In more ancient days, ponies would weave tales and spin yarns of impossibly old alicorns, painting an image of vast beings with a hoof at the pulse of fate itself in all of its workings. An exaggeration, but any alicorn worth her salt had learned early on to keep a weather eye on the horizon for signs and portents, omens and fortunes. To Princess Luna, it felt as though they came far less often than they had in the time before her exile, but the sensation was no less real when it came. A stirring churned in her gut, a faint tingle, as if another pony had stepped on the grave that, with some luck, she'd never have to face herself.
It came very near to interrupting her raising of the moon, and she was grateful the only ponies around to watch her stumble were her faithful guards. After gazing up at it for a minute, watching its cool, silver light bathe the countryside, she turned from the parapets and descended into the dim hallways of her castle. Its slender spires jutted from a mountain far from Canterlot, and it stirred with life as she walked through its stately halls.
Vespers, the precious velvet-winged ponies who had adopted her as one of their own long ago, stirred like bats in the belfries, descending from hammocks and kicking open the doors to their rooms to yawn in the shelter of night. One by one, they leapt from their perches and spread their wings to glide through the halls to stream out into the countryside. They called her name, wishing her well on her evening journeys, and she could not help but smile back and bid them well in turn.
Whisper Lark awaited her in the antechambers to her bedroom, as close to an office like her sister’s as she had, the mare shuffling through letters on the polished desk. She was in a delicate condition, as they might have said in Luna’s more reserved day—pregnant, in this modern age—her rounded belly just peeking through her ceremonial cape. “Good eve, Highness.”
"Fair night, Whisper. How are you and the girls?" Luna came around to open a silver tray, offering half of the meal there to her majordomo. "Please, help yourself. My cooks must be in league with my sister; they always prepare far too much for a pony such as myself."
As ever, Whisper waved it off with a pale wing. A pair of her clansmares rested almost invisibly in the rafters above, white wings closed. The alabaster-winged Moonflower clan were not the only ones dwelling in the castle, but they were the only ones to call it their ancestral home, and the only ones who attended her within its walls. "I wouldn't dream of it, my princess." She draped a wing over her swollen form. "Evening Gleam and Autumn Glory are restless. I sing in their formless dreams, but they are impatient to meet the air." She met her eyes, curious. "Have you ever given birth, Princess?"
"Me? No." Luna chuckled, searching through the papers on her desk as she nibbled at the salad. "I've known lovers, of course, in the ages before my banishment, but the time never felt right for a foal of my own. My sister has evidently had the same reticence, though at times I wonder about Twilight Sparkle."
"Doesn't she have a known mother?"
"You would be surprised at the lengths to which my sister could carry on a game." Luna laughed, though she tried not to dwell on the possibility. "Speaking of my sister, has anything critical come up?"
"Just the usual. Requests for your attendance at ceremonies, offered slots at court, inspections of the frontier."
“Decline them all.” Luna bit back a faint sigh. “Not that I am displeased with my sister’s attempts to reintegrate me into the government, but it oft feels like busy work. I’d rather dive right back into dreams.”
“We will do our best to support you as ever.”
Luna smiled. “Yes, my friend. The vespers have stepped up beautifully, and you have my regards. In a way, I’m pleased you do so well managing Equestria. It allows me to look beyond our borders.” She frowned suddenly, her tail twitching back and forth as a wave of nausea raced through her.
"What is it?" Whisper Lark came to her side. "Is it that premonition you mentioned some time ago?"
"Yes. I've just had it again, very powerfully. Have any letters come asking my aid that seem serious? I don't see anything that seems critical here."
"Just the usual deluge of requests for good dreams, the occasional puerile message I dispose of 'ere it ever reaches your eyes, and the sort of incidental nightmares you typically find and deal with on your own." She swished her white tail. "Were you expecting something?"
"Yes. Put out a notice in the papers. Nothing alarming, but ask for information on anypony who might be experiencing unusual or discordant dreams and sleep schedules. In fact, send out a message to the clans to keep an eye out. There's a pony out there who is in great distress, but no matter how hard or how long I search, I cannot seem to locate them. It's like they simply disappear from the dream world."
Stepping from the desk, she pushed her remaining meal to Whisper Lark. "I insist you finish this. You're eating for three, and I won't have you going hungry just to attend me." She passed into her bedroom. "Consider it an order from your princess."
"As you wish," she said, scooping up an orange and digging her fangs in to suck out the juice. She watched her go, eyes bright in the dim light. "Fair winds on your nightly journey, Princess. Be advised that the Moonflower clan will insist on you eating well when you return. I will find this mysterious pony, if they can be found."
Stepping into her bedroom, Luna shut the door and inhaled with her wings held in. The aura of her spectral mane and tail faded, almost transforming back into strands of blue hair, and then billowed out as she exhaled. Her wings drove stars about the chamber, and into them she rose, gliding through the walls as the material world fell away.
In truth, her body remained where it was with knees locked, but her spirit fared forth among the silver trees of dreams.
After a quick survey to ensure that no serious nightmares or monsters had taken root, she weaved in and out through the glittering void, trying to find some hint or clue of what had passed through her.
And this time, much to her surprise, she actually found one.
It was subtle, but to her the trail was unmistakable. Gnarled and tangled branches grew in places, places she’d never seen them before. Luna had seen every kind of damage that the delicate substrate of the soul could sustain, or at least so she'd thought, because she had never seen fear and pain twist the wires without a nightmare present like that before.
