A Light in Shining Darkness
Morning Wing
Sunshine awoke with a yawn. She rolled out of bed and began going through her morning stretches. She planted her back legs wide apart and her front hooves together, sliding her front hooves forward and reverse arching her back. She returned to her standing position and rolled her shoulders, her back legs, and her wings.
It was at this point that Sunshine noticed her wings were a little stiff. She blew air out her mouth dismissively. it always happened the mornings after she had been… well, intimate.
Sunshine yawned again and flapped her wings a few times. She hated getting morning wing.
Sunshine then glanced over at the bed she had just gotten out of. Maybe she wouldn’t hate her morning wing some much if her bedmate stayed until morning.
But her bedmate had duties to attend to and Sunshine respected that. Still, she would like a little more appreciation for what she did.
Sunshine sighed and began looking around for her armor. She had to keep up appearances whilst in the castle so as to not raise suspicions as to why she was at certain places at certain times. One of the perks of a Night-Guard, nopony wanted to know why you were there and the few exceptions to the rule didn’t dare ask.
Sunshine grumbled irritably as she began checking under the bed for her things. Her bedmate had been a tad… excited last night. It had been a while after all.
With a grunt of triumph, Sunshine located her helmet and pulled it near her. She looked over the finely crafted piece of armor. It was midnight-blue like Luna’s coat but not as dark as her own and it did well to keep her black mane in check. There was an emblem on the helmet, sitting between and just above her eyes when she put it on.
The emblem was a full moon, ablaze with golden flames. The same mark adorned her flank.
Sunshine took a moment to look at her flank. She very well knew it was shapely, getting reminders every time there was a new recruit. But what had puzzled her was her cutie mark.
She had been a ‘late bloomer’ and her flank had been blank when she had enlisted in the guard. When she had shown promise, Princess Celestia herself had offered Sunshine a position on the Night-Guard. Sunshine had been officially made a Night-Guard on the Summer Solstice.
And then Nightmare-Moon had come back.
Sunshine remembered fighting the shadowy beasts sent forth to take Canterlot. She remembered watching her brother and sister guards fall beneath the onslaught. She remembered herself being overwhelmed. And then there was surprise when she found the creatures had not killed her. They hadn’t killed anyone, only paralyzed them.
And then the Dark Queen of the Moon herself had arrived. Celestia had offered no resistance, simply bowing her head to the dark being.
Sunshine remembered feeling a burning desire to not stand by idly. She remembered somehow breaking free of the magicks holding her. She remembered beating down the shadow beasts guarding her with her bare hooves. She remembered doing the most idiotic thing of her life.
She had, armed with absolutely nothing, charged Nightmare-Moon. The dark goddess had captured her easily in a force field. But instead of killing her instantly, Nightmare-Moon had laughed.
She commended Sunshine on her strength and bravery and mentioned how there should be more like her. Sunshine remembered the strange feeling of pride from being complemented by this dark being.
Sunshine then had a very vivid flashback to what had transpired next.
*******
Nightmare-Moon glanced at Celestia and her eyes glowed white. Darkness compressed into material form sprang from the shadows and bound the solar goddess tightly. And brief flash and Celestia was limp on the ground, loudly snoring.
Nightmare-Moon turned her gaze to Sunshine, the pegasus trying her best to keep her composure. She was then rotated to the side by the dark goddess’s telekinesis and heard her make a soft ‘oh’.
“Well, isn’t that interesting.” Nightmare-Moon said, her voice rich and sultry. “I wonder what that could mean.”
Sunshine followed Nightmare-Moon’s gaze to her flank, which was now emblazoned with a full moon, wreathed golden flames.
“You’ve impressed me, my dear.” Nightmare-Moon smiled at her. “That’s not an easy task and fit for a reward.”
Still holding Sunshine in her magic, Nightmare-Moon trotted away from the throne room and down the halls, soon finding the room she was looking for.
The room was large and spacious, and lavish as well. But everything had a fine layer of dust.
“Ah, recreated my old room, but neglected to have it cleaned regularly. How amusing.” Nightmare-Moon said.
That statement struck Sunshine as odd. Old room? What was she talking about?
There was a flash of magic and the dust vanished, leaving everything clean and fresh.
“There, much better, yes?” Nightmare-Moon said before laying Sunshine down on the large and admittedly comfortable bed.
“Wha- what do you want?” Sunshine demanded, hating that her voice was cracking.
“You.” Nightmare-Moon said simply as she closed and secured the doors. She then advanced of Sunshine, climbing up onto the bed.
“Me?” Sunshine was confused by her answer.
“I have been gone a long time. And I wish to… indulge myself.” Nightmare-Moon chuckled and licked her chops.
Sunshine’s eyes widened.
*******
The memory faded and Sunshine shivered. That memory has and always will be with her. She wasn’t traumatized, though, she was filled with shame. Shame from the fact that despite everything else, that was easily one of the greatest night’s of passion she had ever experienced.
