Star Shepherd

by Plaguemouse

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Other, Princess Luna, Tragedy, Slice of Life
Length: 8383

The Goddess of night has many duties.

Darling Shepherd, take us away,
from our nightmares, from the day.
May royal sister chase the sun,
and Luna dear from shadows run.

Looking for some editing. I will trade art for a good sturdy edit. Ask me in the comments.
Cover art is from http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Princess_Luna/Gallery

Published 2013-07-09 03:50:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-23 06:41:18 UTC

Light her way

"Her fever has gotten worse," the doctor said stoically. The mare beside him stifled a sob.

"How can it get worse? Her little body is already so hot," she said in a quiet voice, nudging the doctor aside to hover close to her young filly. The sight of her alone brought another torrent of tears streaming down her eyes.

The filly's mane, once a shining downy blue, was greasy and plastered to her face with cold sweat. Her coat was dull, damp, and radiated warmth from the high fever. The raging heat of her body could be felt from a foot away; it was like standing next to a furnace. With her hoof, the mare gently pushed a strand of errant hair from her daughter's face. For a moment her daughter's eyes flickered open at the touch. Her dull and listless amethyst orbs, clouded by fever and pain, stared blankly and then closed again as if the simple effort of opening them had sapped what little energy her diseased body had left. Her mother kissed her burning brow and rose from her bedside. With a nod, the doctor lowered his head and with a soft glow of magic cast a spell. Wordlessly the two adults left the room.

"That should keep her asleep for a while," the doctor reported. "It should at least make her more comfortable."

"Doctor Clearwater," the mare started, casting him a desperate glance. "Is there any chance that..." Her voice trailed off desperately.

Doctor Clearwater had trained for years to be a doctor, but now he felt like an undertaker; he felt bitter that this mare would even make him say it. She knew as well as he that Windflower would not live. As if hearing it from him would make it any easier! The doctor sighed and turned from her, unwilling to meet those desperate eyes. "As I told you before, her body is poisoning itself. Illnesses like this are difficult, ma'am. At this stage there is not a good chance. There are worse odds than a coin toss."

He forced himself to look into this grieving mare's eyes, to face this mother's pain and wrath and misplaced hopefulness. It was a contact he could not bear to keep long. Even without looking he knew the twinkle of hope that was gleaming in Feather Leaf's eye; after all, a bad chance is still a chance, right? Don't make me say it, you bitch, he thought. Don't make me condemn this child for your sake. Let me save my soul. Damnit, damnit, damnit.

He turned back on Feather Leaf fiercely. "Ma'am, while there is a slim chance that SOME ponies survive this, it would be unethical of me to lead you to believe that your daughter has that chance. If she were older, stronger, she may have come out of this. But her body is destroying itself, and it is too small and too young to fight back. I am sorry."

Feather Leaf stood speechless and for a moment she looked calm, even beautiful. The deep circles under her eyes only seemed to exaggerate their radiant blue. Even puffy and red, they shone out with a stunning expressiveness. Her mane, nearly as ragged as her daughter's, fell messily around her face in a way that was oddly alluring. Even her misery was tragically beautiful. The spell was broken as she silently sunk to the floor, melting into a wreck inch by inch until she was completely destroyed; she was a mare who was about to lose everything. Silently she began to sob: real, deep tears of unfathomable sadness. If only she had recognized the early signs, if only the doctor had diagnosed Windflower quicker, if only the infection had not spread to her blood in the first place. If, if, if. Outside the night had fallen unnoticed and a cold October breeze whistled through the trees. It was a cold night, and everypony was inside, oblivious of the mare and the stallion quietly mourning a filly who still lay living in the next room over.

Doctor Clearwater sighed and scooped Feather Leaf onto his back, carrying her into the bedroom with her daughter. Feather Leaf was limp and made no motion against him. She only reacted once deposited onto the bed, only to curl up beside her unconscious filly. Her body was assaulted with silent, miserable sobs that shook the bed, but did not disturb the sick child. The doctor observed this and sighed. Lowering his head he cast his simple sleep spell on Feather Leaf. Maybe she will have a bit of peace, he thought as he settled down for his night watch. And maybe I will too.

**********************

Windflower paced in darkness. It was an oppressive place, hot and dark, and she was afraid, desperately so. She had tried before to call out for her mother, but her voice would not come to her. And so she wandered.

Days and weeks and years went by all in the blink of an eye. She could not see a single thing, but she felt she was in the Everfree forest. Sometimes she thought she could hear the howling of the timber wolves, but it was only silence playing tricks. How long she wandered and why she eventually stopped she could not say, but there came a point in which she was too terrified to go on, as something terrible would happen if she took that single step forward. She thought about turning back, but in her heart she knew she wasn't allowed. The only option was forward, and yet something about the dark here was darker. She couldn't do it. She was too afraid, so she sat down and wept. For a moment it was only her, weeping into the darkness in fear of the unknown, but then a voice, a real true voice bubbled up alongside her like a spring in the desert: calm, cool, and soothing.