Lowering her horn, she sniffed and felt with her magic. The damage purpled the core, just a bit, and a few paces away more damage shone through. Down she went, horn testing, sniffing for a faint odor of burned cinnamon and stranger things her mind couldn't interpret, following it all the way back to the root, as though something had plummeted down with great force, banging all the while.
Every tree of every living, dreaming thing on Gaia sprouted from the pale reflection of her moon, and she hovered before that mass. It was without pockmarks, an unblemished disk of white in the primordial ocean of darkness that extended in all directions.
Her mother had warned her, in an age long since turned to dust, to be wary of that boundary. The tabula rasa from which all things sprung could be swum by the experienced dreamrider, but strange and alien worlds awaited, ones that might be far from the light of Harmony and more dangerous than anything she could imagine.
Whoever it was had already crossed, multiple times, and the thin thread of purple rot leading down through the moon from the Equestrian tree was the proof.
Luna could not allow any of her subjects to brave that darkness alone, let alone risk further damage to the trees. She'd spent too long trapped in her own hatred and let down too many of them already. After all the work she'd done to prune the worst of the threats that faced dreamers in her world, it could get along without her for a time while she searched for the lost dream. By the time she returned, Whisper Lark ought to have some information for her.
Taking another deep breath, Luna dove into the numbing sea of possibility, raced through the light of the moon's soul, and vanished from thought and time with hardly a ripple.
To speak of the space between worlds requires words that have not and never shall be invented. Luna held her identity as tightly as she could while she followed the faint trail of some other's violent passage. Her astral body had gone, stripped away by the formless void that undergirded all creation, all worlds, but Luna was no casual dreamer.
Even so, the passage left her weak and shaking when she came out the other side suddenly and without warning. It was closer than she had imagined, a world close enough to almost touch through the timeless gap. As a wisp she hovered, unseeing, until she could build up her dream self again.
When she could see, she almost wished to go back on the spot.
From the nearly black surface of the new moon, dry and thorny branches of tangled darkness sprouted into a sky of dim stars. So many of the jewels she witnessed were dull and lifeless, or else cracked and riddled with nightmares. Everywhere she looked, the hellish landscape persisted. Only the gentle, pearl-like dreams of the youth and some resilient adults still sparkled, clutched among the weeds.
It wasn't unlike what she had first experienced delving into dreams for the first time as a young filly many millennia ago. Only a few beings could walk dreams, and they had all battled with the thorns without success until she took it as her task. She had cultivated her midnight garden night after night, transforming it over centuries into a shining place of peace and rest, just as her sister had forged warring tribes into a nation governed by kindness.
Here was a world that had never known or had lost a princess of the night of its own, and her heart ached for them.
Still, she couldn't afford to get absorbed in gardening. A lost soul had fallen here, somehow, and she followed the trail of its passage. It was harder here, considering how much damage the dream world already bore, but she was patient, starting from the roots and lowering her horn to feel the faint threads of something coming back and forth through the abyss with increasing violence. It took her out onto a winding path with millions of souls gleaming in sleep. Some were shattered and empty shells, their light gone out, and she shuddered at the sight—a terrible fate she would wish on no one—but she couldn't find the lost soul there anymore than she had in her world.
Hovering there, she frowned to herself. If they weren't asleep in her world when she left, and they weren't asleep in this world when she arrived, and all she could catch was a faint flicker when they did, it could only mean one thing.
They never really slept at all.
Shuddering from horn to tail, her search turned rather more desperate. Someone who never slept could never fully recover. It didn't make sense, though. Certainly, a dreamer could occasionally pass through the veil to briefly touch other worlds, but to disappear entirely on the other side meant they had something to root themselves here.
"A body?" she whispered to herself in a vast echo. "Two dreamers?"
Without one of her own, and without the dreamers lingering, she couldn't do a thing to help them. For a time she floated there, considering the problem. Obviously, if she could find the pony on her side, there might be something she could do, but Whisper Lark could find them better than she. Without access to both, though, any solution would be incomplete, if not impossible.
It was a body she needed, a way in. She hadn't done it in many centuries, but there was a trick she could employ with a suitable dreaming soul.
Searching among the dreams nearest, gliding through fruits great and dark as they dangled above and below, she paused by a few, only to find herself drawn to one that shone faintly in the dark. She had noticed it earlier, along with a few others, as it glowed much more brightly in the dream realm than most of the rest, but now it was like a beacon beckoning her near.
Approaching the jewel, she found not a dream, but the glimmering motes of deep meditation. There was something of the moon in its jewel-like depths, something that called to her, and she smiled and dove right in. It was perfect for her needs.
Maybe she didn't have a body here, but she could borrow one.
Princess Luna's eyes opened to a darkened room, the woody scent of incense in her nose. Carefully, she shifted her body just so, becoming accustomed to its strange contours. Clothing draped a form of smooth skin, recently shaved, and she was relieved to find it possessed four limbs and lungs. She could have wound up some hideous monstrosity, but the number of eyes and standard limbs were familiar. It lacked wings and a horn, but she could live without for a time.
It was the proximity, she wagered. Being from a realm close to hers suggested similar attributes.
Standing, she found it awkward to rest on all fours. The forelimbs ended in fingers like those possessed by minotaurs, so she carefully balanced upright. Every motion sent long hair, necklaces, and bracelets swaying. Further examination confirmed the initial impression that she had come to occupy a female of the species, though from the size of the breasts she feared she might be pregnant. That would be embarrassing.
