Freedom. Glorious, glorious freedom. After weeks of nursing, cajoling and incessant fussing. Princess Luna was finally given a clean bill of health, both physically and mentally. And now, with her sister's blessing, she was free to go quench her thirst for wanderlust. She had a world to explore, Cites to scout and villages to visit. Tia was even ready to take all of her days off to tour Equestria,incognito, with her dearest sister.
Luna was touch by her big sister's love and devotion to her, even after a 1000 years. But...that's not what she needed.
What she needed, was her canvas, the night sky itself.
Her sister had frowned when Luna had express her wish to play among the stars, but didn't say anything. Even when Luna requested to go alone in her journey, she stayed silent. Only her rigidity could show her uneasiness toward her younger sister's latest endeavour. Predictably Celestia still viewed her sister like a poor and temporarily displaced foal. It didn't help that Luna still looked like one at the moment.
But even faced with her sister reluctance and fear that she may become antisocial, the great sea of stars was wailing to her. Like a wounded child crying for it's mother. And Luna, like any good mother, couldn't ignore her most important of duty. Yes, raising the moon was important, but tending to her night sky was vital.
And so, Luna was now free from duty for about a year or so.
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She was ecstatic.
She couldn't help herself from screaming ''Spaaaace'' at the top of her lungs, Feeling the vacuum of nothingness emptying her body of oxygen.
Oh! how she missed the utter lack of atmospheric presence, the absolute silence.
But. Somehow, it felt...Wrong...Corrupted.
Hurt.
Flaring her senses and magic, she began to scry her domain for any sign of anomaly.
'Mayhaps, it is only a star who died during my absence'
She was prepared to filled the void left by the miniature sun. A simple maintenance job that nopony would ever noticed being done. But! A black hole, even at the fringe of the universe, could spell disaster. Not unlike the ultimate result of a hole in a wool sweater, or even worse, socks.
But she wasn't prepare for what she found.
It was dark... foreboding...alien.
*ALONE and LEAVE I
US suffer ALONE
IN endlessly DARKNESS*
She felt, more then hear foreboding voices that ignited a primal fear. But among the maelstrom of vicious intent, a small light of longing seemed to weakly call out to the alicorn, separate from the cloud of shadows and fear. Reaching to her...
All went dark.
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Black broken eldritch lines filled Luna's vision, seemingly preventing a red and black atmosphere from penetrating the area she was in...Wherever that area was.
At first glance it looked empty, almost dead somehow. Not unlike...
'...The moon! Is this... a place of banishment?'
She looked around the perimeter of this morbid prison, afraid of whom or what it contained.
If her observation held a smidgen of truth...
' Nay. We shan't think of this grim future. 'Once thing thought can and will happen. 'As mother used to say . We shall return to our sister at once, she must know whom is serving penance.'
She was about to depart when a presence made itself known.
who.
A simple word... Concept really was broadcast mentally into Luna's mind. Immediately causing her brain to send her own definition of herself. The princess of the Night was laid bare to whomever the entity was.
She turned around to face whatever dared to scan her mind, ready to unleash the power of her Royal ire upon the poor foal. No on attack a Princess and lives!
But the words died in her throat.
A great Behemoth, white as snow stained with rivulet of blood loomed ominously over the pale blue alicorn, it's single blood red eye full of mistrust warily following her every move, a pair of paper like wings with the tip dipped in blood lazily swaying back and forth, on top of its bulbous head/body was a golden halo giving off a little light in this glum environment.
Luna couldn't help herself in front of such a grotesque monstrosity.
'' SQUEEEEEEE!''
The princess of the night squealed, loud and clear in the Royal Canterlot voice. For, you see. Luna has always loved the Macabre. Unfortunately cementing her reputation as a boogeymare. made worse when she became the Evil Mare in the Moon. But the fact of the matter is that she absolutely adores all that is considered 'dark' and 'scary'.
And that was the epitome of all thing she loved.
While Luna was absolutely delighted, the creature was not.
It's last encounter with small and colorful beings coming from outside ended in a painful fragmentation that took, well... A long time to undo. Even to this day the reason behind the attack was as mysterious as it's attacker.
