The Chronicles of Battle Woona

by LOL3evee

Chapter 2

Intense pain washed over Luna's body as she was torn apart by her adversary. As feathers flew from her mangled wing and blood poured from seemingly every orifice, Luna realized that attacking Discord was the worst mistake she's ever made. Strangled cries tore from her throat as she tried desperately to fight back, flailing her hooves around and wildly flapping her remaining wing. Luna knew that she wasn't going to make it out alive.

She wondered what her sister thought of her now, how stupid Celestia probably thought her little sister was for thinking she could take on such a strong opponent. Luna wondered if Celestia was just going to leave her there all by herself. Luna had ignored her sister's warning after all. She thought that maybe she deserved to be tossed around like this, since she ignored all of Celestia's prior warnings about going into the forest in the first place.

There goes Luna, making another stupid decision. Oh how pathetic she is.

Luna couldn't help the fact that hot tears began streaming down her bruised face. Not only did Luna's best big sister probably hate her right now, but she wouldn't be able to see her mother again after all of this. On top of all that, the pain of being mauled by a magical creature more than ten times her size was ripping through her veins; a raging inferno of screaming nerves and crying blood vessels. Not only was she about to die, she was going to do so in what was possibly the most painful way.

She wished that she had never even thought of running into the forest in the first place.

