A Parcel of Feldspar
The day had come.
Luna strode forward with purpose through the castle, and her hooves clicked with urgency against the marble floor. Her destination was a place sequestered in the heart of the castle, where no pony other than she or her sister may enter.
Luna pondered, what is a gift if not a thought of another individual given life? Somepony like Luna was never satisfied with mundane things such as cards or small tokens of affection. Nay, Luna embodied an Alicorn Princess, Divine of the Night, and she would never stoop to delivering a simple trinket as evidence of her favor.
She stopped at a pair of stone doors marked with the sun and moon. The forge of the royal sisters was where she and her sister once toiled to bring peace to Equestria. With a touch of her magic, the doors ground open, and she slipped inside into the cold darkness of a furnace that had laid dead for centuries.
With a deep breath, Luna drew upon the power of the moon and stars before stamping her hoof, channeling the power of her birthright into the surface. In an instant, the darkness roared into light, the kiln transforming from frozen stone to violent inferno. Luna let herself grin with satisfaction before returning to her task.
Hammer and steel, brute instruments used to fashion weapons of war turned to another task—a battle more subtle, yet full of its own terrors. Fires glared from the forge as Luna worked, her coat lathered from heat and strain as she cut into a stone she excavated herself from the roots of the earth.
For those ponies of the Earth do toil their soils, it is they who cleave gems from stone, metal from ore. With the might of the races of Earth, Luna struck the stone with her bare hooves, mining it for the materials she desired. With a flick, she sent her chosen hunks of ore tumbling into a vat which hissed and spat angrily, quickly dissolving the metals within.
Luna watched closely, but never once channeled her magic, for this was the domain of Earth and she dare not trespass. The alchemical solution, naturally heated by the fires of the forge, bubbled and hissed, slowly changing from clear to a dark purple. With practiced timing, Luna tipped in another alchemical cocktail, and the mixture frothed, the surface turning a silvery hue.
With a tip, she drained the solution away, and at the bottom sat a small lump of pure platinum. Luna allowed herself a small content smile, touching the platinum with her hoof and feeling it to be true—the metal that was the sun and moon, the unadulterated ore of twilight. Carefully, she lifted the precious metal and placed it within the crucible of the forge. The alicorn aspect of Earth had been fulfilled.
She turned and touched her magic, molten wax springing to life in streams and weaving into intricate patterns never before realized. She channeled the pool of arcane energy within herself; the shifting form of her soul, she poured into the sculpture she lovingly rendered.
The ponies of Magic shape the world to their vision; it is they who enact their will upon the world to form it in a way they see fit. Luna shut her eyes and thrust into existence what sang in her heart. With a blast of ice cold wind, she froze the form in place, and with another flick of her horn she wrapped her intricate work in layers of plaster, hardening each one with a pulse of magic.
She lifted the plaster mold into the furnace, and watched as the wax slowly melted away, leaving a hollow shell. She set down the mold with satisfaction, within her heart’s design permanently written. The alicorn aspect of Magic was satisfied.
She looked down in the crucible, the palpable heat slapping against her as she stood near the heart of the furnace. A mere mortal would be turned to ash in seconds, but Luna was no mortal. Without hesitation, she threw open the furnace and stepped up to the crucible.
Ponies of the Air were the closest to the wild, rapid heartbeat of life. Their ancestors stood as fierce warriors who gave no quarter, honorable but vicious to the very last. For every drop of blood they lost, they would take back tenfold, but blood given willingly held a sacred meaning between pegasi, a pact beyond the water of the womb.
No sword could stay sharp in such heat, so Luna instead pulled from her magic a blade of unbreakable starlight. Without hesitation, she drew it across her foreleg, drawing the silvery ichor that was her blood and watching as it fell into the crucible, mixing with the molten metal within. The Pegasus warrior spirit within her watched in grim satisfaction the sacrifice of her lifeblood and grew content.
With each of her aspects fulfilled, Luna stepped out of the furnace with the crucible in hoof. Carefully, she poured the molten metal into her mold. With her magic, she tapped on the plaster to force out the bubbles and waited anxiously for her finished product. It would not do to have something go wrong at this final, critical stage.
After the metal cooled, Luna set about carefully chipping away the plaster mold from her work. She fussed over the small nooks and delicate joins, using a small scrubber to clean the metal and make it shine. The platinum gleamed a brilliant silvery white, glowing softly from Luna’s offering of divine blood. With a small smile of relieved joy, Luna carefully lifted the brooch and placed within its mounting: a hoof cut, polished moonstone.
And so, came the most harrowing part of all—the giving of the gift. While Luna had been lathered from exertion as she had worked on her precious piece of jewelry, she now found herself sweating for an entirely different reason as she stood in front of the door of whom she loved more than anypony else in the world.
Her nerves jumped, mind rife with uncertainty as she knocked, and the approaching hoof steps felt spaced by eternity. As the door creaked open, she shakily held forward her gift, a different battle being fought in a different kind of war.
“Happy Birthday, my love.”
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I couldn't begin to guess who her beloved might be.
I like that the identity of her lover is left up to the reader. It was a really nice touch!
Who knew perfected joy could be so beautiful
This is such a pretty story!
8970049 Is a mystery~
"the metal that was the sun and moon, the unadulterated ore of twilight."
Loved this bit here. I also loved how you gave such wonderful descriptions to each of the three pony tribes. Wonderful!
Yay! And also, finally your teasing ends, Jyki.
I think this is a beautiful story. Very nice indeed.
Very nice. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Short and endearingly sweet. Noice~
considering the color of moonstone, and the white silvery of the platinum? i have a very good idea who it is. you even said their name once.
Wonderful. I look forward to seeing more from you.