But the primary scan showed no ill will toward it, except when the,,,Pony, princess, black-blue-with-white-spots thingy noticed it's presence.
And then it became confusing.
Rage changed to...Well something weird. The little-thing-thats-actually-a-big-blue-thing was not emanating righteous fury anymore, more like...absolute adoration? Not even the dark matters born from it's tears gave it this feeling of...fuzzwarmth at it's core.
It was intriguing...but also very nice.
Suddenly an Image of something round, whit, big and glowing over a black blue background entered it's mind. Quickly, it refocused its attention on this weird little creature. Her mouth looked like it was moving but no noise was reaching its auditory membrane...Wait, noise? Her? Where did those notions comes from? Then it dawn to it. These were her thoughts coming through an incomplete mind link.
Its rumination were interrupted by a shift in the atmosphere . then, sound.
''Can thou hear us?''
!!!
It never 'heard' noise, let alone voice in it's dimension of silence. So it was unsure as to how to answer it.
It could feel pony princess getting impatient. And so it tried the only way it knew. Repeating what it heard through the link .
I can hear.
This answer seemed to please the ponyunicornpegasus. She spoke again.
''Wonderful. Our name is Princess Luna, We art one of the co-ruler of Equestria and Keeper of the moon and the night sky. Please forgive our lack of decorum when meeting thee.''
Each new words brought forth a new image and feeling, it was now somewhat easier to understand what Luna was. She was all that was the night. She was also wary of what she had discovered and embarrassed by her reaction.
''Who art thou. If We may be bold enough to ask? And why art thou in isolation?''
The voice of the Princess of the Moon was unwavering. But mistrust could be felt coming in wave from the tiny ruler. It knew that feeling, it was experiencing it at that very moment. But it knew that she would not hurt it, it's power had grew since the last time its body erode. And so it answer the best it could.
other version of nothing. not first. first destroyed by affection affection stick. second version. I. fragmented. not destroyed by crystal. now here. dark matter protect me. dark matter...only other. always alone. hurt. but safe.
''And why, pray tell, where you destroyed by this 'Affection affection stick'?
Why?
Why has it been destroyed?
The only reason for its destruction was... Unknown. He Remembered deep loneliness burning deep inside its being, twisting and churning. It was then that it cried its first coppery tears, giving birth to dark matter. It alleviate its suffering for a bit, only for it to disappear. Leaving behind cold sorrow.
Tears of blood once again fell, dark matter appeared only to leave. And so the cycle continued unbroken for as long as it could remember.
Then. A pink creature appeared before it, filled with determination and carrying a stick made with the affection of thirty lives. By his side, a dark matter of altered state. It felt a brand new emotion bubbling in the core of its soul.
Hope.
But it was not meant to last.
Blob of love struck true, blinding its only eye and making its inside warm and soothing its pain. Then pure agony rippled throughout its body, caused by the dark matter leaving its physical husk to stop the pink puffball from shooting what hurt them.
It didn't remembered the rest of the fight beyond the point when its eye burst from its body in a shower of blood. it must have lost grip of the physical plane for a time for its body had change to the one it has at the present. But the pain of rejection was so strong and its sorrow so deep it would have prefer to melt back in the crucible of oblivion.
The the pink menace returned. This time accompanied by a winged creature and carrying the crystallized essence of of dreams. But beyond that and a shard of light embedded in its core, everything was the same...
''Stop it! Please! I'm sorry, I did not know thy pain thou had suffered!''
It's reminiscence of the past stopped when it felt pain and overwhelming sadness from Luna. The poor alicorn now had tears of water orbiting around her head. It also felt a new emotion coming from her.
Sympathy.
She must have saw the memories through the the link they shared. It was an unnerving concept to know that your past has been viewed by an outside source.
It looked at Luna with baleful eye and a heavy...Heart? What a queer concept!
Then the alicorn approached it. What was she doing? Should it protect itself? Should it... Kill her?
