Bad Hunger

Luna slipped silently into the realm of dreams, the realm only she could access, the realm she could be safe in. She moved across the dreamscape and observed different dreams as she did. When she came across a nightmare she silenced it, when she came across a pleasant dream she observed. Such was the duty she had been assigned to since she was of age. The only strange thing was that she could not alter her form in the dreamscape, so she would be seen as the monstrosity that she was by any who caught a glimpse of her.

There was one nightmare that caught her attention like no other. This was a memory, that took place several millennium ago. It showed the Master giving orders to the dreamer, whom she quickly identified as Sombra. She observed how he was forced to do atrocities that were branded into his mind, things that slowly ate away at his mind.

He had been ordered to go into a city and kill everyone he saw. He had begged and pleaded to the master to allow them mercy, to let them live. The master had refused, and ordered him to go, and destroy the city entirely. Sombra was compelled to obey, and it tore him apart as he was powerless to stop himself from killing a child in front of their parents or their parents in front of them, only to do the same to them afterwards.

He had been ordered to go into the mines as a taskmaster and to whip any of the ponies who weren’t working fast enough. He had held back as much as his slight semblance of control would allow, yet still the masters orders compelled him to lash any of the slow workers across the back. He had mostly lashed the younger and elderly ponies. He remembered clearly how he had broken down into tears once he was alone.

Luna watched, tears threatening to break through her own eyes, as she watched horror after horror ravage and destroy Sombra from the inside. And from then on she saw him differently, now she knew that he was just as much an unwilling slave to the master as she was. He had no control over what happened or what would happen from there. She finally understood why he had begged him to spare the children of Fleur De Lis and her husband. She finally realized that he was no monster. Just a pony who was forced to do monstrous things.

She dissolved the dream entirely, knowing that any more would cause even worse damage to his psyche. When it was dissolved Sombra sat facing away from her, tears spilling from his eyes. He turned to see her, and just in time to be wrapped in a comforting embrace.

“I’m sorry, Sombra, I never considered what it would be like for you.” Luna whispered. “I’m sorry, to have judged you so quickly.”

Sombra hugged her back and panted, “I’m sorry, for what I did to you. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for something you could not have prevented.” Luna told him her voice almost cracking. “You are just as much a slave to him as I am.”

Sombra squeezed her tighter, and after several minutes he finally uttered, “thank you.”

So they stayed there for a while, and considering time means nothing in the realm of sleep,they stayed there for what seemed like hours, neither of them intending to move away from the other. Luna did not know how or when they laid down but she didn’t try to change it when she noticed. If anything she only snuggled closer to him. Luna began thinking, perhaps this wasn’t as bad as she originally thought, not with Sombra by her side, and she knew now that was where he would always be.

Over the next several months Luna had been spending more and more time with Sombra. They agreed to keep the relationship they had started up hidden from everyone else and agreed that when in the company of others Sombra should treat her unfairly. Sombra was reluctant to agree to this and it took some convincing but eventually Luna got him to see that they would be less suspicious if he treated her badly in public. But when alone he would treat her very kindly, he would often apologize for his treatment of her in public on that day.

She found it cute that he thought he had to apologize for something she had agreed to previously. As time grew long and more difficult the more they leaned on one another for support, this eventually grew into something that neither had predicted. One night they met in the gardens and after talking for a while Luna kissed him, surprising them both. He had remained paralyzed for a second or two but eventually began to kiss her back. From there, things only got spicier.

“What is the one thing you have always wanted to accomplish?” Sombra asked her a few days later.

Luna blushed at this, “Well its... its stupid, you shouldn’t worry about it.”

“Come on, tell.” He said gently nibbling her ear, earning a giggle.

“Alright just stop teasing me like that.” Luna said, “I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”

Sombra was a little taken aback by this, her, wanting children? It wasn’t rediculous in fact it was a great goal to set. “Why is that stupid.”

“The idea in and of itself isn’t stupid. But me wanting it is. I have no chance to bear children. It’s not that I am infertile or unwilling to become pregnant, no it’s my position and the fact that everyone either views me as a goddess or a devil. They see me as either unattainable or not a good idea to approach. I have never found anyone who has been more than a moderately good acquaintance, I’ve never had friends before, I’ve been alone most of my life.”

“Well, you are most certainly approachable to me.”

Luna looked at him, hope in her eyes.

“I’ll see what I can find in the library.”