Son of the Moon

Polaris awoke with a start, panting heavily and sweating bullets. He looked around, observing his surroundings. A standard room with a bed, a nightstand, a dresser and a window across from him, the morning sun shining through it. He gently rubbed his head as the memories of last night gradually returned to him.

Apparently, he had lost.

Sighing, Polaris brought his left hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. He paused before staring at his arm; it had been healed completely. Normally, his recovery speed was much quicker than others, but he never recalled it being this fast. That should have taken a month, at the very least.

"I guess she healed me. Magic can be pretty handy at times, I suppose." He spoke. Looking to the nightstand, he spotted a glass of ice water that had been left out for him. Come to think of it, he was pretty thirsty, and he couldn't remember the last time he had fresh water. Lifting the glass to his lips, he downed it in a few gulps before setting the empty glass back down. "Definitely beats drinking from puddles, or rainwater."

Looking inside the drawers of the dresser, he found clean, neatly folded clothes for him. "Geez, how long was I out for her to get all this stuff for me? Well, I guess she is royalty. She probably has a bunch of servants to do it for her." He dug around in the clothes before finding something he liked. It was a black t-shirt with a white crescent moon on the front, and a pair of jean shorts. He never really liked long sleeved shirts or long pants; they restricted movement too much.

He looked down at the crescent moon adorning his chest. "Self-advertisement much...?" He deadpanned. Shrugging and deciding to drop it for now, he figured that it was time to explore what was to become his new home. Stepping out into the hallway, he looked both ways and saw nothing but more rooms lining the walls. He honestly had no idea how anyone was supposed to navigate this place. He sighed in annoyance and decided at random to go right.

After passing through a "Hall of Hands," which he thought was kind of creepy, he ended up in a dining area. It was a large room with an equally large table that was far too big for just a few ponies to sit at without a ton of extra space. The two most notable things, however, were the fact that the table was completely full of food, and the pony who sat on one of the ends of the table.

She was a tall, pure white mare wearing a golden dress that snugly hugged her figure. She had both wings and a horn, and her long, pastel hair was perpetually flowing in a similar manner to Luna's. She turned her head towards him, a gentle smile crossing her features.

"You're finally awake. I must say, I was quite surprised when Luna had brought home a child." She giggled softly as she put a bite of pancake into her mouth.

"Well, I lost a bet." He cautiously approached, sitting in a chair next to her. "Are you... Princess Celestia?" He looked up at her, seeing her answer his question with a nod of her head. "... What's with all the food?" He asked.

"Luna wasn't sure what kind of food you would like, so she asked me to have the chefs make a large variety for breakfast." She took another bite of pancake. "She sent out servants to gather clothes for you as well, as I'm sure you're aware." She motioned to his newly acquired clothing. "She's really making sure you have the best. She's acting like your mother." She teased.

"Mother, huh...?" Polaris looked to the ceiling, deep in thought. Luna had gone out of her way to take him from poverty, give him clean clothes, water, shelter and now fresh food as well. She had even given him a name.

Like a mother would.

Polaris frowned, remembering her mentioned reasoning for wanting to take him in, being that she simply didn't want his supposed "hidden power" being misused. But he remembered the look that she had in her eyes as she spoke to him. It was genuine. It was comforting. It was the look that someone would only have if they truly cared about another. He knew in his heart that she never took him in for an ulterior motive or anything like that. It was simply to help him.

She was the first to show him true, genuine kindness.

"Hello?" Celestia's voice snapped him from his thoughts as she waved her hand in front of his face. He quickly shook his head and looked at her. "You zoned out there for a moment. Did my comment get to you?" She smiled playfully.

"Yeah... I guess it did. Just a bit." Polaris let out a small laugh as he stared at the large assortment of food before him. "Can I really have whatever I want here?"

"Go ahead." Celestia said, resting her head in her palm.

Tentatively, Polaris took a bite of pancake. His eyes immediately widened at the burst of delicious flavor that hit his taste buds. He started scarfing down all of the food in sight like a pack of starving timberwolves, reaching for anything that he could grab and consuming it so fast that Celestia wondered if he was even chewing at all, and where he was putting all that food. He definitely ate much more than what should even be physically possible for a colt his age.

Celestia couldn't help but laugh lightheartedly as the colt before her shoveled more food into his mouth than any other pony she had ever seen. She could forgive his disregard for proper manners, seeing as he was likely starving, and had probably never had a proper meal in his life. And besides, she got like this too, on occasion... Particularly when cake was involved, but she would never mention that.

