//------------------------------// // Beware the Green Eyed Monster // Story: The Moon Worshiper Part 3: Twisted // by CreatureofTheNight //------------------------------// Dark smiled softly as he rested peacefully in his chambers. Inside his head, however, He was smiling as he walked into the Grand Galloping Gala in his best suit and tie. However he wasn't there for just anypony…he was there for what he believed to be the true belle of the ball. Celestia smiled to herself, with Discord (believe it or not) right next to her at the stairway. “I can't believe she'll be at the Gala with me for the first time!” she exclaimed. Elsewhere at the Gala, Chrysalis was beautifully dressed in full-blown gala gear and seated at a table with Fang. The changeling in question offered her punch as she spoke:“I think they deserve it after all they went through; overseeing the alliance as they did,” she proclaimed. She smiled at Fang. “And offering me a chance at happiness.” Fang smiled graciously and gently held her hoof in his as the two kissed. Dark looked up as his Belle of the Ball walked down the stairs. Princess Luna, clothed in her best dress (designed by Rarity, of course) walked towards her beloved as she tenderly joined his hoof with her own. “May I have this dance my loyal knight?” she asked, dazzling Dark with her smile. “My lady...” He said, bowing. “It would be my honour” The two were dancing well into the night when suddenly, Dark was interrupted by a bright flash of light and suddenly, he found himself on the hilltop in the Everfree forest. He could hear the sound of flapping swooping towards him. He turned and became redder than a tomato as he realised that this was the real Princess Luna. She couldn’t hold back a giggle as Dark attempted to defuse what Luna had must likely seen: “Well…you did look good in a dress.” Luna patted his head and said “You looked wonderful in a suit, too.” She paused, smiling amiably at Dark. “So how was you day today?” “Eventful,” Dark replied, clearly exhausted even in his dreams. “I found out Chrysalis had a huge revenge plan, the Changeling Kingdom is Tartarus, and if it wasn't for Fang we'd all be dead by now.” He sighed with relief and said “So yeah…it’s been a day” Luna paused and her eyes narrowed. “She had a revenge plan?” “Yeah, and Fang convinced her not to go through with it...unintentionally but still.” Dark than paused before asking his next question…he had a hunch. “Did…did you know about the Changeling Kingdom's true name?” Luna hesitated before lowering her gaze. “Yes I did,” she said quietly. “I hope you are not angry with me…” Dark bit his lip and pawed at the ground. “Slightly,” he concluded. He sighed “But I guess if you told me I would have wanted to go even less” Luna smiled gratefully, then closed her eyes. She had to ask. “How is…” “The Queen of Dreams is still sleeping like a log,” Dark interrupted, knowing full well what his beloved Princess was about to say to him. A sigh of relief left Luna's lips as Dark smiled widely widely at her. She opened her eyes, then looked at her knight with a questioning look and tilted her head. Realising he was being slightly creepy, Dark turned red. “Sorry…it’s just…I’m just happy to see you, even if it's not in the flesh.” Luna blushed and remembered what they were talking about. She walked with her…well, she wouldn't know what to call Dark now, as embarrassingly as it is she's never really had someone like Dark before. She guessed that if she had to call Dark anything it would be her...special somepony. “Thank you…” She said softly, attempting to diverge her inner thoughts. She smiled gently. “Well, I don't have a busy night tonight…would you like to spend some time together?” “You have to ask?” Dark responded with a grin as the two traveled in Dark's dream-borne Canterlot gardens. The walk was pleasant, and Luna was surprised by the amount of detail which Dark had remembered in his short time as a guard. She could almost feel the cool air on her mane as the pair walked towards the small lake in the center of the hold garden next to the statues. Luna eyed the statues, remembering the ponies these statues used to be one thousand years ago, and guilt flooded her night-blue irises. Not being blind to his princess's plight, Dark stopped and turned. “Something wrong?” he asked. Luna sighed.“Just some after affects of the Green-Eyed monster that I sometimes forget” Dark paused. “You know…I never noticed…but Nightmare Moon does have Green Eyes.” Luna looked at Dark with a playful glare “Well it's true!” Dark protested as Luna leaned on him. He really wanted to put his foreleg around her…but he didn't want to send his beloved away either. Luna smiled, then hesitated before speaking sheepishly. “Tell me, Dark...you know that I've been jealous before...have you ever been jealous of someone before?” She laughed nervously. “It's okay...I'm fairly sure it won't be as terrifying as my own envy.” “Well yeah…” Dark admitted, embarrassed. He sighed. “I know I was jealous of other ponies who looked normal...a lot. I wanted to be out there with them, you know? Bonding with them, having friends…but at the time I thought that no one would like me because of how I looked. And I hated that so much.” He looked down. “I wished they all looked like me...and then I could be normal. Thestrals are really rare. I mean, of the few that even exist, most of them live in seclusion in a mountain hold.” His tail swished uncertainly from side to side. “I guess I also got a little jealous of Starnight when he was doing so well at the Academy and I...well...I wasn't...” Luna gazed uncertainly at him. “What…what did you hope would happen to Starnight?” she whispered. Dark’s eyes grew cloudy.