Luna's Secret (A DWU Short Story)

Chapter Two

To understand the effects of the next series of events I'm about to relay to you, I'd like you, as the reader, to humor me as I give you this to think about:

I'd like you to imagine somepony. Somepony special to you in your day to day life.

Is that pony in your head now?

Okay, now think back to the things you've experienced with him/her. If he/she is a friend or a loved one, then recount those cherished memories that got you where you are with him/her right now.

Go all the way back to before all that, when you met that special one.

Do not those memories feel much more distant, and does it not touch your heart to think back to all that and wonder:

"How did we ever get this far?"

All of those times when your best and your worst personality traits came to light, and yet, he/she is still with you now, supporting you and encouraging you the way he/she always has.

That is my mindset as I recount the following events to you.

347 years had passed since I had been banished to the moon. I did not know this at the time, although I found out later. It took hours of delving into historical research to properly line all these events up.

5 years had passed since the Sirens were banished by Star Swirl the Bearded. Of course, I did not know any of this. My time was spent playing the latest game that I had created for myself.

The gravity on the moon is significantly weaker than on Equestria. Those familiar with the scientific studies of the planet's gravitational pull will no doubt know this.

The game I had made for myself is that I would draw a large circle in the dirt, take a boulder some large distance away from the circle, then kick said boulder and see id I could land it in the circle; an ingenious little game I had nicknamed: "Crater Maker".

I was just on the verge of breaking my previous record or consecutive successful attempts, when I heard a sound...

For two consecutive eclipses, the only noises I'd ever heard were from my hooves clopping against the ground, and my own voice. These were sounds that I'd long grown accustomed to since the beginning of my banishment.

But now, I felt surrounded by the sounds of mechanical groaning and wheezing. It was a noise so abnormal and so bizarre, so sudden and unnatural, that it sent a chill down my spine. It was a haunting feeling, and I was quickly filled with terror.

Then I saw it. A tall blue box that read: "Police Public Call Box". It had red windows and a black star painted on its door. It stood in such stark contrast to anything I'd ever seen, that I first mistook it for a mirage.

However, I was quickly disproved of that theory when I approached the box and knocked on the smoothly painted wooden door three times.

"One moment."

I backed away quickly from the box. It was a voice! A real voice! And it wasn't mine! No, it was a stallion's voice. The only emotion that I could use to describe what was happening was denial.

"Impossible!" I stated. "This cannot be true!"

The doors opened, and bright light poured out of the box. I cried out in fear, shielding my eyes.

The light faded away slowly, and I cautiously lowered my hoof from in front of my eyes. In front of the box, just yards away from me, stood the stallion whom I hinted to at the introduction of this chapter.

His coat was gray, neatly groomed. His tall spiked mane and tail,, which served as his defining features in my eyes, were a deep blue color, like that of the box behind him. All around, he was neatly groomed in an almost professional manner.

As eccentric as the grooming of his tail and mane were, what fascinated me more still was his cutie mark.

It was a circular clock with a golden frame around it, and an oddly shaped golden rectangular handle attached to the top of the frame.

All in all, his appearance was so odd, and yet so positively eye-catching that, again, I questioned whether or not this stallion was real.

Either way, his lips tugged into a smile. His deep brown eyes sparkled, reflectig the world behind me. He spoke:

"Hello." He said plainly.

I straightened up, standing tall. "Greetings, sir."

"I hear you've been here a while." He said.

He meant no offense, but I took offense regardless, with a degree of premature sensitivity.

"Do you jeer at me, sir? For, if it is a quarrel that you seek, I am not a Princess who will entertain thy challenge." I spoke firmly.

He blinked a few times in surprise.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you, Princess. I was just making a comment." He explained.

"My bitterness is not with you, stranger, but it would be in thy favored interests to bridle your tongue whenst thou is speaking with me." I said, wielding the authority which I no longer possessed.

"My apologies. Please, allow me to try again. Ahem. Hello, Princess. My name is Alexander, but you may call me Alex if your wish. And you are?"

I huffed under my breath, shaking the hoof he had outstretched briefly.

"Princess Luna, but I suppose simply Luna will be acceptable here."

"A pleasure to meet ya, Luna. If you don't mind, I brought you a little something." Alex said.

"A gift? What, pray tell, is your intentions with this gift?"

He thought about his answer for a moment.

"Consider it a small token of kindness." He answered simply, again, with a charmed smile.

He reached behind him, into his saddlebag, and pulled out an apple. He tossed it to me.

I caught it in my hoof and inspected it. It was fresh, fairly large, a polished light red color.

I raised my eyebrow at him, "Is this all?" I asked, having expected more.

This act was quite ungrateful on my part, considering I had never even laid my eyes on such fine fruit in years exceeding even that of my banishment.

Alex simply brushed it off with a light quip, "Well, I couldn't fit the whole tree in there." He said with a chuckle.

It was enough to soften my hard expression. I took a bite of the apple.

It was a wonderful taste. It was juicy at the first bite, not too tough to chew, not mushy at all, and it proved to be mouthwatering all by itself.

Although I did not thank him verbally (which I should have), my gratitude must've been present in my facial expressions, for he read them with the same smile and nod; a silent 'You're welcome' to my silent 'Thank you'.

"Well, Princess, I'm afraid I can't stay for very long. Forgive me for departing from you so suddenly."

Too enraptured in my savory bites to speak, I nodded. My mouth betrayed me then, and my lips tugged themselves into a smile genuine sincerity, something that hadn't happened in quite a long time.

And yet, his smile did not fade in the least; rather, his smile widened.

At first, I thought that he was strangely proud of making me smile, as if it were some sort of accomplishment; I likened it to some sort of childish courtship that was only present in his mind.

However, I realize now that it was how well received his act of kindness was that made him happy with what he had done.

With that, he said his goodbye, promised me that he would return, and retired to his blue box, disappearing before my very eyes...

It wasn't until much much later that I learned why he had come...