The Shadow of the Moon

The Shadow of the Moon

Act 1: Drifting

Chapter 10: …Than Ever Before

The blackness faded and there we were. If I had been asked if I ever saw myself where I was now, I would have plainly said it was impossible and I wouldn’t allow it. Turns out I was wrong on both accounts. It had all started three weeks ago.

I had halted all the raids, deciding that it wouldn’t be wise to breach another house as it very well could be trap. Not to mention a waste of our time as long as the Seen had an inside man spoiling our efforts. From that point forwards, it was analysis work. Luna and I would meet up every three days either in her private study, or Pony Joe’s to collaborate on what we had uncovered and the review the work our analysts did. During that first week, we cross checked everything to the reports hoping to catch our possible leak slipping in false information. Fortunately for us, everything checked out and therefore we knew the information was solid. Unfortunately, that meant either our mole was either lying low, or not an analyst. If it weren’t for that fact that Luna was there to keep me rooted, I would have gone crazy with paranoia. In my mind, she was the only pony I could trust and it killed me a little inside. My “Shadows” counted on me and trusted me with their lives not to lead them astray and yet I could hardly look at them without the thought in the back of my mind that anyone of them could be the mole. I was on edge and constantly watching for any odd behaviors or drastic changes in habit by my fellow soldiers. At one point Captain Dusker pulled me into a side room to chat.

He put one hoof on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye, “Lieutenant, for the past several days I watch sat and watched you work and every day, you look more exhausted than the last and twice as twitchy. I know that there is a great amount of pressure on your shoulders and I am by no means jealous of the task assigned to you. It makes me grateful to sit and compile through reports from our spies, even if they have nothing more to report than everything in peaceful and the most exciting thing they have run into is a slightly undercooked egg.” He sighed exasperated. “All I can say is that if you don’t find some way to relax, you will likely run yourself into the ground or miss something important.”

I sighed and nodded my head. I heard the wisdom that came from years of service in his voice and knew he was right.

“More importantly, I heard about the setback your teams suffered. It happens. You are chasing a threat we know very little about and for good reason.”

He took his hoof off my shoulder.

“My guess if that if your cult bugged out, it is because you got close to something. You were breathing down their necks and you now have them spooked. That means you are doing your job remarkably well. So don’t feel down or frustrated. They will resurface. Just listen to your sources and give it time. Just don’t forget to breathe and try to enjoy the small things. You show promise and talent I don’t see very often these days and I’d hate to see you burn out so soon.”

I looked at the Captain, “Thank you sir.”

“You’re welcome Lieutenant,” and with that he walked back to his desk and back to reading reports.

Heeding his advice, I begin to breathe and look at things in a fresh light. I looked at the photo from the failed raid when the runes on the floor caught my attention. I pulled out a photo from the runes I had found on my first raid. I studied them both, my subconscious telling me something was there that I was missing. After about an hour I gave up. There was something there but I couldn’t see it.

“Dusty Scroll,” I call for my senior analyst.

I heard her walk up to my desk, “Yes sir.”

“Have we managed to get somepony to transcribe these pictograms?” I ask.

She shakes her head, “No sir. Would you like us to look into it?”

I thought about it a minute, “No. I have an idea though. Thank you.”

Dusty nodded and went back to her station.

I had been so caught up in following the Seen’s movements and tracking shipments of explosive materials, I had disregarded the killings as some kind of sick and twisted team building exercise for the Seen and a way to leave us messages as gruesomely as possible. Looking at them now though, there was too much detail. Too much precision involved. Even though I couldn’t read the markings, I noticed some similar sections that showed some kind of intelligence and meaning behind them. They weren’t just some kind decoration, the edging of their killing circle.

The next night, Luna and I had another one of our scheduled meetings. I trotted to her chamber doors. This time her two guards didn’t bother stopping me, but still gave me a dirty look.

Ignoring them, I knocked on the door, “It’s Midnight.”

“Come in,” Luna called from inside.

I open the door and step inside, closing the door behind me.