The way the dark goddess had taken her, it was imprinted in her mind. Was shook her so was she had been prepared to be raped quite cruelly. But instead, Nightmare-Moon had been… gentle. The Bringer of Eternal Night had made love to her more than anything else.
Another shiver ran through her body and her wings flared up slightly.
Sunshine glared at her wings and shooed them down with her hooves. Standing, she put on her helmet and the rest of her armor and then headed for the door.
Pausing there, she looked back into the room. While it wasn’t the room where Nightmare-Moon had taken her, it was still the place where she played consort to the Princess of the Night.
Perhaps that’s why she always thought of that night the mornings after she had tended to Luna’s… well, ‘needs’.
Lunar Apples
Luna sat on a cloud high above Sweet Apple Acres, looking down on the landscape below.
She remembered this valley. So many, many years ago, before her… incident Luna had spent many a night flying over this valley. It was a lot different now, being plowed and all, but it was still the same old valley when it came down to it. She wasn’t surprised that a family had established their business and life here. The ground was so fertile Luna remembered a veritable forest of sunflowers springing up after a heavy rain fall.
But those sunflowers had been replaced with rows of corn, carrots, squashes, melons, and every kind of fruit or vegetable one might think to find here.
But more than fertile grounds had attracted the Apple family. There was a literal forest of apple trees surrounding the land. What had occurred naturally had been cultivated into the single biggest source of apples in Equestria.
Or at least, so Luna had been told.
The lunar goddess sighed. Such was one of the many problems with being imprisoned on a giant rock for a thousand years. So many things she had remembered with clarity were long since altered with the flow of history. When Luna had been banished, the grandest innovation of the time had been the printing machine.
She was thankful that though she remembered what had happened before she had become Nightmare-Moon, and a good portion of what had happened after her transformation, her time on the moon was a blur. She could recall flashes, like smashing a crater in the moon’s surface with her bare hooves, just to pass the time. Another fragment was when she had made a telescope to spy on the world below. More fragments told of how she had spent so much time adjusting it, improving it, making it more powerful. Another flash of her contemplating attaching a laser that was dismissed as pointless.
Another memory that was as clear as though it had happened yesterday was when a crate filled with books had arrived. It wasn’t long after her banishment, when she was still seething with rage, but it stood out because it had cracked the shell of her anger. It was an act of kindness she neither expected nor deserved, and yet she had been given it.
Along with the books there were quills, ink, and parchment. Luna had fragments of writing a great many things. It passed the time. It helped her cope. It softened the bloodthirsty beast.
Luna held no illusions about her state of mind at the time of her banishment. She would have killed Celestia without a thought. She would have slaughtered hundreds, thousands to cement her rule. She would have condemned the rest to a slow death by freezing with her endless night.
Luna felt a small smile on her lips as she recalled going over her grand scheme while imprisoned. She distinctly remembered writing: ‘Should the Night truly last forever, any living creature lacking the ability to live off the life essence of the universe itself would likely perish. Work out system to allow enough sunlight as to keep the populace from perishing. They tend to have trouble appreciating the beauty of the Night while dead.’
She had been so foolish.
Her journals were still on the moon, hidden away inside a tunnel were they would be safe until such a time as she would retrieve them. If she ever retrieved them. The earlier entries might be an insight into a truly deranged mind, but Luna was still trying to keep ponies from thinking she wanted to eat them.
There were a number of early passages that would definitely not help her in that regard. When she mentioned she was hungry enough to eat a horse last Nightmare Night, a few ponies looked like they had wet themselves in sheer panic.
Luna sighed and shook her head. There had been a thousand years for history to fade into legend and be twisted. A thousand years for cultures to evolve. A thousand years for the world she knew to be broken into a million pieces and reshaped into something unrecognizable.
But that wasn’t the thing that bothered her the most at all. What had easily been the worst part of her banishment had also carried over into her reformation and freedom.
To be blunt, Luna was lonely.
Sure she had actual, living, breathing ponies to talk to now, but there was a feeling of… emptiness within her. Luna felt a longing for more than just a friend. She wished to have somepony to hold close, to love, to cherish, to do all the things she could never do alone or with normal friends.
Luna could only imagine how much courting had changed in the past thousand years. She could never ask Celestia without having to deal with the solar goddess asking who she was interested in, making wild guesses and embarrassing implications. She could already hear Celestia skipping up and down the halls singing off-key about whomever she had decided was the object of Luna’s affections.
So, asking her fellow ruler was out of the question.
Luna’s foray into researching had been… less productive than had she desired. She also suspected that the ‘book’ she had been given had actually been pornography. Either that or showing up for a date wearing frilly undergarments and not much else is apparently the norm.
Luna shook her head. She knew enough of courting from before her time on the moon and had managed to pick up a few useful bits of information here and there since her return.
One such useful piece was that it was perfectly okay to have a royal consort as long as you weren’t parading the fact through the halls. Ponies apparently looked down on such behavior nowadays. Luna was discreet of course. Her consort was one of her loyal Night-Guards and none would ever question why one of them would be near her chambers.
