Luna PoV

Groaning, I slowly feel my awareness return through a haze of pain, confusion, and hunger. Trying to move, I feel a sharp and constant pain in my chest. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to look down, and my eyes widened at the sight; all of my wounds, while painful to feel and see, didn't quite compare to the view of my body. I was smaller than I should have been. While still undoubtedly a full head over most people, I couldn't help but wonder why I looked like myself as a teen; even my hair had returned to being the same blue it was before my sister and I had accomplished the task ordained to us by the Sky, Earth and Star spirits.

Putting that off, I see a large black bruise on my left torso, where that strange man had kicked us, and no doubt broke our ribs which certainly explained our trouble breathing. Speaking of, I look up and try to find him only to see his unconscious body lying slumped against the wall. I narrow my eyes in thought; why was he there? I recall the Elements of Harmony manifesting then... he must have used them against us, surely? Though I wasn't aware that the Elements could be wielded by a single person, given their harmonious nature, at least two seemed natural so that they could work together. However, our sister had used them against us without aid, so I imagine I'm wrong. 'If he did use the Elements,' I look between my breasts, our armour having been hopelessly destroyed, and take in the sight of a large vile-looking, scorch mark scarred directly over my heart. 'Then how did that get there? I wasn't sure, but I had an uncomfortable feeling it had more to do with my separation from that... abomination than the Elements themselves.

I looked towards the man that had fought me and sighed as I recalled bits and pieces of the fight through the veil the Nightmare had forced me under to stop me from seeing anything. As I try to remember, I feel my lips quirk up in bemusement. 'Did he... headbutt Star Fall?' As my memories of the fight slowly unfold, I can't help but feel worried. He made little to no effort in trying to dodge and laughed at every strike he received. It wasn't as though it didn't hurt; in the end, he'd been brought to his knees due to his own wounds, so why didn't he seem to care?

Feeling about the strange man, I get to my feet, wincing at the feeling of a twisted ankle, and move towards him. I couldn't help but stare at his clothing the closer I got. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, not a thousand years ago and not among those few people I'd seen in the village earlier.

The man was tall, taller than I was now, and probably a few inches taller than me at my full size. I looked at his face and frowned; between his hood and scarf, I couldn't see anything beyond skin almost as pale as my own. Biting my lip, I wasn't too sure about touching him; he seemed almost volatile, but... I took a deep breath and swallowed the guilt about thinking that about the person who'd tried to help me, however unintentional it may have been. Kneeling by his side, I pull his scarf down the lower half of his face and remove his hood, only to pause when I finally see his face. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting but unmarred, porcelain-esque skin with aristocratic features certainly hadn't been it. I tilt my head to get a better look at him.

He was... pretty.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I can't honestly come up with a better word to call him. He didn't look masculine enough to be called handsome or feminine enough to be beautiful, and he had a certain maturity to him that made cute feel wrong; although I couldn't help but grin, I can't imagine he'd respond well to being called cute to his face.

Removing him from the wall, I prop up his head and set it on my lap to get a better look at him, and only then do I feel his skin. I rub my index and thumb together. Despite looking smooth, his skin felt like leather. Thinking about our fight with his appearance in mind, I frown as I also recall a lesson on jungles that Clover had once taught my sister and me, more specifically, how to avoid colourful fauna in case they were poisonous. What had Celestia said?

'Why are all the pretty animals so dangerous?'

With a fond smile, I remembered teasing Celestia about thinking frogs were cute and how maybe if she kissed one, a prince would pop out.

Celestia...

Sister...

Choking on my breath, I felt hot tears stream down my face as I started to remember everything we'd ever done together. Everything from before we'd accepted the tasks from the Spirits, from before Star Swirl, and most certainly before we became princesses. "Hah, hn." With shaking hands, my gut gnarls and throat clenches as my vision turns to my left shoulder. Inky black skin with a small crescent moon, I reach for it and grab my arm, fingers digging into my skin until my nails start drawing blood. "Why this?" I can't but mutter to myself. "Anything else," I grip harder, tearing skin. '-would have changed things.' Celestia could have been a princess on her own, for the best, and I'd have just been... me.