"Child, why do you weep so?"

Windflower started and turned around. Behind her had appeared a figment of regal beauty, the night's splendor embodied. "Princess Luna?" asked Windflower. "What are you doing here?"

The princess smiled. "To learn why it is that our beloved subject weeps so bitterly."

Windflower's tear swollen eyes widened and she cast her gaze back forward. "It's the darkness. I am scared to go on."

The princess dropped to her knees and enveloped the filly in her dark wings, gently pushing her so they faced directly. The princess smiled softly, a smile that filled Windflower with all the peace and calm of the night. She felt cool grass beneath her hooves and heard the symphony of crickets and night birds.

"Fear not the dark, my child. The dark may shroud the world in mystery, but there is nothing in the dark that cannot be discovered, uncovered, or understood." The princess of the night then rose to her full height, and with a motion of her head the darkness exploded into the night sky, bedecked with the dazzling lights of a million, million stars, brighter and more brilliant than Windflower had ever seen in her life.

"Behold, Windflower, the majesty of our night, and be not afraid of the darkness before you. To wait here, afraid of what you do not know, of what you cannot know, is folly. Every bright day ends with darkness. You must continue your bravery and strength to the end."

Windflower looked up at the princess, and for the first time in her short life felt completely at ease, beyond anything she had ever imagined possible. "You are right, Princess. I do not know where I am going, but I have to keep going. It's time for me to stop being afraid."

Standing tall, Windflower shook her mane and wiped her tears. Casting the Princess one more brisk glance, she faced the endless darkness and proceeded forward. Luna stood still and watched as the filly dissipated into the darkness, and one more brilliant star was born in her sky.

***********

Twilight enveloped the land as Luna alighted on the balcony to her chambers. The moon was lowered, and even now her royal sister would be preparing to raise the sun onto another glorious day. Somewhere below those ivory towers, a filly would not wake to see it. Luna sighed and shook off her crown. This morning its weight pestered her.

How the ponies loved her sister, and how they basked in her glory. Blessed Celestia never had to be alone. Glorious Celestia never had to fly among the endless nightmares of her subjects. Perfect Celestia never had to ease the passing of a child in her sleep. Luna sighed, and shook angry tears from her sapphire eyes, wondering exactly how many stars shone in that dark sky.

Author's Note

This would be my very first fanfiction ever. So, how did I do? I like to think this takes place pre-nightmare moon.

Thank you to Love me Oppa for the editing help!

Fourth edit. Lets see if I get it right this time.

Illumination

Illumination

Slowly Luna sank to her knees under the weight of a burden that was so much more than she could then bear. Closing her eyes, she opened her heart and felt each of her subjects slip away from her towards her sister's day. One by one their dreams were extinguished like candles in a wind. So many nightmares unrelieved, so many fears left to fester in the dark corners. There were simply too many to chase away. Luna felt like a worn mother resigned to her children's screams; she could not possibly kiss the ghosts away from them all in one night. This insistent fact destroyed her inside. Her subjects were out there beyond her reach hurting, frightened, alone, dying, crying for help to ears that could not possibly listen to them all. How could she possibly choose? This was not how her beautiful night was meant to be.

She covered her face with her hoof, willing herself to sleep on the floor, but unable to divorce herself from the dying lights fading in her mind, the hearts of her subjects waking and forsaking her. But then, just as she resigned herself, a new burst grew, so close that it might have even been in the castle. She felt as a beautiful dream grew within the heart of one of her blessed subjects, denying celestial day! Luna rose to her feet, coat bristling in excited triumph. She had not been awake alone, and even in sleep this pony dreamed of beauty and not of ugliness or fear! This was a glorious dream and Luna meant to see it, to meet this equestrian who denied the seduction of the Sun!

Luna focused and became insubstantial, allowing herself to be pulled towards this dream. She needed this after the previous night. She needed to be reminded of other things than nightmares and children dying in their sleep. She needed to know someone loved her night. As she fell into the dream she was initially confused. This was indeed the castle, or how it had once been a year prior. She was standing in the royal scriptorium, which had been discontinued by her sister last summer upon the adoption of a brilliant new invention: movable press.

Books could be created much faster than by hoof copying now, and thus the royal scriptorium became the royal publishers. It had been a good option. Books could be distributed more widely, and control of the publishing guaranteed continued control of the media and that which the public consumed. History could be more widely spread, and Celestia could keep dangerous magic from being commonly available. The loss of the scriptorium was a blow worth taking.

Still, how strange that a pony would dream of it, she thought, especially considering how few actually ever saw it. Furthermore, Luna could not understand the joy of this dream. It was merely an empty workshop. Nonetheless she continued further, past racks of drying parchment and abandoned work desks. Then she felt it.

Joy, golden, radiating joy whose warmth rivaled her sister's sun, brilliant and spilling like liquid mirth through the cracks in the far door frame. The Princess approached, and the door burst open before her without a touch to a room singing with light and such joy!

