Author's Note
Just a random thing I wanted to write. Take it however you want.
Mother Night
"Hello."
Her voice was quiet, so quiet he would have missed it if not for the shudder it sent through his body. Twisting, writhing muscles shifted under the skin it was imprisoned in, sending deep, guttural groans through his chest as he dragged his oversized limbs across the ground. He had to tilt his head further upward so he could see her over the large horns protruding from his forehead.
She was beautiful. Mother Night stood in the doorway that led to the small, ruined bedroom that he had grown up in when he was but a foal, woven wool resting on her head, a thick scarf wrapped around her slender neck, not needed and yet worn to make her seem more mortal. Perhaps it worked on the lesser ponies, but not him, not him. He knew she was more than that, more than a goddess, more than the moon and stars.
She was his Mother Night.
The stone under him groaned, or did he? It was hard to tell where he started and the room began, large claws and shifting tendrils sliding along the stone, almost knocking over his crib as he wrapped massive, gleaming blades around a small wooden pony. Lifting it high in the dark room, he held it out towards Mother Night, who just stared at him with that same blank mask, that same cold stare.
"Play...?"
He wanted to play with Mother Night. It had been years since he had played with another pony, the nurses had fled so suddenly on that day, the sorcerers vanishing in sparkling clouds of foul-smelling magic and leaving him and his siblings behind.
They had left, but he had stayed.
Mother Night slowly walked into the dark, cold room, regal hooves almost silent on the stone as her horn gently glowed a beautiful, shimmering blue that flowed so gracefully through the air, surrounding his toy and lifting it from glinting claws. He felt his heart thump harshly against his chest, causing bones to creak and muscles to strain from the powerful beat.
thump...thump...thump...
"Little one." Her voice was so gentle, despite her cold mask. It made his body tremble, one of his arms curling against his side and digging thick claws into his side. She moved closer, moonlight flooding in from the door behind her. She stopped shy of the darkness surrounding him and slowly sat herself down, so regal, so perfect.
"Play...?"
He asked once more, voice coming out like gravel between his misshapen teeth, canines, molars, and incisors shifting against one another as he moved his jaw to speak. Mother Night was quiet as she sat there, his toy floating in her grasp before she lowered it to the stone floor, where a deep groove was dug. Had he done that?
"I'm sorry, little one. I am not here to play." Despite her voice making him happy after so long of silence, he couldn't help the sad noise that escaped his chest, claws digging deep into the stone and tendrils dragging over the ground. "Do you remember when I came here last?"
Of course, he did. He remembered her stepping into the nursery when it was calm and happy and full of his siblings and the doctors and the sorcerers. She had towered above them, fur as dark as the night sky and armor a gleaming blue while a dark smoke poured from the corners of her mouth. And then it was dark, and cold, and we're so cold--
"Cold..."
She watched as Mother Night's stoic mask twisted into a small, pained visage, and the room groaned and shifted, thick slabs of stone grinding together as she tried to surge forward, to comfort her Mother Night. Gleaming claws and pulsing clubs and fleshy tendrils smacked and clawed and crashed--
"Calm yourself, little one." She did as she was told, arms and tendrils falling to the ground, and she let a deep, sad whine spill from her mouth. Suddenly, her wooden pony was floating in front of her, surrounded by that deep and comforting blue. "I did not mean to upset you."
"No...upset..."
She could never be upset with Mother Night.
One of her large, fleshy palms raised from the ground and wrapped around the wooden pony, careful to not break the wood, and pulled it close to her chest. She could still remember when he was given the toy, a kind nurse who always had a sad look in her eyes.
"Little one." Her voice drew his attention, and his gaze came to rest on Mother Night once more, only to see the way her face was twisted into a look of agony, of pain, of such heavy sadness that not even the ground itself could have held it up. But Mother Night was so much stronger than the ground, then the earth, but she was in pain, she was hurting, and that hurt him as well.
