Sarah had decided that they’d done enough for the day, and that since they were on top of the very well defended monument, they may as well just stay up and enjoy it. Currently, the woman was lying against Luna’s side, looking up at the heavens through one of the windows. Her right hand was absentmindedly stroking down Luna’s back and the mare had no interest in telling her to stop. The woman continued to gaze up at the twinkling stars above her and let out a long sigh, it was half blissful, half sad.

“You know Luna... I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before,” Sarah told the mare. Luna’s eyebrows rose in surprise and a rosy blush crossed her face.

“What do you mean?” she asked, not completely sure of who or what the woman was referring too.

“The night sky,” Sarah answered, causing Luna to let out a small breath and to readjust her gaze towards the sky above them. “I mean... just look at it... it’s so huge and mysterious... anything could be hiding out there, waiting for us to discover it,” Sarah continued, her voice wistful.

Luna looked down at Sarah, a new look of appreciation on her face which warred with surprised shock until it won out.

“Truly? You are fascinated by the night?” Luna asked her.

“Of course, who wouldn’t be?” Sarah asked the mare with a raised eyebrow which caused Luna to frown for a moment. “I mean... it’s all so grand and expansive, I can’t help but get lost just looking at it,” she continued, gesturing out at the stars.

“I see,” Luna said, her voice filled with a strange tone. “You are... one of the only ones I have heard aside from my sister who feels that way,” she added, her tone still strange.

Sarah simply chuckled softly.

“Then they don’t know what they’re missing,” she said with a small smile as she leaned back against Luna’s warm fur and let out a sigh. “I mean, I was raised in an underground Vault my whole life and only saw the night sky for the first time around four days ago... it is so beautiful.”

“Yes, yes it is,” Luna agreed, fixing her gaze on the heavens once more.

The view from the monument was so high and so pure that she could see every star and constellation. It was the first time that Luna had ever seen the night sky of the Wasteland and although the sight of it was alien to her, she was unable to find any of the Equestrian constellations, she still felt a wave of comfort roll over her from the sight. The quarter moon rose up in the sky, seemingly touching the destroyed dome.

It truly is beautiful... Nightmare commented quietly. Why... can’t everypony see it this way?

“Why can’t everypony see it this way?” Luna echoed aloud, her voice wistful.

“I don’t know Luna,” Sarah replied with a shrug. “I guess they just don’t appreciate it the way we do.”

“That... must be it, yes,” Luna replied quietly, her tone thoughtful. “Though... in truth I think they may just be frightened of what the night holds for them... not the night itself.”

Sarah nodded and continued to slowly stroke Luna though she remained quiet. When she finally spoke, it was a different subject.

“Luna... would you mind telling me more about your life?” she asked. “Last time you stopped before we had time to get very far.”

Luna frowned to herself as she felt the woman’s gentle fingers travel down her spine. She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh of pleasure, and then brought her head down so that it was resting lightly against Sarah’s shoulder.

“If you would like... I suppose I could continue the tale,” she said slowly.

Sarah was a bit surprised by the closeness of Luna’s face, but smiled and brought a hand up to scratch the mare’s ears.

“I’d like that a lot I think,” she said, giving the mare a smile.

Luna’s eyes closed again as a sensation of pleasure rolled down from her ears, truly fingers were amazing. The mare’s face blossomed into a smile and she let out another pleasured sigh, much to Sarah’s surprise.

“Sorry,” Luna apologized with a deep blush when she opened her eyes and saw the perplexed look on Sarah’s face. “Your fingers are... incredible.”

Stop being so pathetic! Nightmare scolded. We are not this woman’s pet!

I am not being pathetic... it just feels rather nice, Luna shot back. You are enjoying the sensation just as much as I am. Nightmare let out a silent scoff, but couldn’t deny it.

“Heh, sorry, I’ll stop,” Sarah said, withdrawing her fingers from behind Luna’s head.

“Oh no, you can continue,” Luna quickly countered. “... it will make this easier for me to continue my tale,” she added a little more quietly.

“Alright then, I can do that,” Sarah replied, returning her fingers to the task.

Luna closed her eyes for a moment and then began to speak.

“The last I told you was of when my sister and I were attacked by the Council, was it not?” she asked

“Yeah... those guys seemed like assholes,” Sarah agreed.

“Unbelievably so yes...” Luna replied slowly. “After their initial defeat... they tracked us down again... and this time they were prepared.”

“Tia, I can’t keep running!” Luna panted, her blue fur was streaked with mud, burrs, and blood from scratches and thorns. Her blue mane was plastered to her forehead and her breaths were coming out in pants. The moon above shown down on them and cast a silvery white light upon her coat, making it sparkle slightly despite the wear and tear.

Her sister ran along beside her, her white coat was similarly stained and dirty, and a streak of blood was slowly leaking down from the base of her horn and across her face.

“Yes you can Lulu, yes you can,” Celestia said, her voice desperate. “Come on sister, this is just like our games of tag. We just have to keep running and we’ll win!” Her voice was exhausted but there was a hard edge of determination to it.

Luna knew she was lying, but continued to push herself forwards over fallen trees and through thorny bushes. Behind them, the sound of their pursuers grew closer, great blasts of magic tore trees up by their roots and torrents of fire carved their way through that which withstood the first blasts. Whenever Luna looked over her shoulder, she would catch a fleeting glimpse of the unicorns chasing them. They were dressed in elaborate ornate armor which radiated power and fear, their eyes were hard and full of rage.

