//------------------------------//
// Part 2g 
// Story: Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying 
// by l0x0r 
//------------------------------//

I don’t own My Little Pony





Luna’s return to consciousness was as abrupt as it was confusing. One moment she’d been … what had she been doing? 

Luna gave her head a shake, but it seemed her memory had fled her. Coming to the conclusion that her memories would return in due time, Luna took stock of the throne room she found herself in.

She was in the new castle, seated on a throne next to Celestia’s. Luna felt that something was wrong, aside from the holes in her memory, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. The room was filled with a densely packed crowd of happily smiling, yet oddly silent ponies, all of whom were focused on the six kneeling forms in the center of the room, at the foot of the dais that the princesses’ thrones occupied.

Celestia’s rich voice broke through the strange sensations surrounding Luna. “Twilight, you and your friends may rise. After all you’ve done for Equestria, there doesn’t need to be such formality between us.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Twilight said as she and the other Elements of Harmony stood up. Their beaming smiles eerily matched those of the crowd surrounding them.

The general sense of unease that had settled over Luna, was banished by the sight of Twilight and the rest of her friends. She tried to smile widely, hoping that Twilight would turn her attention toward her, and away from Celestia. But Luna’s mouth refused to cooperate. It seemed locked into a neutral frown, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t force herself to change its shape. She attempted to lift a hoof up to feel her face, but in growing alarm she found that she wasn’t able to move any part of her body at all.

Well, nearly every part. She found that she was still able to move her eyes as she frantically darted them around the room. She first tried to find the likely reason behind her petrifaction, but failing in that, she looked beseechingly at Twilight and her other friends, silently pleading for their help. However, it seemed as if nopony else noticed anything wrong with Luna. Or even noticed her at all. 

“As a reward for saving the Kingdom of Equestria yet again, I’ve prepared a special celebration for you all in the Royal Gardens,” Celestia announced. “Come with me everypony, a wondrous banquet and great revelry await us.”

From the corner of her eye, Luna could only watch as Celestia stood up, and passed in front of her, seemingly completely unaware, or uncaring, of Luna’s presence. The crowd cheered Celestia as she descended the throne, and the great doors leading into the throne room opened of their own volition. Celestia stopped long enough to lovingly nuzzle Twilight, who returned the embrace with enthusiasm. She then lead the multitude of exuberant ponies through the massive doors, leaving Luna alone, frozen atop the throne. Almost as a matter of course, as the last pony left through the doorway, the massive doors slammed closed with an ominous and reverberating bang.

Luna felt ready to weep from frustration at her inability to move. She redoubled her efforts to struggle against her invisible shackles, but try as she might; she couldn’t so much as blink. She tried to summon her magic, to do something, anything, but it too failed her.

After several minutes of fruitless struggling, Luna slumped in exhausted defeat; as much as a pony frozen in place could slump. She focused her attention on the world outside her internal exertions and found that most of the lights in the throne room had gone out. In fact, there was only a small pool of flickering light left surrounding her. The rest of the room had become blanketed in absolute darkness. Which was odd, Luna thought to herself. Surely she would have felt the blast of air from the door’s closing, if it had been strong enough to extinguish the lights around the room.

Abruptly, the sound of hoofsteps echoing off the stone floor came to Luna’s ears. It was a calm, measured step, one full of purpose and coming from somewhere behind the throne. Except that she wasn’t on the throne any longer. Somehow, when she wasn’t looking, the throne and the dais it rested upon had disappeared, leaving Luna sitting on the cold, unprotected floor.

“They left you all alone, again, didn’t they, Luna?” A velvety voice asked from the darkness. The few remaining lights flickered wildly, nearly guttering out, and Luna felt a moment of panic at the thought of being alone in the dark with the owner of that voice.

The hoofsteps continued to sedately follow the perimeter of light. “They always do, don’t they?” she continued pleasantly. “Most ponies don’t even bother getting to know you, do they? And why should they, Luna? Who would bother with poor little Luna after they’ve gotten what they need? Whether it’s your power, a way to get to your sister, or simply because they had nothing better to do, you’re nothing more than a means to an end, Luna. Somepony to simply be used and thrown away. And that, dear Luna, is because you’re weak.” 

The owner of the voice finally entered the gloom at the very edge of the light in front of Luna, and with a smirk of superiority leered down at her. As she had suspected and feared, it was Nightmare Moon, hale and healthy, appearing exactly as she had before her defeat by the Elements of Harmony.

“I’m not weak, and you’re not real, you can’t be!” Luna cried out, finally finding her voice.

Nightmare Moon shook her head and snorted in disappointment as she stepped closer toward Luna. The lights around them dimmed, as if being suffocated by the encroaching darkness. Though she frowned pityingly, there was a happy, almost sadistically merry lilt to Nightmare Moon’s voice as she replied, “Poor Luna. It’s no wonder other ponies look down on you so much. Your ignorance is simply breathtaking.” Her voice grew stern, menacing as she began to circle the now crouching Luna, only a length away. 

“You were destroyed by the Elements of Harmony,” Luna said desperately, trying to convince herself as much as Nightmare Moon. She tried to twist around, to follow her tormentor’s movement, but she was still frozen in place, and could only imagine what Nightmare Moon was doing while her hoofsteps slowly moved behind her.

A snort of laughter echoed from the other side of Luna, and she quickly turned her eyes in that direction, eventually finding Nightmare Moon again, continuing her circuit. “I see that you’re an expert on my existence. You did create me after all, so I suppose that I should bow to your superior knowledge.”

Nightmare Moon’s face was screwed into a mocking sneer, and she didn’t pause as she passed in front of Luna. “So, all knowing princess, please tell me, if I no longer exist, then what am I doing here?”

Luna closed her eyes, as if she could banish Nightmare Moon simply by not looking at her. “You’re not real; you’re just a dream, a figment of my imagination.”

A hollow chortle followed Luna’s words, and Nightmare Moon stated, “I see. So I’m just … a daydream of yours. Well, I suppose if that’s all that I am, then you can simply banish me by dreaming of something else, something more … pleasant.”

Despite the mocking undertone in Nightmare Moon’s words, Luna tried just that. With her eyes screwed tightly shut, she imagined herself in someplace that was the antithesis of Nightmare Moon’s domain. A wide open field, bathed in warm sunlight, with a soft breeze creating waves in the long grass.

She noticed that everything had fallen silent, so slowly, Luna cracked open her eyes to find out if it had worked. Instead of the warm summer valley she had imagined herself in, she was still in the same dark stone room, stuck in the same position, with Nightmare Moon standing in front of her, regarding her with a cruel and sardonic smile. 

“Welcome back. Did you have a pleasant journey, Luna?”

Through gritted teeth, Luna growled out, “Why are you here? Why aren’t you gone, why aren’t you destroyed?

Nightmare Moon’s eyes flamed with barely contained anger, and her voice became savage. “I think you know why I’m here. So long as you live, so will I. I’m part of you Luna, and I always will be. I live in the weak and the wounded, and you’re so very, very weak.”

“Stop saying that!” Luna nearly screamed, futilely trying to throw herself at Nightmare Moon. “I’m stronger now than I’ve ever been. I have friends now, and I’m not ruled by hate and envy any longer. I don’t need you anymore, Nightmare Moon. Nopony needs you, or wants you. Why don’t you just disappear?!”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes and frowned down at Luna in disgust. “And you think that friends make you stronger? You have no concept of what true strength is. By having friends, by depending on somepony else, you’ve become weaker. Real strength comes from within and can only be measured when you’re alone and at your weakest. And when you were at your weakest, Luna, from where did you find your strength?”

Luna struggled to meet Nightmare Moon’s cold, dead eyes, and simply shook her head in denial. 

The few remaining lights began to gutter, causing the shadows to dance, and circle of light around them to begin to break apart and dwindle. In the strengthening gloom, Nightmare Moon seemed to loom over Luna.

Through clenched teeth, in a whisper full of hate and malice, Nightmare Moon hissed out, “In your moments of weakness, you called for me, Luna, and I answered. Who was it who freed you from that silly little ring, and gave you back your magic? Who was it that defeated that pegasus, saved the life of your love. You needed me.” The anger left Nightmare Moon’s voice, and she seemed almost friendly as she said, “You’ll always need me, Luna. So I’ll always be here, waiting in the dark. But the next time you call me, I won’t be so easy to banish.”

Nightmare Moon ghosted by Luna, training her chilly tail across Luna’s cheek as she disappeared back into the inky blackness. Luna wanted to shout out her frustration and anger, to deny what Nightmare Moon had said, but her rage was impotent and best directed at herself. She weakly continued to shake her head in denial, but deep in her heart, Luna found it hard to deny Nightmare Moon’s words.

Luna knew that in some ways, she was weak. In a dark corner of her soul, she could feel a cold breath of seductive power. It would be so easy to simply let go, to give into that part of her that desperately wanted to be free, the part that promised her power and fame that would outshine even her sister’s. Why should she languish in the shadows any longer? Had she ever had more freedom, more power, more respect, then when she was Nightmare Moon? It was difficult to turn her back on that promise of power, even knowing full well the consequences, not only for herself, but for all Equestria. And that made Luna bow her head in shame. Any decent and good pony would have rejected such thoughts out of hoof. That she couldn’t only proved just how far she had fallen.

Luna collapsed into a heap of self-recrimination, heedless of the fact that she was now able to move once more. What did physical freedom matter when she was her own tormentor and her prison was her own mind? Little by little the weak light surrounding Luna diminished, and the pressing darkness tightened around her.

Just as the final vestiges of light began to fade away, leaving her alone in the dark with whatever lived there, an angelically beautiful voice cut through the shadows. “Luna? Luna! Oh, please be okay ...”

Even in the darkest pit, Luna recognized Twilight’s dulcet voice. She latched onto it, and was flooded with warmth as memories of her friend flowed past her eyes. Luna felt her slipping resolve harden. Nightmare Moon might have a fragment of the truth. Perhaps she was weak. Perhaps she would never be as strong as Celestia without giving herself to Nightmare Moon, but with friends, she didn’t need to be the strongest.

Luna looked up to exuberantly reassure Twilight that she was alright, and found herself violently coughing and dry heaving. A horrible taste that seemed to be made of equal parts mud and bile filled her entire mouth. She turned her head and spit out the vile residue in a rather unprincessly manner, quickly realized that she was lying on her back atop a beach made of smooth but uncomfortably cold and wet pebbles, with Twilight anxiously leaning over her. For a whirling moment, Luna wondered where the throne room had gone, but then the last vestiges of her dream disappeared.

Her head pounded, and her body felt worn out, as if she'd been running for hours on end, and her vision seemed reluctant to come back into focus. Twilight's face was close to Luna's, and though the unicorn's eyes shone with hopeful happiness, they were also bloodshot and weary. In fact, Twilight looked nearly a bad as Luna felt. Her mane and coat were badly mussed, clumped up in places with stiff mud, and there were several new bruises marring her beautiful coat.

“Oh, Luna!” Twilight cried out happily. “You're finally awake.” Tears gleamed in her eyes as she leaned down to pull Luna into an almost painfully tight hug. “I was so worried,” she whispered into Luna's ear, before pulling away slowly, almost reluctantly. Her voice rose into a near whine as she said, “We were going so fast when we hit the water, and when you hit your head on the rocks, and blood was everywhere, and the current was so strong ...” Twilight hastily wiped at her eyes with a dirty hoof, smearing a little more mud on her face. “I never realized how dependent on magic I was until I couldn't use it. It took everything I had to pull you from the river,” she said with a hiccup and a voice full of self-recrimination. 

Luna groaned as she propped herself up, eventually managing to make it to her hooves. “Don't be so hard on yourself, Twilight,” she whispered, unsure of whether she could manage anything louder with her throat feeling as rough as the beach beneath their hooves. She cleared her throat daintily before continuing, “I think you've done a marvelous job, all things considered.”

Twilight began to pace back and forth, causing Luna's head to ache as she tried to follow the quickly moving unicorn. “Oh yeah, I’ve done a really great job so far. All I could do was pull us out of a river and perform CPR on you, and then collapse and hope you'd wake up again. If I had my magic, there'd be a million things I could have done. We'd already be back in Ponyville and have that cut on your head cleaned up properly.”

Luna raised a hoof to her forehead questioningly, and after a few tentative probes, found the source of her headache was indeed a sizable gash right next to her horn. The pain it gave off was a dull, persistent ache, something easily ignorable until they found help. Unfortunately, Luna didn't have Celestia's knack for healing magic. 

Her still muddled thoughts returned to what Twilight had just said; that she'd performed CPR on her. Luna lowered her hoof to her grime encrusted lips and winced slightly. It had to have been a rather unpleasant experience for Twilight, and Luna wasn't sure whether she should be grateful or not for being unconscious for it.

“Well, that's not how I imagined our first kiss would have gone,” Luna commented. It wasn’t until she saw Twilight's shocked expression that she realized that she’d said that aloud and hadn't merely thought it. Hoping that Twilight had misheard her, or thought that it was merely the bump on her head talking, Luna quickly continued, “Honestly though, we’re both alive and for the most part hale. I’m sure that together we’ll find our way out of this mess.”

Twilight finally stopped pacing as she snorted and faced Luna. “I couldn't even start a fire without my magic. Look at us, we're both shivering. We're going to catch cold and die down here, and it's going to be all my fault.” 

“Nopony is going to die down here,” Luna said a bit more harshly than she intended. She noticed that she'd begun to shake slightly, either from the frigid cold or the leftover terror from their earlier plunge. She quickly softened her tone. “You've done the best that you could, Twilight, and nopony could ask for anything more.” Her eyes scoured the small pebble beach bounded by the swift flowing river and impossibly sheer cliffs disappearing into the fog. “Besides which, I don't see anything flammable here anyway.” In an attempt to lighten the mood, she joked, “Unless there was a chapter in your survival book on how to set fire to rocks.”

Twilight weakly chuckled and snorted while wiping at her eyes. “There probably was, but I lost my saddlebags when we were in the river. I guess I'm not that good a librarian if I can't even manage to return my own books.”

Luna tottered over to Twilight and stood close by her, sharing her body warmth while nuzzling her lightly. “Well then, I guess we'll just have to get back to the library and order you a new copy. If we don't, how will we ever find out how to survive in the wilderness?”

Twilight weakly smiled. “Maybe we should get two copies. One for the library and one to be checked out to explorers who might get lost out here.”

An image suddenly flashed before Luna's eyes; Twilight being tightly constricted by a large snake, being pulled up into a tree, and using her magic to frantically skim through a book on survival, looking for the chapter on very large snakes. With a silent, inner spurt of laughter, Luna decided to keep that thought to herself. 

With a bemused smile, Luna fondly eyed Twilight. “Well, I suppose a good start on the path of getting back to the library would be to get your magic back.” She stepped back from Twilight and turned her attention to the hateful ring still choking off her magic. She closed her eyes and focused on gathering her own magic from the ether and concentrating it in her horn sending out tendrils of her power, seeking and lightly tightening around Twilight, probing and mapping her magical field. The sensations she received back were quite alarming. Luna had expected to find a powerful, but well controlled force of nature, submitting to, but not bending to her magic's touch, like a sleeping giant. But what she found instead was sheer primal force blocked off, waiting to be freed, like a muscular tiger trapped in too small of a cage.

The familiar-tasting streams of magic surrounding Twilight were whirling around her, but all of them were being forced through a tiny black dead zone on her forehead where the magic would normally have been at its brightest. Luna focused her magical energies on the dead spot, and felt hints of winding passages, of long and dark labyrinthine corridors. It felt a little too much like the mind of a madpony, and Luna shuddered from her examination of it. She didn't feel up to investigating the distasteful band any further, and instead, simply began to pour her raw magical power into it. No matter how well designed the ring was, it was never meant to hold against the magical reserves of a princess.

With her eyes closed, Luna couldn't see the tendrils of black smoke that rose from the ring, but with her senses attuned to the magic surrounding them, she could feel it as it began to crack and crumble, as well the white hot magic that was turbulently surging beneath it. With a sound like a steel bell being struck by a hammer, the ring broke apart into several pieces, and Twilight yelped in pain.