Balancing on two legs took some doing, but she had the grace to manage, and searched about. Fat candles rested in glass, and curtains had been pulled over windows. The layout was familiar enough to the new style of Equestrian homes that she found a tiny bathroom without much trouble, and fumbled with the light switch until a dim, shaded bulb revealed her borrowed face.
A primate woman gazed back at Luna in the silvered surface of a mirror, her bare skin, long hair, and eyes all different shades of dark brown. She wore some homespun garb with numerous bangles and beaded necklaces. Placing her hands on either side of the sink, Luna met her reflection's eyes and smiled.
"I apologize for this intrusion, Miss. I assure you, it is only temporary. There is somepony in your world who is under my care, and I require assistance from a local to find them. If this imposition is too great to bear, please let me know at once. Rest assured, though, for I never forget my debts, and while I am not entirely sure how I could repay you at the present time, I am certain we can work something out."
Her reflection twitched. With some degree of shock, the image realized she could move, though when she accidentally knocked the soap to the messy, tiled floor, it simply reappeared when no one was looking. "What the… who the…" She tried to reach through the mirror only to find it just as impermeable. "Oh my gods. I'm being horsed!"
Luna couldn't help but giggle. "Horsed? What an interesting choice of words."
"It means to be ridden by a god." She gasped for air, gripping the sink on her end. "Oh my gods. Oh my gods. I actually did it."
“Ah. This was a desired result, then?”
The reflection put her head in her hands and pushed back her wavy hair, catching her breath. “I mean, not this exactly, but something like this. I’ve been hoping and praying and meditating for any glimpse of something, and here you are!” She lifted one of her many necklaces, which depicted phases of the moons cycling about the amulet. “I felt you as you came in, like a breath entering my lungs and spreading throughout my body. The moon was the most powerful image in my mind at the time. Do I have the honor of addressing Selene? I’ve… I’ve called out to you several times over the years.”
“Selene?” Luna picked up the amulet on her end, examining it. “I was called that by some distant people a long, long time ago. Such a curious thought. Why did you seek me—or someone with my name—out?”
Her mouth worked for a moment, but she cleared her throat and stood upright. “Well, to learn from you, of course! All my life I’ve pursued... mysteries and magic, but I’ve always felt like it was just out of reach. I meditate just about every night, searching for someone to guide me. You’re the first goddess I’ve had the honor of addressing, but I've always been drawn to the moon. I know that's almost cliche for a witch, but I've spent my whole life gazing up at it.”
“Have you no gods of your own to speak to?” Luna asked, frowning to the side. “I suppose that explains the state of your dream world.” She shook her head and met the other mare’s eyes. “What name do you go by? I would like to know who my companion is for the night.”
She straightened. “Luna Cabrera. I am a witch and a psychic.”
Princess Luna covered her mouth. “Really? That’s—well, I’m flattered. Luna, as it happens, is the name I go by in this era. Perhaps that’s part of why we were so drawn together, what with your meditating on my aspect and carrying my name as you were. Well, Luna the Witch, I would be more than happy to share what knowledge I can with you in return for the temporary usage of your physical body."
Luna the Witch seemed almost beside herself with ecstasy, kissing the amulet. "I would be honored. I… I understand you're looking for someone? Is that what you need me for?"
"Yes, one of my subjects." Princess Luna nodded. "As one of their… well, goddess shall suffice for a term familiar to you. As one of their goddesses, I am responsible for them. I believe they reside near you, but I was unable to determine their exact location. Dreams that are proximate in acquaintances are linked, but it's a little hard to determine more precisely than to say I believe them to be within the same general location."
"Somewhere in Philadelphia?" The reflection frowned thoughtfully. "Do you have a name, anything?"
"No, I'm afraid not. Not yet, at least. I have friends seeking further knowledge where I came from." She mused aloud, "Philadelphia? That's a very familiar name. It could narrow down the search on my end."
The reflection regarded Princess Luna with deep interest bordering on reverence. In other words, the way ponies normally looked at her. "You're not what I was expecting, but I shouldn't try to let my preconceptions blind me from a moment of personal gnosis."
"That's the spirit, young witch. Trust me—my memories stretch back thousands of years, and even I still have much to learn. Much about where you live is a mystery to me, but I am confident we can navigate it together." Luna placed a hand over her heart. "Do you have any idea of how I might find one suffering from severe discordant disturbances? I believe they could be a youth, which has always been a particular concern of mine."
"Mani, the moon god of the Norse, was said to adopt stray children who had nowhere else to go. I wonder if you inspired that as well." She shook her head. "Sorry. My brain feels cottony, so I was thinking out loud. Can you clarify what you mean by discordant?"
"Unsound in body, mind, or soul. Someone who may manifest random or mysterious magical ailments. In particular, I believe this person is suffering from a lack of an ability to dream."
The reflection pursed her lips. "That sounds like mental or physical illness. If I had to guess, then, I would say the city's psychiatric hospitals, or, well, its homeless population. I sometimes volunteer to work with at-risk youths, the sort who are in and out of unstable homes. I can also put feelers out to other witches and psychics in the city. If someone has seen a patient with that problem, we could probably find them that way."
Luna couldn't help but smile at her host. "Your concern for children is another point in your favor, young witch. I look forward to speaking to you in better times. I could have much to share."
The reflection blushed, just as a knock came at the bathroom door.
"Luna?" a young woman's voice called. "Are you okay? I can hear you talking to yourself."
"I'm fine, Moira!" the reflection called, to no answer. "Oh. She can't hear me."
"Only I can, and only then in a reflection." Luna offered her an apologetic look. "Who is this?"
"Moira, my roommate, also a witch. She's a good person, just not very serious about the craft."
