Perch on Top of the World
There was a pony sitting on top of the world. All alone, face turned upwards, she was still as stone. In the courtyard beneath her perch, winds blew through the trees, rattling the leaves and scattering the dying blossoms. But on the spire of her tower, all was still, even her normally flowing, starry mane. The pearly moon hung in the star-specked sky, a product of her hard work. Its luminous surface was devoid of blemishes, free of the shadow imprisoned beneath its dust for a thousand years. Almost as if the same thought had reached her mind, the pony stirred.
***
On her perch on top of the world, Luna shifted her wings until they lay half open at her sides. For the first time since she had arrived on her tower, a conscious thought crossed through her mind. It is lonelier here than it is up there. She repeated these words to herself in a whisper, her muzzle contorting into a twisted grimace at the sound. For all their celebration of friendship, the little ponies are not very friendly to outsiders. They are not forgiving to those redeemed, nor sympathetic to those hurt. I was branded a monster, despite my cleansing, despite my reharmonization. I was purified by the Elements. I am once again a young alicorn. I have apologized, but I have not been forgiven. So I sit alone, marked as a traitor, forced to bear the shame, hunched against the pain. and there is nothing I can do. Once again, I am not as good as my dear sister. I couldn't be if I tried my hardest. Luna's mouth set itself into a harsh scowl that matched her blazing eyes. Then again, why should I? 'Tis their loss, and Our gain. We do not need to be-- At this quickly interrupted thought, Luna's beautiful, cerulean eyes narrowed to near closing, and she sniffled in an attempt to hold back sudden tears. No. Do not think thoughts of a traitor... Unbidden, images of an old fight and long decayed bodies rose to her mind. Not again... no, the Nightmare will not take over... More images returned to her memory, most of a tall, white pony, her coat stained pinker than her mane with blood. One wing was snapped, and the opposite hind leg bent at a grotesque angle. But for the vulnerable Princess recalling this, the worst part of it all was not the the tears leaking out of the tall pony's eyes, nor her grimace of pain set on her breathtaking features. The worst part was the rush of adrenaline that came at the memory of battle, the burst of exhilaration she had once felt at knocking down feeble opponents. She could feel the familiar presence of dark hatred. Nightmare! Please, leave Us be! We have been purged of thee! With a great heave, Luna's broad shoulders began to shake, her body wracked with silent sobs, her eyes leaking great tears of salty sadness. Slowly, the anger faded to the darkest recesses of her mind, and the dark Princess succumbed to her sadness.
Perhaps We would be better up there... up where there is nopony to hurt or betray. A perch that is truly on top of the world, overseeing everything. Then We-- I could actually protect my sister and all of Equestria, find all the enemies before they strike... stop myself before I strike. Maybe I'll be better off up there, all alone...
... just like I am here... With a defeated sigh, the moonlit alicorn slowed her tears to a trickle and set her mouth in a stern line. She drew herself up, chin tucked in as if against the cold, and her ears flattened to her skull. Once again she was still, motionless like the dead, almost like a statue set before the great moon.
***
In the shadows beneath the tower, something stirred.
***
Time flew by, yet Luna remained completely still, save for the small drops of bitter water leaking slowly out of her eyes. Clouds gathered, but they were too low in the sky to bother her on her high up tower. The wind rushed beneath her perch, but not a sound reached her ears. There she remained for yet another while, with none to burden her eyes and none to disturb her ears.
***
At the bottom of the tower, a dark mass separated itself from the shadows. Coalescing into a hooded, pony-shaped figure, it spread its newly-made wings with the grace of an eternal existence and reached into the cloak to grasp something with the claws it had just created. With a few flaps of the blackened feathers it was airborne and headed towards the top of the world.
***
The barest hints of rustling feathers traveled quickly through the void around Luna's ears. At the sound, her eyes widened and her horn began to blaze with bright blue magic. She slowly turned her head, just in time to witness the ascent of the shadow pony. Her tiny gasp echoed through the otherwise empty space, and she jumped back to the other edge of her perch, snarling at the darkness. "Stay back, Nightmare! Begone, or We shall banish thee Ourselves!"
To her surprise, however, the voice that emanated from beneath the hood was not malicious, nor female. "Nightmare? Ah, no, I am not 'Nightmare'. In fact, you will find that I am quite different from Daughter Achlys, ugly wart that she is." The figure flipped back the hood to reveal bright yellow eyes, black fur, and a dark grey mane. He swept forward his left foreleg and bowed to the nonplussed Princess before him. "Pleasure to meet you, Princess Luna. I am Erebos." He looked up to meet quizzical blue eyes. "What? You are a Princess. Did you expect me to just stroll up and shout 'Howdy-do, Lassy?!'" The dark pony snorted with derision and laughed when he saw the deadpan look on Luna's face.
"Why did you see fit to come up here and disturb Our vigil?" Erebos stopped laughing at her blunt question, and considered her question for a minute.
"You know that Achlys can sense negative emotions," he began, "which is how she found you. In that regard, I am similar to her."
"So Achlys, thy supposed daughter, is what We know as 'Nightmare'?"
"Indeed. And as I was saying, we can both sense emotions-- particularly negative ones, unlike the Changelings. You... you are a particularly strong beacon of bitterness. I was all the way in Neighpon when I felt surges of sadness emitting from a spot up on Canterlot. Up here, to be exact, though I suppose you guessed that." The previous mirth that had shone in his eyes had all but faded away now, struck by the seriousness of his words.
Luna seemed distracted, glancing up at the darker portions of the sky every few seconds until she realized that Erebos had stopped speaking. "We know of the name Erebos-- 'twas a tale among Our--my favorites during my youth."