Before long, the bloodied alicorn's vision grew hazy. Luna saw blurred images of a white figure barreling towards the multi-colored draconequus responsible for her great injuries, then a flash of bright light filled her view. The ringing in Luna's ears intensified as she faded from consciousness, the white-hot pain filling her body seemingly disappearing as she drifted off into the world of sleep.

~~~

It was quite some time before Luna began to stir. She lifted her head off of the ground and slowly rose to her hooves, only to find that the pain was gone. She lifted her hoof towards her face to examine her wounds. Surprisingly enough, they had vanished. Luna turned her head to look over at her wings, her flank, and torso. Not a scratch lay upon the surface of her skin.

Luna as puzzled by this find. When Luna scraped her knee while playing, it usually took quite a while to heal up, so why was her viciously battered and broken wing fully healed after what seemed like such a short nap? Luna would have liked to have that question answered, but now, she had larger issues to face.

Where in the world was she?

As soon as she had taken a good look at her surroundings, she could tell she wasn't anywhere near her palace home. Instead, she sat in the clearing of a forest that was seemingly made of soft light, with trees that appeared to glow in light shades of teal and white. The floor below her was nothing like the muddy filth that covered the forest she had gotten lost in. A glowing path of twinkling white light lay beneath her hooves. The ground seemed to shine brighter in the places where her hooves stood, allowing Luna to leave a trail of bright white hoof prints that faded out as she walked on.

After Luna had acquainted herself with her surroundings, she turned her head to find a glowing pathway leading through the strange forest. Without having anywhere else to go, Luna followed the curious path. She took the time to soak in the scenery as she trotted along with her clean blue hooves. The glowing trees were dotted with numerous tiny orbs of white light, similar in hue to the floor that Luna tread upon. They reminded her of the fireflies that would float about at home on those warm summer nights. She smiled at the thought of stargazing with her father on those calm evenings.

Soon enough, the blue filly noticed a clearing up ahead. As she drew closer to this new area, she could see a pool of clear water with a softly lit surface. She stopped at the edge of the pond, examining the curious shining surface. Luna noticed her reflection mirrored perfectly upon the surface of the water, giving her prime evidence that all of the injuries she had attained during battle had completely vanished.

As Luna was studying the clean pool, the sound of rustling sifted through the bushes. The filly snapped out of her curious daze and whipped around to study her environment. All was silent as Luna's eyes shifted from left to right, scanning the area for any signs of danger.

"Hello," Luna called warily from where she stood, hoping for a response. "Is anypony there?"

Her ears perked up upon registering another bout of rustling coming from the left, eliciting a swift response from the alert filly. She spread her wings and puffed out her chest in an effort to intimidate any potential attackers, stamping the ground twice in succession. The dimly glowing foliage before her shook swiftly, as if there was something hiding in the bushes. Gathering every ounce of courage in her tiny body, Luna took a step forward.

Mere moments afterwards, a tiny grey equine snout poked out from the bushes, then the source of the noise scrambled out of the bushes to meet the blue alicorn. The creature leaped in front of Luna, leaning forward to sniff her horn. It pranced to the side, lifting up the alicorn's wings to examine her feathery down. The creature fluffed Luna's tail, poked and prodded at her chest and nose, then finally ran back in front of the blue pony to meet Luna's gaze with a wide smile spreading across it's face. It was now that Luna was able to get a good look at what she was dealing with.

It was a pony with light grey fur, and a short white tail that curled upwards when the pony smiled. It looked like a filly that was around the same age and height as Luna. Upon it's head was a dark iron helmet that covered it's eyes, with not a trace of the pony's mane to be seen. The helmet kind of looked like armor that the guards at the palace would wear, but it was vastly different in color and design. Clacking chains were bound to the pony's chest, and there were bandages wrapped around the creatures stomach. Around the pony's ankles were flowing ribbons of white cloth that swayed as if the wind was blowing through them, even though there was no breeze to be felt in this strange environment. On top of all of that, the pony didn't have a cutie mark. The pony took a step forward.

"I've never seen you around here before," it chimed with an upbeat voice. "What's your name?"

Luna smiled back at the creature, relieved that it didn't seem intent on harming her. "I'm Luna. What's yours?"

The creature stopped for a moment, tilting it's head upwards slightly and raising a hoof to it's chin, as if pondering the question posed before it. "I don't really have a name," it mused.

The grey pony took another step forward after it had given it's answer, smiling eerily at Luna and sending a shiver down the blue alicorn's spine.

"I really like your name, though. Can I have it?"

Luna stepped back a little bit, smiling awkwardly.

"I think it would get a little confusing if we shared the same exact name," she said. "How about I give you a different name?"

The pony stopped for a few seconds to think again, before giving Luna a content grin.

"That sounds nice," the filly said as it sat down on the glowing floor.

"Since you wanted my name, I think we should give you something a little similar," Luna said. "My name is Luna, and mommy says that it's the same thing as the word "moon." I want to give another name with the same meaning."

The filly gave Luna a troubled frown. "What other words do you know that have the same meaning as your own? I thought that there was only one word for 'moon.'"

The grey equine stopped for a moment. "What even is a moon?"

"The moon is basically a big, round rock that orbits our planet, and it only comes out at night," Luna explained. "My daddy taught me a lot of different words related to the moon and stars, like 'constellation' and 'lunar cycle.'"