After a short while, Polaris finally finished eating after having put about half of the food on the massive table into his black hole of a stomach. He rubbed his full belly in satisfaction, letting loose a loud burp as he did. Celestia had finished laughing and had finished her own pancakes.

"Luna tells me that she named you Polaris, correct?" Celestia asked, to which the colt nodded his head in confirmation. "From what I've heard, you're a real ruffian who enjoys fighting anypony he can."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Polaris shrugged his shoulders. "But not anypony. Strong ones. I just wanna keep getting stronger and stronger and stronger!" He shouted with conviction. Celestia was taken aback by his sudden declaration, looking at him in surprise.

"To what end?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Polaris replied, his confusion evident. "Do I really need a reason to want to get stronger? I just... Do." Celestia frowned a bit at the response, trying to wrap her head around this colt her sister had found.

"You really have no reason to get stronger, other than simply wanting to?" Polaris shook his head at her question. "You have nothing to gain? Nothing to protect? Not even to become the strongest?"

"I don't wanna be the absolute strongest, that would be super boring," Polaris stated. "If I'm the strongest, then what's the point in fighting anymore? I'd already be stronger and would win no question. Part of a fight is excitement! Not knowing if I can win is part of the fun!" He had a big smile.

"... Excitement?"

"When I fought that minotaur... I was scared. Like, really, really scared. But that fear made me excited! Because that meant my opponent was strong and beating him would make me stronger in the end!" Polaris finished by throwing a few punches into the air.

Celestia stared at him for several moments before a smile slowly made its way back to her face. "You're quite interesting."

Polaris simply laughed in response before turning to her. "Say, you have soldiers, right? Where's the training ground? I wanna practice my moves there!" He ran off after receiving directions from Celestia. Celestia simply sat with a smile, looking at the doorway he had gone through. Another figure entered the dining hall not long after Polaris left.

"He reminds me of myself at a young age." It was a soft male voice. Celestia turned to face the new arrival.

"Hello, Red Wind."

The stallion in question was a pegasus with a coat of purest white, which heavily contrasted with his deep crimson hair, which was short and wavy. His eyes were a light silver in color, appearing to glow in the light. He wore a black tank top and pants.

"Your majesty." Red Wind bowed to the princess.

"Oh, stop that. You know full well that you're more than a simple servant or guard." Celestia poked his forehead.

"But I am your personal guardian." He smiled, a soft, gentle smile that always seemed to be his default expression.

"But also, my closest friend and confidant." Celestia poked his forehead again, this time with a teasing smile. Red Wind simply sighed in defeat, relenting to the stubborn princess.

"I suppose so..."

"What do you think of Polaris?" Celestia suddenly asked. Red Wind tapped his chin with a finger as he thought.

"He's talented in fighting, that much is certain, and I can tell just by looking at his physique that he has a Fighter's Body as well. The combination of both a Fighting Talent and Fighter's Body is very rare. It makes me interested in watching his growth." He smiled, this time looking a little bit less gentle than usual.

"Fighter's Body and Fighting Talent, hm?" Celestia pondered. "There have been multiple ponies with one or the other throughout history, particularly before the founding of Equestria when fighting was much more prevalent. But having both at once is something only a very select few ponies were ever born with."

"But it's rough. His power is unrefined," Red Wind stated. "He doesn't really know that he has either, it seems. It'll take a lot of training to maximize their usage."

Celestia silently nodded in agreement with Red Wind's observation. She stood up and headed towards the throne room, Red Wind following not far behind.

Just who was this colt that Luna had brought home with her?

In the training yard, Polaris was practicing the techniques he had gained from his many battles on one of the training dummies. He performed various moves ranging from straight punches, to spin kicks, to bicycle kicks, to various grabs and more. A few guards had stopped to watch him train. They were made aware that Luna had brought home a child she had found but had not expected to see that same colt training with such intensity.

"Polaris." The guards all immediately stood at attention at the sound of their princess Luna's voice. "What are you doing in the training yard? You only just recovered."

"Training, duh." Polaris turned towards her. "I can't get stronger if I just sit around all day." Luna just shook her head and sighed.

"You are incorrigible."

"I don't know what that means, so I'm gonna ignore it!" Polaris stuck his tongue out. He paused and looked at the bright sunny sky, a realization dawning on him. "Wait, shouldn't you be sleeping during the day?"

