Luna's Sorrow

“LUNA'S SORROW”

A SoulHeart Legacy short

and

A tribute to Princess Luna and the video “Lullaby of the Princess”


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The light of the full moon fills the streets of Canterlot on a warm summer night. The sound of crickets chirp in the atmosphere of the night. Every pony slept safe in their bed. Every colt, mare, filly, and foal.

In the palace where the Princesses of Equestria live, it was quiet. The only sounds of the night there are the royal guard on patrol. A lantern will not be necessary for patrol since the moonlight fills the hallways and rooms through the windows.

It was several days before the wedding of a fellow knight Tyler the Dragon and his fellow bride, Princess Lexi, the daughter of the now-reformed Nightmare Moon.

Tyler stirs in his sleep and Lexi snuggled close to him. But in a short time of sleep, the dragon rose from his, rubbing his eyes. He has been trying to sleep, but his mind was completely focused on the wedding and making sure it plays out well. He knows his old friends will be there. It has been a long while since he has seen his true friend Murphy Dragonstar, prince of Aramalia. He has been looking forward to see him again.

He turns to his future wife and she hugged the pillow close to her head. Her head snuggled deep into it. Tyler smiles softly and kisses her in the forehead gently. He gets out of bed, being careful not to wake her up so sudden. He puts his signature jacket on him and enters the next room quietly. In the next room, his children slept so peacefully. He heads for the large crib, and sees his little alidragons (dragon/alicorn hybrids) sleeping so sliently. Tyler takes a finger and gently strokes their little heads. None of them reacted to his stroking.

Next, Tyler heads over to a bed that his own daughter Millie was sleeping in. Seeing her blanket away from her since Millie tends to move around in her sleep, the dragon tucks her back in and kisses her head. Millie stirs in her sleep from that kiss.

The dragon walks outside to the balcony and gazes upon the landscape of the entire kingdom. He can almost hear the wolves howl in the night and the chirping of crickets. He looks at the nightsky and sees stars glimmering and shimmering above him. Back on Earth, he never gets to see stars like these before. But now, it was breathtaking. Tyler scans the night around him, until his eyes gazed upon Princess Luna on the next tower, looking at the sky as well.

Tyler looks confused. What is Luna doing up at this time? Eager to find out, he walks away without Luna noticing.


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Princess Luna stares upon the night sky, standing still. Her mane flowing in the quiet wind, shimmering with sparkles. Her face shows some sadness as her mind was under it. What would be bothering the Princess of the Night? And why does it? It wasn't long before she wasn't alone....

“Hey”.

Luna was startled by the voice she heard and spun around to face her intruder. But it was only Tyler, leaning against the doorway with arms crossed. He quickly tries to calm her.

“Easy, Your Highness, it's just me”.

Luna took some deep breaths and calmed herself, relieved since it wasn't an intruder.

“Goodness, don't frighten me like that...”, she said.

“My apologies, but why is a princess like you doing up in the middle of night?”, Tyler asked.

She replied, “I am the princess of the night. It is my primary duty to watch over Equestria during the night”.

“I know, but that's not the real reason, is it?”.

Tyler walks outside and joins her, side-by-side on the balcony.

“Why would I have any other reason to be awake at this time?”, said Luna.

“Because usually when people or ponies are up, it means that something is bothering them”.

“Tyler, I don't have anything bothering me”.

Tyler reminds her, “Luna, you do know I have empathy. I can sense that something is wrong here”,

“But I—well....I...”. But Luna sighs deeply and gives in. She can't hide it from Tyler.

“I had a dream. It was back in the time before Nightmare Moon. I was playing with my sister Celestia...”, she said.

“That sounds like a good dream, but I don't understand why it would bother you”, said Tyler.

“Because after what had happened to me. I felt that my night wasn't so beautiful to them, yet they bask in Celestia's glory of the light. Yet I feel that Celestia doesn't care nor notice how I feel about this. I became enraged and then....”. Luna completely stopped her sentence, since she doesn't want to remind herself of becoming Nightmare Moon at that time.

“Well, you know what happened next...”.

“So that's what bothered you? Becoming Nightmare Moon?”, said Tyler.

“Not quite.... it was my guilt for how I misjudged my sister. I thought she didn't care about me, until I learned she does love me. She just didn't notice the pain I was suffering before. She was the only one I felt that cared about my night. I don't know how I could be so blinded to not notice that before?!”, she said, almost making her sound angry to herself.

Tyler sprouts a wing and wraps it around her shoulder. Luna turns her face to him.

“Luna, it's not your fault”.

“Stop it, Tyler. You know it's true”, she said.

“It's not your fault...”.

“Tyler, please be serious here!”.

“I am. It's not your fault”, Tyler continued to reassure her. Luna was almost about to lose it.

“Knock it off! It was my fault and you should know it!”, Luna said, facing him angrily.

“It is not your fault...”.

“Please stop saying that!”, Luna said as her voice starts breaking up and her lips trembled. Tyler looks straight in her eyes and calmly said once more. “It's not your fault...”.

Luna finally gives in as tears starts to swell in her eyes. With a sudden outburst of crying, she grabs Tyler and holds him tightly. She cries bitterly on his shoulder as Tyler rubs her back with comfort. He gently rocks her back in forth as she clings to him.

“Shhhh....shhhh... it's alright...let it all out...shhhh...”, Tyler said gently. Luna continues to cry and held onto him until she was able to speak.

