The Darkness Is My Light

The light shines in the darkness,

And the darkness has not overcome it.

~John 1:5 RSV

"Oh, oh no. My goodness." Was all Luna was able to say when Celestia finished recapping her life's story, it was not as all as Luna had expected, such trials and tribulations they faced together, that he solved, that Luna created. She had cried upon learning just how far he had fallen and how much of him had been left behind as nothing more than a memory of the fondest kind. Her glass had fallen and rolled beneath the couch when she learned of Discord, how he was always only a playful soul, a child by nature, "But he was a child that broke his toys," Tia had explained, defended why Zasdin did what he had done.

When she went to retrieve it she couldn't find it anywhere until she looked behind her seat to see her glass, standing straight and contents still, her form reflecting on its surface to reveal her disheveled mane and tear stained muzzle, but the way they glistened made them appear as twinkling stars on a muddy azure backdrop, "I- I never even thought of such a thing." She had said when Discord's lawfully just trial was explained, "Lawfully? Yes, but morally? No, never." She had criticized only to be struck speechless by Celestia's recounting of her new found knowledge, And she said it was still only a fraction, what times were lost with him? Who will live on to remember the countless others?

But who was she to talk of remembrance? Her memories of a time beforehand had apparently been Zasdin's final act of kindness, a way to make her transcendence that much easier for her and Tia, for she too was given a new set, a second set, of memories, so she would know what Luna knew, to help the new filly acquire at least a meager amount of connections. Zasdin had amazingly set an entire lifetime of experiences for her in his final moments, a life of love, and a life of lies. Even now she could be no older than Celestia was during the spirit Discord's trial, it held a very depressing spot in her heart. Just now, she discovered her everything being how it was because of a dying man's efforts. Such minute details carrying such dramatic impacts especially on her own life left her feeling very insignificant, like a moth to the flame, should she stray too close she will be burnt, and this revelation was an inferno, "But it just doesn't make any sense." Luna pleaded for some ground, "Why would we have the same dream? What is this supposed to mean?"

"I think," Tia began quietly, "I think it means he's trying to come back. Before I fell asleep I met, an apparition of his. Now I'm not saying this is good at all, I don't want this," she halted her sister's coming rebuke, "I know, I know he's gone. But he was far beyond us." She admitted, "Far far beyond us, he excelled at any problem he was given, always just in court," she sadly but resolutely met eyes with her sister, "no matter be the case, and an idol of the the people world wide." She ended, sounding different than her usual self.

One thing about this really stood out to Luna from this lecture though, "People? Do you not mean 'ponies'?" She asked, the ludicrousness dissolving some of the tension.

"No Luna, people. There are more than ponies amongst us, and we must allow ourselves to give them the respect of not being ousted."

"But Tia, that's- it's just ridicules!" Luna guarded, now more confused than amused.

        "Why?" Why is it so preposterous that we may deliver the same respect to our foreign subjects, as our native inhabitants?" She defended, pacing back and forth as a lawyer on track would when they felt they were delivering both a vital and obvious truth. Luna was silent in thought, disappointment following after her paper thin point was obliterated, "It's fine Luna, I won't hold it against you," Tia smiled kindly at her, happy that her point was so easily grasped, "because I too am guilty of this. I suppose I had just tried so hard to...escape my past, that I was willing to cut such a minor lose as a victory of sorts."

"But what do you mean? What would you leave by relinquishing this word?"

        "I had used such derogatory and subjective terms as well before he found me, an outcast, an abomination, among others. Not quite a unicorn and not quite a pegasus. Oh don't worry Luna it- it wasn't that bad, I was as an Untouchable among kings and queens." She unburied this particularly harsh time in her life and continued to trudge through Luna's surprise,"Yes, another term I learned of during my brief study under him. But through the times, I watched as foals turned into stallions and mares, go places, return, start a family and die. However, throughout, all of that, whenever they had the time on their ha- hoofs, they always found a way to mock me, from generation, to generation." She concluded with such a faked smile that it made Luna want to cry, but she felt that if she did, then her sister would too, "But! When he came, we were both strangers in a strange land, neither of us were accepted, both of us were attacked. But he taught me to release my anger and instead feel pity for such barbarism, because Luna, don't get me mistaken, we are still only ponies me and you. Only as we are now because of 'dumb luck' or what have you. I was angry, so angry. When he found me I was little more than a feral monster, sick and sore, tired of living but to scared to try something new. I was in a dark time and could not see anyway out, until... until he showed me that I was not in darkness, but blind. He revealed to me the world as he saw it, and I will be...eternally grateful."