Allowing my wings to manifest, I stare at their radiance, glimmering like an expanse of stars fuelled by the power offered by The Spirits. 'Celestia should have been princess on her own.' Removing my hand from my cutie mark, allowing my blood to spill below me, some droplets splattering onto the stranger's face, I move to grip the base of my right wing. 'It's for the best... really.'

"Are you not cold?" Stilling, I look down at the voice's origin and see a pair of green eyes staring up at me, purple flecks of light occasionally flitting through them. His gaze shifted to my hand, and he raised an eyebrow. "Preening?" his green eyes dulled as his face scrunched in confusion. "I don't recall birds having magic wings." Mt mouth fell open as my arm hit my side limply. Was he talking to himself? "How else-" He cut himself off with a sigh, and irritation settled on his face that seemed to suit him far too well. "They have hollow bones; it makes lift- no, hold on, hollow bones help with breathing, how do they get off the ground?" He suddenly shot up out of her lap, causing her to start in surprise. "If you say government drone, I see-eeenghgh!" Collapsing to his knees with a barely contained scream, he immediately vomits a copious amount of blood, bile, and... multiple teeth. Taking in a gasping breath, he vomits again, only for sludge to hit the ground and eat at the ground under it.

Wiping my eyes, I look at the sludge and feel bile rise to my own throat. Normally it just looked like black goo, but with magical senses, it was vile, corrupt, damnable, debased, hateful, and beyond a shadow of a doubt, purely evil down to the core of its being. I look at the man resting on his knees, trying to regain control of his breathing. That... came out of him? Is he... like me.? If he was possessed, then it explained the shift in his behaviour as the fight started. "I promised my devil a fight." Was he in control? All of the time? How?

"Eugh," Getting back to his feet, he stretches his back and sighs when his spine cracks. "Right then, I apologies about that." Turning around, he cracks his neck before thumbing blood off the corner of his mouth and wiping it off his sleeve. His eyes met hers before breaking contact as he turned his head away. "I don't suppose you saw Nightmare Moon on your way here? She was likely in the company of a male, black clothes and hair with golden eyes?" I think about his words as I rise to my feet. He didn't know?

'Of course not; why would he bother talking to me if he knew?' The man's green eyes narrowed at her as his eyes roamed over her body, and she suddenly remembered she was naked. 'Good job, Luna.' Suppressing a flush, not like she had any reason to be ashamed, she attempted to create some temporary clothing out of magic, only to be met with a splitting headache.

"I see; you're the soul that was being smothered under Nightmare." He crossed his arms. "So a demon then, hm, to think I mistook her for a god of all things, I'd been thinking that fight was too easy." He looked at her again before his gaze dropped to her chest, although, before she could get annoyed at his blatant ogling, she noticed the curiosity in his eyes and... the scar on her chest. "Hm, yeah, I wouldn't use magic for a while. Helel carved Nightmare out of you by tearing off the piece of your soul that she'd been attached to." His hand rose to scratch his cheek, and he tilted his head. "I'm familiar with such practices, it-" An annoyed expression took over his features. "Yes, Stan, I know. Lucifer told me that's how he created you when we were planning to kill you." He grunted. "You already know you were there." Another sigh. "Can we not do this right now? I'm trying to have a conversation."

"Are you well?" I couldn't help myself from asking. I knew he wasn't; a demon had possessed him for the Three's sake.

"Yes, Satanael is merely being childish." With a soft hum, he looked at her again and frowned. Grabbing his coat, he pulled it off before lightly tossing it her way. Fumbling, I made to try and catch it, only for the coat to dissolve into a mist and wrap itself around my body. It reformed as a strange backless blue top that exposed my midriff with an upward-facing navy triangle, which ties into a blue sash ribbon on the back of my shoulders. I also now wore a flowing cobalt blue skirt, which is calf-length with a downward-facing navy triangle around the waist, and I was still barefoot. "Hm, wasn't much material to work with. I'm surprised it covers that much, honestly." Shrugging, the man placed his hands in his pockets and lightly smiled. "Suits you, though; I can't say I expected to inherit Lucifer's sense of style." His eyes glowed purple for a moment before his lips twitched, and I can only assume the demon in him was talking. Him... My eyes widened. I didn't know his name.