"So I was part of an old mare's tale? Do tell," Erebos spoke, the amusement returned to his glimmering eyes.
***
When the world was created, all was Darkness and oblivion. But when the first ray of Light struck, a contrast was created. Light and Dark were the simplest, but they brought forth the others. Good and Evil, Joy and Misery, Hope and Despair, Sleep and Wakefulness, and Life and Death were born of Light and Dark; they became the first of the ancient gods and goddesses. Soon, others were born, and within several millenia, ponieswere created. The different creatures began to populate the world, but still they worshiped their parent gods. The gods created by Light found themselves loved and revered by the creatures as heralds of their golden ages; the ones created of Darkness found themselves feared for their terrible powers, despite the fact that it was necessary for the cycle of the world. Without Darkness, there would be no contrast to make Light, and thus there would be oblivion. But the simple, mortal creatures could not understand this, despite the higher powers' attempts. This angered the gods of Darkness, and they sought to punish the fearful mortals. However, they could not allow the gods of Light to know of this, or they would be in trouble, so they devised a subtle plan to destroy the creatures from within. They used their powers to weed out creatures of Darkness, evil, miserable, despairing, dying, power-hungry, or random, sleeping creatures, and convinced them that their hopes and dreams would come true if they joined Darkness' side. The father of them all, Erebos, Darkness itself, had a... interesting way of convincing his creatures. He would show them what was wrong with their life, and convince them to join him in the dead. His daughter Achlys, Misery, would give the creatures power, and they would quickly join her. They were the most vicious, father and daughter, but the collective group of Darkness was just as bad as Light was good.
Soon, all the land was full of Dark creatures. The gods of Light eventually discovered what had happened to their kingdom, and they vowed to put an end to it. Together, they created theSun, and cleansed the creatures of the land of the terrible Darkness that had taken over their hearts. The ancient gods were immortal, but they could be weakened. It was not until several millenia later that they could begin their dark work. Yet, although they could begin once more, they were forced to hide under the shadow of Night herself, and to this day, under cover of the Moon, they work to bring all the creatures to the Darkness.
***
"I never believed it, not even after Nightmare. It would be stereotyping Night as evil. It's not possible that it's true," Luna added. "It could be something else... or you're just doing what you were born to do. But still, I will not fall once again to the Darkness."
Erebos sighed and said, "But it would be better for you. No more being shunned and alone. No more being unforgiven and forgotten."
"We cannot." Luna shook her head and stared at her hooves. Erebos sighed at her words.
"Very well. Could you at least accept my offer of company, just for the night? I shall leave you be afterwards, you have my word." Luna nodded and sat back down on her perch. She stared at the moon, still as stone, but now there were two figures on the high up tower.
***
Erebos frowned and looked at the ground. It was very far down, and he couldn't be faulted for considering that a fall might be fatal, even for Luna.
The light from the moon dimmed as he charged up his horn.
***
As time neared towards dawn, Luna's stiff barrier broke down. Small talk and uplifting jokes had lightened her expression considerably, and now she lay side by side with the shadow pony.
"I admit that I have not enjoyed myself this much since... a long time before my banishment, though the end of Nightmare Night was rather amusing." Luna gave Erebos a small smile.
"This is rather enjoyable. I wish I had joined you a bit earlier. Maybe then we would have had more time together." Erebos ignored Luna's surprised look and continued talking. "Say, didn't you learn on Nightmare Night not to speak with the Archaic 'We'?"
"Yes, but I tend to slip back sometimes... especially when I'm stressed or upset, according to Celestia. And do you mind perhaps elaborating on what you mean by, 'maybe we would have had more time together'?" Luna frowned again as Erebos rolled his eyes.
"I can sense your emotions, my dear. I know you were considering my first offer."
"I was... but I'm still not sure if I should... Celestia and her ponies need me," Luna replied, ducking her head and sighing. "I am alone, shunned, and unforgiven, but Celestia needs me. A thousand years was bad enough for her; I can't abandon my sister again! I may be miserable, but that doesn't mean she has to be as well. I may be alone, but her loneliness would be worse without me. She would be alone among a sea of strangers, only there for favors and powers... I can't leave her like that."
Erebos fell silent, adopting a thoughtful expression. "Perhaps, but you are not abandoning her. Do you think she wants you to be unhappy? Nightmare was created because you were unhappy. Do you want to risk destroying Celestia like that again, and perhaps even ending the world?" Erebos nuzzled Luna softly as she contemplated his words.
"Do you really think I should do this?"
"Is it worth living in misery until Achlys comes again?"
Luna's head drooped. "No. I'll do it... maybe I'll be with my Moon again, up where I can't hurt anypony."
"Thank you. Now up, wings at your sides." Luna stood tall and clenched her neat wings to her sides while Erebos wrapped a tendril of light-consuming darkness around them and her horn. He nuzzled her once again and spoke, "Good luck, my dear. I do hope we shall meet once again."
"Goodbye," Luna whispered, tears shining in her eyes. With a small step, she fell off the edge of the tower. Wind rushed by her streaming eyes for a few seconds, until she hit a pile of orange leaves that had been dappled silver by the beautiful moon. And then, pain, and the world was gone in sparks of silver and blue. Princess Luna's broken body was motionless.
***
On the perch on top of the world, there was once again one cold statue, regret gleaming in his obsidian eyes.
Author's Note
Sorry I skipped over most of their talking. It wasn't very important, and I was worried I didn't write Luna properly, so I decided to skip it. To anyone that was wondering, Erebos is the Greek personification of darkness (which I took to include as oblivion, and since he is the father of Thanatos, Death). Achlys is the Greek Eternal Night or Mist of Death and personification of misery and sadness. I know I didn't really do the end justice, but I hope you enjoyed it.
