Long ago, in a time from whence we have very little save for hearsay and speculation, it is said that the forces of Chaos and Disharmony coalesced from all the beings imprisoned Tartarus. As all of the evils were locked away by the great heroes of ages long lost, they began to focus their hatred, their desperation, upon a young and fresh world unprepared for a united evil.

First came the Imps. Lowly and weak, yet possessing deep cunning and shrewd patience, they urged young unicorn mages to push the boundaries of accepted magic. Called upon by Scholars for their strange knowledge of magic, they began to corrupt others. In time, a mage by the name of Moonlight Shadow, fearing his death, agreed to work with several imps to transform himself into the first Demon. Crystalizing his soul into a small gem, he gained eternal life at the cost of his ability to connect to his fellow pony. Though not initially evil, his seperation and the fear he caused in others drove him insane, until Eris assisted in banishing him to Tartarus forever.

It was at this point that history becomes a bit more clear, despite even fewer written accounts of what happened next. It is generally agreed by scholars that Moonlight Shadow, now known as Infernal Desires, began to work in secret from the depths of the abyss. Solidifying his control of the Imps, he began to gather more power and send his servants out to recruit other young mages to his side. One by one, hundreds began to be corrupted, leading to the first-ever war. Unprepared, forces from Tartarus overran much of Equestria, stopped only by Eris, the goddess of disharmony, until she too was corrupted. It was at this time that two young sisters, Solar Sign and Lunar Light, were called into being by the collective desires of hundreds of thousands of ponies, who cried out for a savior. Manifesting from the Sun and Moon, they used their powers to push the infernal horde back. This time, they sealed the gates and set Cerberus, the Guardian, to hold them fast.

However, several hundred years ago, the younger sister (Now known as Princess Luna) began to experience deep depression and guilt stemming from her anger at being seen as 'lower' or 'lesser' than her sister. While once again the details are scarce, it is well known that Princess Luna contacted Infernal Desires in an attempt to increase her power with forbidden magic, in an attempt to ensure that the respect she deserved would finally come to her. However, such power comes with a price. In exchange for power and triumph, she invited Infernal Desires into her heart and soul. Thus, Nightmare Moon was born.

This, unfortunately, lead to her descent into madness. Two hundred ponies died as a result of her ritual, and many more in the War of Two Lights that ended with Celestia, unable to defeat her sister, instead banishing Nightmare Moon for nigh on a millenia.

It is expected that many of these facts will be unconfirmed until such time as Princess Luna is redeemed and returned to Canterlot.

From Magiks most Foul, 1st Edition

Archive Keeper, Royal Archivist

689 ABL (After Banishment of Luna)

Dusk Shine sighed, closing the book and moving the candle to the side. After two days and nights, he had read all six of the books Princess Luna had given to him, and he felt no closer to truly understanding this branch of magic than he was when he started. Despite massive volumes of text, most of it seemed to state different versions of 'we do not know much', treating Rumor and Hearsay as facts. In over two thousand years, there was very little on the subject, and for good reason. With Luna's return from raising the moon, however, he had a good chance to ask.

Luna entered the Nocturnal Study, moving gracefully to stand behind Dusk Shine and resting her hands on his shoulders. Feeling how tense they seemed under her hands, she began to rub and massage gently. Whatever Dusk had been about to ask melted away as he slumped into the chair, relaxing for a moment.

"Praythee tell, young Dusk, art thou not enjoying thy studies? Thy shoulders are most tense."

Dusk sighed again, heavier this time. "It's just... all of these books tell me nothing about demonology! Princess Luna... I thought YOU were going to teach me? If Archive Keeper is to be believed, you are the foremost living expert."

The rubbing on his shoulders stopped, and after a moment Dusk swiveled his neck around to peer at her. Afraid he had upset her, he was glad to see her simply looking pensive. He was about to speak when she opened her mouth again. "Indeed, we are. Dusk, we have a confession to make."

Dusk stood slowly, stretching, before facing her. Something in her manner seemed off... she seemed nervous, self-conscious and afraid, as if she had to spend many moments chewing on each word before spitting it out.

"Dusk, for many years Our sister has educated you in magic. She has done this for many pupils over the last thousand years. Each one did great things, and each one better than the last. However, we... I mean, I fear something worse is coming than we have seen in a milennia. Things we... I put in motion. Plans that... Nightmare Moon came up with. Dusk... you must be taught about demons. We fear that a great evil may appear soon... one we faced long ago, but against whom mine sister and I have no defense. My sister also gave me some much needed council, and we apologize for... well, for this..."