“Are you hurt?” Luna anxiously asked, blinking her eyes as her vision adjusted to the normal world.

“I don't ... I don't think so,” Twilight replied uncertainly. She sunk down to her knees with a confused expression on her face. “I've never felt something like that before. It was like a spark shot through me, all the way from my horn to my tail. And suddenly I felt really, really tired.”

Seeing her friend in such a vulnerable state reemphasized to Luna just how dire their situation was. She didn't want Twilight to see, but she was feeling very drained as well, especially after channeling so much power into freeing Twilight from the magic inhibitor. The cold was making itself known again, and Luna crouched down to give Twilight support, hoping that her shivering wasn't as noticeable as it seemed to her. The aches and pains from her fall were demanding more of her attention now that the damp chill surrounding them had settled into her. It felt as if somepony had beaten her mercilessly from her nose to tail.

Judging by Twilight's shivering, her cuts, and the still forming bruises only partially obscured by splotches of cold, sticky mud, she felt just as poorly as Luna. With anxious eyes Luna looked up into the impenetrable fog overhead, trying to judge just how far up the cliff walls extended. From the way her wings and back felt, as if somepony had dropped a boulder on them, flying out was not going to be an option. She could turn herself into a mist, but that took a lot of magical energy, with just as much to solidify herself again. Besides which, she'd never tried to carry another pony along with her in that form, and wasn't sure what the potential side effects would be. Still, they needed to get off the cold, unprotected beach.

“Twilight, be strong. We need to get out of here and back to Ponyville,” Luna said gently, trying to have enough strength for both of them.

Twilight seemed to find a second wind, and stood up fully, locking her knees and leaning only slightly against Luna. “Yeah, you're right.” She surveyed their surroundings and sighed, “The question is, how?”

“I wasn't really paying attention to just how far we fell,” Luna admitted. “But I'm not sure if I have the strength to fly us both back to the top.”

“Well, what if you flew back up by yourself, found some help, and came back for me?” Twilight suggested.

“No.” There was a degree of finality to Luna's voice. “We entered this predicament together, and we will leave it together. I won't leave you behind, Twilight.” 

“But what if it's our only option?” Twilight asked a bit confrontationally. She pulled away from Luna's side and stood without her support.

Luna didn't want to upset Twilight any further, but she'd already rejected any notion of her leaving her friend behind out of hoof. But to placate her, Luna replied, “Then we'll keep the idea as a last resort. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure if I can get back without you Twilight. I feel all used up.”

Twilight's standoffish expression softened into concern and sympathy. “I know what you mean, Luna. But you're right; we need to get out of here while we still have the energy.” She looked up into the greyish white ceiling above them, calculating distances in her head. “I might be able to teleport us to the top,” she offered.

“Are you sure, Twilight? We don’t even know how far that is.”

Twilight smiled wearily as she replied, “I’ve done it before. Though I did have several dragons chasing me that time. We should be okay.”

“I’m not sure-“ 

Twilight cut off Luna with a strange smile and a glint in her eye. “Trust me, Luna.”

The sincerity in Twilight’s reassurance, as well as the determination in her eyes silenced Luna. All she could do was nod, and hope for the best.

Twilight moved closer to Luna, pressing her body against the princess’. She scrunched up her face in concentration and Luna could feel Twilight’s coat prickle against hers as energy gathered around them. With the sound of arching electricity, the world around them transformed into a universe of pure, beautiful, white light.

Luna could feel crackling bolts pulsing around them, closing in and squeezing the two ponies tighter and tighter. At first it tingled, sending almost pleasurable jolts across her coat and down her spine. But soon the tingling sensation began to burn. Just as suddenly as they’d been shot into the stark white expanse, they returned to the real world in a white glow that quickly faded away, taking most of the burning pain with it, and leaving them a few inches from the forest floor.

Both Luna and Twilight stumbled heavily to the ground, soot and singe marks added to their mud, bruises, and cuts. Twilight collapsed, having obviously overexerted herself and exhausting the meager strength she’d had left. To be honest, Luna wasn’t feeling much better, physically at least. But thanks to her still low magical reserves, the best she could do was to simply ignore the pain by turning her mind’s attention away from her aches.

She hobbled over to where Twilight had sprawled into an ungainly heap from their fall. Not too certain of just what she could do for her friend, but wanting to do something, anything, she leaned down to delicately touch the tip of her horn to Twilight’s forehead. She hadn’t really tried to heal another pony in quite some time, so she simply hoped that the energy she was pouring into Twilight was beneficial. She could feel network of magical strands that surrounded and coursed through Twilight, many of which were sluggish, while others were jagged and torn.  She wove her own magic around those strands and lightly knitted them back together, in some cases supplementing Twilight’s magic with her own.

Luna opened her eyes, and as she watched, the worst of Twilight’s bruises, and even some of her minor cuts, faded. After a few minutes, Twilight’s breathing shifted from labored exhaustion into a much calmer rhythm. A few minutes more, and she opened her eyes and was able to gather her limbs together and gingerly climb to her hooves.

Luna stepped away as Twilight stood up. Their faces were still inches apart, and Twilight gratefully whispered, “Thank you, Luna.” She sighed and lifted a hoof to rub her weary face.

“Thank you, for getting us out of that crevice,” Luna whispered back. She mimicked Twilight’s actions and lifted a hoof to assuage the ache that had begun to radiate from her forehead while she’d been using her magic. She frowned when she lifted her hoof away, and found fresh blood on it. She quickly looked up to see if Twilight had noticed the renewed bleeding, but thankfully she still had her eyes closed. 

Twilight finally lowered her hoof and opened her eyes, sighing. She examined their surroundings and observed, “It looks like we’re back in the Everfree Forest, but this clearing doesn’t look familiar. Who knows how far we were washed downstream.” She began to make a list of other obvious observations to help her put her thoughts in order. “The sun’s low on the horizon, so we were down there for between four and six hours, although it felt longer.” She looked around at the undisturbed underbrush surrounding them. “There’s no sign that any other ponies have been through here recently, and we’re miles from Ponyville or any other civilization. We’re both tired, and probably need medical attention, and I still feel cold.”

“Perhaps we should start a fire,” Luna offered, turning to begin to search for suitably dry wood.

“I don’t think we should stay here too long, especially with that gash on your head,” replied Twilight with a concerned expression marring her face. “But a fire does give me an idea. By now somepony’s got to have noticed that we’re missing, and they’re probably out searching for us. If we send up a signal, maybe somepony will see it and come rescue us.”

“I’d rather not spend the night out here, lost,” Luna agreed. “I suppose it’s worth a try. However, you’ve done enough Twilight. Leave this at least to me.”

Luna closed her eyes and sighed deeply before she pushed away her pain and concentrated. Magic coursed through her, and her horn glowed brighter and brighter, an orb of energy slowly forming on her forehead.  With a strained cry she straightened her head and released the orb of magic upward in a dark purple beam of light. It soared high into the sky before bursting into a bright explosion of purple, orange, and red. An explosion so bright that it rivaled the sun for a few second, before fading and leaving behind a glittering trail of stardust raining down, creating a path back down to Equestria, where Luna and Twilight stood.

None of which Luna paid any attention to. As soon as she’d released the built up magic, she’d crumpled to her knees in shock and exhaustion from losing so much energy at once. Twilight rushed over beside her and crouched down, resting a comforting hoof on Luna’s withers. The shared a strained smile, and both ponies sank to the ground, exhaustion making the carpet of loam and dead leaves as soft as any bed.

They barely noticed when a gale swept over them, causing the trees surrounding them to sway dangerously and for the leaves and debris they rested on to fly around and scatter. 

“There you guys are,” an anxious voice cried out loudly from overhead. Both Luna and Twilight looked up to find Rainbow Dash hovering close by, her arms crossed in mock anger, but her sympathetic frown betrayed her worry. She examined them more closely, uncrossing her hooves as she commented in surprise, “Whoa, you two look kinda rough. You wait here, and I’ll be right back with some help.”

As quickly as she’d appeared, Rainbow Dash shot off, leaving behind a multihued streak of light behind her.

With hope pulling up the corners of her mouth, Luna watched the trailing rainbow fade before she turned towards Twilight with a much lighter heart. “It looks like your idea worked.”

Twilight’s eyes twinkled, but she didn’t say anything in reply. Instead she smiled in contentment and closed her eyes, leaning against Luna and resting her tired head against Luna’s neck. Luna relished the familiar contact and protectively stretched out a wing to lay over her friend.

They had been resting there together for several minutes, safe in each other’s embrace, when without warning, a bright white sphere appeared in front of them, crackling with energy and unleashing a wind strong enough to cause Luna to wince and narrow her eyes. From the blindingly bright orb stepped the regal form of Celestia flanked by several ponies in golden armor.

Against the brilliant white portal, any details of the ponies were lost to Luna, and all she could see were dark silhouettes, and the flash of gold. For a moment, Luna’s grip on Twilight tightened, cementing the unicorn to the ground and partially protecting her from Celestia’s sight. 

What night doesn’t have at least a slight fear of the coming dawn?

The portal collapsed in upon itself with a soft clap of thunder. With the light no longer blinding her, Luna could see the concern and worry etched upon Celestia’s face, in her tight frown of concentration and moist, apprehensive eyes, and betrayed by her tense muscles, and Luna could feel her anxiety leaving her. Celestia bounded across the clearing, to where Luna and Twilight were huddled together, easily outpacing the attendants she had brought with her. 

“Twilight, Luna, are you two alright? We were looking everywhere for you, when we stumbled upon Blue Blazer. The story he told us … Well, it made me quite concerned for your safety.”

Celestia’s eyes roamed over both Luna and Twilight, seeming to miss none of their various scrapes, cuts, and bruises. As she examined their wounds, her face seemed to grow stiffer, and her jaw set into a hard, sever frown.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed with joy and leapt slowly to her hooves. Hearing the warmth and happiness and seeing her stiff movements brought a pained, stiff smile to Celestia’s face.

“I believe that our wounds are superficial, for the most part,” Luna replied as she slowly stood up. “Although, I wouldn’t turn down a medical examination.”

Celestia bent down and gently nuzzled Twilight, who leaned up into the embrace. “That’s good, because I was going to insist on it. Medics, if you will…”

With military precision, the ponies that had followed Celestia through the portal rushed forward, and Luna noticed for the first time that they wore the red crosses of the medical corps. Most of them were unicorns, and their horns lit up as they began to scan both Twilight and Luna.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Twilight murmured into Celestia’s mane. “Everything happened so fast, and I was so frightened when Luna was unconscious and bleeding.”

Celestia’s eyes shot toward Luna with laser-like worry while she reached up with a hoof and lightly petted Twilight’s mane soothingly. “It’s alright, Twilight, nopony’s going to hurt you or Luna anymore. You’re both safe now.”

Luna longed to be the one that Twilight was nuzzling against, but under her sister’s intensely worried glaze, she just tried to smile reassuringly, though it only came off as sheepish and somewhat sickly.

Only slightly impeded by the interaction between the princesses and their protégé, the medics had continued to work, healing the worst of their wounds, and Luna could feel some of her normal energy returning.

After a few minutes of attention from the healing unicorns, their magic breezing across Luna’s skin, the worst of their injuries had been stabilized. One of the older unicorns nodded to Celestia over Twilight’s head. Celestia’s expression was stern and serious as she nearly imperceivably nodded back. She pulled away from Twilight and her mouth shifted into an assured, easy smile. “Well, Twilight, are you feeling up to joining all your friends back in Ponyville?”

“Absolutely,” Twilight sighed.

“Good. If you need any help, don’t be too shy to ask for it.” Celestia smiled over at Luna and shifted to stand closer to her sister. “The same goes for you too, Luna. If you’re tired, don’t hesitate to lean on me.”

Luna was too tired to chastise herself for the jealousy she’d felt earlier, but she bowed her head in relieved humility as she simply replied, “Thank you.”

Celestia slowly turned back toward where the portal had disappeared, gently guiding Twilight, with Luna following close behind, the three of them surrounded by a circle of anxious guards. Luna managed a few steps by herself, but when Celestia paused to reopen the portal, Luna found herself leaning against the reassuring bulk of her sister. The warmth and strength Celestia radiated were wonderfully intoxicating after all they had been through. She relaxed against Celestia’s side, and the flashy opening of the brilliantly white portal didn’t even faze her. As they entered the white abyss, Luna didn’t bother trying to walk alone again.

The other side of the portal turned out to be anchored in a large and opulent tent. It was at least as large as Twilight’s library, and thanks to several of the walls being rolled up, Luna was able to see the familiar buildings of Ponyville close by. 

There were several ponies gathered around the portal’s exit, but Luna’s eyes skipped over most of them, focusing instead on the welcomed forms of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who were hovering near one of the tent’s open flaps. Fluttershy had a hoof to her mouth and was surveying Twilight and Luna with alarm, but Rainbow Dash didn’t seem quite as concerned.

“I told you I’d be the one to find them,” She loudly bragged to Fluttershy. “I know the skies around Ponyville like the back of my hoof. There’s no way some ponies from Canterlot would be able to find my friends before I could.” She pumped her hoof in triumph and did a quick celebratory mid-air flip, breaking out of it to come face to face with Twilight. Her eyes darted across the many scratches covering Twilight’s face and neck, and for a moment Rainbow Dash’s confident mask slipped. With a crooked attempt at a smile, she said, “I’m glad I found you, Twilight. You’re really okay, right? 

Twilight looked down at herself, and back up at Rainbow Dash. “I’m doing better now,” she said frankly. She offered a tired, soft smile and continued, “Thank you for finding us Dash. I don’t know where we’d be without you.”

Rainbow Dash floated back a little ways and with a slightly more natural smile, let out an embarrassed, “Heh, you know me, I’ll never leave my friends hanging. Especially not my favorite egghead and new flying buddy.” She smiled over in Luna’s direction, and then noticed all the guards and Princess Celestia paying attention to her. Under so much scrutiny, Rainbow Dash’s smile slipped again, and she hastily said to Twilight, “Uh, I’m going to go get everypony else. I bet they’re all still out looking for you guys. They’ll be thrilled you’re both safe.” Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow Dash shot out of the tent, causing the cloth structure to shake and sway alarmingly in her wake.

Celestia moved forward, coaxing Twilight and Luna toward a nearby mound of overstuffed pillows spread across a large swath of the tent's floor. She wiggled gently, giving them a slight nudge, and Luna found herself collapsing into the pillows' soft embrace. A moment later, Twilight came tumbling after; sinking into the sea of pillows a short distance from Luna. Celestia leaned down and gave first Luna and then Twilight a quick, reassuring nuzzle. Her warm breath tickled Luna's cheek and ear.  For a moment, Luna was lost in the memories of better days.

With a final longing look at her sister and her student, Celestia reluctantly strode across the tent to confer with a trio of guards Luna had overlooked in her initial survey of the tent. Luna looked over to Twilight to see how her friend was handling their rescue, and was surprised to see her eyes half-lidded in exhaustion. Luna was tired as well, but not nearly as much as Twilight seemed to be. Perhaps now that they were finally safe, she was allowing herself to relax and letting the strain of the day catch up to her.

Seeing that Luna and Twilight weren't surrounded by a bevy of guards any longer, Fluttershy flew closer to them and timorously asked, “Twilight, Luna, are you two -”

She was rudely interrupted when a large pink unicorn mare wearing a lab coat, a stethoscope, and a pair of thick glasses muscled her way in-between the pegasus and the two injured ponies. She regarded first Luna with a critical eye, and then Twilight, with a cold, clinical stare. She then levitated a notepad and a quill from the pocket of her lab coat up to eye level.

Fluttershy tried to float around her, and attempted to quietly draw her attention. “Um, excuse me ...” but her voice was nearly lost beneath the loud scratching of the unicorn's quill, and the other pony simply ignored her as she continued to examine Luna and Twilight, circling them and documenting every injury.