The chase had been going on for close to half an hour since they’d found the sisters curled up sleeping beside a fire. It was only thanks to Celestia’s good hearing that they’d escaped the unicorns in the first place and they were both starting to run out of energy after such a long pursuit while their pursuers showed no signs of such. At last, after ten more minutes of running, the two were forced to stop. Yawning before them was a large cave mouth.

“Tia... we can’t go in there,” Luna whimpered. “It’s dark in there!”

“Lulu, I need you to be brave for me, okay?” Celestia asked her little sister. “We don’t have much time bef-”

Celestia was interrupted in mid sentence as a bright red telekinetic noose fastened around her muzzle. The mare jerked and struggled against it, but the magical line held fast. Holding onto the line was a red unicorn dressed in red armor. Luna let out a filly scream of fear at the sight and then an even louder one as another line lassoed out and wrapped around Celestia’s throat, beginning to slowly strangle her.

“This is for what you did to Emerald and Ruby,” the red unicorn growled at Celestia who was still struggling, though her struggles were getting progressively weaker.

“Leave her alone!” Luna screamed shrilly. “We didn’t want anything to do with you! We just want to be left alone!”

“Well that’s too bad little filly,” a unicorn mare in light yellow armor said with a sneer. “You should have thought of that before you stole our sun and moon.”

“We-we didn’t mean to!” Luna cried, tears running down her face as Celestia’s breath began to come out in gasps. “Please, please just let us go!”

“No can do,” the yellow unicorn scoffed.

Celestia fell to her knees, her face blue and her eyes bulging.

Luna wanted more then anything to run up to her, but she was paralyzed by fear. The injustice of it all suddenly struck the filly. She and her sister would die here before the mouth of this cave and this group of unicorns would stay in power until they died and transferred the power to a group of unicorns who were just as corrupt as the last.

Her sister’s spasms began to subside, the air leaving her body and Luna knew that she didn’t have much time. Then she felt a similar noose fix itself around her own muzzle, covering her nostrils and cutting off her lungs. She tried to scream and squirm free, but the magic was as unforgiving and uncaring as the unicorn it was connected to it.

As Luna struggled, her vision began to get blurry and her short life began to pass before her eyes... one gentle white face appearing more than the others. Then, the air left her body.

“Wait...you died?” Sarah asked Luna, interrupting the tale. Luna gave her a flat look.

“No I didn’t die,” she answered.

“Sorry... go on,” the woman said with a small blush.

As Luna lay on the ground, her life bleeding out of her she heard a distant sound that resembled thunder.

It must be a storm... her mind thought sluggishly. Hahahahah they’re going to get wet! Serves them right!

The thunder sounded again and this time, it was accompanied by a loud roar. The magical noose around her throat disappeared, and Luna drew in a rapid breath as the air rushed back in. As she lay on the ground, too weak to move, the thunder sounded again and a large purple shape filled her vision.

“YOU DARE!?” a voice like an earthquake broke the air. Luna’s ears flattened beneath the verbal assault. “You dare commit the murder of two children before my cave?!” the voice roared again, this time at a slightly more manageable volume, sounding more like shattering boulders as opposed to heaving continents.

Luna blinked several times, and her vision cleared to reveal an immense purple dragon looming over them. It’s scales were a deep purple and its spines were an emerald green. Claws the size of greatswords emerged from his front paws while large teeth, partially shrouded in smoke poked out of his mouth. A pair of giant wings reared out of his back and they were currently fully extended.

The filly let out a squeal of pure terror at the sight, but no one paid her any attention.

“They are fugitives!” the yellow mare shouted up at purple dragon. “They have committed heinous crimes, we are simply delivering unto them the justice that they deserve!”

“And what ‘crimes’ could two fillies possibly commit that require the ‘unicorn council’ to directly doll out their punishment?” The dragon asked them, blinking his large green eyes incredulously at the ten or so unicorns.

“The white one killed three of our member!” the red one who had been killing Celestia exclaimed.

The dragon looked down at Celestia’s slumped form, a frown on his face and then he looked back at the unicorns.

“Then good for her, I see no crime in that,” the dragon replied.

“Listen here you great lummox, you will move out of our way and we will take these fugitives or we will be forced to kill you!” the yellow unicorn who had been strangling Luna shouted at him.

The dragon was eerily silent for a moment before in a low and menacing voice he said.

“You forget yourself mage,” the dragon growled.

Then with a sudden exhale he sent a column of green fire down on the yellow armored unicorn. Flames rained down on her, melting her armor as if it were made of gold. The unicorn’s screams were cut off as her helmet’s remains poured down her throat, and within seconds she was reduced to a pile of crispy flesh trapped inside a suit of molten armor. The fire still burned on and Luna knew that despite the mare’s actions... the image would haunt her nightmares. The other unicorns gapped at the dragon and the acidic smell of urine reached Luna’s nostrils.

“Now, leave, and never return,” the dragon spoke, his voice deadly serious. “Or you will join your companion in her prison.”

The unicorns stared for another moment, and then seemingly as one they turned tail and fled back the way they’d come. The dragon bent down until he was on eye level with Luna.

“Sorry about that, would you and your sister like to come inside? I think I have a tea kettle in my hoard somewhere,” the dragon asked her, his voice becoming much softer.

Luna stared at him in shock.

“Oh... dear... I’ve frightened you haven’t I?” he asked. Luna could only nod. “Well... I did just save your lives, you could always give me a chance, my name is Jonathan.”

Luna stopped talking and looked down to see that Sarah had fallen asleep and was leaning her head against the back of Luna’s neck. Luna smiled and pulled a wing over the woman before quietly setting her head down on the mattress and shutting her eyes.

Author's Notes:

Before you ask, this is a different Jonathan then the one from Light Wanderings, he's still a badass