Unwanted

Broken Families

The two fillies stood shaking in each others arms. The doorknob started to shake. The old custodian could be head grumping on the other side as he struggled to open the door. Lily desperately shifted her head in an attempt to find a way out. Her eyes turned wide as she noticed a large, wooden chest, lying a corner of the storage room. It was unlocked and stood wide open.

Without so much as a warning Lily grabbed Luna by the arm, dragging her towards their salvation. “What are y-” Luna uttered until she noticed what Lily was planning. Lily practically threw Luna over the edge of the large, opening, dropping her inside. She quickly jumped after her and closed the chest as the door to the storage room swung open.

The old, grumpy pony stumbled into the room, holding a lit lantern in his mouth. Lily was too scared to look, too scared to even breath lest the pony should hear her. All she could do was cling to the shaking ball of fur that lied beneath her.

Luna could hear her own frantic breathing as her heart pounded in her chest, faster than it ever had before. The only thing that overwhelmed the sound of her own fear were the custodian's hoofsteps. Her eyes shut tighter with every step that seemed to draw closer to their location.

The old pony swung his lantern through the darkened corners of the room. It looked old. Older than any other room in the palace. A layer of dust lined the books that laid in the creaking, unstable bookcases.

The gloomy light that glowed from the iron lantern reflected from the dusty, broken mirrors, creating a shimmering, dim light, flowing through the room. Luna knew what was at stake. The custodian would surely inform her parent's of her nightly adventure. She could only imagine their rage.

The grumpy, old pony let out an angry sigh as he checked the last corner of the room, swinging his lantern over the chest that the two frightened fillies were hiding in. Lily could hear the old pony's heavy breathing as her back scratched against the top of the wooden chest, they could barely fit into the thing, having to hold each other as tight as possible.

The custodian mumbled several curse words before he started to make his way towards the exit. The moment the door closed behind him the two fillies let out a heavy breath and closed their eyes as the tension left their shoulders. Lily kicked the top of the chest with her hind legs causing it to swing wide open. Carefully, she climbed out of the thing, helping Luna out afterwards.

“So what do you think is in thi-” Lily said until Luna jumped into her, hugging her tightly as a tear escaped from her eyes. The filly was clearly upset and frightened after risking the loss of her friend. Lily closed her arms around Luna as tightly as possible, brushing her nuzzle against Luna's “Hey.. come on Luna. It's over now. We're safe.” she whispered into the filly's ear.

Lily always acted the though girl but she had the biggest soft spot for Luna. That filly could get her to do anything, although she would never admit it. She felt Luna's frantic breathing soften as she calmed down. “So what do you think is in this chest?” Lily asked as she walked over to the large reinforced piece of wood that had the princess' name written over it. Suddenly, she felt Luna grab her arm. She looked over to the filly to see her look back into her eyes with a begging stare.

“I don't want to be here any longer Lily.. Let's go” she pleaded, still clearly distressed.

Lily sighed as she looked into Luna's blue eyes. “But! Who knows wha-” Luna's begging stare intensified causing Lily's legs to weaken. Lily turned her head to the chest and then back at Luna. “Fine.” she groaned.

“Come on Luna!” Lily exclaimed with her hooves in the air as she sat atop Luna's blue, satin covers. “We got in there with ease. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do so again. We just sneak in grab the thing and run out!” she said, bouncing slightly on Luna's bed in excitement as she did.

Luna, who was sitting at her desk, turned her head to the over-excited filly. “Why is this so important to you anyway?” she asked with a confused look. “It's probably just filled with dusty old tomes.

“They wouldn't lock it like that if it wasn't important. There's something in there that they don't want you to see. It should be important to you too.” she said pointing at Luna with a displeased look. “Aren't you the least bit of curious about it?”

Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought. “You can't open it anyway, It's immune to magic.” Luna shrugged. “You'd have to find some sort of dispel that can bypass magical defences. But I don't even know if such a thing exists. Give it up Lily, It's not worth the trouble.” she said.

A sly grin appeared on Lily's face as she turned to Luna's pillow and pulled out an old, black tome from underneath it. “Why don't we check this baby for help?” she asked playfully, swaying the book in front of Luna's eyes.

A shocked look appeared on Luna's face. “I promised father I wouldn't use that magic any more!” she exclaimed, grabbing the tome out of Luna's hooves and holding it tightly.

