Dark Side of the Moon

by SapphireSkyes

Chapter 1:

(1 year earlier)
He's staring at Celestia again.

Celestia, with her tall figure that bore feminine curves and long, multicolored locks that cascaded down her back ending in luscious curls.

Her older sister was a great beauty and charmer at twenty two, but also didn't lack intellect. She was the perfect princess, gracious and great at holding her tongue.

Unlike me. Luna sighed. All she was known for was being Celestia's little sister. The helpless shadow that faded into the background.

Even the rumors that they were serving apple crostatas—her favorite, couldn’t lift her spirits. It was usually bearable at best, but this ball just served as a reminder of her inferiority to her sister.

One by one, the dishes were served: A crisp green salad, thick carrot soup, oxtail dumplings, duck in sweet sauce.....Luna indulged herself, happy to be provided with a distraction. The food was cooked to perfection, a variety of textures and flavours bursting in her mouth.

At least everyone’s fed well, even in a time like this, she thought, taking a delicate bite out of a dumpling. Then she remembered the starving people on the outskirts of the empire begging for scraps, and the dumpling became a stone.

Princess Amore, the ruler of the Crystal Empire was seated across from her, and Amore's distant cousin Gerwyn was to her left. Being the guest of honor, Celestia took the head of the table.

"Rose petals....emeralds....wedding dresses for Luna...." Celestia and Amore's conversation snapped Luna out of her trance.

"Wedding dresses? What?" Luna gasped.

"Oh, we were just talking about how you should marry Gerwyn over there," Amore chirped happily.

“Here comes the bride, all dressed in white,” Celestia and Amore chanted, bursting into a fit of giggles.

A scornful glare was shot at both of them, while Gerwyn turned away to join another conversation.

"We were just joking, Luna! Can't you take a joke?" Celestia's face showed a hint of worry for a second, but Amore just rolled her eyes and mouthed “bitch” to Luna.

Luna put her head down and continued eating. Celestia didn't understand the weight of her words: marry her off to someone like a piece of property and send her to the Crystal Empire as an expendable? She wasn’t an object. She was a person who bled when cut with a sword of words.

"I'm going to dance," Luna snapped as she pushed away her (clean) dessert plate, yanking Gerwyn out of his conversation and storming over

The music began: a symphony of strings and airy flutes.

"Because we're supposed to be so in love, let's dance together. Consider this our date," Luna spat sarcastically.

Gerwyn laughed. "You're so funny, Luna! Though not as funny as Celestia."

Luna grit her teeth. As she tried to step-step-twirl her way through a dance with a partner who didn't even want to dance with her, she closed her eyes and went through the movements. She danced with cold grace, beautiful in her own way, but no one was there to see it. No one was watching.

No one was watching.

Sombra was watching. The huge window he was peering through gave him a clear view of the cavernous ballroom. Inside, the two Crown Princesses danced.

Celestia was radiant and glowed like the sun, her moves a collection of warm fluidity. Luna was ice cold and regal. Reserved and observant, eyes flitting from person to person. He never went to these events. There just wasn't a point, really. They were only a reminder of his empty wallet and his dead-end life.

When everyone thought of the Crystal Empire, they thought of glittering buildings and jewels galore. They were dead wrong. Behind all the sparkles and glamor, it hid dark secrets.

The slums, the street fights and the gangs were daily life to him.

He looked down at his mangled left hand. His pinkie and ring fingers were oddly twisted, and his thumb was weirdly crooked.

Thirteen and extremely stupid when it had happened, it was the worst day of his life. Two boys were fighting in a makeshift arena in the alleys, while others bet on who would win. It was a good way to make money, as he almost always nearly bet right.

It was all going well until one of the fighters named Bijou looked around at the group of boys watching, eyes searching for another person to defeat. "I challenge Sombra."

Despite poverty, the boy who looked sixteen and muscular beat him to a pulp in a haze of blood and torment.

His brother Jet found him afterwards and took him to a makeshift clinic (fancy Crystal Empire hospitals were too expensive). The clinic fixed him up pretty well, but his hand was a mess. He needed hand surgery, but they were already digging through dumpsters in the rich part of the empire, and practically drowning in debt.

"Hey, Sombra! I got dinner," Jet, who was two years older than him held a lumpy cloth bag. "Got my first paycheck. Hey, it didn’t come from the bin! "

"Great. Let's go then, before Bijou comes to beat us up," Sombra ran towards him, and the pair of brothers zipped through alleyways and climbed like monkeys, getting to their slum in record time.

"Staring at the princesses again?" Jet smirked slightly.

"No," Sombra stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth. "Yes."

"Ok, super random question, but, which one would you marry if you got the chance?" Jet asked. "I'd marry Celestia. She's hot, get it?"

Sombra laughed at his brother's corny joke. "Me too," he quickly agreed. In the slums, if you were different, you got beat up. And Sombra had gotten beat up many times. He knew it was best not to draw attention to yourself, to give people a reason to hurt you.

"No, who would you really marry?" Jet sensed he was lying.

"Luna," Sombra admitted. He felt they were really similar: both different, underrated, and they had no way out of their current lives.

"I'd marry Luna."

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Remember to give this a like enjoy and post any thoughts in the comments.

Comments

[Skyblazer9]

I too would marry Luna as she deserves the same amount of love and attention like Celestia and Cadence are getting.