual spot where she would teleport with Chris. She moved over behind her desk and waited. She did not have to wait for very long. In a flash of dark brown light Chris appeared in her chambers. He shook his head and looked around. Luna called to him as she emerged from behind her desk, "Well done Christopher." the normally jovial tone she used to praise her student was much more subdued that day, "Now that you are here I have a question for you. Since I have failed rather dramatically in training you, I was wondering if you would be opposed to being trained by a specialist?" Chris swayed his jaw to the right briefly before answering, "I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I thought you were supposed to tutor me with my magic." Luna nodded, "I am and I will continue to do so. I was referring to a second tutor for when you are not with me." Luna looked down at the floor and scuffed her right forehoof against the floor, "I drastically overstepped my area of expertise and you have been the the one on the receiving end of those blunders. I refuse to continue hurting you in such a way and I need to make it up to you." she took a deep breath steeling her resolve, "To that end I... I wish to extend to you an invitation to... to live in the Royal Palace and enjoy all the benefits it provides." she looked up slowly, "I will account to you, a stipend for spending and you will live here free of expenses as long as you are being tutored either by myself or the trainer of your choice." Chris' jaw dropped open, "But... why?" he asked, "I mean not that I'm complaining or anything." "I have... transgressed greatly against you and..." she shook out her mane, "I have to make reparations to you for my crimes." her legs shook as she slowly bowed her head and touched the tip of her horn to the floor, "Forgive me Christopher." she mumbled, "Please." Chris took a step back in shock. He was silent as he thought about the offer and what Luna was really trying to do. Ideas and possibilities percolated in his head as he gazed down at the Alicorn Princess prostrating herself in front of him. He was still upset about how she had treated him, but her actions seemed to indicate that she was willing to try to do better and that was the problem. An idea suddenly popped into his head and he decided it was the best course of action. "I accept." he proclaimed, crossing his arms, "On a few conditions." Luna stayed in her posture waiting for Chris to continue, she was not disappointed, "First never bow to me again. It makes me feel weird." Luna straightened up but could not bring herself to look him in the eye, "Second you give me a way to show you that you don't need to be afraid of me. I hate it that you cringe every time I get close. It hurts me to know that what I did affects you so much. I wasn't trying to..." he covered his eyes with his hands and pulled them down his face, "Anyway, I can't stand to see you frightened of me. Third I want to keep training in magic under you and I'll be happy to take a look at the trainers and see if they can help, but to be honest, a Human trainer would be best because they know how we move. With that in mind, I will stay at the Palace, but I will be free to come and go as I see fit. I also want a laboratory where I can practice and experiment with magic and especially crystals." "Granted." Luna blurted instantly, "Granted Chr..." Chris held his frown at bay, she had agreed far too quickly, he needed something more drastic, "Two last things, call me Chris. Christopher is my legal name but my friends call me Chris. I want you to call me Chris. Lastly, I want a hug." Luna made to step backward, her left foreleg in the air, "I can refer to you as Chris if you want but... a hug... would be uncomfortable for me." Chris nodded, "I know, but I need you to be willing to trust me. You're willing to trust me with protecting the land, I need to know that you're willing to trust me not to hurt you. That is my final condition, I get to hug you anytime I want as long as it won't be publicly embarrassing." Luna finished her retreating step shaking her head, "N-no. Chris please, you cannot ask this of me. I-I-I need time. I am not ready, I need time to... cope... to heal... please." Chris shook his head sadly, "I was afraid of this." he locked eyes with Luna, "Let me rephrase that, I am going to hug you whenever I want." he began walking toward her at an even, steady pace. Unbeknownst to Luna, Chris had his screfula wide open waiting for her to teleport. Luna backed away from the oncoming Human, "Please Chris, no. I cannot. It was different in the hallway after I broke your nose. I can't!" Chris just kept coming. Luna's flanks met the wall behind her. She glanced behind her, the back to Chris with a pleading, fearful expression. Her horn lit up and she teleported away in a panic. She reappeared in the field separating Canterlot Mountain from the forests to the West. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the mountain. What dominated her vision instead was a stocky Human man still walking toward her as if nothing had changed. Luna's eyes widened as she lit her horn again, backing away from Chris quickly. She lowered her head and widened her stance defensively, "Chris... please... don't force this..." She teleported away a second time, bright light blinding her momentarily since she had neglected to close them. She had teleported into the Everfree Forrest. Blinking away dark spots dancing in her vision, she feared what she would see when her eyes cleared. Her fears were confirmed as Chris took another slow step toward her through a suddenly interposed bush. Luna whimpered realizing that he would only keep following her as long as she stayed along the ground. Spreading her wings, she gave him a warning, "Where I go you cannot follow! Please just leave me be!" she cried as her horn lit up again. She reappeared in the air high above Canterlot and began flapping her wings to stay aloft. She had the presence of mind to close her eyes, cursing her previously panicked state which prevented her from doing so. She opened them and looked around. Chris was nowhere to be seen. