And so we sat there for minutes, just staring at the stars and the moon and the emptiness between them.
I glanced at her, and began staring at her smooth face and entrancing eyes.
She furrowed her brow, as if looking for something, and said, "Hold on..."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Ah," she said in realization, "Missed one."
Her horn began to glow a dark blue and I looked up. Right before my eyes, the third star of Orion's Belt, that I hadn't noticed was missing, suddenly appeared out of nowhere! There was a flash, and the star just materialized in the sky!
"H-How did-" I stammered. This amazed me. I knew she could make the moon rise and fall, but I had never seen it like this, so I was less phazed. But not only did I not know she could make stars, I had just seen it! She created an entire star without so much as blinking! Clearly the science of this world would send Galileo turning in his grave.
"What? You knew I could bring out the stars, didn't you?"
I was speechless, and she was amused by my surprise and giggled with her hand over her mouth. While at my own expense, I couldn't resist the sound of it. It was a stunningly lovely sound.
I grew warm again.
We just strolled around the castle, just talking and enjoying each other's company. She would give me demonstrations of her magic, and I would tell her stories of human accomplishments. She rather enjoyed those. She liked the idea of holding a plastic screen and using it to talk to someone miles away. I liked the idea of teleportation and moving objects with mere thought.
At one point, the warmth was no longer an uncomfortable light sweat; it became an all-around feeling of comfort and safety. One would think that the Princess of the night would have a colder aura, but she didn't.
She made me feel... happy. On very few occasions have I been truly happy. So few I can hardly recall them.
Something about her drew me closer and closer every second. Her mannerisms and voice I adored. But the most captivating thing about her was her eyes; those sparkling, beautiful, familiar eyes. If I could I would stare into them until my own eyes dried out.
I thought about these things as we stood on a balcony overlooking a valley. I thought, and thought, and thought. Why I thought so hard, I didn't know. I felt as if I was trying to piece something together, but what? Why? Why did my temperature rise when I was near her? Why did her eyes seem so familiar?
"So, what is it like?" she asked.
Her question caught me off guard since I was deep in thought. I had to play it back in my head once to understand it.
"What is what like?"
"Your world. I'm curious," she said plainly.
I wanted to say "absolutely horrible," but that would've been exaggerating a bit.
"It's, uh, different."
"How so?" she asked, turning to look at me.
"Well, basically, in every way. For one, the Earth rotates around the sun, and the moon around the Earth. And, there is no such thing as magic. And if a person is born with wings or a horn- actually, there might as well not be an 'if.' It would take millions of years of, albeit strange, evolution for a human to develop wings and horns, not that we need any in the first place. And for that matter, all of this is completely impossible in my world. This whole place would be nothing more than a fantasy land."
As I was talking, I started to wonder to myself "How do I know this isn't some sort of dream? Maybe this is just a fantasy." But I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my head.
"Oh," Luna said, "Well, what of the people there? How are they?"
I paused, thinking about how to describe them.
"Well, I honestly think that the human race is very... imperfect. And they're quite lacking in the intelligence department. In fact, I'm kind of glad to be here and away from it right now."
She had a look of puzzlement on her face.
"Why? What's wrong with them?"
"Well, there's always something going on. It's like they don't know how to get along. There's always a war, or some gang dispute, or a crime going on. There's always some random acts of violence, terrorism, shootings, hate; the list goes on and on. It's like fighting's the only thing the human race knows how to do."
"B-But what about all the things you told me about? They can't be as du- er -unintelligent as you make them out to be."
"Well, they're not all like that. There are some really smart and kind people on Earth, but they are few and far, sadly, and don't make up enough of the population."
I turned to her, and saw disappointment on her face. It would seem she had an optimistic look towards humans, and I had just shot that down.
"Uh, I mean, if you go out in everyday life, the people are nice to you, but that's just common courtesy."
I'm not very good at sugar-coating things.
We stood there for a bit in (awkward) silence before Luna looked up, then at me, and hesitantly asked, "How was your family?"
I looked at her, and whatever expression I had on, it made her mentally wince.
"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to overstep-"
"No, no... It's fine. I'm... over it," I lied. I, sadly, still had not gotten over their deaths. It was so traumatizing for me, to wake up one morning and find them all dead and bloodied.