At the center of the room, leaning heavily on a drafter’s desk was a paint-stained unicorn, placidly directing at least forty pieces of parchment at one time all around the room with her magic and bathing the entire space in an intoxicatingly welcoming light. Images emblazoned the pale parchment as they flew past her eyes, pictures that danced with color and crisp pure beauty, details too numerous to absorb in the half seconds of their airborne journey from desk to drying rack. Among the papers, pens and inks and paints and brushes floated wildly about as the mare deftly applied strokes and images to paper. Though no words or sounds were made, this joy of joys rang clear with its own music. For this moment, Luna was happy just to bask in this mare's simple happiness of working, and for many moments that is all either did, until the artist noticed she was no longer alone.

"Princess!" she cried, but even still continuing her work. "I was not expecting you. You have come to see the progress of your royal highness's latest commission, yes?"

Luna smiled, and decided to play along. "Yes, my subject. We would love to see thy progress." With a wide smile the mare nodded and several pieces of parchment pulled themselves from the racks to hover before the princess.

Before her hung illustrations—no, illuminations—of the highest caliber. The lines flowed effortlessly across the page and the colors danced within her heart: manes flowed, fur rippled, eyes sparkled, and every inch breathed in a manner all too familiar; she had seen these very illustrations before, in a tome commissioned by her sister to commemorate their victory against Discord. When presented the book, Luna had lazily leafed through it, assuming she would not gain anything by dwelling on events she had been present for. At that time she had paid little heed to the illustrations inside, and she realized now how disrespectful that had been.

Luna looked up at the mare before her who had wrought such beauty. Her coat was pale, the color of old parchment. Her face was plump and jovial, framed by wild indigo locks that seemed to bounce and vine like climbing ivy. Luna had never seen a pony more blissfully happy before. This is the corner stone of the Equestrian Utopia we have wrought, Luna thought happily. Despite all the trials and tribulations they may face, ponies here are free to live off their passions while en-wrapped in a cradle of harmony and peace, and are free to create good works from their own two hooves. She smiled wide, a genuine, girlish (Somewhat un-princess like) smile. "These are exquisite, Miss...?"

"Inkstar, Head Illuminator," the unicorn responded without missing a beat. "Thank you, your Highness. It is an honor to be working for the crown." Luna smiled, and opened her mouth to relinquish further praise, when she suddenly found herself melting from the room back into her chambers.

The dream was dying. Inkstar was waking up.

*******************

Several minutes later Luna was trotting jauntily down to what was now the Royal Publishers, located on the more public western quarter. Her eyelids were heavy, but her heart flew, and she had it in her mind to commission another book from that joyful artist. It did not take her long to get there, and soon she stood at the threshold. It was not how the dream portrayed it. No longer did desks and ink and parchment fill the room, instead it was dominated by a series of heavy presses manned by large, burly stallions, bleary-eyed from such an early start. Many stopped and bowed their respects to the Princess. After a moments confusion somepony approached her.

"Good morning, your highness," bowed a thickly built red stalltion, "I am Master Printer RueFold. Is there anything I can do for you this day?"

Luna cast him a non-committal show of the royal teeth. "We are looking for the Illuminator known as Inkstar. Where may we find her?"

RueFold crinkled his nose. "I hope you are here to evict her. I know she lived here before, your highness, but we could really use the extra room. With all due respect, we can't figure out what to do with her now that we have switched to print. She just takes up space." Luna's ears fell back to her head as RueFold turned, leading her on to the back. "She should be in her studio room."

Before her stood the same room in the dream, but the closer Luna drew to it, the more she realized that in reality it was not happiness that seeped through these cracks, but instead some distasteful odor. Reluctantly, Luna pushed her way inside. The entire room reeked, of what Luna could not place. Papers littered the floor, shattered ink bottles and dried paints stacked up in little piles at her feet among countless empty bottles. Luna lowered her head to examine a peeling label.

!!!!Grandpappy Flam's Miracle Elixer!!!
The Potent
"Tincture of Opium."
Curative for all ailments, big and small! Satisfaction Guaranteed!
Ingredients imported from finest Saddle Arabian sources!

Luna's heart skipped a beat. Laudanum. A common street remedy for every pain you can think of, with the offset of being absurdly addictive and easy to overdose on. She had been begging her sister to outlaw it since it first gained popularity among the lower class. Luna's spine tingled. She remembered how much joy the dream Inkstar had derived from work, but the studio didn't need her anymore. What does a pony do when unable to fulfill her destiny, the very thing that is applauded as the single most important aspect to Equestrian life? Luna took another glance at the bottles for her answer.
Slowly she made her way through the mess, searching carefully for Inkstar, expecting the worst but praying for the best. She was not prepared for what she found.

Inkstar lay in a pile of filthy parchment, curled up under her drafting desk. Her plump frame was emaciated and crumpled, her fur lackluster, stained and missing patches, exposing scabby skin underneath. In her hoof was a half-empty bottle of Laudanum, spilling onto her gaunt face. Luna gently pulled her out from underneath the desk and checked her pulse. She had not been expelled out of the dream because Inkstar had woken.