Her horn flared to life, and Luna felt a quick, almost violent wave of magic race across her body. Judging by the small jerk Twilight made, she'd been subjected to the same sensation. Fluttershy flew to the other side of the mare and tried again. “Sorry, but these are my friends, and I-” Her voice was a bit louder this time, but still the mare ignored her as she leaned forward to pick up one of Twilight's hooves before letting it fall back into place, documenting the reaction.

Fluttershy frowned in frustration, growling and quite loudly stating, “Excuse me, but these are my friends, and I want to make sure that they're okay.” There was a moment of shocked silence, and the mare, as well as several of the attendants scattered throughout the tent had turned to look at Fluttershy questioningly. Sheepishly, Fluttershy landed and quietly added, “Um, I mean, if that's okay.”

The mare that had been examining Luna and Twilight hmphed and pushed up her glasses while tucking her quill behind her ear and folding her notes back into her lab coat. “There's no need to shout, young lady. If you wanted to speak with them so badly, you could have simply said so. Honestly, ponies these days… When I was your age, we were better behaved and more respectful of other ponies.”

Fluttershy looked abashed, and softly explained, “But I, I tried, and you ...” She sighed deeply. “I'm sorry.”

“That's alright, just be more considerate of other pony's feelings next time,” the unicorn chastised her. Twilight let out a soft, punch-drunk chuckle, and Luna couldn’t help smiling at the irony of the unicorn’s lecture. “I'll leave you to your friends; I have some medications I need to enchant.” With that she walked across the tent toward where Celestia and the guards were still quietly conversing in a low, tense tone. At her approach, Celestia turned toward the unicorn , her expression frighteningly serious. 

Luna's view of their conversation was blocked by the warm yellow coat of Fluttershy as her friend finally was able to meet them properly, though she did continue to hover just overhead, flittering between Luna and Twilight in worry. “Oh, Luna, that cut on your head looks painful. And Twilight, what happened to your neck? Are you two okay? You both look so ...” She trailed off as she searched for the right words to describe their beleaguered state.

“We're fine, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied. She raised a hoof too slowly to hide the deep yawn that followed her words. “Just really tired, that's all.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy didn't look wholly convinced, and she turned toward Luna for confirmation.

“We've had a rather trying day, Fluttershy, but we're doing better now that we're back with our friends. We're just both very tired.”

“Which is understandable,” Celestia interjected as she returned to where Luna and Twilight were resting, the unicorn that had examined them in tow. “You both have been through quite a lot. However, Dr. Golden Doublet believes that there is another reason why you two are feeling so exhausted.”

She nodded toward the unicorn beside her, the one who’d examined Luna and Twilight so thoroughly. She stepped forward and cleared her throat before speaking in a clipped, clinical tone. “Aside from the obvious physical fatigue caused by your ordeal, you both are experiencing what's known as feedback sickness. It's a side effect of artificially blocking a unicorn's magic. The more they struggle against the enchantment of the inhibitor ring, the more magic they release. Since there is no external outlet for all that magic, it is trapped within their bodies, causing damage and stress to their natural magical channels. Of course the body tries to repair those channels, causing massive amounts of fatigue. The more power a unicorn puts out, the more fatigue they suffer from.”

“That sounds horrible,” Fluttershy said with alarm and with her hooves raised to her mouth fearfully. “The damage isn't permanent, is it?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Dr. Golden Doublet replied dismissively. “In fact your friends should be completely recovered after a few days of rest and relaxation. In fact the worst of the effects will be counteracted by a good night's sleep.” She turned her attention from calming the distraught pegasus to more closely examining Luna's forehead. “To be honest, I'm more concerned with the various contusions and lacerations you two have suffered. We need to bandage them before they have a chance to become infected.” She turned her head and called over her withers, “Now then, nurses, if you will ...”

As if appearing by magic, a host of ponies materialized, all wearing identically starched white hats with red crosses, and identically sterile smiles. They descended upon Luna and Twilight with a wave of swabs, ointments, disinfectants, bandages, and several other medical instruments that Luna didn't have a chance to thoroughly examine before she was overcome. The next few minutes were full of being roughly wiped down, patches of her skin pulled taunt and plastered over with bandages, accompanied by the sting of harsh smelling chemicals.  Stinging burns flared to life all over her body, as painful as they were brief. The worst was when they reached her head and began to clean the cut left behind by her encounter with the riverbed. Luna closed her left eye from the stinging pain, and could feel tears welling up in her right.

In an effort to distract herself from the pain, Luna looked around for Celestia, and found her sister close by. She was staring back at Luna with an odd look in her eyes, almost impercieveably chewing on her lower lip. With a start, Luna realized that Celestia was much more worried about her than she'd let on, and an old, almost forgotten glow filled her heart at the realization. Despite everything, Celestia still loved her.

Her sister's eyes dropped down from the wound on Luna's forehead and met her soft gaze. For a moment a variety of expressions warred on Celestia's face as she tried to hide her worry behind her normal placid mask. However she wasn't able to fully assume her regular facade, and settled for a tight, reassuring smile. She eventually broke her intense stare to check on Twilight, giving her much the same worried frown.

With a final soothing slather of scentless unguent, the pain from Luna's head wound faded. With the worst of the dressing over, Luna was curious about how Twilight was taking the none-too-gentle treatment from the nurses. She turned her head to find that her friend had fallen asleep.

Luna couldn't hold back her smile or her light chuckle. Twilight must have felt truly exhausted if she was able to drift off while under such torturous ministrations. But even with scorch marks still staining her coat, and covered in several white bandages, including one wrapped tightly around her graceful throat, Twilight still managed to appear beautiful and unguarded as she slept. Luna looked back up at Celestia to see if she was sharing in her amusement, but found her sister sill looking on Twilight with a troubled eye. She caught her sister's gaze once again, and this time Celestia couldn't even manage an attempt at a smile. Instead she turned away with a small frown and moved closer to converse with Dr. Golden Doublet. 

Not wanting to trouble her sister any more than she had to, Luna looked over toward Fluttershy, who was hanging back, out of the way of the flurry of nurses. She kept shifting and jumping to keep out of their way as they danced around each other. Fluttershy looked as if she desperately wanted to help, but had no idea how. However, with a final snip from a small pair of surgeon's scissors, and a tuck of a bandage, the host of nurses disappeared as quickly as they'd come, leaving behind the stringent smell of disinfectant.

Dr. Golden Doublet broke off her conversation with Celestia and took a moment to check over Luna and Twilight. “There now, we won't have to worry about infections. And since the medications and bandages have been imbued with my signature healing spells, your lacerations should be healed by tomorrow. Just remember to take it easy and rest for the next few days. I'll return tomorrow to check on you, but I can assure you that you will be feeling healthy and fit by then.” She nodded in satisfaction at her assistants’' work, and then perfunctory said, “Princesses, if you'll excuse me, I have other duties to attend to.” Without waiting for a reply, she made a small bow and quickly exited the tent through a nearby flap.

Celestia gingerly stepped to Luna's side. She glanced over at the still sleeping Twilight and pitched her voice low. “Are you feeling any better Luna?” 

Luna leaned away from Twilight's warm side and matched Celestia's tone. “Actually, yes. For the most part.” The fiery sting of her wounds had been soothed and numbed by the balm the medical staff had administered. “I can't feel my cuts and bruises anymore.” She ruffled her wings slightly and winced as she admitted, “The muscles in my back are still rather sore though.”

“Maybe I could help with that,” Fluttershy offered. She had edged closer, and obviously wanted to be closer still to her hurt friends, but she continued to stay back out of reverence for Celestia. Both sisters regarded her questioningly and on Celestia's side, in surprise. She'd obviously forgotten the quiet pony’s presence amidst the earlier bustling activity.

It was almost painfully apparent to Luna that Fluttershy was quite anxious to help in whatever way she could, and couldn't help but take her friend up on her generous offer. “If you don't mind, I would be forever indebted to you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy's concerned expression broke out into a joyful smile, and she began to hover, clapping her front hooves together excitedly.

A pair of golden armored guards approached and stopped at the perfectly proper distance, and one of them gently cleared his throat to attract Celestia's attention. She turned away from Luna and Fluttershy with a small frown, and sighed nearly silently. With a final soft glance for Luna, as well as a lingering frown for Twilight, Celestia assumed a cheery smile and commented, “I'm afraid that duty calls, but I'm sure that I'm leaving you in capable hooves, Luna.” She walked away, flanked by her guards, her thrashing tail betraying her agitation. 

Luna was watching her go, and was surprised when Fluttershy softly whispered into her ear, “I'm sorry if my hooves are a little cold.” 

Despite her warning, Luna shivered slightly as Fluttershy gingerly pressed down with a hoof on the spot between Luna's wings. Luna relaxed into the touch, and pressed her face down into the pillow she was resting on as Fluttershy began to run her hooves up and down Luna's back in small, soothing circles. Her touch was light but insistent, and Luna groaned in appreciation as she felt the muscles in her back twinge painfully at first, but then relax into warm pools of comfort.

Fluttershy softly hummed as she worked, continuing to kneed Luna's back, causing appreciative groans and the occasional unregal grunt as her muscles began to untense. Thanks to Fluttershy's soothing voice and ministrations, drowsiness was quickly overtaking Luna, and with heavily lidded eyes, she scanned the tent. They settled on Celestia who was in deep conversation with the two guards who had pulled her away. For a moment, a cold, wrathful frown flashed across Celestia's face. The look implied a hatred she hadn’t seen from Celestia since her return, and it chilled Luna to the marrow. But Celestia was able to school her features so quickly, that Luna was left unsure as to whether she'd actually seen such a malevolent expression on her sister's face. Celestia glanced back at Luna and Twilight, before making her exit alongside her guards through a tent flap.

“Oh my, you're really tense here, Luna,” Fluttershy said in concern.  Her hooves were at the base of Luna's neck, and as she pressed down harder, trying to work the tension out of her knotted muscles, she pressed Luna's face down into the soft pillow. As Fluttershy continued her ministrations, Luna could feel her stress and her cares slip away, and she put Celestia's strange expression out of her mind.

“Pardon us,” an elegantly indignant voice broke through Luna's daze. She blinked to clear the sleepiness from her eyes and looked up to find Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie standing impatiently in front of a pair of sentries guarding the entrance to the tent. Most of them looked rather put out and annoyed at the obstacle in their way, but Pinkie Pie was bouncing from hoof to hoof anxiously. Rarity flipped her hair and stated, “Our friends are in there sir, and if you think that your stern and silent routine is intimidating in the least, then -”

Luna pushed herself up into a somewhat less slovenly position, and at the first sign of movement Fluttershy hurriedly backed away. “Is anything wrong, Luna?”

“Not at all, Fluttershy,” Luna replied gratefully. “You are quite the masseuse. But it looks like our friends have arrived.” She raised her voice and called out loudly to the sentries on duty, “Guard, please allow them to enter, those ponies are my friends.”

Without a word of acknowledgement, or any indication that they'd heard her, the two guard ponies uncrossed their wings and stepped aside to allow the visitors to pass. The way clear, her friends passed by the guards, with only Rainbow Dash pausing long enough to toss a smug, “I told you so,” at the two stoic ponies.

“Twilight, Luna, you're back,” Pinkie loudly declared as she bounced past the others to be the first to reach the pile of cushions the two wearied ponies were resting on. “We should totally throw you a welcome back party, even though I didn't know that you'd left until the sky went all dark and everything, and a lot of ponies from Canterlot came looking for you.” Pinkie's normal exuberance slipped for a moment as she added, “You should really tell somepony where you're going before you leave someplace next time.”

Luna felt remorseful at the worry she'd cause Pinkie Pie, and an inadequate excuse was on her lips, but before she could reply, the rest of their friends had surrounded them.

Rarity raised a theatric hoof to her forehead and exclaimed, “Thank heavens you two are alright, but my dears, look at the state you're in. Why, your manes alone have as much dirt as all Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Hey now.”

“Oh, I meant no offense, Applejack, but just look at them,” Rarity said, waving a hoof to indicate Luna and Twilight. “They're positively filthy. Such a state is simply intolerable, I'm sure, after the ordeal they've been through. And you must admit that a farm isn't the most ... sterile of places.”

Applejack tilted back her hat with a hoof and rolled her eyes. “There's nothing wrong with a little dirt.” She glanced over Luna and Twilight. “But Ah take your point.”

Rarity gave out a triumphant “mmhmm,” as she stepped closer to Luna and Twilight, summoning several purple brushes of varying fineness and a dark green bottle from seemingly nowhere. “You there,” she called out to one of the nearby guards. “I’ll require a basin of water.” The guard looked at her incredulously, and then toward Luna, silently asking if she was serious. With an uncertain expression, Luna nodded toward the guard, and he disappeared to follow Rarity’s wishes. Not seeing him move quickly enough for her tastes, Rarity called out after him, “chop chop.” Satisfied with her chastisement, Rarity turned back toward Luna with a wide smile and uncorked the bottle she was holding aloft with her magic, and the smell of strawberries wafted over to Luna. 

Despite the pleasant smell, the purposeful look in Rarity’s eyes as she came closer caused Luna to cringe backwards and a bit fearfully start to say, “I don’t –“

However Rarity took no notice of Luna’s reticence and began to efficiently run the brushes through her mane and over her coat, gently cleaning away the dirt and grime, careful to avoid her bandages. In all honesty it felt rather pleasant, and Luna slowly began to relax again. The guard soon reappeared and carefully set down a white porcelain bowl full of water. Lukewarm water Luna soon found, as Rarity dipped her cloths into it and began to scrub at her mud encrusted hooves.

Luna was a bit uncertain of the propriety of having somepony else wash her, but her friends seemed unfazed by Rarity’s actions. Although Applejack seemed to notice Luna’s conflicted expression and reassured her, “Don’t worry none, this is just Rarity’s way of showing how concerned she was for y’all, that’s all.”

“We all were,” Rainbow Dash broke in. “Worried that is. We were looking everywhere for you guys.”

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked up high, while Rarity, Applejack and me looked low!” Pinkie Pie added.

Pinkie’s loud exclamation caused Twilight to groan and stir slightly, and they all paused, waiting to see if their noise had caused her to wake. However, she merely mumbled something in her sleep and wiggled closer to Luna, nuzzling her nose into Luna’s side.

Luna hoped that the blush burning her cheeks at Twilight’s unwitting display of familiarity wasn’t as visible as she feared it was. Rarity had moved on from Luna to Twilight, and at her movement she’d paused. Seeing Twilight boldly snuggle with Luna before returning to her sleep caused Rarity to raise a surprised eyebrow.  Luna hoped she and the rest of her friends weren’t getting any strange notions. After all, she and Twilight could be nothing more than just friends. Rarity looked back and forth between Luna and Twilight for a moment before she put away her cleaning implements with a knowing, secretive smile. Luna had to admit that she and Twilight were immaculate thanks to her quick and efficient work, but it was difficult to be appreciative under the suddenly close scrutiny of her friends. Pinkie Pie was beaming widely, as if she’d seen something wonderful, while Applejack smiled smugly as if she’d just won a bet. Luna felt the urge to explain herself for some reason, but wasn’t sure how, without making a mountain out of a molehill. Thankfully Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash seemed oblivious to any strangeness. Fluttershy was looking at the others in confusion, while Rainbow Dash was resting on her back in mid-air, lazily circling them. At least there were two ponies who weren’t misconstruing Luna’s and Twilight’s relationship. 

Not that Luna believed that any of them would feel negatively about her and Twilight being together romantically. It was just that Luna had already come to terms with being Twilight’s friend, and nothing more. To see other ponies even think about there being something deeper embarrassed, and to some extent, saddened Luna.

She cleared her throat, hoping to divert her friends’ attention to something a bit less personal. “Thank you Rarity, I feel quite refreshed, and I’m sure Twilight does too.”

“More than refreshed, Ah’m sure,” Applejack quipped.

Rarity ignored her and pressed an earnest hoof to her chest. “Oh, you’re quite welcome, Princess Luna. You know me; I simply can’t stand to see ponies as elegant as yourselves so filthy.” Rarity chuckled lightly at her own possible neurosis.