The pounding came again. "You left your candles and incense on while you were meditating. I blew them out this time, but if you start a fire again, I swear to the goddess I'm going to be so freaking mad."
Nodding, Luna turned to the door. "I'll handle this."
"What?" The reflection blinked at her and tried to follow as she stepped out.
Moira was a petite example of her species with thick, curly red hair pulled back with a cord. She dressed in a much less airy style than Luna, with a shirt depicting some manner of musical group and a pair of black, canvas pants. "Finally. You could have said something." She stepped back as she made eye contact. "Whoa… you look…"
Bowing her head regally, Luna addressed her as she would a foreign dignitary. "My humble apologies, Moira the Witch. I was conversing with your roommate, whose body I am making use of for the time being while I embark upon important business in your world. You may address me as Selene, to avoid confusion with your friend. Should you be able to assist me, I would be happy to offer the same deal I made with Luna the Witch."
"What are you doing?" Luna's reflection squeaked from the edge of an unusually large and flat television. "She's going to think I've gone insane!"
Moira's eyebrows rose up and up. Settling her hands on her hips, she eyed Luna up and down. "When did you get your grubby hands on some psilocybin, and why didn't you share any with me? You know I always make a point to spread my stash."
"Ah, you believe me to be partaking of a psychogenic compound." Luna nodded. "I see. My host has expressed some worry that you will regard me as some manner of delusion." She examined her hands thoughtfully, the five nails painted dark blue and fitted with rings. "I'm afraid the typical means I might use to prove my identity are unavailable. I can scarcely feel the breath of Harmony, and so my flashier forms of magic are rather lacking."
Her reflection paced back and forth in the black screen, unseen by Moira, and she pulled at her hair. "Tell her I'm horsed, please!"
Nodding to the screen, she looked down at Moira. "Luna the Witch wishes me to inform you that I am 'horsing' her—a term I find entirely too amusing. She thinks this will soothe your concerns for her mental well-being."
If anything, Moira's skepticism only grew as she turned to look at the television suspiciously and then back. "Okay, 'Selene.' I guess I can at least buy that Luna is in a trance state and thinks she's channeling a goddess. You're doing a better job than those dorks at the bonfire meetings, at least."
"It will have to do." She nodded. "Moira, would you happen to know how to find someone in your world without knowing their name or other identifying features? Primarily, I need to find someone suffering from a lack of dreams."
“Not… really? I mean, I got a mean googling strangers game, but you’re going to need a little bit more to go on.” She shrugged. “I guess I can look online.”
“I have faith that means something to a local. Thank you, I appreciate your assistance.” Luna went to the door. “As for us, we shall be visiting the local psychiatric hospitals and underprivileged youth. Fair winds.”
“Wait!” her reflection begged from a hutch by the door, voice faint with the thinness of it. “Don’t forget my phone! And a scarf; it’s cold out there.”
“Ah,” she said, pausing at the handle. “Fair point. I’m not exactly in my own divine form at the moment. What is a phone, however?”
“It’s…” Her reflection stretched for how to answer. “It’s a handheld device that, uh, communicates with unseen frequencies of light, allowing it to communicate with other, similar devices.”
“Ah! A portable radio. How charming.”
Moira watched her half of the exchange with more than a little concern, though it turned to amusement as she watched her have to refer back to her reflection for directions to where she’d left the phone. Along the way, she picked out a shawl and draped it about her neck, then grabbed her purse. Within was a compact with a mirror they could use to keep in touch.
“How does this work?” Luna asked, turning the little bar of plastic wrapped in rubber. She found the button and turned it on, then let her reflection walk her through the code. “My! I know a few unicorns who would die for the chance to take this apart. They’ve been working on ideas like this for some time.”
“Please, don’t, Selene,” her reflection begged. “It was already a big expense, and I don’t bring in a lot of money.”
“Have no fear, I would not deprive you of your possessions without great need.”
Moira, leaning in the hallway, cleared her throat. “I dunno what game you’re playing, Luna—sorry, ‘Selene’—and I thought it was pretty hilarious, but now I’m worried you’re going to get your ass killed or imprisoned out there. I peeked around online and left some comments on some occult websites asking about kids that might not be able to dream, but since I found nothing, and you don't have a vehicle yet, why don’t I drive you around?”
“I would be most grateful to ride in your chariot, Moira,” Luna said, peeking up from her investigation of the device. “I’d imagine you must hire somepony to haul it? You don’t seem quite sturdy enough to pull one yourself; no offense intended.”
Moira stared at her for a moment. “Okay.”
She couldn’t seem to formulate a more complicated response than that, grabbing a coat with a faux fur-lined collar and some gloves before heading out. They lived in a small, one-story house on the outskirts of a major city. With over a million souls, it was only a fraction the size of Manehattan, but somehow it felt meaner. Even though she couldn’t freely exercise her magic—at least, not to the same degree, and she might have to experiment to be sure—nothing had dulled her mystical senses. Something about the city jangled her nerves, and she suspected that the condition of the dream world was reflected in its material conditions as well.
"Oh, you meant an automobile!" Luna proclaimed as they came to a beat-up pickup truck parked on the side of the road. She ran her hand along the dusty hood. "After we parted from our parents, my sister and I lived in a castle together, and I constructed many mechanisms and traps to bedevil her. I've had a fondness for clever little machines since."
"That doesn't sound like Selene's mythological history," Moira said dubiously as she opened the driver's side door and slid in.