A heavy hand with twitching, clenching pincers reached out past the dark shadow that blanketed them, moonlight gracing lumpy, pulsing flesh and thick veins that pulsed against strained flesh. She wanted to stop the hurting, wanted to hold Mother Night and stop the hurt--
But the light hurt, it started to burn her skin and she had to pull the limb back with a pained, warbling whine that shook the nursery. The light hurt and the shadows were comfortable and kind and held him so gently.
thump...Thump...thump...Thump...
"I'm sorry." Mother Night's voice was a whisper, and a faint tremble shook her words. It hurt. "I'm so sorry...I did not know what...what she was going to do...what I was going to do on that day..." Tears like little stars ran down her cheeks, and it pained him to see them, pained and hurt and hurt--
"Mother...Night..."
She groaned the name, she could not talk, it always hurt to talk, but she did not want this, want Mother Night to hurt like he hurt. Mother Night did not deserve to hurt.
"I've tried for so long...but no spell will reverse the effects...no potion will heal the damage..." Mother Night whispered, trembling words falling from her lips like the tears from her eyes, and a deep groan rolled through the nursery, claws dragging deep into the stones and tendrils gripping cribs and toys and bones to squeeze and push and break.
"But I've found nothing. And I refuse to walk out of here again, to leave you in the dark to suffer." No, no, the dark was comfort, it was bliss, it was kind just like Mother Night!
"I am sorry that I could not help you, Little One. From what little of my soul remains, I am sorry." Sorry? Sorry? Why would she be sorry?
"Don't...under...staaaaaaaaand..."
Flashes of gleaming claws, thick tendrils cracking the stone walls, too much, his head hurt, her stomach hurt, their heart hurt.
Thump...Thump...Thump...Thump...Thump...Thump...Thump...
"I know, and I'm sorry." Mother Night whispered, her horn once more starting to glow that beautiful deep blue. But this time, it glowed brighter, and he felt her comforting magic starting to surround her, a deep blue glow that was not painful like the light from the sun and moon. Her flailing tendrils and his clawing fingers slowly forced them to curl at his side.
"Mother...Niiiiiiight..."
Their words struggled to slip out, but it didn't hurt like before. But they felt strange, they felt heavy. Why did they feel heavy?
Thump...Thump...thump...thump......thump......thump......
"Looooovvvveeeeeee...yoooooouuuuuuuu..."
"Sleep, Little One. Sleep."
They slept.
Gentle Gust opened her eyes and glanced around the vast, beautiful space that surrounded her, with sparkling stars gently floating around her, and streams of glittering stardust that flowed deep into the comforting darkness around her. Glancing down, she saw her hooves sparkling, and when she moved one it left a trail behind it, sparkling and shining like tiny little stars!
She gasped, and noticed she was standing on a star! A bright, shimmering star that held her afloat in the darkness!
"Gust!"
The voice was a gentle, soft sound that instantly drew her attention, and she lifted her head to see her brother standing on a star as well! His own hooves were like her own, gleaming bright and leaving a trail of sparkles as he waved towards her. A bright smile spread across her lips, and Gust jumped from the star, landing on another and another, sending bright sparks into the darkness around her.
"Breeze!"
Her brother mirrored her, hopping from star to star, until they met mid-jump, hooves wrapping around one another and laughter spilling from their lips as they held each other tight, floating in the air while starlight shinned around them. They held one another tight and refused to let each other go.
"I missed you..."
"I missed you too..."
They stayed there, eyes closed and tears running down their faces as the light all around them glowed brighter and brighter, a stream of stardust gently flowing around them.
They were together again. They were finally together again.
And down below, stepping out of the old ruins of her old home, Princess Luna stared high into the sky, eyes dark as she saw the two gleaming stars that had joined her night's tapestry.
"I'm sorry."
And with that, she would turn, and begin the walk home. She did not deserve to fly these skies, not tonight.
