The moon shone high over Canterlot as Big Scoop approached the Royal Palace. The unicorn stallion sported cherry-colored fur topped with a cream-colored mane and tail, and wore a tailored brown suit, white shirt and blue tie, which he adjusted nervously as he approached the palace guards. He showed them his press pass, and without a blink, the formidable looking pegasi let him inside.
The grand halls of the palace were lit up by magical lamps that cast them in a different splendor than during the day. Big Scoop was momentarily struck by the vastness and grandeur of the structure before he heard a feminine voice clear her throat nearby. When he turned to look, a pegasus mare stood nearby. She had dark indigo fur, an athletic physique, and a cutie mark of a shooting star.
"You are the reporter from the Canterlot Post?" she asked professionally.
"Yes, that would be me." Big Scoop answered with a nod.
"The Princess awaits you in her private lounge. This way, please," the mare replied, and began leading Scoop off through the corridors. After a fair bit of walking, they arrived at a cozy little room on one of the Palace's upper floors.
Inside, large windows gave a wonderful view of the night sky, while a few lamps lent a cozy light to the room. Several couches and loveseats circled the middle of the room, and one was inhabited by the princess, herself.
It was Big Scoop's first time seeing Princess Luna in person, and he wasn't sure what to expect. He thought maybe she'd be larger, like a dark reflection of Princess Celestia, but it wasn't really so. She was slightly smaller than Celestia, and she obviously seemed to have a style all her own. Rumors had been floating about that Luna was perhaps a frightning creature, that she was only just barely removed from Nightmare Moon, but Scoop could scarcely find a trace of the legendary villainess in the bright, inquisitive eyes that gazed out the window into the night, then shone his way with heart-stopping exuberance.
"Ah! A visitor! Make yourself comfortable! Tell me, what brings thee to my presence? Starcatcher, bring our guest refreshments!" the princess said excitedly. It was really not what Big Scoop had expected. It was becoming rapidly clear that, for better or for worse, this princess was nothing like the calm, sedate, and even calculating Celestia. The pegasus who had escorted him up, apparently Starcatcher, bowed in response.
"Yes, Your Highness." she answered, then turned her attention to Scoop. "What can I bring you?" Scoop thought about it for a moment before replying.
"Water, please." With that, Starcatcher departed swiftly, and Princess Luna watched him intently. She seemed to be waiting for something, and Scoop realized that she'd asked him a question during her initial explosion of speech. "I'm sorry, Princess, what did you want to know?"
"Everything! Who are you? What brings you to the palace? What may I do for you?" she answered, sounding as excited as a school filly. He thought for a moment to decide how to phrase his reply.
"My name is Big Scoop, and I'm a reporter with the Canterlot Post. I'm here to interview you."
The princess looked confused for a moment, but fought to regain her composure. Big Scoop wondered how it could have been so confusing.
"Well met, Big Scoop. Please make yourself at home. This 'Canterlot Post', it is some sort of mail service?" the princess inquired. It was Big Scoop's turn to be confused.
"No, ma'am, it's a newspaper." The princess only looked more confounded than before.
"What, pray tell, is a 'newspaper'?" It was only at that moment that Big Scoop realized just how odd this interview was going to be. He settled down on a couch opposite Luna to explain as best he could.
"It's a... published work... like a book... without a binding... We make a new one every week, with articles about what's happening in Canterlot, and all around Equestria, from matters of foreign affairs to the outcomes of sporting events. We sell them to the ponies of Canterlot so they can stay informed." He was very pleased at himself for explaining so well.
"So that the wealthy landowners know more about what is transpiring all around them?" Luna asked.
"Well, no, I mean everypony. We sell them for only a couple bits a piece at stands all over Canterlot," he replied.
"But how can this be? Surely, even the most talented wizards can only copy so many," Luna insisted. Big Scoop shook his head.
"I'm sure there's some unicorns here in town who'd prefer we do it the unicorn way, so to speak, but quite awhile ago, a talented earth pony machinist made a printing machine that made copying text over and over again very easy, and we've been improving upon it ever since," Big Scoop told her. Luna's eyes widened.
"That is astounding!" Even as she was saying it, Starcatcher returned with the water for Big Scoop, placing it on a nearby end table. "Starcatcher, fetch for me a 'newspaper'!" Luna commanded. Starcatcher bowed again.