"I cannot account for how stories of me may have been garbled over the ages. Would you believe that, after a mere thousand-year absence, my own subjects believed I would devour them alive? And that from the very beings I ruled over." Climbing into the passenger side, Luna gazed out at the apes—or, she supposed, they simply used the generic "people" for all thinking beings—walking up and down the sidewalks. "I confess I'm a little surprised that you have legends of me at all."
Placing her phone in a holder, Moira side-eyed her. "So, did you or did you not put a shepherd named Endymion to sleep so you could marry him and have tons of kids in his dreams together?"
Luna scoffed, drawing herself up. "Young lady, control yourself! That is hardly an appropriate way to address a goddess." She huffed. "Endymion was a fine stallion, but I have no husband, and even if I did I would be loathe to share intimate details of my liaisons with you nor anyone! Such secrets best die at the bedchamber doors."
Snorting and laughing, Moira pulled out onto the road. "Okay, wow. Luna never shuts up about her sex life, so maybe you're the real deal. Where to first, then, mighty goddess?"
"I'm never going to live this down." Sighing, Luna's reflection in the rearview mirror tapped for attention. "Lady Selene? The hospitals would be closed to visitors at the moment, and they wouldn't discuss patients, but if you look on my phone's map I have a few saved locations for when I do my volunteering runs."
It took her a moment to find what she was talking about, but Luna had always been quick to master new things—excepting perhaps modern social mores, which in her opinion could stand a cold shower. Nopony seemed to appreciate the simmering passion of courtly romance anymore.
Replacing her phone with Luna's, Moira took off into the late afternoon light. "How long do you plan on keeping this up, by the way? Most medium sessions would be done by now."
"Well, I'm in no grave hurry to return home, and, as I said, my retainers need time to search there. I'm not entirely sure how you measure time here, nor how it varies between our separate frames of reference, but I imagine I would check back in after a few days and find out."
Luna's reflection gasped from the mirror. "That long? But I have a shop to run! If I miss my rent, I'm out on the street, Lady Selene."
"Oh. Luna seems concerned. Fear not, I plan to spend much of that span in the dream world. I'll call on young Luna frequently, but with respect to her needs."
"Uh huh," Moira said, pulling up to another curb several blocks from their house. "Well, you do you." She leaned over and frowned at the location, a disused lot behind several other buildings with a shell of a building and dense graffiti. "How will you know if the person you are looking for is there?"
"I will sense them. That, at least, has not been stripped from me." She leaned out the window.
"What… is all this?" Luna asked in quietly dawning horror as she took in the filthy canvas and boxes clustered there. Shopping carts filled with stuffed trash bags were strung with tarps to form temporary shelters, and the sight of a young girl hugging a doll and watching strangers pass by with dead eyes and a sign wrenched her heart. "Where are their homes?"
"They're… homeless?" Moira scratched at her jaw. "That's what homelessness is, Selene."
"I didn't think it was so literal. It's just temporary, though, right? Their houses were destroyed, but they—" She broke off. "I sense your and Luna's grim silence enough to know that isn't the case. How… how… barbaric! Who is responsible for this state of affairs?"
"Government? Landlords?" Moira shook her head. "Fuck, I don't know. I just work at a bookstore."
Opening the door, Luna marched out and came to crouch in front of the girl. Her sudden approach frightened her enough to skitter back, but something in her eyes arrested her motion as they met.
"Have you nowhere to go, child?"
"Selene!" Moira hissed, grabbing her arm and glancing around. "Leave her alone!"
When Luna's eyes met Moira's, she froze in inexplicable terror at the sight of them and released her arm without having to be told.
The girl rubbed her runny nose and sniffed. "My, uhm, sometimes I stay at my aunt's place, but she doesn't like having me around."
"Doesn't like-!" Luna repressed a strangled outcry of indignation, smoothing her nerves to continue to address her in a gentle tone. "Where is she? I'll set her straight."
Neither Moira's muttered complaints, Luna's reflected uncertainty, nor the girl's fearful silence could deter her from having the girl lead her by the hand to a small apartment a block down. It was a poorly kept building with crumbling infrastructure that would have been a cause for shame and action on any street of Equestria, but it was a sight better than the street with winter's chill advancing.
The mare who came to the door was overweight and overworked. Inside the apartment, four children already sat around a table, writing out some sort of assignment.
"Sobrina!" The mare reached forward, grabbing her hand from Luna's and glaring at her.
She hissed in a language that went by too quickly to follow at first, but Luna found she recognized it with some surprise. Most of the locals appeared to speak what sounded like a dialect of modern Equestrian, but this tongue was spoken by griffons of their southern lands, and there wasn't a living language on Gaia that Luna didn't speak.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked in the same tongue. "I didn't catch that."
The woman glared defiantly. "I said, don't you dare touch my niece ever again, you piece of shit." She made to close the door. "If I ever catch you around here again, there won't be enough for the cops left to dig up."
Luna's body wasn't as strong as the one she was accustomed to, but as white hot anger surged in her she caught the door and thrust it back, slamming it hard enough to bury the knob in the wall and shove the woman back. "How dare I? How dare you!"
The woman made to respond, a vociferous swear bubbling to her lips, but it died in her throat as fear drained the color from her face.
Luna advanced, putting all of her host's height to work in looming. "Your niece told me about how she wasn't allowed to stay here."
"That's-that's not true! She can stay here, it's just that I have four kids to take care of, and she's supposed to stay with her good for nothing father—"
"Are you not her kin?" Luna roared, her voice projected. "Do you not see the scratches and bite marks adorning her innocent flesh? If another is to care for her and has neglected his issue, then they will suffer, but you have more than enough room here to house a child such as her!"
