//------------------------------// // 10 Closer // Story: Moon's shadow // by Znegil //------------------------------// As I woke up Luna's face was before me, looking into my eyes. "Is... is everything alright?", I asked. She blushed a little, taking her eyes off me. "Sure, you just looked so cu... peaceful while you were sleeping." She looked so mysterious in the light of our glowstones, mysterious and beautiful... She stood up and searched through her saddlebags. "I have tasty hay.." I huffed. She turned around. "Strawberry pie, no hay." She presented the pie with a huge grin. As I looked at it and smelled it's sweet sent, I noticed how hungry I had been. "Relax, you can have the whole thing, I have another for me in the bag.", she said and put it in my hands. While she went through her bags again to hunt the other one down, I bit right into the pie. I was a little piece of heaven, it was so juicy and fluffy. "Thees if soo gud", I tried to say with my mouth full. "Yes, it is.", she answered smiling while taking smaller more reasonable bites than me. We ate for a few minutes while only happy sounds were audible. We were so busy eating to get our energy back, there was no opportunity for talk. "Let's get going.", she said after a while and equipped the climbing irons again. Once both of us were ready to face the mountain again, we stepped outside into the snow. Of course it was still a dark night without a moon and that wouldn't change for a few days. "Ponies will worry when they look up to the sky.", I started. "Did you explain these things in the letter you left behind?" Luna stopped walking. I looked at her. "Tell me you haven't..." "I was under enormous stress because my sister got abducted!", she shouted. "So excuse me for forgetting something..." "But..." "My writing with my mouth would be unreadable anyway!" I decided it would be best to not say anything at all. We had walked on for five more minutes before she spoke again. "I'm sorry, okay. I'm easy to annoy at the moment." "That is very understandable in your situation..." We trudged through the snow. As Luna said before, this was the hardest part of the mountain. It was incredibly steep, and many areas seemed to be nothing but ice. Without our climbing irons, we wouldn't had a chance here. We alternated the front position while we walked, I was in front as Luna suddenly slipped on the ice. She slid downwards and her climbing irons did not provide enough traction to stop her moving body, the rope tensed and she started to drag me along as well. The ledge was quickly approaching as I searched my surroundings in panic. Finally I found a solid ice surface... I turned and ran towards Luna to give the rope some leeway, then before reaching her, I jumped to the right. While I landed hard on my stomach, I forced my spiked gloves as hard as I could into the ice. Agonizing pain went through my body, but I stopped us from sliding over the ledge. I heard Luna shout my name, while I saw the world through a red haze. It was to painful for me to move. Luna's voice was very close now, I turned the head towards her. She looked at me very worried and tried helping me up. I managed to rise slowly, despite the pain, but as I stood upright again I felt something warm running down my skin. "Oh no...", I whispered. "What is it?", she asked giving me a worried look. I opened my winter coat. I felt the cold storm pushing against me, my eyes glued to the red spot which started to spread on my shirt. "You're bleeding!", Luna shouted. "If I only had my magic, I could help you." I looked at the bloody stain for some seconds. It wasn't gaining much in size. I carefully lifted my shirt to look at my wound. It had opened again, but not all the way, only one-third of it. I dressed again. "It isn't very big, just give me a couple of minutes so the bleeding can stop." Luna brought her wings up from under her winter dress and used them to form a tiny dome around us to protect us from the chill. Luna looked at me with a mix of guilt and sadness. "I should never allowed you to come with me..." "And how exactly do you think you could have stopped me from helping you? There is no way I had you go here all by yourself." She smiled a little and looked into my eyes. I couldn't read her expression, maybe she... Then she kissed me. I felt her lips on mine, so soft and different than anything I had experienced this way before, her fur tickled a bit. It was just a few seconds, but... Luna blushed and retreated a bit without opening her wings still protecting us. "I... I am sorry, I don't know why I did this...", she said. "I... I don't mind... it was quite nice", I replied. I was pretty sure my face was red as a tomato. ---O_O--- I saw blood spreading on his shirt. "You're bleeding!", I shouted. "If I only had my magic, I could help you." 'i cAN hELP, 'mIDNIGHT sHADOW' cAN'T sTOP mE, I AM THE NIGHT!' 'I have to help him, I can't let anyone ever die because of me again, maybe it is better this way, maybe I can control her... a bit... somehow...' 'yES, wE cOULD wORK tOGETHER, wHY nOT, lET uS tRY.' 'If there isn't any other way... " "It isn't very big, just give me a couple of minutes so the bleeding can stop." 'What?' 'wHAT?' I looked at him. He was right, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I used my wings to protect both of us from the icy wind. It broke my heart to see him wounded again, only because he wanted to help me. "I should never allowed you to come with me..." 'He helps me so selflessly, despite knowing what I did as Nightmare Moon' He said something, but I was lost in his eyes, I couldn't focus on anything else. I kissed him, while my eyes were still focused on his. I read surprise in them, but no rejection. His mouth was a bit smaller than mine, but his lips had an interesting texture... I felt so warm inside... I broke the kiss, I didn't know how long it had lasted. I felt ashamed for what I did. It wasn't okay I took advantage of such a good friend. "I... I am sorry, I don't know why I did this..." 'wHAT iN tARTARUS wAS tHAT?' 'Get lost!' I banned the voice out of my conscious mind, at least for now. "I... I don't mind... it was quite nice", he replied with a wry smile and blushed. "Let's just rest a bit before we move on, this isn't the best place for... pretty much anything." We just sat there quietly for some minutes.