In The Company of The Sun

by PlumBuckeredOut

Ch. 10: Futile (v.1)

My ears rang to the sound of humming. My astral body rose to the violin-toned melody. As I drew close I witnessed a tall pony turned silhouette against the well-fed campfire before her, she had been repeating the same doleful tone. Her body swayed like an infant's cradle and she repeated the melody once more. Then I heard a young voice sing.

"Oh night of nights. Lend your light. Cast off the shadows at bay. Watch for my mother, and whisper that I love her. Rend all my fears away."

I cringed when I realized my magic had drifted me into Luna's mind once again, yet I understood why. The psychic training my family had passed down was drawn to strong emotions. Our magic had grown within a direct bond to our empathy, over the ages it became indiscernible which powered what. My father would always repeat the same riddle-filled proverb in hopes of cautioning me away from Uncle Zeal's empathic lifestyle. 'Those who spill enough water can turn a puddle into a pond.'

Another form walked to the campfire, with the light's aid I discerned Celestia's swan-like coat. She nestled herself close to the taller figure, and it wasn't until I too sat down by the fire did I fully understand. This wasn't a dream, just a well worn memory. Luna had embellished Celestia with an aurora-like mane that flowed like the cold night's breeze. Her mother had been humming all this time, and had stopped when her oldest daughter arrived. Yet these figures felt displaced, as if cut and arranged so that Luna could dream of both Selene and Celestia.

"I don't remember dreaming of you Normace." Luna mused.

I bowed my head. "My apologies Princess Luna."

"Wait." she gasped. As she lunged towards me the campfire flickered out, and the scene vanished like smudged ink to the purple-hued void. "I-I've never seen someone else in my dreams before..."

I inspected her, unable to understand until I saw that this Luna was a mere filly. Was this how Luna saw herself? How could she watch over her denizens in the dreamscape as a mere filly? "As I said, My apologies..."

I rolled out of bed and drifted out to the royal gardens. There I watched Celestia play within the flowers. In my grogginess I mistook this Celestia as the princess today, but in truth it was another ghost of the past. If not for my lack of sleep, I would have held these reflections of the past as a warning to my health. I sat and watched the memory loop for a time, until not even the settling dew kept me from fading out.

It was in the Royal Gardens when I experience my first tranceless sleep. It felt jarring and abrasive without being anything at all. In the dream plane I was in full control, and I never had to worry about entrapment in another dreamer's nightmares. But within the garden I did not dream of anyone or anyplace... I was stuck, entwined to the endless ocean of the dreamless. Slowly I felt my mind become disillusioned about the distance between the dreamless' space. Had I moved at all? Had I been drifting into the senseless abyss? A whisper cracked throughout the stillness of the void.

"What bends, but never breaks?" The voice hissed. My ears clammered to the sweet sound. Anything to break the deafening silence. My voice was dull in this realm, I was at the mercy to whomever had peered in.

"The cold... it can burn you, just as a flame. Yet the night you drift through. It does not burn, nor sting, nor feel like anything... You are not dreamless night-drifter. Far from it, your mind has called out... and I have chosen to answer. How do I look to your mortal vision, or can you even grasp at whom you have reeled in with your magic's lure? Such Innocence. Such arrogance... It keeps me hopeful of your future. Ahh... The sun's embrace... now I know I can't keep you from your destiny." The voice heaved a few dark chuckles. A single drop rippled into my dream and out emerged the princess of the Moon. She craned her neck down to me and smiled sweetly.

"My sincerest pardons, I don't wish to disturb thy meditation, but will you be fasting until the other emissaries arrive?" she asked innocently. My body flew up before my eyes had even opened, slapping into Luna and making us both fall. "Did I startle thee?" she whispered as if her harp-like voice could've have frightened me. "NO... no Luna. I'm just." I finally opened my eyes. Somehow I was back in the guest room, I knew better than to bring it up, and yet...

"Luna... I saw you in my dream last night."

"Is that so?" Luna said, pulling away from me as she regained her composure.

"It was a dream with your mother... Celes' was there as well. You were singing with your mother-"

"That memory is very dear to me." Her voice cracked. I could see the darkness seeping from her but this time it was gnarled and thorny. "Thee should knowest better than to speakest such things so blindly. I can not be clouded my memories today, out of all days. I must act accordingly to my role as princess."

"You can't help anyone with a broken heart Luna. Griffons can sense another's instincts."

"Seclusion has made your senses dull as well Norm. You speakest as if I do not know my weakness."

"Empathy... is no weakness Luna." I held my rage in poorly. Her eyes glistened, I was unsure if it was from shock or if I had finally resonated with the princess. She took her time, and like the stillness of the wind before a mighty storm, she rained her tears within my embrace.

"Sadness is a part of life Luna. But it cannot be allowed to flourish within you." I cautioned her.

"Are you sure you came here to rewrite the treaty...You've spent more time coaching me about feelings." she huffed. Her eyes glanced over to the door. No doubt contemplating if she had wasted her breakfast bickering to me.

"My sensitivities make it hard not to help." my voice raised slightly, as I tried to press the matter's urgency.

"Help! I don't require your help... Remember I have a sister I can cry to." Luna made her way towards the door, her magic had already twisted the door's knob, but I rested a side of my body to the door. I wasn't about to let this darkness linger within Luna another moment. I didn't know why in the moment my mind was keen on saving her. In reflection I assume it was my inability to save my father.

She tried her best to cut me with my own words. " That's true. You do have a sister that you could cry to... but I am not your sister am I? Yet here you are, crying to me."

She bit her tongue, scowling at me as if I were a villain. But I had merely told the truth. I could tell that she and I would be friends in no time, just like our fathers we were... just like our fathers.

Comments

[Guilty King]

The chemistry is interesting. I wonder if it will lead to them dating?

[PlumBuckeredOut]

4807278 I hadn't planned for Norm and Luna to be romantically involved. Luna sees Norm as the outsider she can relate to, and Norm sees Luna as "little Luna" even though Luna and Celestia in this fic are a just a year apart. He's clairvoyant yet blind. He'll admit that he finds Celestia attractive, but the moment he feels the same attraction toward Luna but he's quick to reassociate the feeling for something else.

Like in the first instance he claims that it was merely from kissing Luna to free her from the Unicorn's spell. Later he laments that Luna does need someone willing to love her, and that it can't be him, nor Celestia. Yet he doesn't know what Luna wants in a lover, and that he wasn't a matchmaker either.

[Guilty King]

4808122 I was just speculating.

[Guilty King]

4863590 Silly, why'd you go an do that?
Still, I didn't mean to do that. Sorry.

[PlumBuckeredOut]

4863599 The edit button icon is riiight next to the publish chapter button.

[Guilty King]

4863994 Sounds like poor placement to me.