"Stranger, may I ask for the name of the one who aided me?" I request, and he stares at me with his mouth somewhat agape.

"If you want to thank someone for saving you, then thank Helel, he's the one who removed Nightmare Moon from you. I just started a fight with her." He scratched his forearm with a frown, almost offended at having been granted undue gratitude. "Iscariot... just Iscariot." His left eye twitched. "And Satanael, although he insists on being called Stan."

I looked at him with an almost mystified expression. Did he and the demon in him work together? If so, could he even really be called possessed?

"And you are... who?"

"Oh," -'I suppose I'm truly not remembered.'- "I am Prin- I," I bit down on my tongue. Could I honestly call myself a princess after everything I've done? "Luna, just Luna," I replied, mimicking his introduction. I wonder if he feels like this too? However, judging by his smile, he appears amused.

"Well, Luna, It's a pleasure." He offers his hand, and I stare at it for a moment, wasn't the lady supposed to do this? I guess things really have changed since I've been gone. Not wanting to keep him wanting, I take the offered hand and lean forward to plant a soft kiss on the back of his hand, only to catch the sight of his bewildered stare with an open-mouthed smile.

"W-what?" Surely it hadn't been so strange. Certainly, I'd never done it before, but I was familiar enough with the process, having been greeted by nobility in such a manner many times before.

"Ah," His lips twitch upwards. "ha," He was outright smiling now. "Hahaha ahahahahaha!" Completely losing his composure, he stumbled backward and doubled over with even more laughter erupting from his gut. He looked up at her, unshed tears in his eyes that almost seemed to be several shades lighter than the dull green from before. She couldn't stop herself from blushing in embarrassment. "Ehe~ Sor-heh-ry, hm hmn, you surprised me; I don't think I've ever been greeted in such a way before?" He apologises, although I can't say how much of an apology it is, with chuckles still erupting from his throat. "I was aiming for a handshake." He supplied, and I felt my blood freeze.

'A handshake? Luna, you utter fool' Cringing into herself, Luna can almost feel herself missing the Moon already.

"If it makes you feel better, I only laughed because a spell I was using to dull emotional responses ended."

Why would that make me feel better!' She didn't know what was worse, being laughed at or him emotionlessly telling her he only wanted a handshake. At least with his laughter, she could tell he wasn't offended.

"Sorry to change the subject, but you wouldn't happen to be familiar with Celestia?" Iscariot asks with a thoughtful frown, and I cringe at the question.

"She is my s-sister." I force myself to say, although I couldn't help but doubt it after everything I've done, were we still sisters?

"Oh, good." Iscariot pointed being me, and I turned to see sunlight shining through the castle's windows and a few cracks in the walls. "Because she's coming straight here."

She felt a knot form in her gut. "Are you sure-"

The windows all shattered, and everything went white.

Author's Note

Okay, yeah, this chapter doesn't please me but I don't quite know what part bothers me the most so I guess i'll just have to deal with it.

I've also discovered that Satan just shatters all possible tension. Should have expected that, Satan has neither the empathy nor patience to deal with anyone's shit.

You also get to see what Iscariot is like from the outside. No, he does not need to speak out loud to communicate with Satanael and yes, he is aware it makes him look insane but why would he care?

Tell me what you think of Luna's perspective, I was going to write her dialog in old English then realised I don't quite hate myself that much so sorry to break the immersion.

Luna's brief lapse in sanity was spurred on by the cursed flames from last chapter even if Nightmare took the brunt of it. Also tossed a coin on whether Iscariot wakes up before or after she mutilates herself , Lucky Luna.

This chapter was supposed to go on to Ponyville but i've learned that I lack the willpower to write that much. Still, this was more of an intermission than a real chapter although if you want more like this then I'll see what I can do.