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a moment to collect herself. Spotting a cloud somewhat closer to the ground, she descended to it and alighted on the surface. She kept her eyes and ears open in case Chris decided to follow her again. After a few moments with no sign of him Luna settled down on the cloud and folded her wings to think and slow her erratic breathing, 'Why couldn't you understand Chris. It is not that I do not wish for you to touch me...' a deep blush christened her cheeks, 'If I am being honest... I... would actually... like that... very much... but I am afraid of you ever since... you...' she closed her eyes and laid her head down on the cloud, 'I want to trust you Chris, I do... I do so much... I just... I am not ready. Not yet. I need time. Time to understand and time to heal. What you did...' she shivered at the memory, 'What you did was no worse than what I did you you, but... it is far, far more personal.' she rested on the cloud until she was calm enough to return to her chambers. * * * From her cloud perch Luna had raised the moon while Celestia lowered the sun. Her night had just begun when she landed on the balcony of her chambers. She immediately peeked through the glass doors to see if Chris was inside. She unfurled her left wing and held it up to block the sun's glare on the glass and pressed her nose to the door. Her eyes slowly scanned her room but found no sign of Chris. "Do I really frighten you that much?" Chris' voice asked from the far side of the balcony. Luna spun around, wings extended reflexively, "YES!" she backed her rump into the glass, "I-I-I mean, no." her wavering voice gave away her lie. Chris was leaning back against the stone railing of the balcony with his hands braced against either side, staring at her calmly. He had not been there when she landed, but there he was all the same. "I already said I was sorry Luna. What do I have to do to prove it?" Chris asked sincerely, keeping his distance from the frightened Alicorn. Luna quickly folded her wings and attempted to bring her stoic mask back into play, "You do not have to do anything Christo... Chris. I merely need time." Chris shook his head, "Then what makes you think you can buy my forgiveness with gifts and privileges?" Luna gasped, "No, that is not..." she found she could not finish the sentence, 'Is he right? Is that what I have been attempting to do? To buy him off? Am I that... shallow and... self-centered?' Chris gave her a sad smile, "It just doesn't work does it." it was a statement, not a question, and it cut Luna to the core. "I..." she shook her head, "I AM sorry for what I did to you!" she cried, "I was not trying to... to hurt you like I did..." Chris sighed, "But you kept doing the same thing." "I never collared you a second time!" Luna shot back. "No, but at the core of your attitude... you did. You kept thinking that you knew best and just assumed that I would go along with it. The silver collar didn't work. You keep making the same mistakes all because you're too proud to change." Chris stated bluntly. "I am NOT too proud!" Luna countered, "I touched my horn to the ground for you! I-I-I offered you a place to stay! I offered you training! I offered you everything you could want!" When Chris answered his voice was barely above a whisper, "Everything YOU thought I would want. What I want is different." "Tell me!" Luna pleaded, "Tell me what you want, I'll do anything!" Chris raised his eyebrows, "Aaaaaaaanything?" he asked very slowly, the lecherous grin on his face leaving mi mistake as to what he was referring to. Luna raised her head and stepped back, swallowing hard at the unspoken innuendo, "A-anything." she answered hesitantly. Chris pursed his lips and looked down at the foot of the balcony for a long time before he answered, "I want you to do better. I want you to change... for you." he said softly, "I want you to be the best you can be for yourself. THAT is what I want and THAT is what your subjects deserve from their Princess. Your pride and refusal to change isn't just hurting me, it's depriving your Ponies from the proper and just rule of the Princess they have been willing to forgive. They forgave you... now it's your turn." Luna blinked in shocked confusion, "What do you mean?" Chris gently pushed away from the railing and began slowly pacing back and forth on the balcony, "You haven't seen it, but I have. I saw it with Dan... uh Artex. For the longest time he hated himself for things he had done but he was so willing to do anything to show he was sorry, he missed the part where he needed to change so it wouldn't happen again. It took him a while to figure it out, but somebody had to tell him." Chris stopped and looked pointedly at Luna, "And that's what I see here. You ARE sorry for what you did, I know that. What you need to do is stop punishing yourself and make a change so that you don't keep doing the same thing." "I am not punishing myself!" Luna quickly defended. "You submitted to my unspoken suggestion." he didn't need to elaborate any farther. Luna pressed her lips together and turned her head away, clenching her eyes shut, "A-alright." she whispered at first, then yelled, "ALRIGHT!" she panted and lowered her voice as she looked up at Chris with misty eyes, "You're right... I was." admitting it out loud firmly cemented into her mind exactly how far she had been willing to go. And suddenly it all came crashing down. She had been acting like everything was alright, she had even convinced herself that she was recovered from her ordeal as Nightmare Moon. She had been sorry, truly sorry for what she had allowed to happen, but instead of beginning any sort of change and recovery, she had only been continuously punishing herself. Chris had finally shown her that she had only been doing more damage, and she realized it had been her own pride and stubbornness that had caused every one of the problems she had been having with Chris. It was all her fault, every misstep, every hurt feeling, every accident, every issue had been her. She had hurt him, the first male she had feelings for. At that moment of bitter, agonizing realization, something broke inside her. Chris said nothing as he watched Luna finally succumb to reality. She leaned her hips back against the glass doors, eyes vacant and