"Immediately, Your Highness," she answered before she left again.
"So, what is this 'interview' you are going to do with me?" the princess asked.
"Um... well.. the ponies of Canterlot want to get to know you better, so, I'm here to ask you a series of questions, and we'll print the answers in this week's issue of the paper so everypony can read it," Scoop told her. The princess thought about it, and nodded in comprehension before looking confused again.
"So, you are saying that in this day and age, everypony can read?" she asked. Scoop noded.
"Yes, Your Highness. In the last few centuries, our nation has grown and thrived, and Her Highness, um... your sister, used the royal treasury to begin funding education for the masses... then we started making all sorts of progress, like the printing press." Luna's mood became much softer at the mention of her sister.
"She is a most wise and caring ruler," Luna agreed. Big Scoop couldn't tell why, but he could swear Luna sounded sad.
"Is anything wrong, Your Highness?" he asked. Luna seemed to snap out of whatever duldrum had swallowed her.
"Oh! No! I am well! How do you say it these days? I am 'fine'." she answered. Big Scoop wasnt very convinced. There was a long moment of silence, then Starcatcher returned with an issue of the canterlot Post. She presented it to the princess, who gazed upon it. Without having looked at it for but a mere moment, her eyes went wide, and her jaw fell open in what Scoop had to admit was an absolutely adorable expression of amazement.
"It has paintings! They're so real! Look at them, Starcatcher! How do they do it?! Are they in every copy? Is this a special one? This is astounding!" she exclaimed. Big Scoop shook his head. he'd never seen anyone so excited to see a newspaper.
"Those are called 'photographs', Your Highness," Starcatcher patiently explained. "They are 'captured', we would say, by a machine we call a 'camera'. It allows us to make an image out of something we actually see."
"The ponies who use the cameras for the newspaper are called 'photographers'." Scoop added. "It's considered to be a real talent to use a camera well, and we at the Canterlot Post think we have the very best." This earned a snort of derision from Starcatcher.
"No way. The photographers from the Cloudsdale Sentinel are the best in the biz. They can catch even the fastest Pegasus racers in mid-flight." she countered.
"Fair point," Scoop replied. "But, Your Highness, may I proceed with the interview? I'm not exactly on a nocturnal schedule..." Luna looked up from the paper as he addressed her.
"Ah, yes, of course. You wish to ask questions of me. You may proceed!" She straightened herself on her couch in preparation. Big Scoop pulled his pen and notepad from his suit pockets and prepared to write.
"Ahem, all right, then. What do you think of Equestria, now that you're back?"
"It is simply amazing! My sister has done an astounding job! There are so many cities, so many ponies, so many changes, so many wonderful things, like... cameras and newspapers and bobbing apples!" Scoop quirked a brow at that last one, but decided to just keep going.
"Okay, next question: do you harbor any hard feelings towards your sister for having imprisoned you on the Moon for a thousand years?" Luna blinked in surprise.
"That is not what happened... is it? I know I've been gone for a thousand years... and I know... it is because I... betrayed her... but... do you think she did it on purpose? Was it a punishment? She is my elder sister, but we've never been like that. I must learn more of this before I can answer that question," Luna responded.
"But... um... Your Highness... weren't you... there, when it happened?" Scoop asked. Luna got an embarrassed expression.
"Well, yes, of course, but... I wasn't in my right mind, you might say... I most remember... feeling the jealousy.. and the rage... and the look on my sister's face..." Her expression fell. "She was... terrified... and heartbroken..." Luna brushed her mane out of her face with a forehoof, and blinked back tears. The other two likewise looked more solemn.
"I'm.... sorry... Your Highness. We can stop, if you like." Scoop told her. Luna straightened up and shook her head.
"No, good Big Scoop. The ponies deserve to know. I am their princess, and they deserve to know me, the good and the bad. It was partially due to this ignorance that my dark power ended up consuming me. We must do everything in our power to never repeat that mistake, if it can be repeated." Big Scoop nodded.
"Yes, Your Highness. So, what was it like on the Moon?" he asked. Luna looked confused again.
"On the Moon? What is it like when you are dreaming? It was like that for me. A very long, somewhat dark dream, or many of them. I cannot recall them, nor do I think I would want to. I could not feel my body... I'm unsure if I truly had one, during that time." Luna replied.