        "H- how? How did this ever transpire? If what you say is true, then how is, our existence, even more so my existence, even a thing? And you never even answered my question!" Luna pointed as she regathered herself and stood to avoid suffering any pains.

"It is...a story for another time." Tia covered as she got ready to leave to attend to her loving subjects.

        "But y- you just can't leave me like this! You can't!" Luna begged as she tailed closely after her sister, desperate for the ending to the story.

        Tia just smirked at her, "Like I said dear Luna, tis a story for another time." She finished as she walked through the door and headed towards Day Court. As she wended her way through the bustling crowds of ponies with a look of serene content, she was having a rather intense, mental battle on morales, tradition, duty, and necessity, He is leaving these for a reason, this was always ever so. Can he even now tell something is amiss? But why would he help, and what did he mean 'he's been studying'? Why do there always have to be so many questions? Is it because I have neglecting the minority? Have I truly forgotten the value of not only the masses, but the individual as well? That settles it, there are a few changes that must take place. She stole herself with ironlike resolution as she came into the flooded courtroom to a symphony of cheers of welcome and relief. Then, pushing through the crowd, was a very tired, very distressed looking advisor, "Yes Chancellor Consilium?" Celestial asked, slightly amused that the stallion, who tried to tell her how to work, was tired after his comparatively trivial amount of time spent as Surrogate Host.

He wheezed as he drew up to her, "It's not funny, you try-" Almost there, "where have you been all this time‽"

"With my sister of course, discussing why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings," she answered as she went through the part in the crowd that had formed, "what else did you expect from two, highly distinguished, nobles like ourselves. Your time without us has turned you soft, no?"

"Oh ha ha Celestia, I'm serious." She couldn't see it, but she knew he was pissed.

        "Wah? And you claim that I too was not? You rogue!" She feigned surprise as their squabble was cut short when she sat on the Royal Throne and began to immediately take her peoples offers at dilemmas. "And where do you think you're going Consilium?" She called after him as he was clearly leaving for his chambers.

"To rest Princess, to rest."

        "But," She looked for a proper reason, "but all these citizens! Surely I need help to quickly cycle through everyone here!" And then there was silence, "What?"

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        Luna was upset, she was left with an impossible puzzle and no hints whatsoever, What was it? Why does she have to be so complicated? And then she had an epiphany, if she could not find answers in the waking world, than maybe she could discover them in her realm of the Dreamscape. Yes, it was risky as all rings of hell, but it was only dreams, he could not hurt her in her domain regardless of what was left of him. So with her fears admonished and doubts departed she readied her mind for the strain of mind weaving.

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        Luna was alone. Cold and alone. Hungry, scared, cold, and alone. But before all else, she was her own, no one else's and determined to keep it that way. A noise, scampering in the alley? The makings of a possible meal? While she did not ever dare to tell another soul, as if she'd have another to talk to, she could safely ingest meats and other things as such. Only as a last ditch effort but she had done it none the less. She was, in every sense of the word, an omnivore. And she was disturbingly proud of it, just another tick on the growing list of differences the world could hold against her. Just another thing that made her unique, special, and deadly.

        For it was in these back ways and alleys that she struck gold, where she could make a revolting living. Before she had come across these slums she had been mercilessly persecuted from town to town, at least now no one looked at her, or rathe, acknowledged her. She didn't mind, it was better that way, for both involved parties. They kept to themselves and she kept to herself. Luna located the source of the noise, a starving rat, nothing short of a delicacy should she find it the proper amenities. But she had no time for delicacies, she hadn't had something to eat in a little under a week. She had chased into a corner she designed specifically for this very job, no holes, cracks, or escape within, and once it realized it was doomed it attempted to hiss and even lunge for her. A pointless attempt but amusing all the same, but again, she had no time for games, only survival.