Author's Note

Thank you again to Love me Oppa for help editing this chapter!

This is probably the lease favorite chapter I have written. :s

Wrongs

A chill pierced through the Goddess's spine at the sight of her subject. She felt a wave of something rising with in her. Calling upon her magic, she pulled the body from under the desk, and sweeping away the endless bottles, laid her out in the open. With solemn grace, she pushed her onto her back and folded her hooves over her stilled heart. Slipping off a silver slipper, with a bare hoof she pushed back the unicorn's indigo locks from her face, and leaning over pressed a silent kiss on her cooling brow. How like a mother kissing her foal goodnight!

Sleep right, sleep tight, goodnight, goodnight, be you winged or horned or hooved, sleep tight.

Wordlessly, Luna reclaimed her shining shoe and slipped out the door into the lighted bustling room. Perhaps it was her demeanor or perhaps it was nothing, but the ponies fell silent as their dark Princess reentered the room. She looked upon them, her face passive. Silently, like a night breeze she unfurled her pinions from her side so that all present knew the weight of her words and her power as an Alicorn Princess.

"We leave now" she bellowed in the deep heraldic voice of her station. "See to it that the unicorn Inkstar is attended to Immediately."

Her royal posture did not falter until she had left the scriptorium far behind, and even then, not until she could no longer hear the hustle and bustle in the distance. Not until no eye was present to see did the pain show, etched on the brow of their Princess's elegant face. There was a wrongness here. Luna knew it, as clearly as she knew the fatigue creeping into her bones. She paced the endless marble halls of her castle home, wandering an endless loop towards her bed she knew she would not reach. There was a wrongness here.

It filled her stomach and turned it's empty caverns into a writhing mass of bile and terror. It slithered up her spine like a wicked serpent, biting hold of her skull with it's wicked maw. There was something terribly, horribly wrong. Her subjects suffered before her, and even with the powers of a God she was impotent against it. A child died in her sleep, and all she could do was help her pass. Through her fevered dreams she had heard the doctor, her mother, powerless against the infection that had spread in her body, the only comfort to give was sleep.

And the unicorn Inkstar, so wronged by the world, so lost, seeking the peace of dreams through opiates to banish her from the real world, only to die by that which gave her escape. Were they the only ones, she might could understand. But no! No. There were so many, night after night. Dying children, pained hearts hiding, dark night terrors all eclipsed the unlimited perfect potential of dreams, and all falling on the shoulders of the Dark Princess.

Why was her night an escape? Why was her night abused, the pain of her sister's day thrust upon her innocent beautiful night? She had not designed dreams to hide reality. She had given them as a gift, let the earth bound fly! Let the colors flow, the imagination soar! Let the minds of her subjects continue to play even as they slept through her night! Her subjects would dream about her, live more fully, more richly here than they ever could in Celestia's day! So why was her dream world marred with nightmares? Why did ponies use it to hide instead of explore? It was not right. The day was Celestia's domain, as she so proudly claimed it. Luna stood beside her subjects in the dark of their worst nightmares. She saw their crying fearful faces, heard their tearful cries, felt each of their names stained forever on her lips. Why not Celestia?

Celestia. Goddess of the sun. Why shouldn't the all powerful Celestia stand by her subjects as they die and cry and hurt? Why shouldn't Celestia help fix it? Luna smiled broadly, not realizing she had simply stopped dead in the hallway. She will help fix the pain of nightmares by helping Celestia fix the pain of the day. In a second, the moon Goddess was in full canter towards the throne room.

*************

Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun, ruler of all Equestria and it's inhabitants reclined recumbent on a velvet throne of polished gold. Her coat, so white and pure in it's radiance seemed to glow in inner light, bounced it's reflection off the priceless chair, creating a million million delicate reflective lights about her, like a halo surrounding a serephian being.
Before her bowed a stallion, speaking fervently about pointless court related things, at least pointless to Celestia. The concerns of a mortal politician were mere dust motes in the mind of an immortal Sun God. It should be enough for him to merely bask in her glory.

Yes indeed. All hail Celestia, ruler on High. Princess, Goddess, Mother to all the short lived waifs that flashed before her. Their complete adoration brought a wry smile to the serene Deity's face. A smile that did not live long. With a thunderous boom, a great magical wave forced itself through the heavy doors, and in trotted Luna, sweat condensing on her brow like some peasant.

"Sister. We must speak with the at once."

Celestia blinked, showing no emotion on her placid face. "Princess Luna." she said insistently, her voice never rising, never breaking the level of a calm coo. "You should be sleeping. Your rule has passed with the night."

Luna furrowed her brow. "There are things we must insist we speak of. Things that effect the peace of my night as well as your day."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what could that possibly be?" she cast a look towards the now frightened dignitary as if sharing a private joke.

Luna caught the gesture, and stomped a silver clad hoof in frustration. "The citizens are using my night as an escape. Escape from pain in the day, emotional and physical."

"And what exactly do you propose I do about that, Luna?"