Luna didn’t use her consort often, only when she needed some ‘release.’ But after spending a whole day thinking about the object of her affections and all the things they could do together. Well…
Banish her for another thousand years if that was a crime.
Still, thinking about her… ‘crush’ as it was called nowadays and actually speaking to her were two different things entirely. And spying on her from the air was a third thing. Probably best not to mention that part.
Luna kneaded the cloud with her forelegs while she recalled when she had come to Ponyville a few weeks ago.
Selene was a good cover name. This pair of red glasses was the best disguise that one could hope for. Oh, and a healthy dose of magic never hurt.
In truth, ‘Selene’ looked exactly like Luna, except for the red glasses of course. But such was the beauty of magic. A pony could look at her and see her cutie mark, her wings, and her horn and yet be unable to make the connection between all that and her being the Princess of the Moon. And so they would treat her just like every other pony they met.
And so, Selene went strolling through Ponyville, trying to catch any snippets of conversation that concerned a certain lunar goddess. And after walking around for an hour, she discovered not one mention of the princess of the moon. Selene began debating on whether or not she should be insulted, but ultimately decided to just not bother. So what if they weren’t talking about her, it was better than them saying horrible things, right?
Selene shook her head and strolled over to the market place, she was feeling hungry.
And that’s when she saw her.
Long, flowing hair like corn-silk kept in check by a red strip of cloth. A brown Stetson perched high on her head. Emerald green eyes that shone even in the day. A strong, luscious body. A healthy coat of a wonderful shade of orange. And, oh, the most adorable freckles.
“Can Ah help you?”
“Huh?” Selene replied dumbly.
“Can Ah help you? Ya seem like ya’re hungry.”
“Oh, right. Uh, what do you have?”
The orange earth pony tilted her head to the side. “Uh, apples.” she said, gesturing to the many apples stacked on either side of her. “And apple related products and accessories.” she added, brightening.
“Oh, of course.” Selene said, scrambling to maintain her composure. “I’ll just have an apple.”
“Two bits please.”
Money and apple were exchanged. As Selene bit into the crisp apple, its flavor and texture barely registered as she watched the earth pony begin conversing with another pony. She had seen this one before. When she had been… less agreeable.
How had she missed her then? How had she not seen this sparkling flower? Surly even Nightmare-Moon would be able to see a beauty such as this.
Selene left Ponyville not long after that. She simply couldn’t get that pony out of her thoughts. What was her name?
“Applejack.” Luna said softly to herself. “Look at you. So dirty from working so long and hard in the fields, plowing.” Luna paused and then grinned. “I am so glad no pony heard that.”
Sighing, she stood up and stretched her body. Sitting here all day had been fun before, but it was time Luna acted. It was time she was strong. It was time for her to go down there and politely ask Applejack on a date.
Casting a spell that bent light around her body to hide her from view, Luna leapt off the cloud and glided gracefully down to the farm below.
Applejack sighed and leaned the plow against the barn. She then walked over to a barrel of water and dunked her head inside, quickly pulling it back out. It was a tried and true method of cooling off after a long and hard day’s work.
Her ear twitched as she sensed a presence behind her. Turning around, Applejack saw nothing but slightly shimmering air.
Wait, what?
The shimmering air resolved itself into a smoking outline that gradually became filled in and more defined until it resolved itself into the shape of princess Luna.
“Hello, fair Applejack, how are you today?” Luna said as if she had only just walked up.
“Howdy princess.” Applejack inclined her head. “Ah’m alright. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but you did just appear out of thin air.”
Luna blushed. “You saw me?”
“Yep, some weird shimmerin’ air and then there ya were.”
“Well, I’m afraid I might have a taste for the dramatic.”
Applejack nodded. “So, is something wrong?”
“Oh, no Applejack, nothing is wrong.”
“So this is jus’ a friendly visit?”
Luna nodded.
Applejack brightened. “Well then, how ‘bout you come on in later and have dinner with us all. I’m sure the rest of the family will be happy to host a princess. And we can have some of Granny’s special Apple Pie.”
Luna smiled. “That does sound nice, but before that, perhaps we could go somewhere together?”
“Ya mean, like for a drink?”
Luna thought about that for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, exactly like that.”
Applejack smiled slyly. “Now just wait a minute, do ya mean a drink, or do ya mean a drink.”
“Um… the second one?”
Applejack grinned. “Well, alright then. We’ll have to go into town for that kind of drink. Granny went and drank the rest last week. And not at be rude, but ya might want to do that shimmer thing again. Rarity might have a heart attack if she saw ya.”
“Oh, no need.” Luna poofed her red glasses into existence and placed them on her face. “No pony will recognize me with these on.”
Applejack tilted her head. “Ya sure princess?”
“Oh I’m sure. And please, call me Luna.”
“Well, alright then, Luna. Let’s go get that drink.” Applejack laughed and she began trotting down the road to Ponyville.
Luna followed, wondering why Applejack kept saying drink like that.