“Also, I’d appreciate you not lying to me,” she said with a sly smile.

“I’m sorry,” I say baffled.

“I just raised the moon an hour ago. It is not even close to midnight,” she says laughing.

I facehoofed, “Honestly, Luna, that was awful.”

Her laugher dies down a little, “Admit it was at least a little funny.”

“It was a pretty bad pun,” a small smile creeps along my face, “you lunatic.”

She placed a hoof over her mouth in fake offense, “Take that back.”

“Make me,” I dare her.

We move closer together, our faces getting closer. My heartbeat speeds up. Time slows down. Her half lidded eyes mesmerize me. Our lips are just about to touch. Suddenly my front legs are swept from underneath me and I end up face first on the ground. She is on top of me pinning me to the ground.

“Take it back,” she taunts.

I roll my eyes as my heart sinks. “You’re not a lunatic,” I drone.

I feel her get up of me. She offers a hoof to help me up. I take it. Not quite defeated though, I shoot off a quick quip, “You’re just plain crazy.”

Not letting go of my hoof, she draws me nearer. She nips my ear as whispers, “You don’t even know the half of it,” and let me go.

I felt my insides just melt. She had me wrapped around her hoof and she knew it. However, while I didn’t mind being played a little bit, I didn’t just let somepony have their way with me, tease me, and get away with it.

Acting quickly and smoothly, I swept her backwards. I slid my right forehoof down her soft back, making sure I traced down the middle of where her wings connected, where some very delicate nerves were. She jumped and yelped at the sensitive touch. I continued down feeling her lithe body, stopping just before flank. I held her close to me with my left hoof, forcing our chests to touch. I could feel her heart beat. Without wasting another second, I leaned forward and kissed her. At first I felt the surprise on her lips, but when I didn’t move away, she began kissing me back. Her hooves began running through my mane. Her heart sped up to keep pace with mine. This time I was in charge, not her. I pulled out of the kiss and looking into those cyan eyes, now even more alive with excitement and passion.

“Believe me,” I whisper and lean closer, “You have seen nothing yet.”

Just as she was about to say something the door to her room opened up.

“Sister, I just wanted to let yo-”

Princess Celestia stopped in her tracks at the sight of us embraced, her eyes wide, “Oh.”

We stared back at her surprised and turning respective shades of red.

Celestia blushed softly, “My apologies.” She stepped behind the door and cracked it before continuing, “We have a meeting with the griffin ambassadors tomorrow so be sure the get some rest.” She shut the door and we listened to hoof falls down the hall.

I looked back at Luna, “Um, well, that was awkward.” I helped her back to her feet.

“Yes, well, not to say I haven’t walked in on her doing much more,” she said. “So, uh, why did you come here originally?”

“Oh, yes,” I pull out the pictures from the file and hand them over to her, “Would you be able to translate these runes?”

She studies them a second before replying, “Yes, I should be able to. It might take a little while though. It’s been ages since I last saw these.” She sets them on her desk by the wall. “So why the sudden interest in the pictograms?”

“If I don’t know where they are, I want to know what they are doing. I studied those runes earlier today, and while I may not be able to understand what it says, it is too detailed and organized for it to just be for show,” I explain, “If ponies are being killed over them in a ritualistic manner, it makes me wonder.”

“Wonder what Midnight?”

“I remember reading about northern ponies of old performing sacrificial spells. I don’t know to what end they were used for, but I remember the book saying it was early attempts at black magic. I wonder what they are using this for,” I shudder. Any magic that required a pony’s soul to work couldn’t be any good.

Luna came over to me and gave me quick embrace, “Whatever it is, we will stop them. Okay?”

I nodded my head, “I’ll let you get some rest. It sounds like it’s going to be a long day tomorrow for you.”

Luna opened her mouth to say something but stopped and closed it again. She smiled at me, “I think that is probably wise. Besides, my sister and I will have enough to discuss about tonight as it is. I don’t think we need to add anymore.”

“Goodnight Luna,” I say as I head to the door.

“Goodnight Midnight,” she manages to say before I close the door.