"Which one do you think would work best for me?"

"I like the name Selene," Luna suggested. "That's another word related to the moon, and it sounds very pretty."

The other filly cocked her head to the side.

"Selene?"

"Yup! It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

The grey filly, now dubbed 'Selene,' gave Luna another smile, this time filled with the warm glow of satisfaction.

"It does sound nice," she said. "I think I'll keep it."

Luna beamed at her newly named friend. "I'm glad you like it."

Selene lifted herself off of the floor and walked around to Luna's side, looking at her small, feathery wings. She then turned to face Luna's short horn, giving it a light tap on it's bony tip.

"You have the power of magic and flight, don't you?"

"I think so," Luna said. "I need mommy to teach me how to fly, though. I'm also not very good at magic yet."

Selene turned away to pace the floor. "I envy you. You must be very strong to have been born with both abilities."

The grey foal looked over her shoulder, returning her attention to Luna. "You're an alicorn, right? You know the ones. The ponies with great power comparable to celestial field?"

Luna's face scrunched up to form a confused expression as she soaked in the question posed before her.

"I guess so. I mean, mommy says that I'm an alicorn, but I'm not sure about the other things that you said."

"Alicorns are supposed to contain some of the most powerful magic in the land," Selene explained. "To put it simply, alicorns are the most powerful species of pony there is."

Luna paused for a moment to process this bit of information. "Am I really that strong?"

Selene let out a soft chuckle. "But of course. It is without a doubt that you should be stronger than everyone else." She turned around to face her blue friend. "That is... you should be stronger than your fellow pony."

"What do you mean? Is there something wrong?"

Selene circled around her fellow alicorn, walking slowly and facing forward. "Oh, nothing. It's just that you didn't seem to do so well when you fought against that draconequus earlier. I honestly thought you were going to win, what with the amount of determination you showed during your little confrontation."

Selene stopped for a moment, lowering her head to let out a disappointed sigh. "In the end, your big sister had to come save the day. It's kind of funny how easily she took care of your problem for you. In all honesty, you should have been able to defeat your opponent. You
must be extremely powerful to have found this realm.

Luna looked around her, taking in the view of the glowing forest surrounding the area.

Selene stopped her circling pattern, looking directly at her doubtful friend and meeting the alicorn's gaze. "I guess that some ponies are just weaker than others."

Luna looked down at her hooves, several different emotions flashing across her face. She didn't know how to feel about this. On one hoof, she was angry at herself for being unable to defend herself against Discord, and on the other hoof, she didn't want to believe that she was really as weak as Selene was suggesting. Surely she was just as good, if not better than her sister in terms of power?

Selene didn't give Luna a chance to speak, getting close to the alicorn and resting a hoof on her blue friend's shoulder.

"But there's no need to feel bad about yourself," Selene said in a soft, soothing tone. "You're not necessarily the one I was referring to as 'weak.'

Luna looked puzzled. "I'm not?"

Selene's ringing laughter filled the air, echoing throughout each and every crevice of the glowing landscape.

"Of course not, silly," she continued, directing Luna's gaze to the clear pool off to the side. "The real weakling is her."

Luna stared deep into the pond, watching curiously as her reflection rippled and weaved, melding into the form of her sister, Celestia. Luna took a step back from the magical pool and turned to face her friend.

"That can't be right," Luna said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Tia isn't that weak! If she's really not as strong as I am, then how come she saved me?"

Selene giggled at this sentiment, setting herself beside the blue alicorn.

"Oh, dearest little Luna," she mused. "This isn't all about magic strength and your ability to fight. Although magic is a factor in this matter, what is really important is your will."

"My... will?"

Selene nodded in response, smiling at her alicorn pal. "Indeed. When it was clear that your sister was too incompetent to defeat Discord by herself, you stepped in to save her. She was only able to hit the beast while he was distracted by you, and even then, your sister failed to even scratch the surface of his iron defenses."

Luna nodded as she allowed this to soak in. "So... Tia couldn't hit that big meanie without my help?"

"Exactly," Selene replied. "And the only reason that you couldn't defeat Discord was because you had no idea how to fight. On top of all of that, you don't know how to use your magic yet, which only made matters worse on your behalf. If you knew how to properly wield your magic, you would have been able to defeat your opponent all by yourself as your weak-willed sister stood on the sidelines."

Before Luna could utter another word, the forest's lights began to flicker. The light from the nearby pond fizzled out, and the floor began to dim. Luna spun around in panic, frantically looking for the cause of such change.

"Well, it looks like it's that time," Selene said in an unusually chipper tone.

"What's happening?" The Luna asked as her eyes darted back and forth. "Why are all of the lights going out?"

Selene smiled. "Don't worry, my friend. It's just time for you to go now."

"Wait, I'm leaving? Where will I go? Will I be able to come back here?"

The grey filly chuckled as her friend spilled questions in a panicked frenzy. "Don't worry, you'll be back here soon."

"But what abou-"

The world was shrouded in darkness before Luna had the chance to finish her sentence. The alicorn filly suddenly felt a wave of nausea spreading throughout her body. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't speak nor hear a thing. Luna felt a sharp pain in her back as she spiraled into a cripplingly sickened state, strongly attempting to resist the urge to retch. Waves of energy rippled through the air as Luna was thrown hard back into reality, snapping back into a conscious state and finally releasing the contents of her stomach.