“Yes, well, thank you. And thank all of you for going out and searching for us. But may I ask, how did you know that Twilight and I were in trouble in the first place, and why is Celestia in Ponyville, as well as all this?” Luna asked lifting a hoof and waving it around to encompass the expansive tent they were in.

Applejack still seemed smug as she answered Luna’s question. “Well, Ah was out cleaning up one of the orchards from the storm we had the other day, when everything went dark.”

“Yeah, super dark,” chimed in Pinkie. “I thought somepony was playing a game at first.”

“It was so sudden,” Fluttershy agreed. “The poor animals didn’t know whether it was time to wake up or go to bed.”

Rainbow Dash piped up, “Yeah, and we aren’t scheduled for another solar eclipse for like two whole years, and that one’s only going to be a partial.”

“Anyhow,” Applejack said rather loudly, glancing levelly at all the ponies who’d interrupted her, “As Ah was saying, Ah was a might concerned about it getting dark so quick, since it didn’t seem all that natural to me. So I hightailed it back to town to see Twilight, since she always seems to know what’s going on when unnatural things are happening.”

“She is a smarty pants,” Pinkie Pie interrupted again. “That’s why I went to go see her too.”

“And I went to see her because I just didn’t know what to do to calm down all the animals,” Fluttershy added. “Spike wasn’t worried at all about it getting so dark though, and he volunteered to keep an eye on the animals for me while I was gone.”

“Personally I left my shop in a rather deplorable state of disarray and rushed over to Twilight’s. After all, it could have been a sign of that ruffian Discord’s return, or something similarly bad for my business.”

“Eh, I was just hanging around and happened to be in the area,” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly. 

Applejack looked around at all the other ponies, as if daring them to interrupt her again. When none of them spoke up again, she blew upwards, ruffling her bangs before she picked up her story again. “Well, by the time Ah’d gotten to Twilight’s, the darkness was gone. But I saw everypony else gathered around her front door looking a might concerned.”

“Yeah, Twilight and you were gone, and you didn’t even leave a note or anything,” Rainbow Dash complained with a hint of concern in her voice.

Luna shuffled her hooves in front of her, embarrassed by the well-deserved chastisement. She tried to explain herself, “Truthfully, we didn’t plan to be gone for all that long.” She meant her words to be matter of fact, but even to her own ears, she sounded defensive, and a bit plaintive.

“Well, we weren’t sure where y’all’d gone, but we were worried that your disappearance and that dark spell had something to do with one another. We were just about to split up and go looking for y’all when this really bright light started burning in front of Twilight’s and out stepped Princess Celestia with all sorts of ponies. She said that you were in some sort of trouble, and knowing you and Twilight if you were in trouble, then so was she.”

“Unfortunately she couldn’t locate you directly, so she came to Ponyville to enlist our aide in searching for you,” Rarity explained.

Rainbow Dash succinctly summed up, “So then Rarity split us up, and we looked everywhere, and I found you guys. But what the hay happened to you anyway?” She asked, waving her hooves emphatically. 

“Yeah, why’d everything go dark all of a sudden, and why do you two look like you went running head first through the rock patch?” Pinkie asked.

Luna stalled for a few seconds, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position and glancing down at the still sleeping Twilight before she looked up into the eager and curious faces of her friends.

“Well, this morning, Twilight and I decided to spend the final day of my visit going to meet her friend Zecora …” Luna’s soft voice filled the tent as she went on to tell them the story of how she and Twilight had ended up in such a sad state. Most of it at least. She left out the mixed feelings she’d discovered in Zecora’s hut, as well as the exact details of her flight with Twilight. She also kept silent about her transformation into Nightmare Moon, as well as the haunting dream that she only vaguely remembered, but which still sent shards of unease through her.

“… and then we sent up the flare, and Rainbow Dash found us,” Luna finished, her throat feeling a bit dry, unused to speaking for so long.

All the ponies looked stunned at just how much Luna and Twilight had endured, but Rarity was the first to compose herself. “Oh my, you two have been through quite the ordeal indeed.”

“You guys must have been so scared and worried with all that crazy stuff happening,” Pinkie Pie said loudly. She jostled Luna as she leapt over and wrapped her in a warm, friendly hug. “I’m so glad you two are still okay!”

Rainbow Dash had a stormy look in her eyes and was angrily pounding one hoof into the other. “So where is this Blue Blaize guy? I’d like to give him a piece of my mind. Nopony hurts my friends!”

Applejack rested a restraining hoof on Rainbow Dash’s withers, though she looked just as troubled as her winged friend. “Who there girl, Ah’d like nothing better than to introduce that sodbuster to Bucky and Kicks, but we can’t take justice into our own hooves. Let Luna and Princess Celestia take care of him.”

Fluttershy seemed on the verge of tears, and softly exclaimed, “I’m so happy that you and Twilight are alright, Luna. I can’t even imagine how awful it must have been for you.” Twilight shifted where she lay, slowly lifting her head, and Fluttershy gave out a little “eep,” fearfully looking down at the lavender unicorn. “Oh, Fluttershy, you’re such a loudmouth.” She said to herself. A bit more loudly she apologized, “I’m sorry for waking you up Twilight. Please don’t be angry.”

“Actually, I’ve been awake for a while now, Fluttershy. I was just resting my eyes,” Twilight said matter-of-factly, tucking her legs underneath her and raising her head to look her friends in the eye. Her tone was belied by a large yawn she only belatedly and ineffectually tried to hide. Luna smiled lovingly in appreciation of just how cute Twilight was when she was just waking, though she did miss the warmth of Twilight’s touch as she shifted away from her.

“So how did ol’ what’s-his-name get the drop on a pony like you anyhow, Twilight?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean Ah just can’t see somepony coming up and bonking you on the head without being thrown halfway across Equestria.”

Twilight’s eyes were quickly losing their cloud of sleep, and they cut away in remembrance while a faint blush tinged her cheeks as she admitted, “Well, I was rather deep in thought, studying … things.”

“What kind of things?” Pinkie Pie asked, finally letting go of Luna’s neck.

“You know, things,” Twilight replied loudly, obviously attempting to discourage further questions. She hurried on. “Anyway, I was just really distracted when Blue Blazer attacked I guess. I mean, who expects to be snuck up on and attacked in the middle of the day?”

“Oh, I do,” shyly volunteered Fluttershy, raising a hoof, oblivious to the rhetorical nature of Twilight’s question. “In fact I expect to get attacked all the time.” All the ponies looked askance at Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence. Looking around at her friends, and reading their reactions, Fluttershy wilted a bit. “Doesn’t everypony?”

“Yes, of course we do, darling,” Finally agreed Rarity. She moved closer to Fluttershy and raised a dramatic hoof to her brow. “It’s simply the price beautiful and talented ponies such as ourselves must pay.”

Seeing Rarity trying to cover Fluttershy’s strange admission, Rainbow Dash added, “Yeah, and you kind of have to expect to get randomly jumped in Ponyville thanks to Pinkie Pie here.”

“Surprise invitations are almost as good as surprise parties!” Pinkie gleefully exclaimed, bounding over Luna and Twilight to be closer to Fluttershy and Rarity.

“And don’t forget you’ve always got to keep an eye open for some show-offy pegasus who seems to crash into other ponies while practicing her tricks,” Applejack added with a sardonic grin in Rainbow Dash’s direction.

“Hey!”

“Alright, I get it,” Twilight said hotly, drawing everypony’s attention. “I should have been paying more attention to what was around me. But, I didn’t, and Blue Blazer was able to knock me out and take me hostage. I messed up, okay?!” Twilight’s voice became quiet and she slumped down into the cushions, refusing to meet anypony’s eyes as she said, “It … it was all my fault.”

Seeing Twilight so upset, Luna leaned over and nuzzled her behind the ear, as she softly encouraged, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Twilight. If it weren’t for you, we would still be at the bottom of that ravine, freezing to death.”

Twilight snorted in dark amusement. “If it weren’t for me, we’d never have been at the bottom of that ravine in the first place.”

Luna sighed as she drew back from Twilight. “Don’t think of it like that, Twilight. Blue Blazer was desperate and determined. Even if he hadn’t attacked me today, he would have attacked eventually. Though this has been a particularly horrible day, I assure you that there’s nopony else I would rather have gone through it with.”

Twilight lifted up her head, looking up at Luna with seemingly hopeful and mollified eyes.

For a moment Luna had forgotten about everypony aside from Twilight, so she was quite startled when Pinkie Pie suddenly hugged Twilight closely, pressing her cheek-to-cheek. “So, tell us about the rest of it, Twilight. I mean Luna already told us a lot, but not every teeny-weenie part, like you can.”

Twilight seemed unperturbed by Pinkie’s invasion of her personal space, and frowned in thought. “Well, there really isn’t much more to tell. When I woke up after Blue Blazer attacked us, I felt worse than I ever have before. It was like when your hoof falls asleep, but it was my horn instead. It felt like my whole body was being tortured, but I was too numb to really feel it. It was so strange and scary that I didn’t even realize until later that I was cut and bleeding. I tried to use my magic, and I kind of panicked for a few minutes when I couldn’t do anything. But I calmed down and decided that I needed to find Luna and see if she knew what had happened to me. I heard some shouting in the distance, and I followed it out of the castle and back to the Everfree Forest where I saw …” She trailed off and glanced with concern at Luna. “I saw the end of the fight. I called out to Luna, and then the bridge gave way, and I started to fall.”

She shifted and pouted, “I’ve never felt so helpless. I was falling, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it other than scream. Somehow though, Luna was able to find me in all that fog, and she was able to catch me before I could become a pony pancake.” Twilight lifted her head and gazed lovingly at Luna. “Without her, I wouldn’t be here. Unfortunately though, we’d fallen too deep into the chasm and we both hit the river at the bottom pretty hard, though Luna took most of the impact.” Twilight cut her eyes away in shame. 

She shivered at the memory. “The water down there is really cold, and the current is strong. For a while I didn’t know which way was up, and I thought I was about to drown. But luckily I was able to get my head above water, and look for the shore. The river was moving very fast, and it was really dark, and that’s when I realized that I couldn’t see Luna anywhere.”

Pinkie Pie had let go of Twilight and had slowly drawn back to join the others, all of whom were completely entranced by Twilight’s story, hanging on her every word. “I thrashed around, looking for her on the surface, but I couldn’t find her, so I started diving back under the water and searching for her. I was losing hope, when I was finally able to find a hoof. I managed to drag both of us onto an outcrop of rocks and other debris.” She swallowed deeply and appeared on the verge of tears, obviously reluctant to speak further, but she continued on. “When I’d caught my breath and went to see how Luna was doing, I felt so powerless. She wasn’t breathing and she had this, this … gash on her head, and there was blood everywhere. I administered CPR, and cleared her airways, but there wasn’t anything I could do about her bleeding. All I could do was to lay down close to her, to share my body heat with her, and wait for her to wakeup. The rest you guys already know.”

“I must say, that sounds absolutely dreadful, darling.”

“Indeed, it sounds as if you’ve had a very trying day, my student,” Celestia’s melodious voice heralded her return. “I believe Dr. Golden Doublet recommended lots of rest and relaxation. Since the day is over, perhaps it’s time for you to get a good night’s sleep.”

Twilight yawned again, and rubbed at her eyes with a hoof. “I am still feeling really tired.”

“It’s getting rather late,” Celestia observed. “I would prefer it if you spent the night here, just in case there was something the good doctor overlooked.”

Twilight’s ears perked up and her eyes sparkled as she replied, “I’d love to, Princess Celestia.” She unsteadily tottered to her hooves and everypony took a step forward to catch her if she began to fall. “To be honest, I’m not sure if I could even make it back to the library tonight.”

Luna noticed a flurry of activity out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to find out what was causing it, when she saw through one of the tent flaps that while she and her friends had been talking, Celestia had lowered the sun, casting darkness across the land. Several attendants and guards were closing the tent flaps, cutting off the cooling night air, as well as circling the tent, lighting several soft lights spread across the large space separated by a few gossamer walls.

With a low grunt, nearly a moan, Luna began to lift herself up from the cushions. “I suppose I should go and see to my duty,” she tried to say casually.

Celestia rushed to her side and quite nearly yelled out, “No!” She quickly composed her distraught features and put a comforting, yet insistent hoof on Luna’s withers, pressing her back down into the cushions. “Please rest, Luna. Don’t push yourself anymore today. I’ve already raised the moon, dear sister, so there’s no need to exert yourself.”

Luna allowed herself to sink back down with a swelling feeling of guilt. She extended her senses, and could feel her moon already climbing high into the sky. For the second time in as many nights she’d forced Celestia to assume the duties she’d entrusted Luna with. Still, she couldn’t deny how pleasant it felt to rest her very weary body.

“Well, Ah suppose we should let you two get to sleep,” Applejack drawled.

“We can have your super big party tomorrow, when you guys are feeling better,” Pinkie chimed in, trying to remain cheerful, though seemingly deflated.

In fact, looking from one pony’s face to the next, Luna noticed that all her friends shared similarly despondent faces, their drooping ears matched by their drooping mouths. Each of them seemed reluctant to leave their friends so soon after being reunited with them.

An idea came to Luna, and without thinking upon it too heavily, she asked, “Celestia, do you think it would be possible for our friends to spend the night here with us? It seems rather callous to send them away so soon, especially when it’s obvious how much they were worried about Twilight and I. It looks to me as if we had room enough to accommodate all of us, as well as half of Ponyville in this tent.”

The other ponies’ faces perked up at the suggestion, with tentative smiles and pleading eyes in Celestia’s direction.

Celestia’s glanced over to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash thoughtfully, and then back at Luna with a hint of sadness. “I know your friends are quite dear to you, but I was hoping that we could speak in private tonight. It seems like we haven’t had time to talk to one another in quite a while, and I’d like to make sure that you’re doing alright, Luna.”

Her sister’s disappointed eyes made Luna’s heart ache, but not wanting to disappoint her friends as well, she tried for a compromise. To be honest, she had missed spending time with Celestia as well. Even if they were at odds on occasion, and at time Luna felt resentment toward her, Celestia was her older sister and she loved her. “Since I’m not as tired as Twilight appears to be, would it be alright if she and the others spend the night here, together? We could retire elsewhere and speak in private.”

Celestia considered the idea for several seconds, her eyes slowly moving from Luna to Twilight and back again. “I don’t see any problem with that,” she decided. Over her withers she called out to an attendant, “Please prepare an area for my student and her friends to sleep.”

Luna’s friends ill concealed their giddiness as they pranced and bowed to Celestia before herding Twilight away in the direction the servant had gone.

“Yay! It’ll be like a big slumber party,” Pinkie happily declared.

“Well, I suppose I didn’t have anything else planned for this evening.”

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy said timidly. “I should probably check on my animals and make sure that they’re doing okay.”

“Aw come on, Fluttershy, they’re fine,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Sides, isn’t Spike keeping an eye on them?” Applejack asked. “I’m sure that he’s got everything well in hoof, uh, claw.”

“Well, I suppose …”

The rest of what the soft spoken pegasi was going to say was lost to Luna as the herd of ponies made their way across the tent. In a distant corner cordoned off by thin, semi-opaque walls a host of attendants were in the midst of setting out bedding for half a dozen ponies.

A ghost of the smile she’d had while watching her friends leave was still on Luna’s face as she turned to regard her sister who was also watching the retreating forms of her friends, circling and supporting Twilight, with a sad, almost wistful smile.

“You wished to speak with me in private,” Luna prompted.

Celestia bent down to look at her sister with an odd glint in her eyes. “I did. Although … First, I need to know, truthfully, are you alright?”

Luna quirked an eyebrow, emphasizing the bandage on her forehead. “I feel as well as I could, considering the circumstances. Dr. Golden Doublet knows her craft well.”