“Then why do you still have it?” Lily asked curiously. “Why keep it if you're not going to use it.”

“It has sentimental value OK!?” she said, walking over to her bedside and storing the tome underneath her pillow once again. Lily walked over to her stubborn fillyfriend and summoned her most adorable of looks. She pouted her lips as she batted her eyelashes.

“Pwease Wuna? I pwomise to be a good girl.” she said causing Luna's legs to become weak as she looked into Lily's begging golden eyes.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this.." Luna sighed as she sneaked through the gardens of Canterlot at night, Lily by her side. The black tome was strapped to her side. The tall grass, still wet from last night, rustled past their legs, creating a soft soothing sound. The sky was cloudy that night, Luna's stars could hardly be seen. The moon's light shone through a crack in the clouds, dimly illuminating the royal garden.

"You know you can't resist this!" Lily laughed as she swayed her mane back and forth causing Luna to put a hoof to her face in annoyance. "There it is!" Lily exclaimed while she pointed at the large, gilded door that stood at the side of the palace. Lily ran over to the door and nudged it open with her hoof. "You know, for the biggest palace in Equestria, this place is poorly guarded." she giggled.

The two fillies proceeded inside. The castle had a fearsome feel about it at night, especially with the moonlight hiding behind the clouds. they had entered the older part of the castle, the floors creaked with every step, even the princess of the night found it unsettling. Luna turned her head from left to right, searching for the door that led to the storage room.

She turned her head to see Lily, running off into the darkened corridors of the palace. Luna quickly ran after her. She turned around the corner to see Lily, stomping her hoof into an old wooden door. "Why won't you open!" she hissed. Luna quickly ran over to her fillyfriend, silencing Lily's mouth with her hoof. "Are you crazy? You'll wake someone if you keep shouting." she whispered angrily.

"The damned thing's locked!" Lily whispered.

Luna walked over to the lock and examined it closely, squinting her eyes as she did. "Don't worry, I can unlock this easily." she said pointing her horn towards the keyhole. A small string of blue light shot through it. Suddenly, a click could be heard coming from the other side and the door swung open, creaking softly.

A frightful silence greeted them as they slowly trotted into the darkened storage room. They could feel the cold stone underneath their hooves. Luna walked over to the large chest, unstrapping the book from her side and laying it out in the floor in front of her. She turned her head to Lily. "You guard the entrance." she whispered. Lily nodded and turned away from the princess.

Luna sat down on her haunches in front of the black tome. She salvaged through the pages, looking for the exact spell, mumbling words as she did. She narrowed her eyes as she found what she was looking for. "Voracious dispelling.." she whispered. "Attempts to consume all magical effects.. Yup, this should work." she mumbled to herself.

She pointed her horn towards the chest, lowering her gaze to the words that laid below her. Her horn started to emanate purple and red sparks as she whispered the words. Suddenly, a flash of magic jumped from the chest, seeping into Luna's horn. Luna felt a power that she had never experienced before. The large, wooden chest jumped open. Luna walked over to the thing to examine it's content. Several scrolls and letters seemed to be stored inside, along with a small purple book with the text "My little Luna." written over it. She carefully grabbed the first letter she could find.
____________________________________________________________________

Dear sir,

It goes without saying that I expect you to wipe every trace of the mother from
the archives. The girl will be removed from her and placed under my protection.
I expect your people to handle this with utmost discretion. If my husband's
mistakes are ever revealed to the people it would bring great shame to my
family.

Solaria, Queen of Equestria.
____________________________________________________________________

Suddenly, Lily fell to the ground as Luna rushed past her. She landed on the cold, stone floor with a loud thud. She groaned as she put a hoof to her head in pain. She could see Luna disappear into the darkness. Completely unaware of what was happening, Lily turned her head to the chest.

She noticed that an opened letter laid on the floor in front of it. She slowly walked over to the chest and picked the crumbled piece of paper off the floor. Her face went pale as she read its content. She walked over tot he opened chest to look inside. She saw several more unopened letters inside. She quickly scanned through them trying to contain her tears.

Lily stashed the Letters and the little purple book away in a bag and grabbed it in her mouth as she ran off after Luna. Lily knew where Luna would go. She ran outside, rushing through the royal garden. The tall, wet grass rushed past her legs as she ran. She would stumble over a rock from time to time, falling to the floor, but she quickly got up and continued every time.