Dusk stood there, waiting for her to finish, before simply watching her stand there and fidget. Just when the silence grew awkward, she leaned forward and planted a light kiss on his lips. Over in less than a second, it was hardly the most... intense kiss he had had. Luna stood back, looking uncertain.

"Princess... W-what was that for?" he asked, feeling a bit confused. Sure, this was not his first time... that was a totally different story. Princess Luna was the least-eligible princess on the planet... and she had just kissed him.

"Dusk... We apologize. Please sit down" Princess Luna started, before taking his arm and guiding him to sit next to her on the bed. "Demons exist, not as an extention of Chaos... but as its counterpart. Demons appeared, not because of anger and hatred, but because of a desire to impose supreme order. Most of those books are just... speculation, and guesses. I... learned that first hand. Dusk, demons and devils are bound by Faustian Contracts, which bind services for a period of time before payment must be made. In many cases, it is a simple matter of selling your soul or your cutie mark in exchange for supernatural powers. At the end, though, many regret the trade. However... I made a different choice."

There was something glistening in her eyes as she looked down, taking Dusk's hands and holding on much tighter than was needed. "What... what did you choose? What did you pay?"

Luna steeled herself again, and looked up. "You performed a service for me. You allowed me to... regain control." Her voice regained its harder edge as she fell back upon her old habits. "We have a debt unpaid. Demons cannot have debts. Dusk, One Thousand and Two years ago, we made a pact with Infernal Desires, who sought to leave Tartarus. In exchange for the powers of Nighmares and the dark magic needed to call upon Wraiths, Wendigos, Shades, and other monsters of the deeper night. To do so, we... fused. Part of his broken soul took over Our body, and... we could only watch as Nightmare Moon did everything we ever wanted, but destroyed everything we loved. The, for one thousand years, we slumbered and plotted revenge in our sleep.

Then you saved us, Dusk. You have created a bond that cannot be easily broken... and this bond is driving Us to madness. We MUST repay our debt to you. Dusk, there is a service we would perform for you. As you have given of yourself for Us, so we would give of Ourself to You."

Dusk's mind reeled. This was... alot more than he was expecting. "Princess, I'm n-not sure this would be ap-propriate... I'm happy to have aided you but you don't have to repay me. Princess Celestia asked me to aid her, and I was honored to repay her for teaching me all these years."

At the mention of Celestia, Luna's face darkened as her eyebrows met. "Our entire life, we have been told that our sister is the one to whom one must speak. We are... the extra diarch. We asked you here, Dusk Shine, for one simple reason. We wish to repay a debt to you, not to be a debt that you repaid to somepony else!"

Her sudden anger caught Dusk by surprise, and he nearly shifted back away from her. Instead, a small spark lit behind his eyes, just like the one from that fateful night when they discovered the Elements. "Princess? What's wrong?"

For two long seconds, she was silent save for her sharp intake of breath. Then, her shoulders slumping, she spoke. When she did, her voice began to hitch as she struggled to bring up words long repressed. "Who do you think is older, Dusk? Light came FROM dark. We let it happen. We are... bound to an ageless power. We have seen and existed for everything, even before the Light shone through the clouds of the past. We have been... well, we have been. Mine sister and I took mortal form only a few millenia again, and someday, we shall revert to our etherial forms again. But It is... Dusk, my Night has existed before the first Stars were born. We were alone for so long... I was alone for so long. Finally, the forces that brought us into being created mine Sister and let Light shine through the dark. Yet, despite all of the suffering I went through... ponies loved her instead of me. They feared and shunned Our Nights. She is the Younger, yet all of our birthrights fell to her. Love, loyalty, compassion, empathy... these things, she was given so freely. Yet OUR domain is to hold back the terrors of the night."

By now, tears were falling in a steady pattern from her eyes. The dark mascara under her eyes began to run as she tried to avoid shuddering, yet her trembling was easy for Dusk Shine to see.

If she wasn't one of the most powerful beings on the planet, I might call it simple 'sibling rivalry', but this seems to go back much more than that. What would that be like, to be eternal? To remember everthing? Dusk counted himself lucky that he would never be cursed with that much power OR responsibility. Let ruling stay with the Princesses. Still, he was the leading expert on Harmony magic and the magic of Friendship. Somepony had to do SOMETHING for Princess Luna.