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Luna couldn't believe what she had experienced. In the span of a few hour, she had re-lived eons of loneliness and unending grief. Her thousand years of banishment on the moon looked more like a few minute time-out in the corner of shame compared to what that poor creature had to live through. Only a little lack of confidence had caused her transformation into Nightmare Moon... Maybe.
And so. In spite of her own well being. Luna approached the looming beast and...She hugged it. Not out of pity for its horrific life, but to conforte it like her mother and now Celestia did when the nightmares of her past came back to haunt her. And she needed to hold something solid to recover from the feeling of vertigo caused by the sheer intensity of the uncontrolled memory transfer. A controlled one would not have given her a splitting migraine.
She could not erase the pain nor the loneliness of the past, but she could offer her friendship. It was what saved her after all.
But she had one last thing to ask.
''Can I call thou...Zero-Two? 'The second nothing' is quite the mouthful.''
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The newly dubbed Zero-Two could only marvel at the feeling of wellness flooding its sense. Gone was the cold emptiness of solitude. What replaced the dreaded affliction, what once brought it pain, was now bringing comfort and a new 'Spark' to the shard of light and dream, making it glow with a sense of 'rightness'.
Kinship
Camaraderie
Support
Where those feeling harmful to the dark matter? Should it be harmful to it too? Zero-Two hoped not, for it was becoming inconceivable to live without those wonderful concept.
And beside it quite liked to be referred as 0.2. It made it feel special, unique.
Zero-Two then looked at Luna, who had launched off from where she was holding onto it. Waiting with great trepidation for the answer.
second version of nothing. zero-two. 0.2. I... I am zero-two.
This answer caused Luna to change her demeanor from 'anxious' to 'relieved' then finally, to 'proud' and 'official'.
She then spoke with conviction a declaration that would forever change the lives of many. Including her own.
''I, Princess Luna, keeper of the night and stars, master of Equiterra's moon, co-ruler to the principate of Equestria. Name thee, one Zero-Two dit second version of nothing, denizen of this dark confine. My friend and companion. SO MOTE IT BE!''
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The last four words echoed throughout the vast expense of the anomaly and beyond. The Goddess of the night had invoked the most powerful of magick know in all of the universe. Friendship.
But just outside of the border formed by the eldritch line, trouble was brewing in the form of dark clouds with multitudes of sickly yellow iris eyes. ;Dark matter!
They had become restless since they had permitted their last vessel in contact with the generator. Hoping that nightmare moon would help causing grief to their source of life. But no. Nightmare had been trounced and not enough of their brethren was left in this living commodity to be of influence, only enough for them to make a mistake that would cause them to postponed the destruction of this accursed light. Worse they could now feel this traitorous piece of darkness making friend with their generator! It could not be let feeling happiness, they need it to be sad and in pain.
Hopefully they could make due with this unfortunate presence.
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''... And that is What friend do!''
Luna had just finished explaining the concept of friendship to her new friend when the darkness breached into the space the were in. Buzzing with dreadfull intent.
'' W...What is going on!?'' She asked, only for her to be mobbed by a sea of irate dark matter. she valiantly tried to fought them back with all the magick she could muster. But the dark matter were too numerous and she was quickly overwhelmed.
''Zero-two...Hel...''
Using its great wing, Zero-two managed to ward the dark matter off from its new friend. But something was wrong. Awfully wrong for it couldn't feel anything from the powder blue alicorn.
Luna...? It called called.
No answer. Only silence. Luna was still with her mouth barely open and her eyes not quite closed. Her colors were faded, dull, Lifeless.
Dead.
All around it, dark matter were exuding smugness in a task well done.
But Zero-Two couldn't care, it's true friend was gone. Forever.
The words came naturally to form a requiem to its departed friend.
and I suffer endlessly
this is why I have to be alone in darkness
Sorrow changed into burning rage, dark matter had no right to isolate it for their own dark desire. And now it knew the truth.
YOU DENIED MY HAPPINESS
The dark matter froze in dread. How did it know?
The mind voice of Zero-Two became deadly silent like the calm before the tempest. Whatever it was planning would not end well for them.
and now I shall return this world to zero
to nothing
'caus if I cannot feel joy, NO ONE EVER WILL!