The guards give me a strange, almost hateful look. Unable to hold back the urge to screw with their heads any longer, I turn to them as I walk past and tell them, “Whatever you think happened in there, I just wanted you to know that you’re wrong and it was ten times better than anything you can imagine.”

I couldn’t help but grin as I saw one of their faces contort as he tried to piece together what occurred.

Luna and I met over the next two weeks, she would work on her translation, and I read other reports from our agents in the field. No matter what though, the two of us would end up with wings over the other. I had to admit, Captain Dusker gave get advice and enjoying the little things had done wonders for me. I seemed to live in two different worlds; reality and the one that was created between me and Luna. One night I had received word that two of our field agents had made an important discovery. They wanted to meet at a restaurant called the Silver Spoon. It was one of the premier restaurants in Canterlot and the private eating booths did make a great place to eat or hold meetings. The curtains were enchanted a sound proof spell making it quite secure. In my case, I planned to use it to mix a bit of work and pleasure. I told Luna about it and she had the same idea.

There we were. Laughing, eating, drinking just a little, and waiting on our field agents. I hoped our agents would show up soon because it was now an hour after they were supposed to meet us and Luna and I were getting a little, well, drunk.

Luna leaned up against me, using me like a pillow. I had draped a wing over her and held one of her hooves with mine and held my wine on the table with the other.

“I missed this for so long you know,” she said.

“Missed what?” I ask.

“This,” she gestured with her other hoof at the two of us together, “When I was trapped on the moon, I didn’t have anypony there to keep me company; to comfort me; to hold me. For a millennium nopony was there to care about me. Not that it would have really mattered since I was still stuck as Nightmare Moon and she would have just driven anypony away.”

Her voice became weaker, and a few tears began welling up in her eyes. I held her closer to me.

“That was the worst part of it all too. She fed on my loneliness, my desire to feel loved. The emptier and more alone I was, the stronger she became until I was not much more than a stranger in my own body. She had control, and all I could do was watch as she attacked my sister,” her voice broke. The tears began rolling down her cheeks. I rubbed her hoof trying to give her some comfort.

She sniffed before continuing, “Nightmare Moon hurt my sister badly. She didn’t start my attacking her physically but emotionally and mentally. She-she- she.” Luna broke down. “She killed Celestia’s fiancé.”

I held her tight as the jagged sobs ran through her body.

“It was going to be a secret wedding. I was going to preside over it. Nopony else there to see it, or even know about it, but it’s what they wanted. He was so good for her. He was a guard, like you, like all of our suitors really. I guess my sister have a thing for stallions in uniform,” she gave a light chuckle through her tears, “She was so happy then. I guess that was when it started for me though. I felt like she was abandoning me a little and I began secluding myself and making the problem worse. Being jealous over the night is just cover story we use. The truth is I was jealous over my sister’s attention. Nightmare Moon attacked him before he had a chance to react, stabbing him with her horn through his throat. She purposely missed anything vital. I remember screaming and crying, trapped inside my own head, having to witness him choke and drown on his own blood.” I felt her shudder and sob. I just continued to hold her, to help her bear the load.

“When Celestia found his body, I had never heard her cry so painfully and loudly before in my life. She wailed and wept and beat the ground. Nightmare Moon watched all this from the shadows. When did reveal herself, she just cackled at my sister’s pain. It tore my heart to see my sister like that. She was so broken that she hardly put up a defense when Nightmare Moon began attacking her. Celestia wanted to die. She loved him so much she wanted to die rather than live without him. Nightmare Moon beat Celestia within an inch of her life. I still remember seeing her limp, broken form crawl next to her love’s corpse. I remember her last word’s to him in that moment, ‘I’m sorry but I can’t be with you just yet. Not as long as I have a piece of you with me.’ I don’t know where Celestia had them but the elements appeared from nowhere and the next thing I knew, I was on the moon. If I was already an emotional wreck after seeing my sister so hurt and broken, I then spent the next thousand years dealing with Nightmare Moon’s cruelty.