Lily neared the centre of the garden as her legs started to bruise from the constant damage. She ran through the large, leaf-covered portal, entering a grassy clearing that was surrounded by bushes filled with roses as white as winter. She could see what appeared to be Luna, standing in the centre of the clearing, looking up at the sky.

Lily ran over to Luna, putting a hoof on her back. "Luna?" she whispered. Luna didn't respond. She simply stood there staring into the sky. "Are you ok?" she said softly in a caring tone. Luna quickly turned around to face Lily, her tears jumping through the air. Her face was covered with tear drops, glittering in the moonlight.

"No I'm not ok!" she yelled causing Lily to cower slightly. "I'm a no good bastard child! My mother left me because she hated me! I don't deserve this life! I don't deserve to live in a palace! To sleep in a bed!" she yelled, aggressively swaying her head as she did causing her tears to fly through the air. "So no, I'm not ok!"

Lily's eyes started to fill with tears. She couldn't stand to see Luna like this. No words could describe the amount of compassion that she felt for the crying, broken filly. "I'm useless.." Luna whispered in a hurt tone. That was it, Lily wasn't going to stand idly by as her love talked herself down like that. She stepped closer to Luna and hugged her tightly. She could feel Luna's tears roll onto her shoulder.

"I'm sure your mother loved you Luna.. Why wouldn't she? You're not useless, you're amazing and kind and caring." she whispered into the fillies ear as she brushed Luna's back with her hoof. She felt Luna push her away causing her to fall into the wet grass.

"Then why did she discard me like I was nothing!? Why did she let me go like that!?" she yelled angrily, barely able to talk through her sobbing. "No.. she didn't love me.. Nobody does.." she said before running off into the meadows that stood next to the garden. Lily quickly got back up on her hooves and ran after her.

The clouds that once roamed the sky had left Canterlot, leaving the sky open and clear. Every single star in the heavens could be seen clearly, shining down upon the lands. The crescent moon stood high in the sky, looming over Equestria. Lily had to muster all of her strength to catch up with her broken friend.

The wind blew past Luna's head as she closed her eyes in pain, trying to block out the thoughts that haunted her mind. Suddenly, she felt Lily jump atop of her causing her to fall into the tall, wet grass. The two ponies panted heavily as the raindrops that lied in the grass graced their coats.

Lily lowered her head to Luna's ear. "That's not true.." she panted. "I love you.." She rolled the crying filly over and hugged her tightly. Luna could feel the grass brush against her back as Lily held her in her arms. "You are my everything Luna. You are far from useless." she said as she let go of the alicorn.

The two fillies sat atop Luna's bed. Lily smiled softly at Luna as the weeping princess wiped the tears from her face. Lily grabbed her bag, removing the little purple book from it. "Here, read this." Lily said as she handed it to Luna. The filly accepted the book with a curious look on her face. She read the cover. "My little Luna." it read.

She opened the book, causing a little note to fall out of it. She tilted her head as she looked at the curious note. She picked it up and slowly opened it.

____________________________________________________________________

My little Luna,

I know sometimes everything might not make sense to you right now but know that I did
what I did because I wanted to give you the life that I never had. When I close my eyes
I can see you crying, I can see you sad. That's not I want for you. I allowed them to
take you because I knew that you would have a better life there. I could never give you
what you deserve.. My little Luna. You are in my prayers, every night.

You're lying here next to me as I write this, fast asleep. My beautiful girl, I am giving you
the chances that I was never given. You are destined for greatness. This life is not good
enough for you, you deserve much, so much more. And I know that I will regret this
decision. And I know that I will hate myself for letting you go. But, it's for the best. It would
be selfish to keep you.

I smile as I look at you, sleeping softly, without a care in the world. Did you know that you
used to refuse to go to sleep unless I held you? You were such a stubborn little filly, and I
loved you for it. Know that I would have given an arm for you. I would have given anything
to make sure that you lived a good life. So the best thing that I can do right now is give you
to them.

You will always be my little princess.

____________________________________________________________________

Luna's tears fell upon the old piece of paper, causing some of the words to fade. Suddenly, she felt Lily nuzzle her neck as she wrapped her arms around her. Luna turned her head and softly kissed her on the lips as she returned the embrace, tears still falling from her eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" Luna whispered.