And with that last line, Zero-Two unleashed a wave of pure light. Annihilating every dark matter present and destroying the anomaly it once resided in.
Once the deed done and the anger evaporated, deep sorrow and emptiness returned, even worse than before.
Gingerly, Zero-Two reached the cold body of Luna, its friend. And tenderly cradled her in its wings. Holding her gently like a one would hold a dying butterfly.
Tears once again flowed from its giant eye. But this time the coppery blood was replaced by salty tears as it remembered what Luna was to preserved the memory of its only happier time.
No... No, it would not do. Luna was not supposed to disappear. she was the night, the star and the moon. And its friend.
''Friends help each other in time of duress, it is a partnership in which both side give and take equally...Even if it mean to sacrifice thou own life to save another. Like the original element of harmony did when our own fledgling kingdom of equestria was in peril. They chose to give their life force so that mine sister and I could stop Discord. They did so to save their friends and loved one... ''
If those ponies could empowered a pair of dying godling, then so could it! ''That is what friends do!
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'Uugh....Why thost my body hurt so much!' Thought Luna. ' Oh, thats right! I have been swarmed by a cloud of darkness... ' She shivered at the memorie. So cold...so empty...so...vile.
'Zero-two must have saved me after I lost consciousness then. It must... What was that?'
Something was brushing against her back! Her eyes flew open and she wiped her head around, momentarily forgetting that her bones and joints felt like they had been stretched from Equiterra to the moon and back again. It could be those 'dark matter' returning to finish the job.
But it was only her long and flowing mane...'Wait! My mane thost not flow upon mine back!''
She looked again and was mesmerised by the sight. Her mane, once short and powder blue, now took on the guise of the glittering night sky full of stars. It was even billowing as if a celestial wind was forever caught in its strand. the same was also true for her tail. but her mane and tail were not the only change, her whole body was different. Her legs were longer, her coat was a darker shade of blue. She gingerly touch her snout and confirm that it too had elongated.
Gone was her foal like proportion. What it was replace by was the epitome of regality and maturity, a full grown alicorn!
But her elation was cut short when she noticed she was now back in space. Alone. Was it only but a dream, a hallucination? Was Zero-Two only a figment of her imagination? tears began to blur her vision. Everything had felt so real, the sadness, the pain, the short friendship with Zero-two.
She began to sob in silence for what felt like an eternity in the great cold void when...
why are you sad friend.
''I am sad for thou, my first friend in a thousand years hath been only but a dream now shattered! Gone for all eternity!
I am here. I am not gone.
Luna raised her head and, 'lo and behold, there was Zero-Two, floating in front of her like if nothing had happen. Well something must have happen judging by the fact that the once leviathan was now reduced to the size of. Ironically, a small foal.
''Zero-Two! What hath happen to thee? Neigh! Just tell me what hath just occur after I fainted.''
dark matter ended your life. needed me to be alone to be more. I had enough. got mad. ended dark matter with my shard of light. freedom. got sad. Luna was trying to come to terms with the revelation of her supposed demised when she noticed that her friend was crying. The poor thing looked absolutely crushed.
''Well, I am still here and I am quite positive that I am alive. A bit sore and quite changed but unharmed nonetheless.''
Zero-Two looked at Luna with pride shining in its single red eye.
I brought you back. my power for your life. my life for your power. it worke. you got better. you got bigger. I got smaller. That is what friend do.
Now it was Luna's turn to have tearful eyes. She had only told Zero-two a bit about friendship and it went and did the ultimate sacrifice. She still had trouble believing she had died but her friend had given its all nonetheless. She wrapped her front hooves around the the shrunken creature that had, in a ludicrously short amount of time, truly wormed its way inside her heart.
''Thank you, my friend. Would thou come with me to Equiterra? Thou could meet mine sister, Celestia. she have a student, one Twilight Sparkle, who learning about friendship. And thou could stay in Castle Canterlot, With me.
Image filled Zero-two's mind. Each more wonderful then the last. the choice was crystal clear.
yes