She leaned in, the mare quailing back. "I will check on her. If I find that she has been mistreated in any way, mark me, you shall not experience one dream that is not haunted by the darkest nightmares. Inform her father as well. This outrage ends today."
She didn't wait for the mare's whimpering acknowledgement, marching out to the street with a stunned Moira in tow. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked out at the city.
"Uh… Selene?" Moira asked with the sort of caution a mare might approach a ravenous lioness with. "You okay?"
"There are so many. How can you stand it?"
"I… I guess you just get numb to it." Moira rested a hand on her arm. "You can't… you can't help everyone, Luna."
"This Luna cannot, at least as she is. I can." Luna laid a hand on hers. "I didn't find who I was looking for, but… stars help me if I didn't find something that has shaken me."
They weren't Equestrians. By rights, their own alicorns—their own gods—should have cared for them.
But they didn't have any.
Her first priority was still her missing subject, as their fate was spiraling out of control, but Luna never could limit herself to just the ponies under her direct care.
"Can I continue to count on you, Moira, in the tasks ahead? I fear they may be more numerous and compounded than I initially imagined."
"Yeah." Something seemed to have been jarred loose in Moira, a light of hope that had long lain dead returning to her eyes. "I… I'm still not sure you aren't crazy, but… okay, Lady Selene. I've got your back."
Holy Toledo. This is an idea I've never seen before, and it. Is. Awesome.
Horsing. Heh.
10503464
It's a real idea in pagan circles!
Loonie Sense!
The Blind Eternities are, by nature, indescribable to those accustomed to a four-dimensional existence. Most map their own character and biases on it just so their minds have something to process. In Luna's case, that appears to mean a realm of infinite moonlight.
Love this. Really drives home the vast potential of the multiverse in all its horrible splendor.
Oh boy. Luna's on the warpath. Philly won't know what hit it. This will definitely prove interesting.
10503499
I absolutely believe this possession by higher powers is part of a real belief system, and also that it's called Horsing, but the way you use it in this context leaves me with a host of narrative questions.
In all the stories I've read where humans and ponies co-exist, I've never seen the two worlds connected in this way. As I said before, this is an amazing idea, and I look forward to seeing where and how far you take it.
10503974
Ha ha yeah, there are certainly variations.
Some of those questions are direct spoilers, but I'll pick out a couple:
In the context of this AU, ponies do not use the concept of god to distinguish themselves from alicorns. They are understood as being closer to divine truths, but everypony has a relationship to it in some fashion that doesn't run through a princess. The word "god" here is sufficiently similar to that of "princess" for Luna in that a princess is a first among equals, as it were. Revered for their wisdom, power, and connection to the universe, but not objects of worship. Ponies, at least in this AU, don't have a religion, but a learned appreciation for the divine.
The relationship between her and Whisper Lark is pretty emblematic of this - Whisper honors her, but Luna is more like a respected elder she cares for than a goddess she serves.
Luna has a strong moral code which is pretty integral to her sense of self. We've already seen what happens when she abandons it! Not just to that, either, but magic isn't a completely neutral thing (as we will get into later.)
She will respect positions that do not fundamentally contradict her principles, which include Honesty, which would include not abusing ignorance. She won't necessarily correct people all the time, but she won't rely on falsehood - like when Moira asks about Endymion or uses the name Selene. As it happens, she was called Selene, and she really did have a lover named Endymion, but, while it may have benefitted her to simply let people think that she's just like the Selene of legend to gain their trust, she set the record straight because it violated her integrity to do otherwise.
Put more simply, Luna isn't willing to abandon her principles for convenience in her activities, no. Friendship is magic, after all, and you can't make friends with a basis of lies!
10503848
I can say that the moon thing is not just her perception. The story is called The Moon Has Two Faces, after all~
Of course, I don't say that always holds true for every world, but I'm keeping my gaze firmly on the two that have familiar laws and are relevant!
"as close an office like sister’s as she had"
"as close to an office like sister’s as she had"?
And possibly also "sister" should be capitalized there?
Also, interesting worldbuilding going on here, by the way, I think. :)
Though I do wonder when Luna moved to this castle. I don't think, as far as I'm remembering, we actually know how much time has passed since the show's end... Luna wasn't around when Light Breeze's father was her age, looking back, which puts some level of boundary on it, but there's still uncertainty.
...Oh. Huh. It looks like we might not be post-show at all, actually. I'd been thinking Twilight was already in power and the Sisters retired, but it looks like Luna might be living at this castle not because of that but because she hasn't reintegrated into Celestia's government yet.
"has been mistreated in every way, mark me"
"has been mistreated in any way, mark me"?
"Moira asked with the sort of caution a mare might approach a ravenous lioness."
"Moira asked with the sort of caution a mare might approach a ravenous lioness with."?
Well, that certainly wasn't what in particular I expected, but I enjoyed it and found it interesting. :)
Thank you for writing!
10504108
Yeah, this place was born out of hearing that Luna had her own castle, and it isn't post-show.
I'll be getting to those typos soon!
10504163
Oh, born out of it? Interesting. Where did you hear that?
And thanks.
No problem. :)
10504173
I don't exactly remember! I think in the changeling episode where a person working on the show said she was leaving to return to her own castle. Or maybe a supplemental book somewhere.
This version looks like the one in the painting here:
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/337435682681126922/765682479297986610/own_castle_by_yakovlev_vad_dc82gfu-fullview.png
10504180
Ah, oh well. Still, thanks. :)
(And do you mean the first changeling episode, this being about where Luna was that she missed the invasion?)
