I used to dislike the beach, honestly. The idea of trotting on crushed rocks just didn't seem to appeal to me, but Tia loved the idea so much she went through with it without my knowing. Although I guess I should thank her for doing that, creating all this, after I get assimilated to this new Equestria. An Equestria that I missed out on for so long.
The sand, however sticky, does feel very soft against my hooves, so I guess not wearing my armor for this occasion turned out to be a good idea after all. My wonderful night sky, oh how I missed taking a good look at it from down here. The blueness and the blackness blend together quite nicely and all those stars, my stars, light up the sky with a dim but natural glow.
Now the moon is something I think I'd like to forget but I suppose that it is a neccessary evil, after all that had happened. Centuries were wasted for me; centuries of my country that I never got to experience. From the looks of it, I do have a lot of catching up to do; Equestrian technology has advanced faster than I expected.
Back then, in the time when tribes were still trying to coexist with one another and the Crystal Empire wasn't buried beneath the ice, we didn't have airships. We didn't have the radio, we didn't have these starnge locamotives, we didn't even have electricity. The Pre-Classical era was most certainly more primitive than how society is now.
It's hard to believe that only a few days ago I wanted to kill my own sister though. I mean, the thought of it still haunts me now. I try to convince myself that Nightmare Moon wasn't me; that me and that thing weren't one and the same. Even Tia spent hours upon hours trying to console me on the matter, but she didn't help at all. For the longest time, I wanted to go through with the worst possible act that any sister could ever commit. How am I supposed to just forget it and move on like that?
But that moment has passed, or at least, I like to think it was a moment. Moments don't normally last hundreds of years though, and for all that time I had only one thing ony my mind. Revenge. I know it was me the whole time that wanted it, and that demon only encouraged me to keep the fire in my heart burning all those years. Well, she's dead now and there's only me and my actions left as witnesses to the crime that we had committed.
The tides are gently turning; high and low and high and low again. I never realized how peaceful the ocean was, especially in the dead of night, when there's nopony around to spoil the serenity. Deep blue water drifts slowly and foams a bit at the shoreline, barely even making a sound. If only my time in the castle had been like this.
Just yesterday I broke down into tears shortly after I held court. I staggered into Tia's master bedroom and collapsed onto my knees and bowed before my sister while she slept. She finally heard my relentless sobbing and awoke with a worried expression on her face.
Crying was something I used to have a habit of doing far too often, and I suppose I still have that nasty habit haunting me. Shedding tears when you're a princess of an entire country is never a good thing for publicity. Unlike me, Tia had managed to master this stoic expression that she always wore whenever in public, and it always scared me a bit how emotionless she can appear to be.
So when I weeping and mumbling words of forgiveness before Tia, she got off the bed and wrapped one of her wings around me. When she asked me what the problem was I said, "I want to go!" Then she asked me in a very worried tone, and with great hesitation.
"Where do you want to go? Where do you want to be, Lulu?" After crying profusely into my sister's shoulder until my eyes were red, I simply whispered to my dearest sister.
"Under the ground. I want to be under the ground." That night, I begged my dear sister to end my life, I weeped and I begged her to kill me. For everything that I did and planned to do to her, I wanted her to return all that pain ten fold and to end my suffering.
All she did was hug me and run a hoof though my mane and tell me that it wasn't my fault. I didn't believe one word of what she was saying. Not because I though she was lying, but because I knew she wrong. It's just that she wanted to comfort me as much as she could and so she held me in her hooves like a mother holding her crying foal.
For the previous few days after the Elements of Harmony rid me of the demon that had made me a creature of malic and hate, I tried to hold in my sorrow, but it was too much for me to bare. It was all so intense and immense that I could no longer contain the guilt and the images of the demon that 'possessed' me. I still can't help but remember it all, all that I did, all that I was; a monster that had to be slain.
The subtle rays of the moon reflect off the surface of the water. The vast ocean of life and mysterious wonders seems to go on forever, as if it never ends when it meets the horizon. Fish of many colors, shapes and sizes roam the sea's deep depths and magnificent creatures wander aimlessly through the deep dark blueness.
I can still remember it all; everything that happened a thousand years ago. All the pain, all the love, all the hate, all the forgiveness. My sister, my dearest sister whom I love with all my being, made this all possible. Sure, my night was a balance to her day and indeed the darkness and the infinite beauty of the night trumps the day, but the day has something that the night never had.
Love.
Gentleness, kindness, generosity, joy, ecstacy, and all the very best emotions brought out in ponies. It's all thanks to Tia and her creation of warmth and peace. If sanctuary were to be compared to anything, anything in the world, it would be the sun and its welcoming rays of hope.
There's a word that fits all these fantastic feelings, but it's on the tip of my tongue, metaphorically speaking of course. What was it? It's a word that I'm not used to, but a word that is used quite often. But what was it?
Clouds form over some areas of the night sky, causing patches of stars and constillations being separated from one another. Even so, the stars, with yellow glow, continue to shine like they always do. Always did. Always will. Now and for all time, these stars will keep shining for me with all their familiar beauty and friendliness.
Home.
That's the word. Home. The one place where I will always feel safe, always feel welcomed, always feel loved. This place, this strange place that I've been away from for so long, is not very strange at all but rather lovely. Perhaps perfect is a better word for home. Perfect for me, as it always will be, and nothing is ever going to change that. I truly do belong here, in Equestria, with my sister and I'm going to make it stay that way.
When I return to the castle, I think I'll give Tia a little surprise, the best surprise I've ever given her. I'm going to hug her tightly and tell her, remind her, that everything is going to be okay. I want her to know that no matter what happens to us or the country that we rule together, that she was fantastic. Simply fantastic.
And you know what?
So was I.
FIN