        She quickly...killed the vermin with a scorching spell, to both cook and clean it before she ultimately ate it, bones and all. Not that she could feel them over her bodies feeling of immense satisfaction, they didn't effect her either way. Her victory was short lived however when a sickly looking stallion pressed in on the other end, "What do you got there little freak?" He laughed as he slowly stepped towards her, blocking her only escape.

        For a split second Luna was frozen in fear at the sight of a stallion, No! Those times are over! "Nuck off Trino, I warned you what would happen next time you pushed on me." She warned monotonously, she had long since forgotten the point of inflections.

        "Aw, you hurt me. Such dirty words from such a pretty mouth." He said hungrily as he came ever closer, only ten feet away by now.

"Is that really all you want? Well then that's a swing and a miss." Because she was, and will forever be, her own and alone.

        She didn't know what it was, but his playful demeanor became very sour, "You shut your muzzle you little slut! I may not have the bits but I do have you! Right where I want you, where I need you." He said as he pounced for her. Her horn pitifully sputtered out as she resentfully resigned, her magic was undeveloped and she really didn't stand a chance against a full grown stallion.

        Luna just closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. But then she heard something that broke her from her submissive stupor, a pained groan and dual thuds that resounded through the backstreets. But she was used to these kind of games, she kept in place, not showing a bit of the absolute fear and disgust she was feeling. Only the dank, dirty, and puddled floor had been there for her. But nothing ever happened, well, not what she had expected at least. Five fingers pressed against her forehead, she both cringed and fought back from this touch out of habit, and only when she really registered the warmth and care put into it, did she look up. And when she did what she saw will last forever as a moment, worthy against time, "Hello there little filly. It's okay now." He smiled kindly at her, "Rise and renew Luna, and brush thee self clean of the grime." He softly demanded of her as he himself stood, waiting for her to do the same.

        This was the breaking point of Luna's mind, the red ball that gave way to the secret of a dream. Quickly and suddenly she rose from his waist height to standing exactly at his height, her pink mane changed into her personal hue of a starry sky, the surrounding walls fell like stage scenes and they were again in the middle of a field.

        She hadn't the faintest idea of what she had just witnessed, but she felt sick knowing she was probably about to, the robbed man before her was watching her happily, seeming content to just watch her in her confusion until he spoke, "You've come far Luna, so much farther than I could have ever hoped." He said as he put his arms around her neck, "And I'm so sorry for what I've done. I swear I never meant for it to happen," he backed away from her and took on the appearance of a child caught knowing they've done wrong, "I promise it wasn't me! It was the crystals Luna!" He was in tears now and his previous intimidating figure was cracking, "I never meant to hurt any of them! I didn't know what I was doing! I thought I was back in the Galvanized Wars of Interium! Chyssis had sentenced entire states to death and I couldn't let it happen again!" He tried to explain before the rest just became an incoherent babble.

        Luna didn't know of what he spoke, but she did know of what he meant, she too had felt the powers of another manipulating its ways over her, and if her dream was anything to go by, it may have been the same thing. But that didn't mean it was time to throw caution to the wind either, "Who are you?"

        The man who lay groveling on the floor, begging to all the gods for forgiveness, perked up in an instant, "Oh well that's easy, the names Denui, Zasdin Denui." He said as he stretched out a hand for her to shake, but only then did it really dawn on him that she wasn't really, 'handshake' compatible, so he settled for a bump, a very uneasy bump.

        "Eh heh, yes, well then it seems we are er, well met as fate would have it." Luna started another chain of speech once this little ditty had ended, "I feared as much." She took a step back, "And now we must choose where we stand. You seem different, like your former self, the one Celestia always speaks of with such esteem, might we be able to come to terms with one another? Starting off with, why are you?"