~~~

Luna soon became painfully aware of her surroundings as bright lights stung her eyes like salt being rubbed on an open wound. The pain in her back was now focused on her mauled wing, which was now wrapped neatly in clean gauze. Her vision was soon restored as her eyes adjusted to the light, giving Luna a clear view of the world around her. She looked around for any signs of Selene, only to take notice of a disgruntled alicorn nurse holding a mop in the doorway, along with a well anticipated pair of familiar alicorns.

The leftmost pony was covered in pristine white fur and adorned with numerous pieces of shining silver regalia. She had a long, straight red mane that flowed over her shoulders like a cascading rouge waterfall. The mare's icy blue eyes were filling with joy as Luna stared back at her. The stallion on the right had a deep navy blue coat paired with two bright green eyes. His mane was indigo in color with several pink streaks sitting amongst his deep, purple locks. Luna, a little disoriented from her sudden travel, sat up in the infirmary's cot.

"Mommy," Luna winced as her mending wing throbbed. "Where am I?"

Her mother let out a long sigh, as if she had been holding her breath the entire time. She then leaned over and wrapped her hooves around her trembling child, being careful to avoid the pool of gastric fluids that her daughter had emmitted seconds earlier. Tears formed in the corners of her stunning blue eyes as she embraced the foal.

"You're at home, Luna," she whispered. "You're safe now."

Luna took a deep breath, relishing the comforting scent of her gentle mother. She allowed herself to drift off a little bit, relaxing in her mother's warm, heartfelt embrace. However, something didn't seem right. Wasn't there supposed to be another pony here, too? Luna could have sworn that this meeting was incomplete in some way. She knew that somepony had come along with her when Luna ran into the woods, but she wasn't quite sure... Wait... Luna's eyes shot wide open, her pupils shrinking down in size as she realized that a certain somepony was missing.

"Mommy, where's Tia?" Luna asked, her voice filled with panic. "Is she here? I want to see her now!"

She tried opening her wings, only to find that doing so would send a sharp pain down her back from her damaged wing. Luna yelped at the shock of pain that was delivered from the wound, plopping back down on the bed as tears welled up in her eyes from the pain. Her father took a step towards the cot.

"Now isn't a good time for you to try and get up," he said calmly. "You should try and get some rest."

Luna laid back down as the green maned nurse pulled the soiled sheet off of the bed, carefully lifting it so that the bile wouldn't spill. She placed the old sheet into a gray bin marked with symbols hat indicated the presence of bodily fluids. She then lifted Luna into the air with her magic and placed her onto a rolling cot.

"You're not getting any sleep without a bath," the nurse said in her trademark deadpan voice.

Luna's parents chuckled as their filly groaned in protest.

"But I don't wanna take a baaaaaath!"

The nurse rolled her eyes. "Well, you're going to have to have one unless you want to smell like vomit all day."

Luna's mother chimed in, eager to help make sure that her child was happy.

"I can provide Squeaky Bear for your bath," the red-maned mare said.

The second that the noise-making toy bear was mentioned, Luna's eyes lit up.

"Okay, I want my bath now," she said as she swiftly turned to look towards the nurse with a wide grin.

The nurse looked hard at the smiling parents. "You do understand that Squeaky Bear is a plush toy, right?"

Luna's mother smiled confidently, nodding quickly as she did so.

"We can cast a water proofing spell on him so that he won't get wet."

Luna stared at the nurse with round, pleading eyes. The nurse looked back at the filly, her eyes softening as she did so. Finally, the nurse pony sighed.

"That is fine," she said. "Just make sure the spell actually works first, please. Sad children aren't listed on my schedule for today.

------------------------------------

An hour had passed since Luna's bath. With a slightly damp mane and the fresh smell of peonies drifting through the air, Luna was ready for bed. The blue princess lay snugly in her cot with her plush bear beside her. The pair was tucked neatly between the covers and the mattress, prepared to take on the world of rest... or at least that's what Luna wanted to do. The filly couldn't seem to find sleep, what with her bandaged wing being uncomfortable to lay on and the cot being a bit too firm for her liking. She tossed and turned for a while, before finally laying down on her remaining wing and curling up in fetal position.

Since there was nothing for Luna to do at this particular hour, so she decided to reflect on the recent events to pass the time. She lifted her Squeaky Bear up to examine his face. The bear's black button eyes were given a slightly polished look by their cleanliness. The lavender colored fabric contained little star patterns, some of which Luna could identify as constellations. Her father told her that Squeaky Bear was supposed to be an Ursa Major. Luna had no idea what that was, but she loved the sound of it. The blue filly sat on her cot for a while longer before letting out a long sigh.