I was so beaten down and broken; I guess I had slipped into a coma of sorts. I only remember awakening to see my sister and the Elements of Harmony standing before me. The events from a thousand years ago were still fresh in my mind. I couldn’t help but tremble before her. How could she love me after all I did to her? That’s why the first thing I told her was that I was sorry. So, so, sorry. Part of me had happy to see her well after all I did to her, but another felt ashamed and unworthy of her presence. Even to this day, I am in awe of her Midnight; in awe of her strength, and her love. She was beaten, broken and hurt in every way imaginable. She lost her fiancé and her sister in the same night. She left the old castle to escape the memories and create fresh ones. I wondered what she meant by ‘a piece of you with me.’ Turned out she was pregnant. She gave birth to their foal and raised it on her own. That was the reason she couldn’t give up entirely that night Midnight. She couldn’t afford to. That child was the only reason she had left to live. The only family left. During my years of exile, she had built quite the family. She became a grandmother, then a great grandmother, all the way down to Prince Blueblood and Princess Candence today. They call us aunt because it's easier than saying many great grandmother and great aunt. In turn, we call them our nephew and niece just because it is easier than explaining the truth of their origins. Celestia made sure that over the years, nopony could discover what truly happened that night and in those early years, and fabricated an all encompassing coverup. Midnight, I am in awe of what my sister accomplished. Everything she overcame, all while leading a developing nation. My exile compared to her challenges seems like a cake walk. Then to put the icing on the proverbial cake, you walk into my life.”

“I’m sorry?” I ask confused.

“You show up, nearly from the time I came back from the moon. I listened to stories about you as you grew. About a young colt whose life already somehow centered on me,” she rubs my flank where the cutie mark was, “About a dark grey colt, which fought off a changling invasion because they cared about the ponies around them, because they were the closest thing to family he had. Then during training, you continued to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Then you go on the lead teams with precision, and perfection. You stood a pony after my own heart. From the second I came back here, it is like some greater power placed you in my life, a greater blessing than any other. What did I do to deserve this? I have done nothing but cause pain and yet here I am, falling in love, and drinking wine, and enjoying all that has been given to me, but I never earned.” She stopped for a second and looked up at me, “Does that make me a bad pony?”

I looked down at those cyan eyes, “No Luna. It doesn’t.”

“Then where is the fairness in it all? Why doesn’t my sister get to be happy,” she sniffled.

I reach down and kiss her softly. “What makes you think she isn’t? From what I see, she has endured pain of losing to ponies very close to her, a pain that I can begin to understand.” The memory of my parents graves flashes through my head. “She rose from that pain though. She found the joy of children. She learned to love as a mother does which is why Equestria flourished. I wouldn’t doubt it for a second that she views everypony as her child in some way and as you’ve already seen, it is a love that will drive her to defeat anything that threatens her child. She learned the benefit of letting go of grudges and the benefit of forgiveness. Then she began caring for other foals and teaching them, playing a role in that pony’s development; case and point, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Luna,” I draw her closer to me, “even though Celestia had to endure what she did, it gave her a chance to be a better pony. Also, it isn’t you that is the bad pony for hurting her, but Nightmare Moon. What I see in you is a pony that, despite the tough front, is still very fragile. You seek acceptance and yearn to be loved for who you are and what you do. I don’t think that life is being unfair, but giving the two of you what you needed, so that you can grow.”

Luna stared at me, reached a hoof up and drew me into a kiss. “I think you’re drunk.”

I shrugged, “Maybe, but that doesn’t make me wrong.”

She smiled her perfect smile.

“Hmmm, Luna, I don’t think our agents are going to show up,” I muse.

“I think you’re right,” she says, then with half lidded eyes, “Want to head back to my place?”

“I think I’d like that,” I say as I kiss her.

“I know you will,” she responds.

We left the restaurant and flew, if a bit unstably, back to the castle.

That night, nopony knew why, but the moon shone very brightly that night; almost as bright as day.

A steady beeping machine drew me from that wonderful night. I was irritated by the interruption but not for long as the blackness came back and reclaimed me.