For once in his meek, submissive life, Dusk decided to take the lead. Putting out a hand on her shoulder, he put the other on her chin and lifted her head. Even sitting down, she was a full four inches taller than him, and he had to reach up very slightly to make contact. Blinking, her eyes reflected the early twilight moonlight from the moon-window roof. Glistening, her eyes met his as his heart pounded.

"Princess Luna... I'm not afraid of the night. Here... look at this!" he said, before concentrating.

0113 hours, Twilight Velvet's Study

Twilight Velvet hummed to herself. It had been nice seeing Dusk yesterday, and it had given her the most marvelous idea: Make a scrapbook! She sighed as she looked at a picture of her young colt, eagerly holding his brand-new Nightwatcher-3000 Telescope with ManaMoter Alighnment. He had been so happy-

"Oh BUCK" she swore, as the picture glowed and vanished.

"I'm sure Mom won't mind if I borrow this" said Dusk, as he summoned an old photograph. In it, a young purple unicorn colt with vivid violet hair proudly clutching his new telescope, able to see even a couple of planets. It had cost his father two months of pay, but they had bought him the most powerful personal reflector-type backyard telescope available... before it even hit shelves. They were all standing inside of his bedroom, which was festooned with stars, galaxies, and planets all hanging from the ceiling in an exact copy of the night sky from their balcony.

"I spent a year studying and copying the night sky in my bedroom... it even had a spell on it to make it change, the-"

"Orrery Spell... to track things in the skies... We invented it..." interrupted Luna, looking at the photo. "This is th- er, you? As a colt?"

"Yes. There I am, with Twilight Velvet and Gleaming Shield. Dad was... away at that time. I've always loved the stars. I guess my name really does fit?" he said, tilting his head, trying to elicit some sign of humor from the despondent princess.

"Thy work was most impressive... but why dost thou show this to Us?" asked the princess of the night, taking it from Dusk and looking at it. "We are aware that some few enjoy the night to the day, but this is no longer the issue that troubles us most. Young Dusk... we agree that thou were most cute in this picture but-" she said, before the last thing she had been expecting to happen did so.

Upon looking back up, her face was filled with Dusk's far lighter shaded one as he leaned in closely, looking into her eyes.

They really are just like stars... Celestia, please forgive me... I just want to make her happy thought Dusk to himself, as he took the plunge.

Luna's eyes widened as she felt a soft pair of lips press into her own, the hand on her shoulder moving behind her back as the young colt before her suddenly pressed himself far closer than would be considered appropriate, though he had long given up believing in social conventions. Heart racing, she felt a moment of blind panic urging her to pull away, to banish this young foal, and to get on with being haughty and formal.

This was all overshadowed by the fact that she could now get rid of the torment plaguing her since her return, and the fact that she had not been with stallion or mare in over a thousand years. There was an ache in her loins that demanded to be sated, and to be sated now

Princess Luna breathed heavily as Dusk pulled away, a tinge of pink on his cheeks as his eyes failed to meet hers. Mine sister choose well... she thought to herself, before blinking twice and mentally clearing her head. She did NOT want to think about her sister. Not tonight. For the first time in a very long time, somepony had, without her asking, offered her more affection than she could ever remember. Few dared to approach the Mistress of the Night, and never with pure intentions. She sensed that for him, it was a simple gesture of more-than-just-platonic affection, and an offer of more if she wished.

She did wish for more.

The silence must have lasted too long, as Dusk Shine began to speak again. "P-Princess, I'm s-sorry! I thought tha-" he started, before she took her turn to cut him off with a kiss. Pushing him over backwards, she assaulted his face, his lips, and even his mouth as she pushed her tongue in, frantically trying to get as much as possible before he could change his mind. Finally, she pulled away again, her chest heaving.

"That was... more intense than We remember it" stated Luna, smiling uncertainly, before her expression fell. "Dusk... We want this. Very badly."