You even acknowledge that alicorns are the embodiement of all three pony tribes. Something that is forgotten much too often amongst our writers.
Three points for Ravenclaw!
when I first read this I thought luna was gonna pass a kidney stone
Damn nice job Jyki. Really captivating use of language. Any sort of process writing can be unbearably dull and this is exactly how you avoid it. The prose was elegant but not overstated. I hope to see more in the future!
Lovely character piece. I liked how you explored Luna through her work, and how we got glimpses about how she sees the world.
Very promising first foray in the world of pony-words.
I can't help but wonder what our beloved, lost Loyal would think of this. It would seamlessly meld into his story of the same name very well. (Even if that wasn't your intent).
That was a delight to read. Nicely done!
Short, sweet, deid evocative, and bonny world-building besides. Not bad at all.
Hey everyone! Sorry for the late replies, been a bit disoriented as of late, but let's go!
8970049
I mean, I guess I am pretty transparent about it ahaha.
8970370
Yeah, I really wanted to try to make it up to the reader, as I felt this piece was much more about Luna herself then about any specific pairing. Thanks!
8970397
The subtle joy of a token carefully crafted.
8970496
Thank you for pushing me to finish it, Blue!
8970500
*whispers* No one will ever know.
8970592
Thanks! I am very fond of platinum as a metal, so i did some research of the superstitions around it. I am very glad you enjoyed it.
8970597
I know right? Finally... I hope you are doing well, Belt.
8970631
Thank you for reading it, I'm very glad you find it beautiful!
8970662
I am hoping I can share more sometime; thank you for reading!
8970724
I was a bit worried that it was too short, but I'm relieved that you liked it!
8970755
I tried to be subtle! But yeah, I know, it is kinda obvious considering the markers, but that's just because I'm trash for that ship.
8970798
During the contest, I kinda latched onto the idea of giving tribute to each of the tribes and got really excited about building some lore for them. I am really happy you liked it! It was very fun to write that part of the story. + 3 🦅 ( no raven emoji D: )
8970812
I'm very glad the Divines are pleased with my work. I hope to offer something else they will enjoy in the future!
8970921
Oh my god, you have no idea how funny/terrible this is right now. Or maybe you do, if you came here through Monochromatic's blog.
8971121
Thanks, Nonchalant! I was a bit worried that I was writing too purple, but I pared it down when it was getting too distracting the best I could. I'm relieved that I managed it. Glad you liked it!
8971542
I am very fond of Luna as a character, so I'm very glad that you enjoyed this rendition of her! Also, your profile pic is really great, I can't stop laughing when I see it. Thanks!
8972062
I actually do know of Loyal, I read one of their stories a long time ago. I also saw when they passed, and I'm very sad that it happened. It wasn't my intent to mix the two stories, but I am very okay with others interpreting them to be together! I hope, if Loyal read this, they would have enjoyed it.
8972076
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Hope I can commit to more stories!
8972145
I can't believe I was complimented by the one, the only, the amazing Carabas! There is no equal in this world! A person beyond all reproach and with beauty and handsomeness to spare! Thank you for your kind words!
8972255
pff... it's subtle for ponies. if you remember, discord 'shouted' the hedge maze was a trap, and it's the first place twilight 'dragged' everyone else to.
besides, for a first story posted- it's a great success
8972255 A mystery indeed! Crafted by someone who is both a BRILLIANT ARTIST and BRILLIANT WRITER!
8972255
Flattery'll get you everywhere.
8972280
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/912/638/d67.jpg
8972287
That was very good. You paint as well with words as with your brush.
8972255
It was a very thoughtful touch, and I liked being able to imagine the identity!
8972294 I just can't~ Your talent must be praised~
8972297
Thanks, Hap! I'm really flattered by that. I am hoping to work on writing something else, alongside practicing more of my visual art.
8972062
Indeed it would! I was on writing staff at EFNW, and this story appeared on my judging slate for the Iron Author contest. The prose swept me away from the very beginning, but I was 100% convinced that Luna was creating a weapon, or some kind of artifact. So, I was floored when our kind author here inverted the trope and pulled the 'gift for a lover' card out of nowhere. :D
But here's the kicker. At that point, I had finished the story, and was already very impressed. But because of the way Chrome loaded the story page on my laptop's wide screen, it cut off the very top of the page. So I didn't see the title before I began reading.
When I scrolled up to enter my scores, and saw the title, I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming in shock/excitement. To be honest, I was torn between the possibility of the title being sheer coincidence, or that someone out there had read the other Moonstone, and was channeling it in their contest entry.
I'd say the former was the answer to that, but either way, this was an absolutely beautiful story. I was glad to give it a shout out at the awards ceremony, and while the winning entries were indeed excellent, I'm bummed that this piece missed the podium.
Still, I agree with MagicMan's closing point. If he's up there seeing this story, I think our dear friend Loyal would be giving a big thumbs up. :)
Oh, and of course: Congrats on the feature box!!!!
8972660
I'm very glad you enjoyed the story, thank you again for giving it accolades at EFNW! You're right, I have not read Moonstone by Loyal, but I may read it sometime.
Awww... It's nice to have some fluff every now and again.
8970049
I HAVEN'T SEEN YOUR USERNAME IN A LONG TIME MAN.
Just wanted to say hi while I had the spoons :'D
8983502
I still lurk. Where ever there is TwiLuna to be found!
And this one was lovely! Hope J graces us with some related scenes.
8985967
A little late to the party on this one, but wow. Immersive beyond belief.
Dramatic, beautiful.
you able to see the dramtic reading? :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJj6mK3PF4c&t=0s
Monochromatic promoted this on her blog so I shall now read it.
I have reviewed this here.
Daaaang! :O I love the focus on incorporating all three aspects of her being into the creation. :D
You can has review!