"We think the ponies lack any medical arts other than the natural and a few odd sleeping spells. Infections are dangerous, but you know they are treatable. " she paused, the filly from the night entering her thoughts. "We just helped pass another Filly tonight. So many foals have been dying, Celestia. So many others are relying on street remedies. Opiates, and addictive numbing medicines. We found a unicorn overdosed on Laudanum just this morning. "

Luna paused. The air between them became stagnant before Celestia deemed the time worthy for a reply.

"And what would you have me do about this."

Luna beamed. "We must help them, Tia. All that we can. Give them a happy day and happy dreams as well. We need to outlaw the production of those addictive remedies like opiates, and in return teach physician unicorns spells to help treat the ill so the remedies aren't needed in the first place. And maybe...if you gave us a few more hours of night, we could reach more ponies in their dreams to try and sooth them."

Celestia, face still stoicly perfect and beautiful, stood. Her mane, flowing lithe ethereal strands dancing with delicate color fanned out behind her, whipping about like a heavenly storm of light.

"And how, Princess Luna, do you exactly intend to help these emotional pains you spoke of? Will you be visiting every sad pony in equestria, as you did this overdosing unicorn this morning? Yes I know of her."

"We-"

Celestia, stepping down from her throne, cut her off

"And HOW Princess Luna, would you go about educating these unicorns? Would you teach them yourself? Would you issue magic books to the populace? Do you not remember the danger of uncontrolled unicorn magic? Have you forgotten Sombre?"

"But sister thats-"

Celestia approached her sister, cutting her off again.

"AND JUST HOW, Princess Luna, do you expect me to pull these folk remedies off the streets when so many ponies make their livlihoods from their growth, their production, their sale? Do you really expect they will be surrendered so easily?"

"We could-"

"AND HOW, PRINCESS, do you expect me do give you more night? Would you sacrifice another hour of time that could be helping to grow food for your subjects?"

"We didn't think-"

"AND YOU NEVER DO."

The horror of this exchange was the calm on Celestia's face. It had never faltered. Luna found herself weak at the knees, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

The same look of passive calm was still etched on Celestia's face as she took the last steps towards her sister. Opening her wing, she pulled the younger alicorn to her body in a calming gesture. Luna nuzzled her elder sister's coat.

"I...I am sorry sister." she said quietly.

"There, there, Luna. You didn't know any better. This is why I am the one to rule the day. You must understand, Luna. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I will do what I can, as I always do, but ponies are slow to give up old ways. Now you go along to sleep, I will wake you when it is time to raise the moon."

Luna turned, red hot anger and embarrassment and shame burning on her cheeks. But sleep does sound nice, she thought as she left the throne room. Slowly, ever so slowly, she made for her chambers, Step by step, Inch by inch, resigning herself to second best, the younger sister, the one who didn't know better. She found herself lost in her thoughts, and barely realized she had stopped in front of an open terrace window. Her eyes, glazed over with contemplation vaguely watched the still early sun in the sky, took in the brilliant green mountains and hills. Barely thinking, she pulled herself out the window and took flight.

Author's Note

There is another chapter. :s

Thank you to everyone commenting and faving! <3 Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine anyone would even read this at all! I really appreciate your support, and hope you liked this new chapter!

Moonrise

The frigid wind felt like feathered ice on her coat as the wind rushed over her, exalting her, worshiping her as she willed herself higher and higher. She was a princess of air and it her faithful servant just as it was to any pegasus. But unlike a Pegasus, masters of the skies each, she was more- so very much more.

"And she deserved more. "

No. Dismissing that thought forcefully, she flew higher through the cloud cover, away from the mountain city into a world of cotton earth and azure fields of sky. Through this strange alien landscape she glided, ever so gently and powerfully as her sister's sun danced on her coat and relaxing her straining muscles as she left miles and thoughts far behind her. With the passing of hours her vision softened like the cottony cloud below her, and the All Powerful Princess of Night felt anew the night's tariff calling her out. In a haze of half sleep she felt the soft kiss of a thought, like a memory of a dream put to song in the voice of a goddess; she heard her sister's sweet voice sing out a long forgotten tune.

Darling sister sleep away,
Your moon as set for one more day.
Let big sister raise the sun,
Darling Luna, precious one.

Unwilled tears welled up in the eyes of the goddess and fell to the earth, forgotten drops of rain falling on ground unworthy of celestial sorrow. Gradually those eyes closed and no more tears fell, and when those eyes closed ceased too the strain of muscles and the beating of feathered wings, and sleep stole away it's long overdo child. Luna plummeted, not unlike a dark angel falling from heaven's bosom. She did not fall far however, for the blanket of clouds caught her so softly, she did not even awake. The cloud, a careful host, hoisted it's burden away, away, silent and steady as clouds do.

***************

The Goddess awoke gently, as goddesses should. The bed of clouds had cradled her into a marvelous sleep undisturbed by pony or beast, god or devil alike. All is well after sleep, thought the Princess Luna as she looked up into her bejeweled sky. Her heart skipped a beat.