Celestia sighed and lightly settled her larger frame next to Luna’s, radiating warmth and familiar security. “No, what I meant was, earlier today, when night fell during the middle of the afternoon …” Celestia sighed deeply, unwilling to broach a subject they needed to talk about. “I’ve spoken to Blue Blazer already, and I’ve heard his side of the story … his ranting really. I believe I can deduce how things actually transpired.” She sighed again, as if it was hard for her to speak, and turned to look Luna full in the face. “I know that he hurt you, and those close to you, close to us, and for a moment today I felt a magic that I had hoped to never feel again flare to life. So please, Luna, are you okay?”

Hearing the raw concern in Celestia’s voice, Luna could feel a bubble of emotion swelling at the base of her throat. She didn’t feel equal to meeting Celestia’s unguarded, searching eyes, electing to study the stitching of the cushions they were resting upon. She tried to sound aloof and disinterested as she deflected the pointed question by asking, “And what will happen to Blue Blazer now?”

Celestia shifted uncomfortably. Her tone became more regal as she answered, “Former Captain Blazer has attempted one of the most serious crimes in Equestria, regicide. In addition he’s both threatened the life of, and harmed, an innocent pony. Obviously he is a very confused pony and needs all the help that we can give him. Therefore, I’ve sentenced him to be involuntarily committed to the best psychiatric hospital in Equestria, until such a time he can prove that he’s no longer a danger to himself or anypony else, and is fit to rejoin society.”

“I see,” Luna replied softly, almost to herself. She looked up, across the tent to where her friends were laying, softly murmuring to one another. The white bandage around Twilight’s throat starkly contrasted with her lavender coat even in the dim light.

In the heat of the moment, when Luna had lost control of herself, her intent had been to tear Blue Blazer apart one tiny piece at a time. Even while resting in the tent, basking in the comforting presence of her sister, after everypony had made it back safe and sound, Luna wanted to see the former captain suffer in some way. She wanted him to beg her forgiveness for his actions. She didn’t want to see him rehabilitated; she wanted to see him punished.

Unbidden tears began to well in her eyes and Luna bowed her head in defeat. Even without Nightmare Moon, it was obvious that she was a horrible pony.

The painful swelling in her throat had abated, and Luna took a deep, ragged breath, still refusing to look up at Celestia. “I don’t think I am alright,” she said quietly, almost too quietly to hear. “I scare myself sometimes, Celestia. I didn’t just suddenly become Nightmare Moon one night, and she didn’t just disappear with a blast of magic. She’s still with me, and no –“

“Luna…” Celestia broke in, her voice full of worry.

Luna finally turned her head up to face her sister, desperation evident in her eyes, the movement causing her pooling tears to dislodge and cut a track down her cheek. “No, Celestia, she’s a part of me. She always has been, and maybe she always will be. I’m not like you; I’m not kind and loving all the time.” A ragged sob escaped her, and desperately she rushed on, “I want to be though.  I want to be so badly. But I have such dark thoughts sometimes. I don’t think that I’ll ever be good enough, kind enough, forgiving enough to make a good pony, much less a good princess.” Unable to bear her sister’s kind eyes examining her any longer, Luna hung her head in defeat.

A large, comfortingly solid, and feathery soft wing settled over Luna, and Celestia’s soft lips gently met and nuzzled Luna’s cheek, erasing her tears as she looked up in surprise.

Celestia’s voice was as soft as her caress. “Luna, my dear Luna… Don’t say such things. You know they aren’t true, and you shouldn’t be trying to convince yourself otherwise.”

“But it is!” Luna’s plaintive cry sounded a bit whiny even to her own ears.

Celestia smiled softly as she raised a hoof and gently, but admonishingly bumped Luna’s nose with it. “No you’re not. You’re just a pony like everypony else. We all have less than pleasant thoughts and feelings at times.” Her eyes grew slightly unfocused and seemed distant for a moment. “Even I can be susceptible to anger, jealousy,” she refocused her gaze on Luna’s bandage, “even fear.”

It was difficult for Luna to picture her sister as anything other than calm and collected. The few times she’d seen her any other way were under rather extreme circumstances. “But, Celestia, you never seem to ever let any of those emotions get to you. You’re always so, so … perfect.” Immediately Luna regretted her choice of words, not really wanting Celestia to know just how much she admired her.

But instead of Celestia’s ego swelling, Luna was confused when her sister’s smile fell into a sorrowful frown. “I’m not perfect, Luna, nopony is.” She threw a foreleg over Luna and hugged her sister tighter to her side. “But as a wise pony once said, ‘being perfect isn’t as important as striving for perfection.’”

“That’s not fair,” Luna said hotly. The line Celestia had quoted was from a speech Luna had delivered a millennia ago during a formal celebration of the weaver’s guild following a rather disappointing and parasprite ridden year. “That’s completely out of context.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia replied, her tone soft. “But still, it is a valuable lesson. Nopony is a paragon of virtues, not even me. Everypony makes mistakes, and they give in to their anger, or jealousy, or hate. But by moving forward, and doing your best to overcome your personal demons and make everyday better than the last is what makes a good pony. It’s often difficult, but nopony who tries to improve themselves can be called a bad pony.”

Luna sighed deeply. “But sometimes … sometimes, I think Blue Blazer might be right. Sometimes it feels like I am Nightmare Moon, simply disguising myself as Luna. I mean, I feel like myself, but then I also feel as if it would be so easy for me to simply let go and become her again. Like today. For a few minutes, I lost myself, and I was Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia gave Luna a gentle squeeze. “But you aren’t her now, and Blue Blazer is still alive. You were able to defeat her yourself,” she murmured into Luna’s ear. “If you were as bad a pony as you think you are, you wouldn’t have been able to do that. Just by trying to be a better pony, you’re becoming stronger, Luna.”

Luna ducked her head away from Celestia’s tickling breath. “It wasn’t really me,” she protested. “It was Twilight that defeated her again. She appeared just as Nightmare Moon won, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her seeing Nightmare Moon again, of her looking at me with fear and disappointment in her eyes.”

“Nopony is strong enough to overcome everything by ourselves. We all have to rely on our friends and loved ones from time to time. But it seems to me that an answer to your problems is right in front of you.” Celestia smiled down at her reassuringly as Luna raised an eyebrow in doubt. “It’s simple really. Think of Twilight. Think of her and ask yourself, ‘how would she feel about me doing this?’ To be honest, from time to time I’ve asked myself the same thing. When I get particularly upset or frustrated and want to lash out, I think of Twilight when she was a filly, watching my every move with those large, innocent eyes, learning from everything I say and do. It almost always works to calm me down.”

Luna simply gave her sister an incredulous stare, as if to ask, ‘really?’

Celestia blushed and looked flustered as she replied to Luna’s silent question, “What? I’m allowed to have bad days too.”

Luna cut her eyes to the side and tilted her head. “I suppose you are. Although I still don’t believe you can.” Her eyes touched on the group of ponies on the other side of the tent. Not entirely sure why, she blurted out, “Though I hope you do realize that Twilight’s grown up since then.”

Celestia’s smile faltered and she hesitated before answering, “Yes. Yes I have.”

Before Luna could ask Celestia about her odd tone, there was a burst of giggling and squeals from the other side of the tent.

“Oh wow, really?!” Pinkie enthusiastically asked.

“No way!” Rainbow Dash’s raised voice added.

The two sisters turned to each other questioningly, and then looked over to the group of friends to find Rarity and Applejack shushing the more exuberant ponies. Fluttershy seemed to be lost amidst her hair and bright blush, while Twilight looked pained and as if she would rather be anyplace else at that moment. Without preamble, and almost as if on cue, all the ponies, save Twilight, turned to look back at Luna and Celestia with knowing smiles and giddily suppressed titters. Under such intense scrutiny Luna began to feel anxious, but as quickly as they’d glanced over at the princesses, the four of them turned back around, huddling close to one another as they broke out into energetic whispers.

“Well, they seem to be having fun,” Celestia observed.

“Perhaps too much,” Luna remarked, still unsettled by her friends’ close scrutiny. Though, despite her agitation, Luna struggled to stifle a yawn.

Slowly the warmth of Celestia’s wing and leg were withdrawn. “I’m sorry; I’d forgotten how tired you were, Luna.” Celestia said. She made her adieus as she stood. “I’ll leave you to your sleep. Pleasant dreams, sister.”

Luna swallowed the remainder of her yawn and quickly called out, “Celestia, wait!” Celestia paused and looked down at Luna, who was calming herself after the unprincessly outburst. “That is, well, do you think, perhaps, I could stay with you tonight?”

A fair and loving smile spread across Celestia’s face, its beauty revealing just how fake the smiles she normally wore were. “Of course, Luna,” she acquiesced as she settled back down. Silently the lights nearest to them began to dim and go out.

With a sigh, Luna burrowed into Celestia’s bulk, reveling in the love and security she found there. Celestia had always been there for Luna, though perhaps she hadn’t always seen it that way, and the little filly in Luna hoped her big sister always would be.

--

“Don’t look, don’t look, she’s totally looking back at us,” Pinkie whispered loudly. They all quickly turned around from checking Princess Luna out, and Pinkie couldn’t hold in her bubbly excitement. “This is so exciting! I mean you never seemed like the romantic type, Twilight, who knew you’d fall in love with her? I mean she’s a princess, and you’ll be a princess, and you’ll have prince and princess science babies and they’ll be super smart and –“

“That’s enough, Pinkie,” Twilight growled into the pillow she’d buried her embarrassed face into. She was tired, ridiculously so. That was the only explanation for why she’d blurted out that she thought she might have a tiny crush on Luna, and of course all her friends had blown it completely out of proportion, especially Pinkie.

It wasn’t even as if Twilight had exactly announced it to the world. It had just sort of slipped out when Fluttershy had asked what had taken them to the Everfree Forest in the first place, and part of her answer had been to spend more time alone with Luna.

Something in the way she’d said it had caused Applejack and Rarity to exchange knowing glances, and their questions had become more pointed. Somehow things had snowballed and left Twilight dying of embarrassment, face full of pillow so she wouldn’t have to meet her friends’ smug smiles.

There was a gentle nudge at her knee, and Fluttershy’s soft voice said coaxingly, “It’s alright Twilight, it’s not that bad.”

“Yes it is.” Twilight’s resolve was clear to hear, even muffled through the layers of fabric and feathers.

“Oh, come now, darling, it’s hardly the end of the world. You’re not the first pony to fall in love after all.”

“I’m not in love,” Twilight hotly declared, causing Fluttershy to start by snapping her head up defiantly to look Rarity in the eyes. “I just have a small, tiny crush, maybe. That’s all.” Twilight shook an emphatic hoof in the direction of the princesses. “I mean she’s a princess for crying out loud.”

Twilight had hoped that Rainbow Dash at least would be reasonable, but even she spoke up against her. “So what if she’s a princess? Princess’ are just like any other pony. I mean, she can be a bit of a dork sometimes, I mean who says ‘excelsior’ anymore. I bet she can fall in love just like anypony else, so why would it be weird to fall in love with her?”

“’You think Princess Luna is a dork, really?” Applejack asked evenly.

Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves defensively. “No! I mean, she just has her moments were she’s not 100% cool is all. Like Twilight. But she’s really awesome, and a great flier! In fact she’s a lot better than most of the pegasi around here.” Rainbow Dash suddenly looked sheepish and looked over at Fluttershy. “Uh, no offense, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, none taken.”

Pinkie blurted out, “So, when did you figure out you’re in love with Luna anyway, Twilight?”

Twilight angrily eyed her friend who was eagerly bouncing in place. “I’m not in love. It’s just a crush. Probably not even that, Pinkie.”

Pinkie didn’t seem fazed by Twilight’s rebuke at all. “Okay, so what made you start to crush on her?”

Unwilling to fully explore her feelings, but not seeing any real harm in Pinkie’s question, Twilight calmed down and thought back. “Well, when we first met in the library –“

There was a snort of laughter from Rainbow Dash’s direction, and when Twilight glared over toward her, she found Applejack grinning wildly as well. Even Fluttershy and Rarity seemed to be struggling to keep their amusement to themselves. Pinkie though seemed genuine and earnest as she hung on Twilight’s every word.

Twilight cleared her throat and faced Pinkie again. “As I was saying, the first time I met with Princess Luna and spoke to her pony to pony, well, I wasn’t really in the best state of mind. But even then, there was just something about her that made me want to know her better. Something that, I don’t know, just clicked between us.” Twilight tried to think of how to describe what she felt for Luna, but the best she could offer was, “I suppose I just like being around her, and she’s really easy to talk to. When she’s with me, I just feel happy.”

Pinkie dawwed while Rainbow Dash began making gagging noises which were abruptly cut off by a swift jab from Applejack. During the brief play hooffight that followed, Rarity sighed, ”Oh, young love, how precious it is.”

“You’re only a few months older than me,” Twilight deadpanned. 

Rarity blinked in surprise. “Well, yes, but you’re something of a late bloomer, Twilight dear.”

“But don’t worry,” Pinkie interjected. She leapt over to Twilight and pulled her into a close hug, while throwing out her other hoof and gazing off as if seeing into the far future. “Your Auntie Pinkie is going to make everything a-okay. With me helping, you’ll woo Luna like nopony’s wooed before, and you’ll get to save the princess and get the girl.” Pinkie had begun to shake Twilight lightly as she thought out loud to herself, “Or save the girl and get the princess. I don’t know, they’re kind of the same pony this time I guess. And Rarity and Fluttershy are going to help.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s antics, but her self-satisfied smile remained the same. Fluttershy though seemed shocked as she asked, “I am?”

Pinkie released Twilight and spun around to latch onto Fluttershy. “Of course you are, and so are Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s going to need all the help she can get!”

Rainbow Dash stopped what she was doing, crouched down low, with a light coating of feathers stuck in her mane and Applejack’s stetson jauntily covering one ear. “We’re what now?” she asked Pinkie in confusion.

A dense pillow socked her in the face, catching her unaware and throwing her off balance, causing the hat to fall to the ground. Applejack, just as feather covered as Rainbow Dash and with several strands of her hair escaping her ponytail, reclaimed her hat and restored it to its rightful place as she said, “’Course we’ll help.”

“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing away from Fluttershy and circling past all her friends. “Then operation Twiluna is go!”

Twilight’s fatigue wasn’t doing her any favors as she tried to keep up with Pinkie. “Wait, wait, wait.” She held up one of her hooves, asking for the world to stop so she could come to grips with what was happening.

“You don’t like the operation name?” Pinkie asked in concern. “I was thinking of calling it ‘Get Twilight a piece of that’, but that just doesn’t roll off the tongue.”

Twilight shook her head and tried to pin down Pinkie with her eyes. “It’s not that, Pinkie. It’s that I’m not in love with Luna. I mean, I like her a lot, but that doesn’t mean I love her, does it?”

Rarity politely scoffed. “Twilight, dear, if you could only see the look on your face when you’re talking about Luna, you wouldn’t even think to question it.”

“It is kind of obvious,” Applejack agreed, picking the last of the feathers out of her tail.

“It is?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. “Come on guys, she’s a friend and all –“

“Excuse me, Twilight, but have you ever been in love before?” Fluttershy unexpectedly broke in, her expression oddly serious.

“Have I ever been in love before?” Twilight repeated dumbly. “Well, that is … I kind of … well …” Twilight stumbled over her words as she looked around for support, but under their open, honest gazes, Twilight hung her head and admitted the truth. “No, I guess I haven’t.”

“Well then, how do you know that you’re not in love now?”

“Well –“ Twilight bit off the rest of her instinctive reply. About how what she’d been feeling for Luna paled in comparison to the feelings described in the books Rarity had introduced her to.

Fluttershy mercilessly pressed on. “When you’re apart, do you think about her a lot?”

“Yes?” Twilight answered.

Fluttershy took a step closer, still oddly insistent. “And when you’re together, do you ever want to leave her side and see somepony else?”

Twilight’s answer was quicker and much more definitive. “No.”

Fluttershy’s face was close to Twilight’s, her eyes were cloudly and she had a small frown as if in remembered pain. “Do you want to wake up every day and gaze into her eyes? Do you want to go to sleep every night holding her in your hooves?”