Oh, nice! Thanks. :)
10504333
Yes I believe so.
This is shaping up to be sogood!
10503974
That is an excellent question! But divulging would be spoilers for anything else my sister plans on writing in this setting.
I can't answer that question too much, but I will point out that the evidence so far seems to suggest the possibility that Earth is not wholly without magic, and that the evidence seems to suggest magic has waned in recent memory, and that this might be connected in some way with the dream. This being the case, it is highly likely the existence or non-existence of terrestrial gods hinges on that.
Some of them probably are. Most pagan belief systems were more than willing to postulate on the existence of other worlds. Many of these also included elements where beings from other worlds had a direct hand/hoof in shaping the destinies of humanity, such as Apollo's time as a mortal, or Heimdall's time as the mortal fisherman and eventual king, 'Rig'.
In this case, Luna adopting the name Selene is a reference to the fact that, originally, Lauren Faust had named Luna 'Selene'. This was changed per Hasbro, in the same way that Princess Celestia was originally 'Queen' Celestia, but this was also changed because queens are supposed to be spooky and imposing, per Disney princess rules.
As a result, you get some people (like the artist formerly known as Equestria Prevails) who like to head-canon things like, Princess Luna signing her declarations with: Princess Luna 'Selene'.
Likewise, the goddess of Carthage before the romans conquered it, was 'Tanit'. Later she was worshipped in Roman Carthage in her Romanized form as Dea Caelestis, Juno Caelestis, or simply Caelestis
Here's an image of her raising a celestial body:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Tophet_Carthage.2.jpg
One must remember that even among humans, 'god' does not mean the same thing to all people. In English especially, the word god, goddess, and 'God' all have immense implications and spiritual weight, mostly because of budding theological philosophies near the latter period of Ancient Greece, beliefs that would be absorbed into the Roman Empire, and eventually form the back bone of early Christian thought. But these beliefs were not shared, for instance, by the various peoples who would come to be subjugated by Rome, culturally or otherwise.
For instance, in modern paganism it is customary to refer to gods as 'Lord' or 'Lady', which is frankly not all that dissimilar an address from prince or princess. This is probably because a lot of modern pagan thought is extracted from Norse and Celtic traditions. As an example, we have the Disir, which are powerful female spirits that watch over their own bloodlines, the singular form is 'Dis', or 'Lady'. Goddesses like Freyja are commonly called 'the vanadis', or 'Lady of the Vanir'. Even the names Freyr and Freyja translate to 'Lord' and 'Lady', with their proper names being lost or else carefully guarded.
Likewise Aesir is less a word for 'the gods' and instead refers to a people. In this case, it is commonly accepted that it comes from ansuz (itself one of the runes), and a proto indo-european form of 'Henosis', which in this context means 'to engender, procreate, give birth'. So in the context of Norse pagans, their gods are simply known as 'The People which gave birth to us/engendered humanity.'
Words like Aristocrat deliberately come from Ancient Greek notions of divine excellence and by extension, descent from one or more gods. This was justification for nobility in its entirety - a king in Ancient Greece might have authority because they claimed descent to one or more gods. Kings in Denmark might have authority because they could trace a line of descent to Rig (Heimdall) and by extension Odin.
The west wasn't the only one to do this, and Kami in Japan were also afforded feudal-like titles, or else were considered a more generic 'lord or lady'.
Basically, humanity has spent the past some-odd thousand years doing the Prince Blueblood thing, only we didn't have Celestia around to set the record straight or keep the mortals in line. Luna and Celestia are not considered 'gods' in the sense that modern Christianized cultures would mean it. They are considered gods in the sense that ancient pagans would have meant it, complete with festivals (Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Night) and ritual offerings (Again, Nightmare Night) or swearing statements (Rarity crying: "Sweet Celestia!" or the like).
Maybe if Luna were to make some kind of falsifiable statement about what she is or what she can do, she might step in and say: "Yeah no, I didn't create you and I can't grant you an eternal paradise when you die."
But given Luna isn't Christian it's unlikely she'll make those misjudgments. Especially because Luna has made it pretty clear from the word go that she is not of the human world, and frankly Selene was never associated with the creation of humans, anyway.
It's hard to really nail down this question because it seems kind of all over the place, both in terms of deeply held personal beliefs about ethics/politics etc (Of course Luna would argue for why she thinks something is wrong, at that point it would be up to Luna to decided if the argument works for her, or if she'd rather just take it for granted because a goddess from another world said it should be that way), and in terms of spiritual beliefs. Luna probably isn't too concerned if someone wants to send their own weight in bananas to their prince or princess of choice.
Thanks for the questions! I hope I answered things with a bit more detail than my sister did!
10503848
The space between worlds is less The Blind Eternities, and more the primordial chaos from which creation originated in Greek Mythology, the void on which Ra is carried by celestial barge, and so on. In the context of this story, Luna is uniquely qualified to navigate it, because she has a bit of a 'The Warden Moon' vibe. That is, the Night and Darkness are considered hallmarks of chaos and other bad things, the moon as the primary source of light in these hours, is a sentinel or bulwark against these forces.
10504564
10504584
Those are really excellent clarifying comments, Sis, thank you. I appreciate all you've done to help with this story.
10504004
10504564
Thank you both for your thorough replies. I'll admit to being of Judeo-Christian background, but I was using the term "god" (as opposed to "God") in the way I've largely seen it used on this site - more an aspect or avatar. For example, some writers have Discord claim the role "God of Chaos" and others might assign Chrysalis as the Aspect of Change or introduce a character as an Avatar of Harmony.