"My sky....." she said, looking up at the radiant sheet of black over her head. A million million pinpricks of light from her stars lit up the endless fathoms of the darkness, surrounding her glorious full orbed moon. Celestia had risen her moon without her. Celstia had raised HER moon, and HER brilliant stars, and begun HER glorious night without HER.

Cold, panicked anger flushed though Luna's blood. Jealousy and rage and anger assaulted the immortal princess of night before crashing into a wave of despair that nearly choked her. Outspread her wings and she fled her high perch, down, down down, into the forest that was below her so she could hide from the stolen sky, and seek comfort in the shadows. As she alighted down upon the soft forest floor she collapsed in every way possible. Sobs shook her body and she willed herself to be consumed by the earth, consumed by the dark, and the dark listened.

She could not see it, but she could feel it. The presence of a lack of presence, an oppressing unoppressiveness tickling her subconscious with it's unobtrusive tendrils. Then she heard it, or rather felt it. It was more the suggestion of sound rather than actual noise, but it's seductive tones rang clear in her heart, clearer and yet more ambiguous than any sound or feeling, it was a song whose notes and lyrics were as insubstantial as breath but hit Luna as hard as the most solid stone:

Darling Goddess wake right away,
Your moon was stolen this dark day.
So let Royal Sister miss her sun,
Darling Luna, make her run.

Luna's heart pounded a tattoo against her chest. "What are you." she whispered, tears still lining her eyes. When it did not answer, she stood. "ANSWER US. WE COMMAND THEE."

Whispering nothingness pressed around her in the dark. And she felt it. She felt the existing and the non existing and the living and dying and the secrets. She felt the eternity of pre-birth, and she felt the permanence of death that came after. She felt the everything and the nothing, she felt it deep inside her and all around her, and she felt it bow to her as her servant. She felt it, and she felt like the dying filly. She was afraid, afraid of this thing and the unknown that it represented, even as she knew she rules it and indeed existed as it and within it. She felt the dark, and the dark felt her back.

Her breathing had become hard and fast, and suddenly her beautiful night became oppressive. "WHAT....WHAT DOES though WA-want w-with...us?" she called. She waited for the wretched not-answer of sudden realization and secret insinuation. She waited for her doom to come to her in a diddy. This did not come.

"WHO'S OUT THERE." came a voice, a real, true voice from the curtain of trees. "I'M WARNING YOU. I GOT'S A RAKE!"

Author's Note

Forgive me for taking so long. :s My mom and I just moved to be closer to her work, and the new house it in way need of work, so it's been a really exhausting couple of weeks.

As always, thank for you reading, commenting and faving, and I hope everyone likes this chapter. :D I can't believe I have over 100 views on this thing!

Moonset

The Goddess of the Sun sat wilted on her high throne, not so glorious and fresh as her regal token even now hid beyond the dark mountains. The princess was beyond her borders, and fell farther and farther from her kingdom with each passing minute of night. Tired amethysts gleamed dully from her eyes and sternly surveyed the pegasus on front of her.

Powerful and lithe, he stood fiercely erect, his strange leathery wings tucked tightly against the lavender stained leather of his armor. This was the captain of the Night Guard, a member of Luna’s personal army, and a member of a pony race so ancient it was closer to myth than an actual surviving species.

Even Celestia wasn’t excessively knowledgeable. She had heard that to look them in the eye caused a life of bad luck. She had heard they steal virgins in the night to drink their blood. She had heard their severed limbs were used to summon the servants of discord. She had heard many things, whisperings of peasants and the superstitions of the uneducated masses. Things that she had heard about these ponies could fill a thousand libraries, but the things she knew encompassed a single fleeting moment.

These ponies followed Luna, as their goddess, their sister, their mother. The Princess did not blame them. A generation prior, the Sorcerer Sombre had destroyed an Empire and disappeared without a trace. Even as Celestia poured over the frozen wastes for a single fleeting glint of crystal, Luna found and freed the forgotten, starving slave race the wicked unicorn had left. Celestia remembered their starved, emaciated forms as they streamed from rusted manacles and filthy, excrement filled caves, and she remembered Luna carrying skeletal children on her back when they could not themselves walk.

Luna had always had a softness for the children.

“Princess Celestia” The guard said quietly, his deep voice bordering on panic. “My stallions have searched the entirety of the castle grounds and the outlying farmlands. Our Princess is nowhere to be found.”

Princess Celestia’s breath held unremittingly in her chest.

“I shouldn’t have been so hard on her.”

“Ma’am?”

Celestia shook her weary head. “Expand the search all the way to the village of Canterlot. Comb the forest, every damned mile.”

“The Everfree, Princess?”

“Is that what they are calling it?” she sighed. “Cover as much ground as you can. Do not rest until she is found.”

The captain bowed low and retreated out of the throne room into the night. The Princess slumped in her throne casting her eyes to a stained glass panel, barely illuminated by moonlight. Her eyes swam over the glass image of her missing sister, standing tall beside her as an equal.

“Oh Sister,” she sighed. “What can I do.”