"Well... I was." Luna chuckled softly. "But I became restless with my worry for you, so I had gone to check on you to see how you were recovering after I had healed your injuries. However, I can see now that you are doing just fine."

Polaris looked at Luna, observing her. Celestia's words from earlier echoed in his mind, spurring him to speak up.

"Princess Luna?"

"Yes?"

"Can we speak? In private?"

Luna was caught off guard by his uncharacteristically soft and nervous tone of voice. In the short time she had known Polaris, the colt had been nothing but very loud, outspoken and somewhat rude. She was reminded in this moment that, despite his combat prowess, and emotional maturity, he was still a child.

"Very well, follow me." She began walking, motioning for Polaris to follow, which he did without question. After a bit of walking, they had reached Luna's quarters, which had a much larger bed than his own, and many moon-related decorations. Everything was black or blue, she really liked darker colors, it seemed. "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

"O-Oh!" Um..." He had gone over this conversation a few times in his head since his talk with Celestia but actually having said conversation was entirely different. Luna seemed to notice his apprehension and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Polaris, it is alright. I do not want you to fear speaking to me about anything, and if you feel that now is not the time, then I shall wait until you are good and ready." She offered a reassuring smile.

There was that tone again. A motherly tone that comforted Polaris and made him feel like his troubles weren't anything to worry about. It was the same tone she had used when they had first met and was what gained his trust in the first place. Never knowing who his parents were bothered the young colt more than he let on. In truth, while he did love fighting, he equally wanted attention.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Polaris finally spoke. "I... I hate my real parents, you know? They sold me to the black market for a few bits, for what? Gambling? Drugs? Some kind of debt? It just doesn't make sense... I wanted to know who my mom and dad really were, but now, when I really think about it, they were just scum." Tears streamed from his eyes down his face as he emptied his true feelings.

Luna wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a comforting embrace. He felt her warmth surrounding him, comforting him. She ran a hand through his hair, quietly shushing him as he let everything out. His anger, and his sadness. Slowly, Polaris moved his trembling arms upwards, wrapping them tightly around Luna's body, returning her embrace as he continued sobbing.

"A-Am I really that w-worthless? S-So worthless that my p-parents liked money more than me?" He spoke through choked sobs.

"I do not believe so," Luna reassured, looking down at the crying child. "They are the ones at fault. They were greedy, selfish ponies. It is not that your life is worth less than money, it is simply that their warped view of the world caused them to value money more than your life." She gently rubbed his back. Polaris eventually calmed down, his sobs devolving into quiet whimpers.

"You're... The first one to really be nice to me. In that city, almost everything is rare and valuable, so types like me would have to steal to survive. It was really a place without laws... But ponies still don't like being stolen from, so I had a bad name for myself. But nobody really knew that I was the champion underneath that cloak. Even if they did, I don't think it would have changed much..."

Luna nodded, quietly listening to him vent his frustrations.

"I fought in that arena not just to fight strong fighters, but also because those cheers of the crowd... They gave me a purpose. I felt important."

"But you are important." Luna stated. "Everypony's life has some meaning, even yours. I believe that we choose what our own life means not just to ourselves, but to those around us as well." She returned to caressing his head. "What your parents did was terrible. But you cannot allow that to shape you. You are more than that. Perhaps even forgive them, to an extent."

"H-How could I possibly forgive them!?" Polaris exclaimed, appalled at the suggestion.

"Not completely. What they did was terrible, but had it not happened, we would not have crossed paths. If somepony wrongs you, but they are truly sorry and regretful of what they have done, then I believe you should forgive them. But if they do not even seem to notice..." A bit of resentment began bleeding into her tone of voice, almost entirely unnoticeable. She quickly cleared her throat before continuing. "Anyway... A second chance is not something everypony has the luxury of receiving, only those who truly regret what they have done."

Polaris simply nodded, listening to the wise words of his caretaker. "You're more of a mother than my mother."

"I simply want what is best for you." Luna gave a gentle smile.

"... Thanks, mom." He said, without realizing it, almost as if by instinct. Still, Luna didn't seem to mind as she simply kept her smile. She looked down to see that he had fallen asleep in her embrace, the crying and emotional stress having caught up with him.

Gently lifting him in her arms, Luna climbed into her bed, laying Polaris next to her before using her telekinesis to move the blanket over the two of them.

"Sleep well, my sweet Moon Prince." She softly planted a kiss on his forehead before closing her eyes, drifting off to sleep herself.

Polaris smiled as he slept.