Dusk hesitated, then smiled. Whew! Thank goodness for 'Expressions and Expletives: Everything you need to know to avoid Social Problems but were afraid to ask' he thought to himself. Dusk knew that he had very little in the way of bulging muscles or a chisled jawline, things most stallions seemed to care about, but he wanted to try something a bit new anyways. Disengaging from the princess's clinging hands, he stood up and took three steps away before turning around. Getting the idea, she got up and followed him, towering by half a foot yet seeming much smaller than her size would suggest. Though not blessed with the 'junk in the trunk' as her sister would call it, her size meant that her chest proportions were still larger than most mares dreamed of.

Facing eachother, Dusk could hardly believe he was doing this. The first two times, in retrospect, he should have anticipated. This time, it had just seemed to happen, even though part of his mind could not help but notice that the mares in his life seemed to be far more forward than he had ever considered.

Princess Luna smiled at him as she guided his hands up towards her corset. "Is it true, as We have heard, that thou art no 'blushing virgin' young Dusk Shine?" At her words, he did indeed feel an even rosier tinge come to his cheeks. Dear Celestia, his first time had been with Gleaming. Supressing a snort, Luna felt some of her confidence seep back as she considered her young, willin companion, and the things she wished to make him do to her.

"Y-you know?" he said, looking up at her with apprehension. She smiled back, putting a hand in his mane and stroking it back. "We see all dreams, Dusk. Many dreams are simply memories, or wishes on how they could have played out. Others are desires, or hopes. We have seen enough to sort out Memories from Dreams. It is our Duty, after all, to make sure no pony will be a threat to Equestria ever again."

"You... you're not ashamed then?"

"Why would We be? Love is precious, Dusk Shine, wherever you can find it. As long as two adults are consenting and nopony is being hurt, there is no crime. We only hope that... nevermind. Have you ever undone a Corset?"

Dusk frowned, looking at the intricate lacing along the sides of the garment that bound her chest tightly. A pattern appearing to him, he began to work on the knots as Luna nodded in approval, working around his waist to loosen his belt. Finally, with a little help from the Lunar Diarch, he lifted the corset free. To his surprise, she was not wearing a bra underneat. Upon noticing his quick glance, she smiled. "We are not as endowed as our Sister, and see no need to restrain the girls any longer, or any more, than we must for appearance. Still, it is nice to let your, as I have heard them called, 'naughty bits' breathe, is it not?"

Dusk nodded, and finally brought his eyes up to look at her. Her abdomen was highly toned, with eight muscle clusters tightly defined. The only other pony he had seen, other than career body builders, with abdominals like that had been Gleaming Shield. Her breasts, now free, were large but perky, with none of the sag he had seen in some of his 'alternative educational' magazines. He could already feel a stirring, low before but now growing, in his loins. She was beautiful in every way, save for her eyes. Though bright, there was still a sad look about them, of somepony who had not been happy in a long time. He knew that look.

He had seen that look in the mirror many times before moving to ponyville and meeting friends.

"Princess..." Dusk said, tracing his hands down her side and bringing a shiver to Luna, "I know what it's like to be alone. I mean, I used to not care, but... it hurt so badly. Now, I look back and wish I had devoted more time to getting to know other ponies, instead of isolating myself. I don't know what it is like to be alone in the way you were though..."

As she looked about to reply, he put a single finger on her lips. Never, in her entire existance, had somepony silenced her in such a manner. Her eyes crossed to look down at the finger, before looking back into his. "You are not alone anymore, Princess."

There was silence, before she suddenly burst out. Dusk was nearly blown back in surprise as the now half-naked Princess of the Night began first to sniffle, before tears began. Dusk quickly pulled her into a hug, trying to keep his groin off of hers as he tried to comfort the stricken pony. Everypony needed a good cry now and then, and he had had his fair share of breakdowns... though usually not just before something like this.

It was a few minutes before she drew to a hiccuping stop, and finally folded her wings around the young stallion, enjoying the close company of one who had at least tried to understand, instead of simply offering pity.

They kissed again, Luna trying not to get cry-face all over Dusk, before suddenly pushing him back onto the bed.

"We have NEVER been moved to such a d-display before, young D-Dusk Shine. Wouldst thou allow us to freshen up before we join thee... in bed?"

Dusk nodded, sitting on the bed as he watched her head to the bathroom. His vast intellect came up with only one more thought:

This is going to be a rough ride.

Author's Note

"My God, it's Full of Stars" is a famous quote from 2001: A Space Oddessy movie, where those are the last words spoken by the protagonist.

Luna is NOT fond of puns.