__________________________________________________

“I’ll stab ye with my rake iffin yer thinkin anything funny!”

The absurdity of the threat momentarily shocked Luna out of her panic. With the cracking of many twigs and the shuffle of leaves, the wielder of the threat (and presumably the rake) entered the clearing. It was a stallion, whose old and sagging flesh bristled with filament fur flecked with the white of age.
Even his cutie mark had faded and greyed to the point it was hard to see. Vaguely Luna wondered if eventually that mark would be completely gone if allotted enough time, and if the old stallion would become as bare as a colt. How like the silence of death to the dark of pre-birth that would be! And if a Pony's worth is the culmination of the use of their talent, are not the years before a talent is discovered and the old age at which talents can no longer be controlled not like nonexistence themselves?
The old stallion wobbled closer, a rake indeed strapped to his worn and oft-patched saddlebags. "I'm warning you! I may be old, but steel can still pierce flesh no matter who it's master is!"
Luna righted herself to her full royal height, and extended a hoof toward to accept the greeting of her citizen formally, but withdrew as he drew closer.
His movements were not right, too careful and measured. His long, jowled face was turned away from her, even as he threatened her. And most importantly, despite his ever closing presence on her, he did not know her. Even as the...less loved of the Royals, her visage was known as an eternal truth. She could not be mistaken for any other being in all of Equestria.
Except he was blind, and had no idea he was in the presence of a God.

Luna swallowed this truth, and chose to bow to it. Gods and Demons were well known to take the guise of mortals, and if her cowl was this stallion’s blindness, then she would make it a worthy disguise.

“We are sorry, Uncle. We were merely lost.” Luna said.

“We? There ain’t no more of ye.”

“I... I’m sorry.” Luna stammered, but after a second’s thought continued. “How do you know there aren’t more?”

The stallion snorted. “I can feel yer weight on the ground, through the earth. Yer a heavy one, but I don’t begrudge a gal her sweets. If there was a pegasus flying about, they'd be easy enough to hear. Never stop flapping those damn daft wings of theirs.” The earth pony scowled, but nonetheless nosed his vicious farm instrument to a less threatening downward position. “Whats a mare doing in the dark by herself? Don’t ye know it ain’t proper or safe? There be monsters in this damned country, no matter what the soldiers claim.”

“I was sleeping on a cloud. I fell off.” Luna said truthfully.

“A pegasus, eh? It’s a wonder ye can get off the ground with yer size, no offence miss. Since yer here anyway, come inside the cottage. I’ll boil ye a bit of tea to wake ye up so ye can fly home.” the stallion paused. “What’s yer name, young filly?”

“Windflower.” Luna said after a pause. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to lie.

“I’m Woundwort.” The stallion growled, and led the princess forward.

********************************************************

The old stallion’s cottage turned out to be just beyond the next few trees, camouflaged in the dark by walls so roughcut they still grew ardent sprigs. It now made sense how quickly the Earth Pony had reacted. Luna had, for all intents and purposes fallen in his back yard!

Luna approached the building with trepidation, but ultimately was prompted entry by a feeling of obligation and pity. But as she bowed her head to pass the low doorframe, pity turned to guilt.

This was not the shack of a helpless old pony, but rather the home of an innovator, of a survivor. Every inch of the cottage was carefully crafted for optimal use, eyes be damned. Surfaces were sculpted and carefully textured with patterns that insinuated size, distance, height. Useful tools and items were stored and organized with an obsessive perfection even the compulsive courtiers would have envied.

And in this humble place devoid of pomp and decoration, the blind stallion was king. Gone was his awkward gate, replaced by a youthful ease of movement that sent the old pony in a flurry of movement around the room. Luna sat at the dining table (on the ground, for there was only one chair) and watched the stallion build up the fire in the oven to boil tea.

Soon enough, the fire was crackling pleasantly and the cheery whistle of the kettle filled the space with it’s shrill notes, and the blind stallion carefully poured one, two, and then three old mismatched teacups full of boiling water, chased by pinch of loose tea from an old tin.

The trip to the table took three turns, carrying the teacups one by one carefully clutching each one in his teeth and setting them on the table. Luna looked down at the chipped blue teacup he had set in front other, and used a small breath of magic to stir the seeping leaves. She felt at ease.

“Is it that you are expecting someone?” she asked, looking at the two other cups. One was thick and tea-stained, and looked to be one of those worn but prized pieces used day in and day out, familiar and trusty. The other was delicate, thin as an eggshell with painted filigree on the sides. It was well loved, and chipped but obviously carefully cared for and special.

The old stallion eased himself stiffly onto the hard chair, drawing his tea towards him. “Not likely. But an old stallion can hope, and be ready in case one day she does.”

Woundwort’s blind eyes shone with light from the dim stove fire, and Luna felt her heart leap at the idea of secret romances from old, care-withered hearts. “Who is she?” after a pause.

Woundwort stared his unseeing gaze at nothing in particular, holding his cup of tea poised under his lips, occasionally blowing gently to cool the liquid. His muscles gradually clenched in the back of his neck, and in his withered limbs.