"So, you didn't really get to experience the passage of the thousand years?" Scoop asked. Luna shook her head.
"I did not. When I... or when Nightmare Moon, finally returned to her senses, she had an innate sense of the passage of time, but I'd say neither she, nor I, if I may count us as seperate entities, truly experienced that expanse of time. If you wish to know who truly suffered for a thousand years, you should instead talk to my sister." Luna looked rather sad at this. Once again, Scoop and Starcatcher hung their heads as well. Then Scoop took a deep breath to continue.
"Well, that'll be for another issue. Um.. if I may ask... What did Nightmare Moon do with Princess Celestia, when she came back?"
"To my knowledge, nothing." Luna replied. "We thought we felt her presence in a small town we were unfamiliar with... but just before we arrived, she was gone, so we took her place, as we had always desired to... As Nightmare Moon had always desired to, that is to say."
"So, where did she go, then?" Scoop asked. Luna shrugged.
"It may be another question for her, if you ask her questions this way. Nightmare Moon was too occupied with foiling the ponies who saught to undermine her new rule."
"I see. Well, let's switch topics a bit. A few nights ago, you decided to make your official public debut, on Nightmare Night, of all occasions, but you chose to do it in the small, obscure town of Ponyville. Can you tell our readers why you chose that locale?" Luna immediately brightened up. In a rush, all the exuberance was back.
"Oh yes, well, going to Ponyville for Nightmare Night was my sister's idea. She is an absolute sage! Her prized student, Twilight Sparkle was there, and she did so much to make me feel welcome, and all the ponies of Ponyville are so wonderful! It was also the same town where I was... rescued...? from Nightmare Moon, and the home of the ponies who did it. They should be honored as heroes!" she answered enthusiastically.
"Do you think you might spend the next Nightmare Night here in Canterlot?" Scoop asked. Luna looked torn.
"I am uncertain. The citizens of Ponyville were so welcoming, and so wonderful, and so genuine... I feel I am spoiled. Perhaps one of these years, I will see how it is celebrated here in Canterlot." Big Scoop nodded understandingly as he recorded the answer.
"What about the Grand Galloping Gala? We noticed that, despite technically being back, you missed the most recent one. Do you think you'll be in attendance next year?"
"Oh, by the stars, I hope not! My sister tells me that it's dreadful! I can do without such fakery and pretense," Luna replied emphatically. Starcatcher glared at Scoop.
"Do not print that. It's Princess Celestia's policy that her opinion on the Gala is not to be published." she told him.
"What is this all about?" Luna asked Starcatcher. Her attendant bowed slightly.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I think your sister is afraid that if it were known by the public at large that she dislikes the Grand Galloping Gala, that no one would attend, and for whatever reason, she still wants it to continue," Starcatcher told her. Luna shook her head.
"What game is my sister playing? There are times I think she is a bit too clever for her own good." Luna grumbled.
"Um, on that note, how do you feel about your relationship with your sister since coming back?" Big Scoop asked. Luna brightened up again.
"Oh, it has improved immensely! I am awakening early to share dinner with her, and postponing my bedtime to share breakfast with her... at least thats how it is in summer. In winter, it is she who is getting up early and going to bed late to spend more time with me, but it is all worth it. We get to talk, share stories, laugh, and be friends again, like we had been so long ago. Maybe better yet. Despite what has happened, I could scarcely imagine a better outcome!"
"Very good. Well, just one more question, I think. Do you have anything to say to your subjects at large? Any message you'd want them to recieve?" Scoop asked. Luna looked thoughtful for several moments.
"I woulds't have them know this: I am friendly, and love company, and love fun, and they should not fear me. Nor should they shun the night. I try to make it beautiful every night just for them, and I sincerely hope they enjoy it," Luna answered. Big Scoop scribbled it down.
"Well, I think that's everything. Thank you so much for your time, Your Highness. I hope all our readers will be as happy to get to know you as I was," he said as he stood up, putting away his pad and pen, and finishing his drink of water.
"It was my pleasure, good Master Scoop! Time is something I have in vast supply, when I'm not using it to learn about what all has changed in the world, but I find, like tonight, that nothing teaches me quite as quickly as meeting new ponies. Please, feel free to stop by again," the princess replied with a big smile. Big Scoop gave her a bow.
"Certainly, Your Highness." With that, Starcatcher escorted him out. He had a lot of writing to do in the morning.