“I just wanted everypony to love my night! That's all I want! I misjudged my own sister that loved me! Because of me, Celestia lost a sister she loved for a thousand years! I know it wasn't my fault or hers, but it just felt like it!”, Luna cried as tears continue to fall from her eyes. She buries her head in his cheat, and her tears soaked Tyler's shirt.

“Hey...”, Tyler said, gently lifting her head to his eyes. Luna looked at him with soaked eyes from the tears.

“You have nothing to be ashamed about. That is in the past now, this is the future”. Luna sniffed, wiping away her eyes.

“I know”, she said.

“Luna, let me tell you something. Back in my world, there are those who loved the night. Some wanted to gaze at the stars, seeking out many constellations. Some wanted to camp under the night sky. When night rises, the world becomes alive with nocturnal creatures. I remember a time where  saw many stars..”, he said.

“When?”, Luna asked, leaning against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Tyler wraps a wing around her shoulder and explains.

“It was a family summer vacation to Colorado and Utah. When we visited Moab, Utah, during the day it was a wide open wilderness. There are rock structures that have been standing for millions of years. I can even see the mountains with snow off in the distance. But when it is night... I can see the stars...”.

Luna snuggles close to him, listening to him carefully.

“On our way back to Colorado, I looked out the car window, and I can see so many stars at once. They are all up there, shining like christmas lights. When I returned home, I never saw many stars again, but I will always remember that the night was beautiful at that time”.

“You really think my night is beautiful?”, Luna said.

“Just as the day was beautiful...”, Tyler smiled. Luna smiles back, but feels concerned.

“But everypony were always playful and happy during the day...”, she said.

“That may be, but you must understand; we can't live without the Night. We all must sleep, we all must rest. Day and Night both exist as a balance of a world. Without one of the other, the balance would never be fixed. Everyone and everypony both loved the Day and the Night. Each one has one thing in common: They each have something special. Just like you and Celestia, Luna”.

Luna's eyes sparkled with realization.

“Then Celestia was right all along. We were meant to rule together in harmony. And everyponyb appreciated the night as well. Oh, how could I not see that before?”.

“You were young back then, Luna”.

“I know”. Luna held Tyler close as she nuzzled against him. A small smile form on Tyler's mouth. He quickly takes her hoof.

“Come on, let's go”, he smiled.

“To where?--Whoa!”, she said, but was unable to finish because he took off into the sky with her, morphing into his true form. Luna quickly opened her wings. Tyler continues to hold her hoof as he flies further up into the clouds. Luna is unsure of where he is taking her.

But Tyler approached one patch of cloud and lands his feet on it. Since he has wings, he is capable of standing on clouds like the Pegasi. He turns back into his anthro form as Luna looks around confusingly.

“Why are we here?”. Tyler points to something ahead of her, and she looks. What she saw makes her softly gasp. A full moon was in front of her, larger than it was before. Luna has never been this close to the moon before, not since Nightmare Moon. The light of the moon made it look like a large sun of the night. Luna's eyes sparkled in awe. This is what Tyler wanted to show her: The true beauty of the night. A full moon in close view with stars all around. She turns to Tyler with a shed of tear and trembling lips.

But it was a tear of happiness.

Without speaking a word, she jumps into Tyler's arms and hugs him tightly. Luna nuzzled against him as Tyler hugged her back.

“Thank you, Tyler, for showing me what the night really meant to me and the ponies”.

“You're welcome”, he smiled at her. He sat down with her as the princess laid her head down on his lap, looking towards the moon. Tyler's wing laid on her as well, keeping her comfortable and warm. Both of them stayed there quietly for a while, viewing the moon and the stars together.


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They later returned to the palace to Luna's tower. The princess yawned for she was now tired thanks to Tyler. The dragon helps her to her bed and Luna climbs in. She gets settled and pulls the blanket on herself. Tyler smiles warmly.

“Goodnight Luna”.

Just as he turns to walk, he felt his hand held by something. He stopped to look down, and sees his hand wrapped by an aura of Luna's magic. He turns to the princess, and she was sitting up.

“Please stay with me for a while”.

“But Luna, I'm engaged to Lexi...”.

“Oh, that wasn't what I meant. I mean stay with me until I fall asleep. I can use a friend”, she smiled. Tyler smiles back, then sits on the bed with her. Luna snuggled close to him and laid her head on him.

Tyler continued to stay with her through the next hour, stroking her mane gently. Luna is now fast asleep and is cuddled close to him. Tyler gently removes her head off his lap and lays her on a pillow. He quietly climbs out and pulls the covers on her. Luna didn't even move an inch. The dragon leans in and kisses her forehead softly.

“Goodnight Luna”, he whispered. Then he quietly exits the room and slowly closes the door behind him.

Then just seconds after he left.... Nightmare Moon appears out from the shadows with a sorrowful look on her face. She approached the bed and stood before the sleeping princess. During this whole time, Nightmare has been watching over Tyler's conversation with Luna. Now she is feeling Luna's suffering when she told Tyler of her guilt and the reason why she became enraged. The black alicorn sadly looks down at Luna, seeing that she had pulled her into darkness and took her away from her loving sister.

Nightmare suddenly sheds tears from her eyes. She sniffs as she feels Luna's pain in her.

“I am so sorry for taking you away from your sister, the one who was loved you. I am ashamed for what I've done to you. I hope one day....you'll forgive me”, Nightmare, as her voice trembles with sadness.

She uses her magic to pull the covers, tucking Luna in completely. She leans in and kisses her cheek, as a tear drops from her eye on Luna. She nuzzles her for a quick second.

“Goodnight....little mare...”, she whispered. Then she backs up into the shadows, and disappears within, as the moonlight falls upon a sleeping princess