seeing nothing, and slowly slid down onto her belly, her legs unable to hold her any longer. She turned her head away and closed her eyes, 'I can't... I can't do this. I've failed again... I've hurt him. I never wanted to hurt him. Why do I keep hurting everything I love...' her head slowly slumped to the ground. Her barrel hitched rapidly as she tried to hold in her sobs, but to no avail. The tears came anyway. She let out a long, broken, high-pitched groan as her breath caught in her throat, voice strangled by her sobs. She took a breath and let out a second, longer and louder choking cry as tears streaked down the sides of her muzzle and pooled on the white stone balcony. Chris bit his lip and turned his head away, 'Damnit.' he thought, 'She's worse off than Dan ever was.' He looked back at Luna as she covered her face with her forehooves and slumped onto her side, her cries increasing in volume almost to the point of being bellows. She took another breath and continued crying as she curled up, almost into a ball. Her hind legs curled up and her tail moved between them, covering almost her entire barrel. Her breathing suddenly sped up and her sobs transformed into coughing, crying gasps. Her legs twitched as she coughed, each breath almost a shout of pain as her sobs only intensified further. She began rocking from side to side, her muzzle smearing the tears on the floor into her muzzle, literally wallowing in her sorrow and misery. Chris could take no more. He stepped forward and knelt down beside her. Scooping her up into his arms as gently as he could he stood back up and elbowed the glass doors open. Entering her chambers he nudged the doors closed then turned and slowly walked over to her bed. He gently laid her down on the mattress, but before he could pull away she wrapped her forehooves around his shoulders and pulled him close. She planted her forehead against his chest with her horn reaching just over his left shoulder and cried into his shirt. Chris, not knowing what else to do, knelt down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he quietly shushed her over and over in as comforting a manner as he could. He began rocking her back and forth slowly, cradling the broken mare in his arms. From beyond the heavy wooden doors of Luna's chambers, Celestia let go of the magic she had used to immobilize the two Guards posted to protect her younger sister. Her horn however did not extinguish as she continued staring through the doors. A tiny, sad smile formed on her lips as she watched the goings on in the room beyond, 'You did what I could not.' When Luna had returned Celestia had spoken with her at length about what had happened with the Nightmare Moon incident. Luna had claimed sole responsibility for the events and no amount of arguing with her elder sister had disuaded her from her mindset. Eventually Celestia let the matter drop for fear of making the situation worse. Celestia uad watched helplessly as Luna continued to deny that her elder sister had any part in what had happened. Luna had hardened her own heart against herself and Celestia had known no way to break through it. Chris had done so and Celestia was not going to let her chance slip away. "Do not come inside unless you are called." Celestia ordered. The Guards nodded, uncertainty crossing their concerned eyes as Celestia silently opened the doors and entered. Chris never looked up as the tall, white Alicorns closed the doors behind herself. It wasn't until Celestia began crawling onto Luna's bed that Chris took notice. His eyes were the only thing to move and he met Celestia's gaze with concern etched onto his features. Celestia crawled up and laid on her stomach with her left side facing Luna's back. Chris, sensing she wanted to talk to her sister, slowly reached up and stroked Luna's mane. "Luna." Chris said softly, "Luna, there's somepony else here who wants to help." Luna slowly raised her head and saw the reflection of her sister's form in Chris' eyes. Her lower lip trembled, tears threatening to spill forth again as Celestia laid a gentle wing over her distraught sibling. "I've failed again sister." Luna mumbled. "Luna," Celestia addressed softly, "We were both at fault for what happened." "N-no..." Luna began to protest. "You were never this unbalanced before you returned. It is not because you are having trouble adjusting. You took all of the blame for what happened when you alone were not at fault." Celestia gently pulled and rolled her sister onto her back so she could see her face, "This is a burden that should never and was never meant to be carried alone. Your faithful student has finally shown you that you need help." she leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of Luna's muzzle between her eyes, "Let us help you Lulu." Luna blinked away more tears as she stared up at her sister, "But... I'm the one who turned..." Celestia shook her head, "But not the only one who was at fault." Celestia lapsed into a pensive silence as Chris watched a battle being waged behind her eyes. Finally Celestia opened her mouth again, "I think..." she trailed off, her voice thick with emotion, "I think it's time you heard something. It is something I wrote long ago, just after I had banished you. It is a lullaby... for you. I sang it every night we were apart. It is very dear to me and none have ever heard it before save my own ears but... I think it might help you understand." Chris began rising to his feet to leave, but Celestia's voice stopped him, "You have the right to hear this as well Chris. Please stay." Chris relaxed his legs and sat back down on the floor as Celestia stroked Luna's chest with her wing. Celestia began humming a soft tune and her voice seemed to take on a life of its own as Chris swore he could hear faint music playing from somewhere nearby. Luna sniffed as she looked up to her elder sister, "Tia..." Celestia lowered her head and nuzzled her younger sister, "You are not alone Luna. You are not alone in blame and you are not alone in your guilt. Do not take on what was never meant to be yours. Let us help you." Luna's eyes watered again as she returned the nuzzle, "I will Tia." The three of them stayed in their positions for long hours into the night.