It took a moment, but Twilight finally begrudgingly answered, “Yes.”

Fluttershy smiled sadly and announced, “Then I think you’ve moved beyond a crush.” Wistfully, and with a far off look in her eyes she added, “And you shouldn’t hide from your feelings, refusing to admit that you’re in love, only to realize that it’s too late to ever tell them how you feel.” 

She sighed, then blinked and shook her head. As her eyes cleared, she seemed shocked at what she’d said and bowed her head, hiding behind a veil of hair. “Um, I mean, it seems like you love her, I think ...” She sheepishly retreated back to her seat while Twilight and the others stared at her in varying degrees of shock and surprise.

Rarity was the first to recover. “Yes. Well, I believe that Fluttershy has hit the nail on the head, as it were. Despite what you may think, Twilight, it’s obvious that you’ve fallen deeply, madly, desperately in love with Princess Luna.” She squealed a bit in excitement. “Oh, it’s so wonderful! An innocent and burgeoning romance growing between two adorably sheltered ponies. And she’s a princess! Oh, Twilight darling, you’re going to be royalty. I’m sure the wedding with be simply wonderful, and full of so many wonderfully stylish ponies. Why I can see it now, both sides of the royal chapel in Canterlot filled with everypony imaginable, waiting anxiously to see a once in a lifetime event. When down the long aisle come the two most fashionably dressed ponies in the room. Of course I’ll design both your dresses, and you two will look so wonderful. Although, do you think Luna would prefer a brocade or a muslin trim?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed at Rarity’s over dramatization, and Twilight was feeling much the same. But it was clear that no matter what she said, she wasn’t going to be able to convince her friends that Luna was just a friend, and nothing more. Well, nothing much more. Maybe if they slept on it, after having time to mull it over, the idea would seem just as crazy to them as Twilight knew it was.

“Fine, whatever you say, Rarity. But I’m tired of talking, so let’s all get some sleep.” And forget this whole conversation ever happened, Twilight silently added.

She reached out with her magic and plunged their corner of the tent into sudden darkness. Twilight collapsed onto a cushion and levitated a nearby blanket over to her, completely burying herself in it, and started to make loud, pretend snores, showing that she’d already fallen asleep. Her friends murmured amongst themselves, and there was a lot of rustling cloth as they settled down for the night.

As the others settled down, behind Twilight’s closed eyes, her thoughts churned and chased each other. What were her feelings for Luna, really? Without question she cared deeply for her, but was it something as simple as a crush, or was Fluttershy right, and it was something deeper?

Normally when she was this confused, Twilight would simply write a letter to Princess Celestia, asking for advice. But just the thought of writing a letter in this situation made Twilight squirm in embarrassment. 

‘Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m unsure as to whether I have romantic feelings for your sister. Could you please help me sort them out?

After all, I’m sure that you’d be very willing and interested to talk about your sister’s love life, and I’m not embarrassed at all to declare my undying love for her.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle’

Yeah, no. Princess Celestia wasn’t going to be able to help her, and it seemed all her friends had already made up their minds. So it looked like Twilight was going to have to puzzle her feelings out for herself.

Of course the best way to find out the answer to a question was to use the scientific method. It had helped her many times in the past, so why should now be any different? The only fact that Twilight had to start off with was that she cared for Luna, and the logical hypothesis she needed to test was that she had romantic feelings for the princess. The easiest way to test her hypothesis was to compare what she felt for Luna against the other relationships she’d had in her life.

The earliest love she could remember was of course familial: Twilight loved her parents very much. While she didn’t write them as often as she should, Twilight knew that they loved and supported her no matter where she was or what she was doing, and were proud of the unicorn she’d become. Her love was warm and easy, like a heavy comforter on a cold, lazy winter day. Definitely not quite what she felt toward Luna.

The next loving relationship Twilight had entered into was with Princess Celestia. Her feelings for the princess were a bit more complicated than what she felt for her parents. In some ways Princess Celestia felt like another mother for her, but while Twilight was certain that her parents would be proud of her no matter what, she wanted desperately to earn Princess Celestia’s praise. Twilight had driven herself to constantly excel and become the pupil that Princess Celestia deserved; even though the princess would likely have still accepted her if she’d only be above-average. Twilight never wanted Celestia to regret choosing her as her personal student.

But with Luna, while there was still a drive to impress her, and to improve herself, Twilight didn’t feel as if she had to be perfect all the time. Princess Celestia was the best teacher, the best mentor, the best heroine that a pony could have, but Luna was just somehow much more approachable.

The next major relationship that Twilight had was the one with all her friends in Ponyville. This comparison was a bit more difficult than the others, because Luna was her friend, and yet, that wasn’t quite the right classification. She loved spending time with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Whether it was helping Applejack work or play, or if it was reading with Rainbow Dash, or helping her train, Twilight always had fun with them. She enjoyed the tea parties with Rarity and Fluttershy, as well as Pinkie’s more lively parties. Twilight loved living in Ponyville and spending almost every day with her friends.

That was perhaps the major distinction between Luna and the others. While Twilight loved her friends, and loved spending time with them, there were times when she just wanted to be alone. Times when she simply couldn’t put up with Pinkie’s hyper antics any longer. Or when she couldn’t pull her mind away from a scientific treatise long enough to pay attention to the latest fashion drama in Rarity’s life. And she definitely didn’t have as much time for animals as Fluttershy, especially snakes. Rainbow Dash of course spent most of her time in the air, and while Twilight enjoyed reading with her, and at times exercising with her, she simply didn’t have as much stamina as her pegasi friend. As for Applejack, while Twilight always enjoyed helping out around her farm, she didn’t quite enjoy physical labor as much as Applejack seemed to.

Even the best of friends grated on each other’s nerves every once in a while, and during those times, Twilight would retreat into the solitude of a book, or her laboratory, or occasionally a solitary walk when she’d been inside for too long.

But with Luna, even at her most antisocial, Twilight didn’t think she’d mind the princess’ presence. With other ponies, even her friends, it felt like she had to force herself to be pleasant, to be social, and it was draining. With Luna though, it was effortless. They could be doing something, anything, or nothing, and Twilight didn’t feel the need to retreat back into solitude.

The final loving relationship that Twilight could compare her feelings for Luna to was her love toward Spike. He wasn’t quite family, and he wasn’t quite a friend. He was both. As they’d grown up together, at times Twilight had felt like his mother, his older sister, his roommate, his boss, but above all, his friend. He was always there for her when she needed help, and she tried to be there for him when he needed it as well. They’d lived together for so long that she’d come to take his presence for granted sometimes. Even at her lowest, when she’d thought all her friends had abandoned her, Twilight had known that Spike would stay by her side without question.

But again, her feelings for Spike were different than what she felt toward Luna. While Spike was her number one assistant, and at times felt like her fifth hoof, Twilight knew that he was still a baby and would one day grow up and leave to find his own path in life. So while Twilight did take him for granted every once in a while, she tried to cherish the time they had together. With Luna, Twilight also cherished the time they shared, but not because someday it would end, but simply because being with Luna made her happy and was something that simply deserved to be cherished.

It was difficult to quantify, or even the complex feelings Twilight held for Spike, but she knew they weren’t the same as those she felt for Luna.

Under the warm, almost stifling blanket, Twilight snorted in frustration. None of the comparisons to other relationships had disproven her theory. What other evidence was there either for or against her loving Luna?

Their first real meeting, where they’d gotten to know one another, had been predicated upon a misunderstanding that had made Twilight emotionally vulnerable. Had Luna simply been a surrogate for her sister?

The image of Luna’s tear streaked face, illuminated by soft moonlight as she admitted her duplicity and how horrible she felt popped into Twilight’s head, and she quickly dismissed the suspicion that what she felt for Luna was only the echoes of her rejection from Princess Celestia. If she’d simply shifted her feelings from Celestia to Luna, there was no way that the heart-wrenching pain she’d felt, seeing Luna’s pain, could have affected her so much. No, Luna wasn’t Celestia, she was her own pony, and the feelings that Twilight held for her were different from what she felt for Celestia. If it had been Celestia with her that night, pouring her heart out to her, Twilight would have felt honored to have been chosen to be so intimate with her. But she wouldn’t have felt the overwhelming need to hug her tightly, to hold her close, and promise that everything would be alright.

Other memories of the time she’d shared with Luna began to wash over Twilight. Luna’s surprised, batter covered face, her beautiful smile, and even more beautiful laughter, when she forgot herself for a moment and allowed herself to be happy. Mostly though, Twilight remembered the sense of comfort and security, the sense of rightness that she had while laying next to Luna in bed, watching her sleep and feeling her breathe.

Her pleasant memories were soured as Twilight remembered Luna’s foray with Rainbow Dash. That had been the first time Twilight had begun to realize that Luna wasn’t just her friend. As she’d watched her soar into the sky high above Ponyville, going someplace Twilight couldn’t really follow; Twilight had experienced a confusing and irrational mix of emotions. Worry, anger, jealousy. All those ugly feelings had boiled to the surface. She’d even vented some of it at Luna before she’d fully realized what she was doing, and what having those feelings implied.

For a while, Twilight had been able to lie to herself and believe the jealously she’d felt was something that she’d feel for any of her friends preferring somepony else’s company to her own. But that rationale was flimsy at best, she’d never felt such deep jealousy with any of her other friends before. The last remnants of that particular explanation had been stripped away by their trip to the Everfree Forest.

The elated hope that had surged through Twilight when Luna had burst through the fog, as well as the heart pounding terror that had gripped her as she’d pulled Luna’s seemingly lifeless body from the river, had revealed just how deeply she’d come to feel for the princess.

Did she love Luna? Yes, she did. But was it a romantic love? After all the other tests had failed, Twilight felt that there was one more question that had to be answered before moving her hypothesis to theory. Could she see herself being intimate with Luna? While the physical component of a relationship should never be the central pillar, it was one of the major things that differentiated romantic love from any other type.

Twilight thought back to the many times she’d already shared a bed with Luna, as well as back to earlier in the day when Luna had held her tightly while they were flying. The feel of Luna’s muscles, taunt beneath her coat. The warmth of her skin, and the smell of her mane, like a dew covered field of flowers. Thanks to all the time they’d spent together, Twilight had become familiar with Luna’s body. But in her imagination, she could see herself taking her time as she more thoroughly examined the princess. Running her hooves through Luna’s silky mane, across her satin-like coat, across her taunt muscles, perhaps feeling her breath hitch, or her pulse quicken beneath Twilight’s soft lips. With a blush, Twilight concluded that she could easily see herself becoming intimate with Luna.

And why not? Luna was quite an attractive pony by anypony’s standards. While Twilight had never been intimate with another mare before, or with anypony actually, she had definitely felt something odd at times when she had been with Luna. Kind of hot and prickly, like she’d felt back shortly after she’d gotten her cutie mark and had buried herself in the library, taking particular interest in pony anatomy books.

Twilight was fairly certain that since she could see herself with Luna, in such graphic detail, that she could safely conclude that her feelings for Luna were romantic.

So … she was in love with Luna. Now what? Her hypothesis had made it to theory, but it had only opened up new problems. After all, what good was being in love with somepony if they didn’t return your feelings? There was no way that a princess of Equestria would ever even entertain the thought of being attracted to a plain, simple unicorn like Twilight.

She sighed and opened her eyes as she poked her head out from underneath the blanket. All the lights in the tent had been dimmed, so everypony and everything were masses of lumps with only the suggestion of color in the darkness. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Twilight’s attention. Fearing the unknown a bit after all that had happened, she turned her head quickly enough to make her vision swim. But it was only Applejack, sleeping peacefully, but kicking her hind legs in a subliminal buck every once in a while.

Nearby Rarity was drooling all over her pillow, while Rainbow Dash was splayed across four cushions in a position that looked painful. Fluttershy was snoring, quietly, and Pinkie … Well, Pinkie had built a pillow fort, complete with a flag and a note on the side reading ‘no sogs allowed.’ The only part of her Twilight could see was her poofy pink tail jutting out of the mound of pillows.

Reassured that all her friends were sleeping peacefully, and that everything was fine, Twilight lifted her head up to look back towards where Princess Celestia and Luna were sleeping. Even in the dim illumination of the tent, they glowed, as if filled with an inner light, making it easy for Twilight to pick out their features at a distance. 

They were pressed together tightly, as if shielding each other from the dangers of the world. Seeing them peacefully resting in each other’s embrace caused a jagged burst of irrational envy to quickly flare to life in Twilight’s chest, and just as quickly fade away. Honestly, she couldn’t’ even tell which one of the princesses she was envious of.

With troubled thoughts and a weary mind, Twilight settled back down and eventually, with many of her questions left unanswered, fell into a deep sleep for real.

--

With a soft groan, Luna opened her eyes, and just as quickly, shut them again. Celestia had outdone herself and the brilliant sunlight pervading the tent was a bit too strong for Luna’s normally dilated eyes. She tried hiding her face under a pillow, but it was too late, the sunlight and the summer heat had driven away any vestiges of her slumber.

Resentfully Luna pushed the pillow away from her face and climbed to her hooves. She stretched her sore muscles, causing one of her knees to pop loudly. She opened her eyes again to find herself alone, the tent completely deserted. Not only where there no ponies in sight, but everything aside from the cushions she’d slept upon had been packed away, leaving only the outer tent walls, and the crushed grass that had been beneath the tent’s floor. A bit blearily, Luna walked toward the nearest exit, which appeared to her still sensitive eyes as a solid rectangle of intense white. She paused on the threshold, shielding her eyes with one dark wing.

Nearby, Celestia was conversing with a trio of expressionless pegasi next to a table covered in fresh fruit, the majority of which seemed to be apples. Luna noticed that the campsite they’d been staying in was placed near the Ponyville train depot, and there were several attendants hurrying about, packing various things into boxes and parcels they were stacking on the platform in preparation for the next train’s arrival. In the distance Luna could see the top of Twilight’s library, and was reassured by the familiar sight, even though none of her friends seemed to have remained behind to greet her.

“Ah, you’re awake, Princess Luna,” A voice came from beside her, causing Luna to jump a little. She turned to find Dr. Golden Doublet eyeing her appraisingly. “After such a long rest, you should be well on your way to being fully healed.”

“Hello, Dr. Golden Doublet.” Luna said politely. “Just how long was I asleep?”

“It’s just past noon actually.” The doctor replied conversationally. She stepped closer toward Luna, invading the princess’ personal space. “If you’ll hold still for a moment, I’ll remove your bandages, and we can make sure that everything is healing the way it should be.” 

So saying, the doctor’s horn lit up and her magical aura surrounded the many bandages swaddling Luna, firmly and efficiently unwrapping and cutting through them. She paid particular attention to the bandage covering Luna’s forehead, and smiled triumphantly when it was removed.

“Not even a scar,” she commented with pride. “I came up with the magical mesh imbued in the cloth myself. It’s even better than Blueberry Tea‘s, if I do say so myself.  Any other doctor and I can assure you that your convalescence would be twice as long.”

“I see,” replied Luna, not knowing who Blueberry Tea was. “Well, thank you very much, Dr. Golden Doublet.”

“Think nothing of it,” the good doctor replied as she disposed of the used bandages by stuffing them into a saddle bag she was wearing marked with little pastel biohazard symbols. She was obviously quickly losing interest in Luna now that the princess was no longer injured. “If you’ll excuse me, Princess Luna, I have twenty or so interns I’ve had to leave in the midst of their training, doing Celestia knows what to my hospital while I was away.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Thank you again Dr. Golden Doublet.”

The doctor didn’t reply as she turned and quickly disappeared around a corner of the tent, heading in the general direction of the train depot.

Behind Luna, the tent collapsed in upon itself, and she whirled around to find at least a dozen ponies pulling up stakes and removing the tent’s supports. Quickly getting the feeling that she was standing in the way of a well-oiled machine, Luna sought refuge with her sister.

“Ah, Luna, good morning!” Celestia greeted her with a bright smile as Luna approached.

One of the ponies Celestia had been speaking with, a stallion with a pocket watch for a cutie mark, cleared his throat.