“You are too young to remember the Crystal War.”

“It is six decades past.” said Luna, indeed remembering.

“I was a young stallion when I joined the volunteer army. I was a medic.”

“The volunteer army was repeatedly told to disband.” Luna murmured. “The lives of the citizens were too precious to be ... to be....”

“Cast into certain death.” He finished, chuckling. “We knew what we were doing. And it didn’t matter. We would have all thrown ourselves into Tartarus for the Princesses, and we damned well wouldn’t let them fight Sombre alone. Even if we all died, we were going te stand by our Princesses, like they stood by us in the Years of Chaos. Besides, most of us had little else to lose. Death means nothing, if you have nothing.”

“And you?”

Woundwort was quiet for a long time. “I had a family once. Mother and father....and young wife. Earthstar. ”

Woundwort’s voice wandered away. Luna’s heart was pounding sickeningly with the memory of bloody battlefields, and the seemingly endless chaos. “What happened?” she asked.

“She died. They all died. Slowly and painfully when the ground was tainted by damned crystal. Nothing would grow, and they starved to death. I only barely survived.” Woundwort’s deep voice was shaking. “It was the Princesses. They spirited the survivors south, and I volunteered on the road for the army, and galloped right back north.

I was angry. I wanted revenge. I wanted....I don’t even remember what in Tarterus I wanted, but I thought I could get it by fighting, by healing. It was late in the war my contingent stumbled on Sombre and the Princesses themselves, in what I suppose was the final battle of the war.

I was right in the thicket. I saw the light of the Elements, and the thick, greasy darkness of the King. I felt the stray blasts from their magic, like fire on my body, and I saw the Crystal empire fade away, and take my eyes with it.”
Luna’s stomach plummeted, and Woundwort continued.
“Darkness is unbearable for a thing like me, who lived their life in light. I started to hate. I hated SOmbre, and the war, and the Empire, but Epecially I hated the princesses. I hated them for not coming sooner when we were starving, for not saving my Earthstar. I hated them for the war, and for allowing that damn bearded arch mage to corrupt in the first place. I hated so viciously and completely, that my own mind became as dark as the rest of the world seemed But then something beautiful happened.”

The Stallion did his best to turn his face to Luna. His eyes were streaming and red, but his lips were tightened in a defiant smile.

“She came to me.”

“Who?” she said breathlessly, sick with guilt and overwhelmed with memories. “Who was it.”

“It was Princess Luna.” the stallion said, so quietly. “She came to me in my dreams, and led me like a shepherd out of the darkness into a perfect field of stars, and then with a sweep of her horn everything returned, everything came back to me! The sky, the grass, the trees, and my precious Earthstar! I could see them! She gave them back to me that night, and in every night since. She gave me everything I lost to keep safe in my dreams.
And one night, I hope she will come again so I can thank her. So I can tell her I am sorry for hating her all those years ago, and so she knows how much her kindness means to an old, blind, worthless stallion.”

Luna was surprised to find herself crying, gently. A thousand variants of pride and sorrow assaulted her until she realized what needed to be done. She had to return to the castle. Gently, she rose from her seat and drew closer to the old stallion. With a vague wave of her horn, he slumped slowly to sleep on the table. Her lips pressed against the wiry fur of the stallion’s brow.

“She knows.” she whispered, and after downing two cups of tea, was off.

**************************************

Hours later and miles away, Princess Celestia stood staring at the moon, counting the seconds until the dawn. She had no particular love of controlling her sister’s moon. It was, afteral, her sister’s magic. Celestia could bully the moon to sink behind the mountains, but with every inch she pushed it, she felt a corruption grow. It disgusted her.

The seconds flew, and Celestia raised her head to lower the moon, only to find the celestial orb already caught in motion. She felt the warm presence of her sister fall in beside her, and together they brought the dawn.

The sisters watched as all of Equestria fell into light, from the halls and caves surrounding the castle, all the way to the newly constructed Canterlot, shining like a jewel on the far mountain, and far beyond.

“I was worried, sister.” Said the dully shining Goddess of the sun, without looking towards her sister.

“I.....we still are, Tia.” She paused. “There are so many ponies that are hurting in Equestria. All the struggle, all the fighting, what will it mean if our citizens are plagued by misery, by pain, by disease?”

Celestia sighed. “You chase away the bad dreams, you lead children to death, you visit dying addicts, Luna. You treat the symptom. You never see the large picture. If misery is to be relieved, it won’t be done pony by pony. “ She turned, the lavender orbs of her eyes piercing in the sunlight. “Come to court with me and we will do what we can. It is a new day.”

Luna watched as Celestia turned and disappeared into the corridor. “Why not a new night?” she whispered, startling herself. Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought and followed in the Goddess’s shadow.

Author's Note

And there it is. Last chapter. I spent way too much drama on this old blind horse. I am out of drama for later.:p

:p Thank you for everyone who upvoted and favorited my story. I still need editing help pretty bad, and any critique, bad or good as long as it's helpful is always welcome.