But perhaps talking to someone about it would make some difference, however small. With all of the things going on, I just needed to vent. Come to think of it, what was my family like? It's been over a decade since I'd lost them, and I tried to think about them as little as possible to minimize the grief.
I had to think for a bit and remember life before that day.
"Jeez... You know, I haven't thought about them in a while.
My father was- oh, what was he? He was a teacher. He taught at a college. Uh, my mother was a stay-at-home mom. My two younger brothers were just your regular kids. They were really close friends, not the kind of brothers that bicker and argue.
My dad was really smart and calm all the time. He used to help me with schoolwork and things like that. He and I would play this game called Trivial Pursuit. It's funny; he was such a know-it-all, and yet I would always beat him.
My mom was nice; she handled most of the food and shopping and housework. She fed us and helped pick out gifts and things for holidays and birthdays..."
As I talked about them, I felt something on my face. I reached up to touch it, and discovered that it was a tear. One single tear on my cheek. It was not a sad tear; it was a happy one. Looking back at my family, I felt happy. All my life I'd been living in fear and regret and lonliness. So long, all by myself. When I was with my family, and I now realize this, it was the absolute happiest time of my life. No memory I have could be happier than the ones of my family.
Smiling, I looked at Luna and wiped the tear. I don't know why, but she was smiling too. We looked at each other with peculiar smiles for a few seconds before I opened my mouth and did something I regretted instantly.
"So, what's your family like?"
The smile left her face after I said this, and she looked saddened.
She turned away from me, and I felt stupid. I'd known she was trapped on the moon for a thousand years, and I'd known she might have lost some family (and most likely some friends) during that time. She probably didn't want to talk about it. Why did I ask her about it? Idiot...
"Oh, God. I didn't mean to- You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Sorry..." I tried to console her and avoid any unnecessary hurt.
She turned back to look at me.
"M-May I try something?" she asked.
Ignoring the vagueness of this proposition, I said, "Uh, sure."
Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the awkward air between us.
She walked towards me, closed her eyes, and made her horn glow. She got much closer to me in an attempt to touch her horn to my head.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing? Do you know what happened the last time someone did that?" I said, backing away. I didn't want some other creature coming out of my head again.
"I know. This is differend. Trust me," she said calmly, her horn still glowing.
I took a deep breath through my nose, "Fine."
She got close to me again and I shut my eyes expecting another unpleasant experience like the one with Twilight.
Her horn touched my head, and at first I felt nothing. I opened my eyes, and blushed a little at how close our faces were. Then, I felt uncountable sensations pass through my body. I blinked, and then there was just me and her.
I saw nothing but an endless whiteness and her standing across from me. Then, the white transformed into... into... I don't even know what to call it. It turned into landscapes, and mountains, and people, and everything was moving so fast. I saw and heard and smelled and felt everything going on around me. There was interaction between Earth, Air, Magic and Omni Beings. I saw Equestria form. I saw Canterlot being built. I saw the Omni Beings swiftly fading away due to a plague, leaving just a few remaining. I saw everything happening in matters of seconds. I saw people being born and dying. I heard the laughter of children and the sounds of a town being constructed. I felt endless emotions in my mind. Then there was darkness. There was nothing but darkness and a vast, gray desert for the longest time. There was this horrible feeling of emptiness and sorrow and hate and lonliness. Then the world came back again. I saw Nightmare Moon being defeated by the Elements of Harmony, and Discord unleash chaos on the world. I saw it all.
I had just seen everything from Luna's birth to this exact point in time. I felt everything she had ever felt. I saw everything she had ever seen. I watched her entire life pass before me in the blink of an eye.
Then, the balcony returned. Reality returned. Luna and I were back and standing on the balcony, light-headed and hearts racing. Her eyelids fluttered, and she collapsed, fortunately I managed to catch her before she hit the ground. She looked up at me with her mesmerizing, beautiful, familiar eyes, and I realized that while I watched her life pass before me, she watched mine. We knew each other's pain. We knew each other's joy. We knew what each other had been through.
I finally knew why her eyes looked so familiar to me: I had seen them every time I looked in the mirror. They were the eyes of someone who has known pain and lonliness.
I finally knew why I felt warm when I was near her: I had strong feelings for her. I had known her for two days, and I had developed... love for her.
I looked at her, and we both smiled.
"Come on," I said, almost tearing up again, "Let's get back to the party."