"You know, Squeaky Bear," Luna whispered, speaking softly to her bear as she stroked the top of his soft, purple head. "I always wondered what was on the other side of the forest."

She looked down at the bear once more, as if expecting a reply from it's stitched mouth. When none came, she looked up at the ceiling and continued.

"It's kind of weird out there. Everything's all colorful and spotted. I honestly don't know what in the world was wrong with that place. Mommy should have already told you the story, so I'll spare you some of the details, but Tia got into trouble with this weird dragon looking dude called Dobkins, and I got hurt pretty badly while trying to help her out."

"Maybe he was the one that made the place beyond the forest look so weird? I don't know. Mommy said that Tia told her that Dirkus' magic was pretty strong, though."

Luna sat within the darkened room, bathing in the soft moonlight streaming in through the window that lay to her right. Before long, Luna remembered something else magic-related that she had heard about earlier in the day.

"Speaking of magic, I met a strange pony today, Squeaky Bear," Luna said. "Her name is Selene, and she's my newest friend. Maybe one day, I can take you to see her. Anyways, she told me that I have strong magic, too. She said I could have beat up Dickens- you know, the guy with the that dragon face I told you about, if I knew how to use magic."

"It's kind of weird, because I never told her about the fight, Squeaky Bear. But she still knew all about it. Do you think she might have been there too?"

Luna paused for a moment, staring up at the ceiling to ponder her own question for a moment. Eventually, the filly shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I mean, I didn't see her there, but maybe she was hiding. She was about as tall as me, and I like to hide in tree trunks sometimes while playing hide and seek, so maybe she was hiding somewhere small, like the trees that I like to hide in. Oh, and don't tell Tia that I like to hide in tree trunks, Squeaky Bear! She'll know where to look next time if you do."

Luna sat up quickly covered Squeaky Bear's snout with her hoof as if to keep him from spilling the beans.

"Sssshh... don't say anything, Squeaky Bear. The nurse might hear you and tell Tia about my secret hiding spots."

Luna uncovered the bear's snout and squeezed it's stomach, causing the toy to emit a loud squeak. She giggled a little bit at her own childish joke before flopping back down on the mattress, landing uncomfortably on top of her injured wing and sending a wave of searing pain through her injured limb. She wanted to cry in pain, but she didn't wish to wake anyone else up. Thus, Luna squeezed her lips shut and puffed out her cheeks, only allowing a small squeak of her own to escape from her throat. As soon as the pain died down, Luna scowled furiously and sat up to face her stuffed bear.

"Look at what you made me do, Squeaky Bear," she hissed. "That really hurt."

Luna picked up the bear and set him down all the way on the opposite side of the pillow, distancing herself from her plush friend.

"Next time that happens, you're sleeping on the couch, mister."

Luna crossed forelegs and curled her hind legs up towards her stomach, fuming after the mishap that Squeaky Bear supposedly caused. She remembered how badly it hurt when Discord tore up her wing in the first place, and how little he seemed to care about anyone else. She thought of how he hurt her sister, and how she couldn't defend herself against him. How Selene said that she could have been more helpful by knowing how to fight and use magic, and that Celestia had to jump in and save Luna while Discord was distracted.

Because Luna wasn't strong enough to help in the first place.

Each thought brought more fuel to the fire of Luna's anger. She was mad at Discord for being a brute. She was angry at Squeaky Bear for making her hurt her already injured wing. Most of all, she was furious with herself for being too incompetent to fight for herself, too weak to win a simple fight. It didn't matter how strong Celestia said that Discord was, Luna still lost the battle. That, above all else, angered her the most.

"Why can't I do anything right!?"

Luna's shout echoed throughout the building. Realizing what she had just done, she covered her mouth with her hooves.

"Horse radishes," she hissed.

Luna turned towards Squeaky Bear, fear encompassing her expression as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Don't tell mommy and daddy that I said that, Squeaky Bear. They're going to get really mad if you do."