“I know this was a bad thought...but at one point, I hoped that he would feel my pain and start failing while I got better than him.” He hesitated. “In a way that happened…” He swallowed anxiously. “Sometimes I wonder if Starnight's mad at me because...I saved Equestria.” “Dark, he's not” Luna reassured him and said “That’s not something you need to worry about...everyone suffers from the Green Eyed monster sometimes.” She sighed. “But Dark...as long as you promise me,” she stressed, “promise me that you’ll never let that control you. Those who let Envy control them make monsters. Trust me.” She was speaking from experience of course. Dark glanced at her, knowing she was hiding something from him again. “You want to talk about it?” he asked. Luna shook her head: no. “You know you're gonna have to talk to me about it eventually, right?” Relenting on her secrecy for only a little, Luna responded, albeit reluctantly. “I feel as though I haven't learned anything from the one thousand years I was locked away for my past mistakes.” She looked down at her hooves. “My sister is still far more popular than I. I…I believe I’m just going to make the same mistake again” Dark looked at her in disbelief.“Luna…there is no way that you would ever make that same mistake again” Luna sighed and admitted something to Dark that she had never admitted to anypony “After my work as a princess, I…I’ve been giving myself a nightmare every night to punish myself for the crimes I have committed.*” After a stunned silence Dark finally brought himself to respond. “Why would you even do that?” He whispered, shocked. Luna forced back tears as she spoke. “I feel so guilty because I let envy control me, that I let envy destroy my relationship with Celestia. I still feels like...even though I have done so much good...it will never make up for the sins of my past.” With a blunt response Dark began with two words Luna thought he'd never say to her. “You're wrong” Luna glanced up at him, stunned. “You said it yourself,” he continued. “Everyone feels envy at one point or another…but it's what we do when we feel it that makes us either good or bad.” He smiled. “Look what you've done just for me alone! You took a pitiful, miserable nobody who would never amount to anything, and you helped him become a hero, a real honest to you, hero.” Luna looked at Dark in astonishment; only her sister had ever been compared to a god. “And if you think I'm too weak an accomplishment, look at what you've done for those fillies back in Ponyville. Whenever I come to visit they tell me so much about how you're their hero because of how much you help them.” “Dark...” Luna said quietly “But what if...what if…” “There is no what if this time, mi'lady” Dark said with a smile “You're not gonna turn back into that thing, you are not going to hurt anypony else ever again because you have so many ponies who would never let you…and I would never let you” She rewarded at Dark with a fake smile, but Dark smiled genuinely back. “I won’t...” Luna looked at her knight and said “But you won't be around forever.” Dark paused at that grim reality as Luna said “And I'm sure Celestia is scared of me.” “Celestia isn't scared of you” Dark said with a smile “If you doubt me...why don't you look into her dreams?” Luna paused and then tapped her foot. “I could never…” “If you don’t, this is going to eat you alive.” He leaned forward as he saw a spark of doubt in her eyes. “Please?” Luna bit her lip…and nodded. Suddenly, several doors appeared before them. “Alright, then. But please…” she asked. “Come with me…just a peek okay?” Dark nodded in relief and the two opened the door emblazoned with a sun logo. Celestia was standing on the balcony and smiled very happily. “Mares and Stallions, allow me to introduce to you, the new ruler of all Equestria, a pony who has deserved this position more than any other.” Luna gazed dully at the scene, expecting the words “Twilight Sparkle” to tear themselves from her sister’s mouth. However, her jaw dropped when “Princess Luna” emerged instead. There was silence between Dark and Luna, contrasting strongly against the cheers of the crowd, as Luna stared at Dark and held him in her sight with a minor tear in her eye. Celestia looked up as she felt that tear in her eye and peered at Luna with a small smile. Then, she closed her eyes and whispered: “You deserve it more than any other pony I know…Luna” Suddenly, they were back in Dark’s dream. For a few moments, there was stunned silence. Then: “Thank you,” Luna whispered. Dark turned ruby-red as she kissed her “special somepony” on the cheek, then smiled and flew away, leaving her knight at a loss for words. In the waking world, Fang was working hard on a project Chrysalis had asked him to do, as loyal and love-struck as ever. He glared. “You had better not be trying to take my Queen from me,” Fang hissed quietly. He glanced at Queen Chrysalis sleeping soundly beside him, then covered her with a blanket. “You're so…perfect…" he whispered. “We would be perfect together if only I had the nerve…”