My intent with my last question, about whether Princess Luna would respect or dismiss Luna's and Moira's religious beliefs, had more to do with what the Princess's opinion would be of these humans' worship of non-existent or uninspiring figures. Would she sincerely say, "Yes, this is a religious system that deserves respect," or would her attitude be more like "I think it's silly, but I don't really care what they believe as long as it opens them up for me to carry out my quest"?
I realize the existence or non-existence of other deities on our side of the boundary is indeed a major spoiler, but I'm gleaning from your replies that Luna would not be unnecessarily disrespectful while also not condoning any false assumptions about her identity or role. Though I also can't quite tell whether she realizes they probably think she's someone else - there was the comment the Princess made about Luna searching for someone named Selene, but whether or not she actually meant to summon Princess Luna seems to have been dropped.
10504709
The capitalization distinction is artificial but useful at times, yes.
Tis left somewhat ambiguous in the text, but there's good reason to believe that Princess Luna was in fact one and the same with the mythical figure of Selene.
I think part of the confusion has to do with what I said about pony religion, in that they have one but not in the sense that we do. Luna would have little concept of a "belief system" except as a way of attempting to explain the world, and it's a principle of Generosity to share what knowledge you have with others. She would view inaccurate claims about herself as worthy of correction, and, if it's not about herself, she would probably not be all that keen on perpetuating ideas that seem wrong to her.
Put another way, ponies, at least in this AU, do not put stock into dogma. To them, spirituality and magic is about constant growth and learning. She wouldn't be rude and challenge people needlessly, but she would show her own way works.
10504709
Mostly I made the clarification because there are a lot of people in the fandom that I know kind of strive for the Judeo-Christian notion of divinity. Even what you described brushes upon that. It's a very Greek way of looking at things, and in the context of that mythology, every pony in the show would be at the very least a 'daimon', with their cutiemark essentially advertising the facet of Creation they are responsible for, the gods are simply the most powerful of those daimons, with the most vague or wide-reaching aspects.
I think in this story the truth kind of lies somewhere in the middle between 'gods as ancestors/royalty' and 'gods as avatars for natural forces'. Mostly because everypony is basically an avatar for something, that's what cutiemarks are all about.
I can't imagine she would disrespect such beliefs any more than she would admonish thestrals/vespers/bats for treating her with honor and admiration while she was sealed away within the moon.
But I understand what you mean, in absence of any way to falsify religious or spiritual experiences, humans tend to ascribe certain acts or outcomes to gods that may or may not be present at the time. I think probably she would be regard this with the same kind of sadness an adult might have for a child who adamantly insists that their mother or father 'will' be coming back for them, and who looks too deeply into every little thing: "This letter is addressed to my mom, which means she hasn't bothered to change her address! The only reason she'd do that is if she were coming back!"
But, frankly, most pagans these days are Pantheistic rather than Polytheistic, and treat the gods as conceptual forces. So when someone says "Praise Athena!" because an election went their way, or a law got passed/didn't pass, they're mostly just praying to the concept of an enlightened democracy in general.
As you might imagine, navigating what a person's actual beliefs and intentions are can get pretty complicated, even for an alicorn with moon magic and dream magic. I think probably she would just try to stick to her wheel house, and figure out what happened to magic and the dream realm. If humans can perceive more than just the material as easily as she can, the issue of worshipping non-existent parental figures sort of resolves itself, and would be viewed as less of an attack.
For the time being, to Equestria Luna, human Luna and Moira come across more as ponies whose princesses have been gone a very veerrrrrry long time, but they remain hopeful re: their eventual return.
Luna taking the name Selene in that moment was mostly out of convenience, to avoid confusion, because she had been called Selene before. Right now her operating theory is that their universes are close enough together as to have numerous overlapping characteristics (Dragons, unicorns, pegasai, alicorns, names like Selene, Philidelphia/Fillydelphia, etc). Whether or not Luna knows that her rider is a different Selene or not hasn't really come up yet, but she and Equestria Luna seem to be playing this by ear, as neither of them really know if it is the same Selene, or a completely different individual.
I mean, again, Celestia and Caelestis are basically the same deity. Luna 'would have' been called Selene originally. Proto Indo-European mythology is rife with deities who either are horses, or are riding horses, or switch between the two, and at least in the west, Indo-European mythology informed most other mythologies. For all either of them can tell (depending on how much research Luna has done into their own beliefs) Equestrian and Earth interactions could just be foundational to these stories, and then the humans anthropomorphized any of the beings that didn't necessarily look like them.
Edit: Cleaned up a lot of my run on sentences, I use them a lot when I get excited to share information.
Luna has her own castle! That's pretty cool, and something I wish was touched on more in the series.
I like the descriptions you give of her navigating and caring for her dreamscape, It might be minor but I love the world building in this chapter.
I think that Luna is going to be horrified, she has barely scratched the surface of our world's injustices.
Also now I know that the griffons natively speak Spanish.
10520076
Haha only southern griffons. I imply the northerners are German elsewhere.
Whoa, this is an exciting turn! I don't even know what I was expecting at this point, but Luna's entrance to Earth is very cool.
10603643
Everyone loves Luna's method of getting to the human world, and I am living it.
Wow, I'm loving what you're doing with this B plot, and the characterization of both Lunas.
10623431
I'm glad~ it's a very important moment after all!
Okay, love the idea of Luna possessing a human to get around Earth. Way different than the usual way.
10978710
Thank you!