Shifted

Luna sat at a table in a large sort of barn with Raul and Ariel. Aran sat alone with a spoon trembling in his hand as he tried to eat what looked like a chili. “Perhaps I shouldst apologize for striking his siring staff with such force,” she said as she leaned into her salad and took a bite.

“Siring staff? You mean his dick and balls? Chica, he needed that from what I hear,” Raul laughed, “not enough he lost to a pony, but a female in a magic duel and on the moon. Our friggin moon!” he said emphatically garnering the attention of several other people and a sneer from Aran as he dropped his spoon and winced, lifting a bag of ice from his crotch and raised his middle finger to Luna before the bag slipped from his grip, returning from whence it came.

Aran grunted and hunched forward slamming his head into the table sending the half the town’s residents into a laughing fit at his expense. Luna sighed and excused herself, cantering to Aran and cleared her throat. “I humbly apologize for injuring you so fiercely. It was not my intention as stallions have a higher threshold for pain when it comes to their siring staffs… I mean dick and balls.”

He snorted a laugh and lifted his head from the table. “You don’t even know what that means, do you?”

“I… it means the same, does it not?” she blushed and looked aside.

“Yeah, but it… you know what, it does,” he resigned himself, “so that’s it then? We’re even?”

“I, it wasn’t my intention to do this to you and I will make it up to you. When I return to my world I will gift you as you see fit from the royal treasury or archives of ancient magic and lore.”

“That sounds fair,” he said in a humble tone. “Let’s start over. I’m Aran, Shi-Aran. I’m a Ley Line Walker. As it sounds, I use leylines for all they have to offer. I can’t compare to you, though. I’ve never heard of anyone, not even a Shifter, that could get to the moon on the first try.”

Luna smiled warmly as she raised a hoof to shake. “I am Princess Luna, steward of the moon and stars in the heavens, guardian of dreams, and defender against the Realm of Nightmares,” she sighed, “mostly.”

A woman stood up and shouted to Luna. “Tell us! Tell us of where you’re from? We wanna know! We wanna know! We wanna know!” Within a breath the whole barn of creatures and people were chanting.

Luna inhaled. Very well! I shall regale you with the tale of my darkest night,” she paused when Raul waved a hand over his mouth, “and of my brightest days. Where I am from ponies live in our lands in peace, but it wasn’t always the case. One thousand years ago I…”

She told them the tale of her fall from glory, her transformation into Nightmare Moon, her subsequent banishment, and her return to normalcy, as relative a term that could be.

The barn was silent, most of the town was not present as she completed her story. She blinked and sniffled, noticing the crowd listening intently to her, reading her surface thoughts, or having certain words translated to languages she didn’t know. “I, am sorry. I wasn’t expecting to recall such events so soon and so openly.”

A slow clap began and within ten seconds Luna’s grimace turned to a grin at the praise she was receiving. Her wings began to open on their own and she stood tall, regally, and bowed.

Later, after the crowd had asked questions about life on her world they took their leave with a head full of imagery and thoughts of such a nice world existing and what they’d do there, or do to it.

“What can you do, Princess Luna?” A young girl asked meekly. Luna’s mouth opened and closed, unsure of how to answer. “Are you just a pony or a magic unicorn one, like in my books?”

Luna’s horn alit and her mane shifted to her starry form as she inhaled. A moment later and there was a shout from outside. “The MOON! Look!” The barn was emptied in a moment and the townspeople ooh’d and awe’d as Raul and Ariel left Luna’s side. Aran limped quickly to see as well.

The moon was shimmering blue above them. Still as far away as it ever was, but the shimmer was enough to convince them she had some powers. With a wince she collapsed and the moon began to shift through the sky to a lower eastern spot and the glow faded as Luna’s horn dimmed and her mane returned to its normal pony state.

Luna disliked hearing whispers in other languages she wasn’t supposed to hear but understood due to her translation magic. She let it go, and with a struggle she took to her four hooves and trotted out of the barn and past the townspeople and creatures to the home she was staying in. With a light push of her magic she opened the door to Doc Blue’s house and walked in, Aran and Raul close behind while Ariel stayed back to help clean up from the banquet.

She found the couch and hopped onto it, laying as best she could with a sigh. “Today has been most taxing. May I have a drink?” she looked to Aran who nodded and ran as quickly as he could from the room, leaving a grinning Raul behind.

“So, ya got your own gringo to do your bidding?”

“What? ‘Gringo’?” she asked him tilting her head.

“It means… ya know what, forget about it.”

“No, tell me,” Luna asked, her ears perking towards him.

“It means, well, outsider? Weirdo? Jerk, in his case. I guess that’s a good way to put it, just means that he’s different from us.”

“From us?”

“Yeah, you’re like my cousin, in a way…” he hesitated and looked away.

“What are you not saying? Raul, I have been here for the longest three days of my life and I would appreciate you-” she stopped as Aran returned with an old mug with murky water in it. “Thank you, Aran. Please, leave us so we may speak.”

Aran looked between Luna and Raul, rolled his eyes, then left the house with a slam of the door.