        "Why am I what?" He asked with a stupid smile on his face, Luna still didn't understand this, but he was obviously unstable for whatever reason so she decided to leave it.

"Not 'what', just...why are you? Why are you here, in our minds?" And not dead? She put as placatingly as possible while she kept the last bit to herself.

        But Zasdin's look of oblivious happiness began to slip, his very figure began to fray at the ends, as if he was a rope unspooling, "W- well you see Luna, after you two, oh! How has Tia been by the by? No no, she's fine I know, but she has been experiencing some very recent trauma...and could use a hug." He said in a single breath, "That was hers by the way," he suddenly regained his old sense of diplomacy, "that was her memory you know. The one you were in." He said with an almost business like tone, "That was her old life, until we turned it around, without me, she'd still be out there." Like he was trying to sell her something.

        "Well yes, I know this now and am exceedingly grateful for what you have done for us but-" she was interrupted from her confused response however by the smoking man.

        "How could you Luna? How dare you have the audacity to even entertain such dangerous thoughts of trivial matters!" He shouted clearly at her, an unknown energy shooting through the atmosphere, with every word he spat at her, a piece of him changed, she could feel the goodness that once was give to the evil that must be, "After all I did for you! You still manage to get sent to the moon, and not escape? What is wrong with you? And as for your sister oh don't even get me started. That little bitch was selling herself on the streets just to get by until I came across her! And then what, she just up and leaves me? When I get back I'm going to set things back the way they're supposed to be, before you all ruined my work!" He raged as her thrust his arms to the sky, causing the very same type of inky crystals that started it to shoot from the ground and stretch into enormous spires above themselves.

        They arched, weaved, melted, and fused together to recreate a corrupted domain for him to reside in, the ground around the afflicted structure, causing the carefully waving plants to whither and turn to ash, the wind of movement blowing them into the air and creating a snowing effect. As Luna watched on in abject horror and awe she noticed that every crystalline beam that settled, she steadily lost her already unstable connection to her own dream.

        She tried an tried but it felt that every time she made a meager advance for control she began to fade, then she saw his work again. A looming castle at the very center of a dying land. It's onyx gates repeatedly opening and closing like a fish struggling for breath, its walls expanding and contracting as if it were breathing, the struggling groan of its foundation as the structure settled into the land, seeming to sink and anchor itself in place. With every development she lost touch with her senses, it was all observed in broken snippets as she began to feel weak. Suddenly it all made sense, especially when he spoke inside her mind, from inside her mind, "Wake and move forth Emissary Nightmare, the seeds of chaos are just waiting to be planted. Forward on into the minds of our subjects, for what is a tyrant other than the strongest?" He laughed madly as she remembered what had happened when she last talked to the voices in her head. But before she awoke, she could feel the most desperate, sincere, and sorry presence of something from the very center of the castle, I am so, so sorry.

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        Celestia had finished enduring the tirade of horribly hidden mirth of everyone present as she explained the non-enforced but encouraged term of 'people, one, body, and person'. It was ok though, she had expected just such, it was only when the used it as a joke that she got a little annoyed, "Please now everyone, we need to handle this as grown, mature, adults. Do you really find such segregation amusing? Because if so I am truly disappointed with each and every one of you, even- no especially you Consilium! I had expected so much more from you." She scolded them all with obvious disgusted disappointment.

        Consilium was wiping a tear from his eye as she said this, "My apologies Princess, but it's just so...weird" He answered from his seat, on the other side of Celestia, smaller than Luna's but still glamorous, "I've never heard of such a thing before, I t just sounds unnatural. Where ever did you conceive such a term?"

This really ruffled her feathers, "A very old, and very dear friend."

         But before anyone could apologize, feel embarrassed, or even shy away from her unrelenting and set gaze, an armored alicorn, black as night, broke through the large doors, "I demand council with Princess Celestia, next in line for the throne of Kinsorn and second only to that of our mighty ruler, King Zasdin, another alias being, 'a very old, and very dear friend."  She echoed again with the voice of two, a wicked smile and the crooked look of victory in her eyes being all anyone could care to notice.