Without missing a beat, Celestia pleasantly amended, “Afternoon. Either way, I’m glad to see you up and looking so rested.” Her serene eyes roamed over Luna’s figure. “I can see that you’ve already met with Dr. Golden Doublet. You look much better this morning than you did last night.”

Celestia’s horn glowed slightly, and Luna blushed as she could feel Celestia’s soft magic envelop her and smooth away her bed mane.

Wanting to save some face in front of their audience, Luna tried to steer Celestia’s attention away from her unkempt hair and her need to straighten it as if Luna were still a school filly. While she levitated a few of the more appetizing apples over to her in order to break her fast, Luna tried to coolly observe, “It looks as if the preparations to leave Ponyville seem to be well underway.”

“Well, our trip to Ponyville was a bit … impromptu. I’m afraid that I left Canterlot in the middle of various affairs of state, as Midori Sour here has been so dutiful to remind me. I’m afraid that we’ve thrown off your schedule, haven’t we, Midori?”

The stallion who’d corrected Celestia earlier gravely replied in a tone as full of self-importance as it was with displeasure, “You are the ruler of Equestria, Your Highness, and may do as you please.”

Celestia was still smiling, but she sighed through her nose and Luna could tell she was restraining herself from rolling her eyes. Instead she turned her attention back to Luna. “So you can see, Luna, we need to return to Canterlot as soon as possible in order to take care of all the work that’s piled up in our absence. In fact, from what Midori was telling me, once we get home, I’m afraid we’ll both have our hooves full thanks to the backlog of petitioners and subject matter experts we were scheduled to see.”

The apples were delicious and juicy, and Luna had a cheekful that she had to hastily swallow as she looked up at Celestia in surprise. “You mean that there are ponies who are willing to come and visit me? To have me arbitrate their disagreements?”

Celestia’s eyes sparked mischievously as she replied, “Yes, there are quite a few ponies who’d like for you to ‘arbitrate’ for them. I’ve decided that I’d appreciate a little more time off, now that there are two of us. So I’ve requested that our petitioners be spread evenly between the day and the night.”

“I see.” Luna tried to keep a calm demeanor as she carefully set her apple back down on the table, but inside she was leaping with joy. While she’d held night court ever since her return from the moon, for the most part it had been entirely procedural, with few actual petitioners appearing before her. But now she was going to preside over a real court where ponies would come to her with their problems. She could already see herself listening to them with a learned and knowing air, and after a suitably wise pause, she’d pass her judgment and in one fell swoop would solve the problem to the satisfaction of all parties involved, as well as create a new precedence which would become the foundation for a new era of pony jurisprudence. 

Luna’s elation at the prospect of  ponies who actually wanted to see her in lieu of Celestia was damped by the sobering realization that with her return to Canterlot, she’d be leaving behind Twilight and the rest of her friends.

“Well, I suppose I was scheduled to return today,” she said morosely.

Celestia’s smile fell to a more neutral angle. “I know that it will be difficult to leave all your new friends, Luna. I know they’ll miss you just as much. They waited for you to wake up this morning, but unfortunately they had responsibilities that they needed to see to. However, they did promise me to not let you leave without meeting them in the town square for a going away surprise.”

Luna smiled in relief. She should have known that her friends wouldn’t abandon her. She, more than most ponies, could well understand the demands of duty.

“I see. So, when are we supposed to meet with them?”

Celestia looked up to gauge how much sky the sun had traversed and cocked her head to the side, as if doing some mental calculation. “Hmm, I’d say about … right now.” She turned to the ponies sill standing nearby and agreeably stated, “Midori Sour, Golden Dream, Snowball, if you’ll excuse us, we have a very important meeting to attend before we leave Ponyville.” The trio frowned at each other, as if to say, “yeah, right.” Celestia’s smile didn’t falter as she promised, “I assure you gentlecolts, that we’ll return to Canterlot with all due haste, and get things back to normal as soon as possible.”

Still looking unconvinced, the three advisors bowed low to both Celestia and Luna, and then took their leave, quietly speaking amongst themselves as they walked in the general direction of the train station.

Celestia let out a breath before turning to Luna and asking, “Well then, shall we?”

With a hint of resignation that her vacation was just about over, Luna attempted to smile as she replied, “Yes, lets.” She took a few steps toward Ponyville, but turned back in confusion when she noticed that Celestia wasn’t following her.

Her sister raised a rather rakish eyebrow, and with a mischievous smile unfurled her magnificent wings. Luna blinked and Celestia was airborne. Luna took the hint and launched herself after Celestia, who’d taken an early lead.

It felt good to stretch her wings again.

Celestia continued to pull ahead of Luna, pretending, as she usually did, that flying so fast was effortless. Luna knew better though. This was an old and familiar game that they’d played many times before. Celestia trying to maintain her composure and float through the sky, Luna racing after her, pushing her to fly faster and faster to stay ahead, until finally Celestia would be forced to break her façade and begin pumping her wings as frantically as Luna. It was a childish and silly game, but Luna couldn’t hide her smile of excitement as she closed in on Celestia.

Of course Celestia noticed her beginning to catch up and pulled ahead. A slight sheen of sweat glistened in the sunlight on her forehead, betraying the strain of going so fast. Luna had very nearly caught up with her by the time that they arrived at the first line of Ponyville roofs. However, with an unspoken agreement, both sisters slowed down quickly and tried to appear as if there was nothing out of the ordinary as they made perfectly matched landings in the center of Ponyville.

Luna tried not to reveal how heavily she was breathing as she scanned their surroundings. Near one side of the square waited the royal carriage. Aside from the squad already tethered to the carriage, there were several ponies in the square already, most of whom dropped into respectful bows before the two regal sisters. A few even waved at Luna after they stood back up. Luna smiled inwardly at her newfound popularity and discreetly waved back.

The only pony who failed to bow looked less like a pony and more like a pink comet with a tail of multi-hued streamers and confetti trailing behind her. She raced past Luna and Celestia, and Luna found herself wearing an impromptu garland of bright paper chains meant to be strung between poles.

Luna tried to keep up with the blur of pink as she called out, “Pinkie, what’s the meaning of all this?” She reached up with a hoof to hold up the paper chains strung around her neck.

Pinkie slowed down slightly as she explained, “It’s your going away celebration, duh. I was going to throw you a super duper big party, but you never told me when you were leaving, which isn’t very nice. Though, you might have told me and I just forgot. I do that a lot. Well, not a lot, just sometimes. Like this one time I was throwing so many parties that I forgot my own birthday! Can you believe that? But this morning, when I woke up, I had a great idea to throw you a going away celebration, which is like a party, but not really. It’s closer to a shindig, but takes less time, which is good because I didn’t even have my party cannon loaded. Well, it was, but it was loaded with cake batter again. Anyway, what was the question?” 

While she’d been speaking, Pinkie had been a whirlwind of energy, until she stopped right in front of Celestia and Luna, not even breathing hard. 

“Oh, uh …” Luna lost her train of thought as she looked around in amazement. In a matter of seconds the square had been given a much more festive appearance, with bright colors and bows everywhere. Even the string of paper that had been draped around her had disappeared without her noticing and was now several lengths overhead. There were even a series of long tables setup in the center of the square laden with food and punch bowls. Nearby there was a quartet of bleary eyed ponies holding various instruments. They looked around themselves, and at each other, in confusion before they shrugged and began to play a soft polka.

“I must say, you’re quite the energetic young pony, Pinkie Pie,” Celestia observed. “Everything looks lovely. I’m sure that Luna’s very thankful for such a wonderful sendoff. Aren’t you Luna?”

Luna recollected herself and answered, “Oh, yes. Yes, I am. Thank you Pinkie, it’s wonderful.”

Pinkie cheerfully replied, “Aw, it was nothing. I like to throw parties for all my friends. Especially my new super best friends, and double especially for Twilight’s –“

Pinkie was abruptly cut off by an orange hoof firmly planted in her mouth. Luna hadn’t known that Applejack had even arrived in the square, but she’d actually dived past the princesses to censor Pinkie. She looked up at Celestia and Luna sheepishly as she climbed to her hooves and used her unoccupied hoof to firmly hug Pinkie to her side, with no intention of removing the hoof that was silencing her friend.

“Heh, begging your pardon, Your Majesties, but Pinkie and Ah’ve got to have a real quick talk about, uh, earth pony things. We’ll be right back.”

The sisters looked on as Applejack drug her mostly non-resisting friend away. As they left, Luna could hear Applejack inform Pinkie, “You can quit licking my hoof. Ah’m not letting up till we’ve had a talk.”

Luna pursed her lips together thoughtfully before she commented to nopony in general, “That was certainly odd.”

Celestia imperceivably hunched her shoulders in a regal shrug. “Equestria is a large place, with many ponies in it. For some reason though, the oddest are always attracted to Ponyville.”

“Perhaps it’s something in the water,” Luna suggested.

“Maybe it’s the proximity to the Everfree Forest,” Celestia countered.

Their conjectures were interrupted by a pleasant voice, “Ah, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what an honor it is for you to visit our small town.” Both Luna and Celestia turned to find a white maned, bespeckled earth pony beaming at them as she respectfully approached.

Celestia slipped back into her monarch mode as she greeted the mare, “Mayor, it’s a pleasure to see you again. And Ponyville is looking as beautiful and as lively as ever.”

The mayor swelled with pride and held her head up so high that Luna feared her cravat would break free from her collar. “Well, we do try our best. We might not generate as much tax revenue as some other cities, but we’ve been able to maintain a budget surplus for the past three years straight. And of course the interesting incidents we’ve been having these past few years have increased our tourism by forty percent. The Ponyville Chamber of Commerce even put out a new brochure …” The mayor turned her head and retrieved a glossy pamphlet that had been tucked into her collar and proudly displayed it to the princesses. On its front was a photograph of the city hall embossed with the caption, “Visit historic Ponyville: A wonderful place to live!”

“That’s … wonderful, mayor,” Luna broke in. “But I’m afraid that there are several matters of state that we must attend to before we leave. In fact we need to meet privately with the Elements of Harmony, and then return to Canterlot as swiftly as possible.”

The mayor’s ears and the corners of her mouth drooped as she replied disappointedly, “Oh.”

“But rest assured, that looks like a wonderful brochure,” Celestia chimed in. “And I’ll be sure to have the palace steward reserve a place of honor in the foyer of the palace.”

The mayor perked up at the news, positively beaming. “Oh! That would be wonderful,” she said around a mouthful of brochure. “Thank you so very much, princess.”

Celestia laughed gaily. “Think nothing of it, mayor. Now then, if you’ll excuse us …”

Having extracted themselves from the tedious conversation, Luna began to cross the square, heading in the direction Applejack had taken Pinkie. Celestia followed after her.

Rarity and Fluttershy had joined the two earth ponies, both wearing saddlebags, and all four were having a heated, whispered conversation. Well, three of them were. It was difficult to describe anything Fluttershy did as heated. The four ponies noticed the princesses’ approach and hastily broke off their discussion and looked up at Luna expectantly. Pinkie and rarity were both smiling strangely, while Applejack looked somewhat apprehensive, and Fluttershy looked like she was in the midst of transitioning from nervous to outright panic. 

“It’s wonderful to see you up and about, Princess Luna.” Rarity said with heartfelt warmth. “Although, it is disappointing that you must leave so soon. Why, it feels as if you’ve just arrived, dear.”

Luna smiled sadly in reply. “I’m sorry to leave too, Rarity. It’s been wonderful spending time with all of you here in Ponyville.”

“Well then, just don’t go,” suggested Pinkie. “After this going away celebration’s done, we can throw you an even bigger welcome back party.”

“That’s sweet of you, Pinkie,” Luna replied. She glanced toward Celestia before continuing, “But I’m afraid that I must return to Canterlot and take up my duties as Princess of Equestria again.”

Pinkie deflated a little and lost her normally exuberant smile as she let out a disappointed, “awww.”

Applejack leaned over and gave her a soft nudge with a knee. “Now don’t be like that Pinkie. Luna’s got responsibilities the same as the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I know all about responsibilities,” Pinkie said in a tone that sounded as if she wished she’d never heard of them.

“I’m afraid it’s my fault, my little ponies,” Celestia announced. She used one of her wings to hug Luna closely to her in a potentially embarrassing display of affection. “I’ve just grown so used to having her back and sharing the burden of ruling, that everything just falls to pieces when she’s gone for too long.” Luna knew that Celestia was likely enjoying the embarrassment she was causing her sister by being so overly dramatic, but she felt like her older sister deserved some merriment after the last few days. Even if it was at her expense.

Rarity stepped forward and batted her eyes toward Celestia. “Oh, we understand completely, Princess Celestia.” She turned her smile on Luna. “But before you go, Luna, we would like to give you some going away gifts. To remember us by, if you will.”

Celestia loosened her embrace, allowing Luna to step forward and bashfully reply, “Thank you, Rarity. But you really don’t need to give me anything. I assure you, I’ll remember this trip forever.”

Rarity’s eyes danced as she smiled beautifully. “I’m sure you will, Luna. But, be that as it may, I’d still like to give you this.” She turned her head slightly and her horn glowed with magic. Out of the saddlebag at her side floated a long lavender scarf made out of shimmering silk. She draped it over Luna’s neck and deftly wrapped it into a loose knot. She studied Luna with a discerning eye for a moment before pronouncing, “Just as I thought, lavender looks simply stunning with your coloring. Though of course it’s much too warm for scarves now, it will keep you nice and warm when it’s cooler out.”

Luna reached up and ran an appreciative hoof along the soft fabric, pressing it against her cheek. “Thank you very much, Rarity. I’ll treasure it always,” she said with heartfelt gratitude.

“This is for you too, Luna,” Fluttershy spoke up. She stepped forward and brought forth one of her wings, offering Luna a large flower with white and blue petals shot through with dark purple veins ending in purple tips. “It’s called a moonflower, and only blooms at night,” she explained.

“It’s lovely. Thank you, Fluttershy.” As Luna tucked the flower behind her ear, Fluttershy blushed and backed up, taking refuge slightly behind Rarity.

Applejack took the opportunity to speak up. “Well, the Apple family’s never been known much for sentimentality, but we did appreciate your visit to the farm, Luna. This here’s from all of us, Big Mac, Applebloom, Granny Smith, and me.” She tilted her hat back and bounced her head to dislodge a small cloth bag from her mane, letting it land perfectly in a waiting hoof. 

Luna gingerly floated the small bag from Applejack’s outstretched hoof, and opened it to find several small black seeds inside.

“That’s some of the Apple family’s finest stock,” Applejack explained with pride. “’Course it’ll take a few years for you to get your first crop, but it’ll be worth it, Ah guarantee it.”

“They’ll have a place of honor in the royal gardens,” Luna promised her. She cinched the small bag shut and securely tucked it behind her wing.

“Aw, I didn’t get you anything, Luna,” Pinkie loudly complained. “Now I feel like a McMeanie Pants.”

“But Pinkie, you’ve thrown me this lovely celebration,” Luna admonished her friend. She stepped closer and lifted Pinkie’s lowered head to show her the banquet tables and the impromptu dance floor where a multitude of ponies were enjoying the punch and polka music. “Just because it isn’t something that I can take with me, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your gift just as much as everypony else’s.”

Luna was unsure of how much Pinkie had understood what she’d said, but her spirits seemed to have improved. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Luna. I mean, what better present is there than having a good time? Come on, let’s party!”

Pinkie grabbed Luna by the hoof, and was trying to pull her toward where other ponies were already dancing, but Luna resisted. Thankfully Rainbow Dash interrupted them, landing with a loud pomf in between Pinkie and Luna. The goggles Luna had enchanted hanging loosely around her neck. “Hey guys, check it out,” she said while nodding her head behind her.

They all looked up to find two large and vibrant rainbows stretching all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot.

“A double rainbow,” Fluttershy breathed. “But what does it mean?”

“It means that I’m awesome,” Rainbow Dash boasted with her head held high and chest puffed out. She sobered a bit as she looked over at Luna. “But really, I just wanted to prove that if you ever need me for anything, say the word and I can be in Canterlot in ten seconds flat, okay PL?”

