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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Wail Into The Moon
Dying is a much greater agony than it has any right to be.
I would have thought it to be a simple transition into comfortable non-existence. Nothing could hurt me if there was no “me” to feel it, right? It should have been easy to slip through the veil of eternity, wash my stained hooves, quiet the screeching in my ears, and heal myself from the pain. Mother used to tell me, long ago, that it would be like falling asleep and dreaming, and fading away peacefully into the stars.
But I can feel it now. I can feel the wind lashing through me, whipping up a gritty coalescence of blood and sand in between burning gashes of skin. I can feel my strength drying up beneath the cruel and unforgiving sunlight. I am alive, yet I can feel my death sitting here beside me, waiting patiently.
My eyelids audibly cracked as they parted. The brilliance of the sun blinded me, and I gingerly lifted a hoof to cover my burning eyes. Holding it above me, I stared uncomprehendingly at my hoof for a space of time before realizing it was bent completely backwards. The pain registered only mildly as I dropped my useless foreleg beside me.
I know not how long I lay, but at last I managed to lift myself long enough to view my surroundings before a warm fuzziness enveloped my head and brought me flopping back to the sand.
I could see desert dunes rising throughout the landscape, the horizon bordered by an impossibly beautiful palette of pink and yellow. The sun watched low from the sky, the great scarlet eye looking down upon me. I could see dark, misshapen forms resting quietly in the sand, their shadows growing long. Guilt rose like bile in my stomach and I struggled to subdue the heaving sobs beginning to wrack my body. The pain simply faded into the background of my mind now, as the complete and utter unfairness of it all threatened to rob me of what I knew were my last breaths.
I am broken. Helpless. Defeated. Alone. Again. The thin remnants of pride that blanketed me now fell away in tatters. I could do nothing but shiver in the growing chill.
As the wind began to weaken, and the world began to settle into twilight, I watched a familiar light begin to rise gently from the east: the soft, healing glow of the moon.
I could not recognize the sound reverberating from my own throat. It began as a warbling cry, like a newborn foal crying for her dam. Soon, fueled by my precious breaths and all the power left in my lungs, I wailed. I wailed my pain, all of my pain, into the darkening sky. I wailed at the sun, retreating behind a great mountain. I wailed across the whole of the desert, littered with anguished souls. I looked into the moon and wailed until I nearly choked on my own sorrow. I wailed until I could only whimper, until the image of the world became distortions through my tears.
“I-I do n-not…deserve th…this…”
The sand seemed to glow beneath the full light of the moon.
“Mother…mother, I…you did not deserve it.” I let out a long, shuddering breath. “You deserved to be loved and recognized, and when you left, I-”
I collapsed back into the sand, unable to hold myself any longer.
“I am so angry, still, after all these years. One of the few things I could not change.”
The moon seemed to hang heavily above my head.
“Mother,” one last whisper of a breath as the world grew darker, “they do not have the right to be happy, to feel love, after what they had done to you. I knew…you would be…displeased with me, what I became…but…I could not live…knowing…y-you-”
Princess Luna stood alone on her balcony, looking into her beloved sky. She completed her newest constellation just as the last of her tears dried upon her muzzle.
Her daughter would live forever in the stars now, dreaming of the many wonderful years shared together, before-
Hastily, she rubbed out her matted coat. She spread her wings and took flight, descending from her tower. Despite her own sadness, she knew how necessary it was for her to make an appearance after today's events.
The smile pasted upon her muzzle did not reach her eyes. She made landing next to her sister.
“Hello everypony. Did I miss anything?”
I would have thought it to be a simple transition into comfortable non-existence. Nothing could hurt me if there was no “me” to feel it, right? It should have been easy to slip through the veil of eternity, wash my stained hooves, quiet the screeching in my ears, and heal myself from the pain. Mother used to tell me, long ago, that it would be like falling asleep and dreaming, and fading away peacefully into the stars.
But I can feel it now. I can feel the wind lashing through me, whipping up a gritty coalescence of blood and sand in between burning gashes of skin. I can feel my strength drying up beneath the cruel and unforgiving sunlight. I am alive, yet I can feel my death sitting here beside me, waiting patiently.
My eyelids audibly cracked as they parted. The brilliance of the sun blinded me, and I gingerly lifted a hoof to cover my burning eyes. Holding it above me, I stared uncomprehendingly at my hoof for a space of time before realizing it was bent completely backwards. The pain registered only mildly as I dropped my useless foreleg beside me.
I know not how long I lay, but at last I managed to lift myself long enough to view my surroundings before a warm fuzziness enveloped my head and brought me flopping back to the sand.
I could see desert dunes rising throughout the landscape, the horizon bordered by an impossibly beautiful palette of pink and yellow. The sun watched low from the sky, the great scarlet eye looking down upon me. I could see dark, misshapen forms resting quietly in the sand, their shadows growing long. Guilt rose like bile in my stomach and I struggled to subdue the heaving sobs beginning to wrack my body. The pain simply faded into the background of my mind now, as the complete and utter unfairness of it all threatened to rob me of what I knew were my last breaths.
I am broken. Helpless. Defeated. Alone. Again. The thin remnants of pride that blanketed me now fell away in tatters. I could do nothing but shiver in the growing chill.
As the wind began to weaken, and the world began to settle into twilight, I watched a familiar light begin to rise gently from the east: the soft, healing glow of the moon.
I could not recognize the sound reverberating from my own throat. It began as a warbling cry, like a newborn foal crying for her dam. Soon, fueled by my precious breaths and all the power left in my lungs, I wailed. I wailed my pain, all of my pain, into the darkening sky. I wailed at the sun, retreating behind a great mountain. I wailed across the whole of the desert, littered with anguished souls. I looked into the moon and wailed until I nearly choked on my own sorrow. I wailed until I could only whimper, until the image of the world became distortions through my tears.
“I-I do n-not…deserve th…this…”
The sand seemed to glow beneath the full light of the moon.
“Mother…mother, I…you did not deserve it.” I let out a long, shuddering breath. “You deserved to be loved and recognized, and when you left, I-”
I collapsed back into the sand, unable to hold myself any longer.
“I am so angry, still, after all these years. One of the few things I could not change.”
The moon seemed to hang heavily above my head.
“Mother,” one last whisper of a breath as the world grew darker, “they do not have the right to be happy, to feel love, after what they had done to you. I knew…you would be…displeased with me, what I became…but…I could not live…knowing…y-you-”
Princess Luna stood alone on her balcony, looking into her beloved sky. She completed her newest constellation just as the last of her tears dried upon her muzzle.
Her daughter would live forever in the stars now, dreaming of the many wonderful years shared together, before-
Hastily, she rubbed out her matted coat. She spread her wings and took flight, descending from her tower. Despite her own sadness, she knew how necessary it was for her to make an appearance after today's events.
The smile pasted upon her muzzle did not reach her eyes. She made landing next to her sister.
“Hello everypony. Did I miss anything?”