The Stars

The stars were her friends.

Shining above, day and night, they gave her the love and company she so desperately needed, their dim light comforting her during her darkest moments.

She would speak to them often, the stars erratically twinkling back in a way unlike that of some sort of visual response. Sometimes she felt as if they were trying to tell her something important, though she could never quite understand what they were truly saying. Were they words of sympathy? Perhaps the reassurance that everything would be alright?

Whatever the case, it was enough to soothe her. They gave her that long forgotten sense of childlike wonder, reminding her of the nights she'd sit outside and stare into them, putting them together to make one big picture. Even now, those pictures danced above her, drawing out stories of ponies and other creatures long since passed. She'd gaze at them in awe, her troubles momentarily fading as those forgotten beings danced above. She felt as if there was a sort of kinship between them and her, the mutual knowledge of being forgotten by the ones who had once adored you.

She wondered if the ponies below remembered her. They never seemed to before.

The stars understood her.

The way they danced above, aglow with enthusiasm for the calming night. They had always longed to be adored, given the love they so rightfully deserved. No one had ever paid them any mind, every living thing too busy worshipping the one star that shone above them.

Oh, how she and the stars loathed how that bright star mocked them, her warm glow bringing life to Equestria, but driving away their calming presence. Had everyone truly forgotten the wonders they had brought? The cool nights? The wonderful creatures? Had all those nights spent out chasing dreams and fireflies meant nothing to them?

Every night they shone, telling their stories and singing their songs, desperate to be loved again. Yet every night they went ignored, the creatures down below prefering to hide away during those precious moonlit hours. Over time, their sadness began to merge with hers, and it became a regular occurance for her to add to their numbers, the airless atmosphere carrying her tears away to join them among the thousands.

Did the ponies below ever come out a night to see these tear stained stars? Did they ever admire them, or wish upon them?

How ironic it would have been if they had, making wishes upon her broken dreams.

The stars mocked her.

The way they twinkled, like silent laughter, reminding her just how small and insignificant she was. Compared to them, she was nothing. Whereas they sparkled in the sky every night, reminding those who still cared of the beauty of the darkness, she sat alone and forgotten. A nobody among the universe, forsaken by anyone who had once claimed to love her.

There had been someone who’d loved her once, someone that had made her feel like something. But now that time of living a lie was gone, replaced by nothing more than an ever distant memory. The one who had loved her had betrayed her, locked her away! How could anyone who had claimed to have loved her done that?

Why had she done it? Had all those years together meant nothing? The promises to rule the land together as equals? Had that all been a lie?

Oh, how often she’d find herself roaring into the heavens, screaming at the stars for their insolence, desperate for the pony who had betrayed her to hear just one word of these rants. Anything to let her know how she felt. Her rage, her sadness, her regret.

How had the one star that shone the brightest, turn out to have the darkest heart?

The stars empowered her.

As her rage grew, so did her bond with those sparkling lights above. Throughout her imprisonment, she had slowly become intertwined with them, her power growing as they enveloped her mane and set her aglow with the sky’s calming lights.

Embittered by betrayal and misunderstandings, they plotted. The stars whispered their stories to her from within their new home, with the plans of creating a new legend that the ponies below would never forget. The night had been ignored for far too long, overshadowed by the day, and that horrible star that outshone them. Her warm glow had become a burning hatred, the life she created nothing more than a reminder that life was but a fleeting moment.

Though the walls of it had already begun to crumble, it was with their combined power that she broke the curse, free to return to the world below, and back to the throne she so rightfully deserved. How dare they ignore her for so long! How dare they ignore the beauty of her beloved night! How dare they choose that star over all others!

They would learn to love her, the moon, and the stars, even if it must mean creating a night that never ends.

The stars betrayed her.

Scattering away as she was freed from her darkness, rage melting away to be replaced by anguish. How could something she had bonded with for so long abandon her? Was this the curse she was forced to endure? One that even the night itself no longer loved her?

They had brought her comfort in her time of need, their songs and stories burned into her mind forever. Yet after everything, they had abandoned her, forcing her to fend for herself, as she waited for the final punishment.

Yet a punishment would never come. Nor would the bitterness and rage that once fueled her. It would seem that time had healed old wounds, and the ponies had grown to appreciate the night again. Once more had they begun to listen to the stories of those lights above, spending countless hours outside catching the fireflies.

Overtime, they would even begin to forgive her, and it wasn’t long before the stars once again began to entangle themselves within her mane, apologizing for their own betrayal. They had been uncertain, worried that they’d be hated once more. But whispers to the sky had ensured them that this was not the case, and that Equestria was once again their home.

Yet even then, there was still one star left, the one that shone above the rest. The star that brought love and life to the creatures of Equestria, bathing them within the warm embrace of daylight. The star that had once betrayed her, and locked her away for what she had done. The star that, at one point, had been her sister.

That star forgave her, and that star loved her once more.

Author's Note:

I'm not usually good with oneshots, and I'd have liked to make this longer, but there was really nothing more I could think to add. Always good to test something out of your comfort zone though, and I'm pretty sure this is the first thing I've ever written without dialogue?

Also not sure on the horizontal rules... I might remove them before the contest ends.

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Ice Star

Ice Star #1 · May 4th, 2020 · 1 · ·

You write a very good Luna, and all while she doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. The stars being significant to her power and sense of self was very nicely done.

The cover is lovely stuff too.

NaiadSagaIotaOar

NaiadSagaIotaOar #2 · May 4th, 2020 · 2 · ·

I would keep the horizontal rules, personally. I guess it depends on what your intent was, but I liked having the different segments be broken up like that, it suggested a passage of time that I thought worked well with how Luna looks at the stars in a couple different perspectives throughout.

And for the most part I enjoyed this! Quite touching by the end, and I liked the narrative voice. But I think it could've been tidied up a bit. There were a couple places were the prose got kinda clunky.

Here, for instance, in the second paragraph:

Shining above, day and night, those little twinkling lights kept her company when she needed it most. They gave her the love she so desperately needed, their dim light comforting her during her darkest time.

This more or less says exactly the same thing twice in a row. And there're some instances where the structure of things got confusing, like here:

No one had ever paid them any mind, every living thing too busy worshipping the one star that shone above them.
Oh, how they loathed how she mocked them, her warm glow bringing life to Equestria, but driving away their calming presence.

Where basically I wasn't sure at first who "they" were, or who "she" was. The last usage of "they" referred to "every living thing," but here it looks like it's meant to refer to the stars. And "she" has meant Luna up until now, but suddenly it's being used to refer to Celestia? Through context, I don't think this was indecipherable, but I found it a lot more obtuse than I'd have liked.

MayhemMoth

MayhemMoth #3 · May 4th, 2020 · 3 · ·

10217115
Glad to hear! Luna's one of those characters I'd like to write more of. And I'll be sure to tell my sister you like the art!

10217126
I personally thought they felt a bit clunky, but that's just me. I always worry I use them too much. Glad to hear it seems to mostly work out though, I don't usually write like this.

And dang it I knew something about that 2nd paragraph was bothering me, and that might just be it! I reread this thing so many times too, I'll find a way to edit that if I can come up with something. I could probably do some editing to that other bit too, I mostly used 'they' in that case because I felt like there was only so many times I could get away with calling the stars 'Those twinkling/sparkling' lights above before it got repetitive and lost all meaning.

Thank you for the feedback! I'll work on figuring out how to make it flow better, the contest won't end for a few days still so I've got a while to think, though I'll be trying to do it as soon as I can.

My Little Epona