“Thank you Rainbow Dash. If the need ever arises, I’ll know I can count on you,” Luna replied with honest sincerity.

Rainbow Dash was suddenly bashful and tongued tied, uncertain of how to reply.

Luna angled her head until she was able to meet Rainbow Dash’s eyes, and smiled brightly, coaxing a warm smile from the pegasus as well. She lifted up her head and met each of her friends’ eyes in turn, feeling overwhelmed by the open affection and honest acceptance she found in each of them. She wasn’t sure what she should say to them, if she could fully express just how important they were to her, but she had to try.

“I know I’ve already thanked you for your wonderful gifts, and more importantly for your friendship, but I just wanted to say it again. Thank you. Thank you all so very much. You’ve all been just so wonderful to me, and are truly the best friends a pony could ever ask for.”

“Aw shucks, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a surprisingly bashful blush, and a hint of moisture in her eyes. “You’re a darn good friend to have too.”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re pretty cool,” Rainbow Dash added in, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

Rarity snorted and rolled her eyes at the inadequacy of Rainbow Dash’s sentiment before she stepped forward and declared, “It’s been both an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity know you better, Princess Luna.” She gave Luna a quick wink and a knowing smile. “And don’t you fret, when I’m finished with my latest creation, not only will you be the toast of Canterlot, but I guarantee a certain somepony will only have eyes for you.”

“Like that’ll be hard,” Rainbow Dash interjected. She was loudly shushed by Applejack.

Luna was confused by what exactly Rarity and Rainbow dash were alluding to, but she could certainly appreciate the sentiment behind their kind words.

Fluttershy leaned in close to Luna and sweetly said, “It’s been so nice to meet you Luna, and I hope that we can keep in touch. It’s so easy to talk to you about things.”

“I’d like that very much, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, I can’t stand goodbyes!” Pinkie suddenly cried out loudly. She rushed over to Luna and somehow wrapped her legs around not only her, but the rest of their friends, pulling them all into a tight group hug. “I’m going to miss you soooo much!” Pinkie exclaimed, veritable rivers of tears pouring from her eyes.

Luna found herself painfully pressed against Applejack, and tried to shift herself in order to get some space to breath. But it was impossible to move an inch in Pinkie’s iron grip.

Giving into the inevitable Luna reached up with her hoof and placating patted her leg. “I’ll miss you too, Pinkie,” she gasped out. “But we’ll see each other again very soon, there’s a festival in Canterlot coming up next month, and you’re all invited as my guests.”

Pinkie’s tears ebbed, but her crushing embrace was unyielding as she sniffed out, “Really?”

“Yes. You all will have rooms at the palace, and we can even throw a royal party of our own if you’d like.”

Without warning Pinkie released her friends, and without any trace that she’d been absolutely despondent only moments before, she bounced around Luna and the others happily exclaiming, “Okie Dokie then! We’re going to have so much fun!”

“Er, yes, we shall,” coughed out Luna. She would have stumbled to the ground after Pinkie’s abrupt and energetic hug, if it hadn’t been for Applejack reaching out and supporting her. She flashed the farmer a smile of thanks as she hastily righted herself and backed up to a more socially acceptable distance. She looked toward Celestia for confirmation of her invitation, and found her sister making a poor attempt at hiding her amusement. With a tilt of her head Celestia indicated the waiting flying carriage, and Luna realized that it was past time for her to be gone.

Luna swept a final, mournful glance around the square, looking for a pony that wasn’t there. Perhaps she’d said or done something to betray her feelings for Twilight, and had driven her away. She tried to banish such dark thoughts, but still she couldn’t help but wonder where her best friend was, and why she wasn’t there to say goodbye. 

With a half-hearted smile, Luna declared. “Well, I suppose that I must be leaving you. I hope to see you all again very –“

A loud but distant cry of “Luna wait!” interrupted her and Luna looked up in surprise to find Twilight Sparkle racing toward them. With her hair in disarray, and with a replacement pair of saddlebags thumping her sides, Twilight dodged and ducked through the growing crowd enjoying the party, brushing past some ponies and nearly barreling into others. As she watched Twilight’s approach, a part of Luna was dimly aware that she’d broken into a wide grin.

Finally, after having jostled many drinks and plates, and offending several of her neighbors, Twilight was standing in front of Luna, panting for breath.

Several strands of hair had broken away from Twilight’s mane, and a tuft or two had popped up. Knowing Rarity’s penchant for orderliness, Luna preempted her, and while Twilight was catching her breath, Luna carefully reached out with her magic and tucked her loose strands of hair into their proper places.

The run had obviously worn out the normally sedate Twilight. Between pants she was able to get out, “You… almost… forgot… these!”

Twilight’s horn glowed and out of her saddlebag floated Luna’s crown and other regalia. Honestly, Luna had entirely forgotten all about them during her stay in Ponyville. With a sheepish, “thank you,” Luna reached out and took back her raiment. She allowed her magical energy to slide across Twilight’s, creating soft, pleasurable ripples in both. The feel of Twilight’s magic had changed subtly. It wasn’t exactly calmer than it had been, but perhaps more subdued. Likely she was still recovering from the events of the previous day.

Luna wanted to spend more time exploring Twilight’s magical aura, but she’d spent too long already. Hastily she donned her royal attire and slid her crown back into its accustomed place. She felt heavy and burdened by all the metal, but she knew that soon she would grow used to the weight once again.

Without a mirror, it was difficult to judge her appearance, so she asked Twilight, “So, how do I look?”

“Perfect,” Twilight breathed out. She seemed to have caught her breath for the most part and apologized, “I’m sorry for being late, but Spike got into some kind of silly eating contest with Angel yesterday, and he’s really sick this morning.”

“It’s fine, Twilight. It doesn’t matter when you arrive, I know you’re always there for me.”

Twilight stood up straight and gave Luna a small, hopeful smile. She then turned toward Celestia, who was regarding them with a strange, unreadable expression. She walked over to her mentor and stopped, anxiously shifting from hoof to hoof as her words tumbled out. “I know I’ve already said it, Princess Celestia. But I just wanted you to know that I’m so sorry for making such a huge mistake.”

Celestia regally waved Twilight’s words away with a shake of her hoof. “Twilight, if anypony should be apologizing, it should be me. I never should have neglected you like I did.” She laughed lightly. “Although, I think that we’ve both learned a valuable lesson in friendship.”

Twilight chuckled along with Celestia. “Heh, yeah, I suppose we did.”

Celestia’s laugh faded away and she looked down at her protégé with love and open, honest sincerity. “Twilight, I hope that we can leave this … misunderstanding behind us. I’d love to have our relationship to be as free and easy as it used to be.” Her smile turned a bit wistful as she added, “Although, I’d like it even more if we were no longer merely teacher and student, but simply friends.”

Shocked, and perhaps a bit overwhelmed, Twilight replied, “I’d like that too, Princess Celestia. Although, I’m not sure if I can stop asking you for advice.”

Celestia’s laughter rung out like pealing silver bells. “That’s quite alright, Twilight. I’m sure that we still have much to teach each other.”

“I think so too,” Twilight replied with a wide smile. She seemed like she wanted to say more, but instead she bit her lower lip and shot a glance in Luna’s direction before just as quickly looking away.

Celestia observed it all, and with a strange smile told Twilight, “Go and say your goodbyes to Luna. I know that she’s been looking forward to speaking with you before she left.”

Gratefully, Twilight made a hurried, perfunctory bow and turned to walk back over to Luna. Her wooden smile and rigid stance confused Luna. Had she done something wrong? Had she somehow offended Twilight, transforming their goodbye into a necessary duty to be endured?

Horribly tense, yet trying to act as if she wasn’t, Twilight asked, “Could I speak with you in private, Luna?”

“Certainly,” Luna easily replied. She did wonder what it was that Twilight needed to say that couldn’t be overheard by the others. She looked in confusion toward her friends who seemed to be wearing a mixture of surprised and expectant expressions. For some reason Rainbow Dash was begrudgingly giving Applejack several bits.

Luna allowed herself to be led away until she and Twilight were closer to the twirling dancers than their friends, and away from anypony eavesdropping.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Luna, I just wanted to say that I haven’t forgotten my promise to you.”

Luna raked her memory as she asked, “What promise?”

“To never let you be alone again.” Her voice became earnest as she went on. “I promise to write you every night, and I’ll come visit you as often as I can. I’ll bug you so much that you won’t have time to be lonely.” She chuckled weakly.

With a heartfelt smile, Luna replied, “Thank you Twilight. That means more to me than you can possibly know.” A corner of her mouth quirked a bit higher and she teased, “Although, between your letters to Celestia and myself, I don’t think that you’ll have very much time to devote to your study of love.”

Luna chuckled warmly, but Twilight could only manage a wan smile. She shuffled her hooves and looked away for a moment, as if steeling her resolve. Suddenly she looked up at Luna with clear, intense, and depthless eyes. “Luna,” she began with an odd lilt to her voice. “There’s something, that is … I …”

Under Luna’s questioning eyes, Twilight seemed to shrink in upon herself and looked down at the ground in defeat. She took a deep breath and seemed to be murmuring something almost inaudibly. Luna leaned forward to better learn what Twilight was saying, which was how they ended up nearly nose to nose when Twilight abruptly snapped her head up.

Twilight’s eyes bored into Luna’s as if searching for something important, causing Luna’s heart to begin melting under their intensity. With a note of determined steel in her voice that Luna hadn’t heard from her friend before, Twilight earnestly said, “Luna, you are one of the most incredible ponies I’ve ever known, and I’ve come to care for you a great deal.” Twilight seemed on the verge of stumbling into another awkward silence, but defiantly she continued to meet Luna’s eyes and simply stated, “Luna, I think I love you.”

Luna smiled happily and cheerfully replied, “Oh, Twilight, I love you too!”

Twilight’s eyes widened in sublime joy, and her smile grew larger and larger, causing Luna to fear that it might well go entirely around her head. 

“I love all my friends, very much,” Luna continued.

Twilight’s face froze, as if she were standing atop a thinning cloud, looking down at the ground far below.

Luna raised her voice, encompassing the rest of their friends. “Each of you has been so kind to me.”

With every word, Twilight’s face fell deeper and deeper into despair. Luna wasn’t sure what she’d said to cause her friend such distress, and looked down at her with confusion, her words beginning to falter. She looked to the others for support and saw that Fluttershy was smiling serenely, while Pinkie Pie was giggling uncontrollably behind her hooves. Rarity had solidly planted her face in her hoof and was shaking it from side to side, while a dour Applejack was returning an exuberant Rainbow Dash’s bits. Luna frowned slightly, but continued on, “That’s why I look forward to …” She turned to look back at Twilight and found her nearly in tears. Completely ignorant of the cause of her distress, Luna lamely finished “the upcoming festival.”

Twilight sniffed as if she were holding back her tears, and sorrowfully replied, “Yeah, Luna, I guess I’ll see you there.”

Luna knew that she’d deeply hurt Twilight, but had no idea how. She was on the cusp of asking her what she’d done wrong, but before she could, there was a stern throat clearing from Celestia’s direction. Luna looked over to find one of the stallions of the guard whispering into Celestia’s ear.

Celestia flicked her ear, dismissing the guard, and loudly called over to Luna, “I hate to cut your goodbyes short, Luna, but we’re needed back in Canterlot immediately.”

“Yes, but –“

“It’s okay, you can go,” Twilight told Luna sadly.

Luna desperately wanted to stay. She’d obviously hurt Twilight somehow, and didn’t want to see her so distressed. But at the same time she had the feeling that the longer she stayed, the more she’d upset her friend. So, with hesitant steps and a bowed head, she followed Celestia and took her place on the royal carriage.

The celebrating ponies had paused their festivities to pay homage to the royal sisters, and crowded around the carriage, cheering the princesses who regally waved back at them. The last of the guards fastened his harness, and the carriage was ready for liftoff. Luna smiled uncertainly one last time at her friends, and her gaze lingered on the downcast Twilight.

Her words were echoing in her mind, and suddenly it was as if a vital connection had been made in her brain. She desperately leaned over the side of the carriage and shouted out to Twilight, “Wait, when you said –!“

With a crack of straining bindings, the carriage jerked forward and in moments Twilight and the others were just so many colorful dots far below.

With her scarf streaming out behind her, and with Applejack’s seeds clutched beneath one wing, Luna contemplated simply dropping everything and leaping over the side of the carriage to ask Twilight if she’d meant what Luna hoped, dreamed that she meant. But before she could, Celestia wrapped her in a powerful hug.

“So, Luna, when you wrote to me you said that you had something important to talk to me about.”

With a sinking feeling, Luna remembered that while Twilight and Celestia had reconciled, she’d carefully not told Celestia about Luna’s role in her difficulties with her student. Not looking forward to Celestia’s reaction to the news of her duplicity, Luna nonetheless squared her shoulders and prepared to tell her the truth. 

“To be honest, Celestia, there’s something that I need to explain …”

--

With a face that easily betrayed her breaking heart, Twilight watched as the royal carriage disappeared into the sky toward Canterlot. It had looked like Luna had tried to say something as they were leaving, but over the noises of the ponies crowded around the carriage, and the sound of the pegasi drawing it taking flight, Twilight hadn’t been able to hear her.

“Don’t look so glum, Twilight,” Rarity said, coming to stand close to her.

Twilight simply snorted. How was she supposed to be chipper and upbeat? She’d admitted her feelings to Luna and Luna had simply called her a friend. At least now she had a better understanding of herself. It wouldn’t hurt nearly as badly if she wasn’t really in love with Luna.

“Rarity’s right, Twilight. There’s no need to look like somepony died,” Applejack spoke up.

“You heard her, she said I was her friend,” Twilight replied derisively. 

Pinkie piped up, “Of course she did, you are her friend silly!”

“Yes she is, Pinkie,” Rarity said soothingly. “But Twilight wants to be something more, which is entirely understandable. But don’t fret, Twilight dear, what a mare feels, what she thinks, and what she says are all three very different things.”

“Yeah, like when I’m eating vanilla ice cream, but I really want strawberry, and I say that I want chocolate, because chocolate is good too and everypony loves chocolate!”

Rarity looked askance at Pinkie as she replied, “Er, yes, Pinkie. Something like that. Anyway, as I was saying, Twilight, just because Luna said you were her friend doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to be something more later on. Why, some of the most romantic relationships in history started out as simple friendships.”

Rainbow Dash looked uncomfortable, but she chimed in, “I don’t know much about all this romance stuff, Twilight. But I think that Rarity’s on to something. I mean if you really do ‘love’ Luna, then don’t you have a better chance by being her friend, then by being just some random pony? Besides, she’s kind of like you, and sometimes she just doesn’t realize stuff that’s obvious to everypony else.”

Twilight’s eyes cut over to Rainbow Dash, and she curtly asked, “And what does that mean?”

Even more uncomfortably, Rainbow Dash explained, “Well you know, sometimes you’re so wound up about trying to figure something out, that you don’t see what’s right in front of you. Luna’s kinda like that too.”

Twilight wanted to argue with Rainbow Dash, but she slumped slightly as she realized there was a grain of truth to what she said. But as she further analyzed what her friends had said, Twilight began to realize that they made excellent points. So what if she was just Luna’s friend? That didn’t mean that was all she’d ever be to her. If she really wanted to win Luna’s heart, moping around wasn’t going to do it.

With resolution in her eyes, Twilight held her head up high and began racing back to her house.

“Hey Twilight, were you going?” Pinkie called out after her. “You’re missing the celebration!”

“Sorry Pinkie, I’ve got a letter to write!” Twilight called out over her withers. She faced forward with a brilliant smile on her face, and in the far distance, she saw a golden twinkle. Silently she promised Luna that she would one day catch up with her.

The End
Of Part 2





Thanks to Pyrite and Lambotrist for editing.


Tune in for the exciting conclusion to this tale of suspense and adventure in Part 3. 


Coming soon to a website near you.