Avedon
Elder Member
Dreamweaver
Avedon caught the sounds in his throat, strangling them to silence there lest they disturb the air before the mare that he owed everything to. It was Luna's quiet moment of strength and happiness after being freed from Nightmare Moon that had shown him what he had always thought was impossible: That someone under Nightmare's shadow could find even a single moment of innocent joy like that. That they could stare to the future and feel whole. That she had managed to find a better way. It was what inspired Avedon to throw off his own chains.
She was the goddess he swore to follow unto death itself with no hesitation. The goddess that had relearned what friendship and normality was together alongside him until he followed her not out of duty, obligation, or religious zeal, but because she was truly someone he believed in. That he cared for deeply. He often said that only in death did duty end, and he believed that, but few realized he would die for Luna and Equestria not out of duty - but that they WERE his life. Especially now. It was the one thing he had truly been able to hold onto these last tumultuous years. For now.
"Ah- well...sometimes I like to practice my organizational skills. Throw everything down. Put them back in place. See how fast I can do it..."
The lie was half-hearted and ash in his mouth even before it slipped his lips. He tried to avoid looking at the alicorn before him but he did. His eyes were so different these many decades later. Once they burned like cold suns, with no heat or warmth but an unmistakable blaze. Now they were extinguished, hurt, quivering as they looked over Luna's star-strewn body as if the answers he sought were once against displayed on her face, here to save him from his darkest moment as they had so long ago. He did not find it. He felt ashamed. Ashamed as the word Champion hung in the air and weighed him down. A mantle he did not feel worthy of. A mantle he began to question if ever was.
"I'm tired Luna...but I can't rest..."
His voice cracked a bit, but he held himself from breaking. Luna had far more a right to be tired than him.
Avedon caught the sounds in his throat, strangling them to silence there lest they disturb the air before the mare that he owed everything to. It was Luna's quiet moment of strength and happiness after being freed from Nightmare Moon that had shown him what he had always thought was impossible: That someone under Nightmare's shadow could find even a single moment of innocent joy like that. That they could stare to the future and feel whole. That she had managed to find a better way. It was what inspired Avedon to throw off his own chains.
She was the goddess he swore to follow unto death itself with no hesitation. The goddess that had relearned what friendship and normality was together alongside him until he followed her not out of duty, obligation, or religious zeal, but because she was truly someone he believed in. That he cared for deeply. He often said that only in death did duty end, and he believed that, but few realized he would die for Luna and Equestria not out of duty - but that they WERE his life. Especially now. It was the one thing he had truly been able to hold onto these last tumultuous years. For now.
"Ah- well...sometimes I like to practice my organizational skills. Throw everything down. Put them back in place. See how fast I can do it..."
The lie was half-hearted and ash in his mouth even before it slipped his lips. He tried to avoid looking at the alicorn before him but he did. His eyes were so different these many decades later. Once they burned like cold suns, with no heat or warmth but an unmistakable blaze. Now they were extinguished, hurt, quivering as they looked over Luna's star-strewn body as if the answers he sought were once against displayed on her face, here to save him from his darkest moment as they had so long ago. He did not find it. He felt ashamed. Ashamed as the word Champion hung in the air and weighed him down. A mantle he did not feel worthy of. A mantle he began to question if ever was.
"I'm tired Luna...but I can't rest..."
His voice cracked a bit, but he held himself from breaking. Luna had far more a right to be tired than him.