Luna waited for the sound of hoofsteps to echo down the hallway towards her infirmary room, but none came. Ten minutes passed before Luna breathed a sigh of relief. She loosened up her tense joints as she realized that she hadn't awoken any of her fellow alicorns, allowing herself to relax knowing she wouldn't be interrogated regarding the noise.

Luna sat back for a few more minutes, staring up at the clean cabinets on the wall in front of her. She glanced over at her plush bear, looking away as if it could actually see her with it's hollow button eyes, judging her every action. She took another quick glance at the bear before pulling him in for a big hug.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Squeaky Bear," she whispered. "I didn't mean to get mad at you. My wing just really hurt, that's all."

Luna smiled as she held the bear close to her bandaged chest, taking the notion that her toy had forgiven her.

"Have you ever noticed that everyone in our city has both wings and horns, Squeaky Bear? You probably haven't, since you stay inside all day, but that's what I'm here for. Just in case you don't know, our city is called "Estreltia." Daddy told me that his great, great, great, great grandma named the city after their first daughter, who became the princess. That princess is my great, great, great, great grandma, Squeaky Bear. Isn't that cool?"

Luna paused for a moment as crickets went off in the night, playing their lullabies infused in the darkness.

"I'm sorry for getting so off topic, Squeaky Bear. I just need somepony to talk to."

That, of course, was a lie. Luna didn't need someone to talk to, she needed to forget about her thoughts regarding weakness. Each second she spent without speaking, those recent memories would resurface, then she'd have to shove back the idea of her being weak all over again. Quite frankly, Luna was sick of it. Luna needed to face these thoughts, and she knew it.

"You know what, Squeaky Bear," Luna began, sitting up straight in her cot with an air of confidence, as if she were making a speech to her father's subjects. I've decided to be a better pony. Mommy already says I'm a good pony, but I want to be something greater than just an ordinary 'good pony.'"

"I want to be stronger. I want to use magic, and to be the best at it. I want to be able to help mommy and daddy if anyone tries to hurt them. I wanna be so powerful, I could move the moon! That's exactly what I'm gonna do, Squeaky Bear! I'm gonna train hard and be the best there ever was! I'll march right up to Dukum and buck his face so hard, it spins around the world a bajillion times!"

The blue filly was standing up on her hind legs now, shouting her speech at the top of her lungs and getting the adrenaline to rush through her veins as she became increasingly passionate about her feelings.

"I'm gonna be the strongest pony in the world! No, the universe! I'll be able to beat up my own parents if I really wanted to! I'D BE INVINCIB-"

Before Luna could finish her sentence, the door to her room burst open. A spark of violet magic ignited the candles in the room, flooding Luna's eyes with warm light. The nurse from earlier, was in her fluffy pajamas sporting quite a messy mane upon her head, pinpointed the source of the yelling and stared bullets into the little filly's soul.

"What in the name of Tartarus is going on in here?" The nurse growled as Luna sheepishly sunk down back under the covers. "I could hear you from all the way across the palace."

Luna knew that Tartarus was a maximum security prison whose gates were sealed with powerful magic, and only the worst of ponies were locked up there. When someone mentioned that name in this kind of context, Luna knew it meant they were really mad. There was only one thing Luna could think of that would get her out of trouble...

"...Hug?"

The green maned nurse snorted. "No, I don't want a hug," she growled. "I want little screaming fillies to go to bed so that the rest of us can preform our duties tomorrow. You're not bleeding, right?"

"No, miss nurse. But my heart really hurts, and I think I need a hug from somepony."

Luna blinked innocently as a sweet smile spread across her little blue cheeks. The nurse maintained her deadpan expression.

"I'm afraid I wasn't trained to give hugs to fillies who have been horsing around in the middle of the night."

"If you're scared of it, why don't you give somepony a hug?" Luna replied. "That always makes me feel better when I'm scared."

The nurse let out a frustrated sigh. "Just go to bed, please."

With that, she shut the door. Luna waited until she couldn't hear the nurse's hoofsteps anymore. She slowly turned to face her stuffed animal maintaining a solid poker face as she did so. Luna leaned in towards Squeaky Bear's ear and whispered softly to the plushie.

"Do you think she's gonna tell Tia about my hiding spot since I made her mad, Squeaky Bear?"