//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: All Good Things // by Jasmine_Vonstarlight //------------------------------// All Good Things Chapter 9 /Luna’s Point of View\ AUTHOR’S NOTE: I am sorry for the long break in chapters, as hurricane Sandy knocked out my power for a week, leaving me unable to write and edit :( In this chapter, I am going to try to display Luna’s pure innocence. Save your “D-AAAWWWW”s for the comments section ;) I slowly stir, and once again, I feel the warmth. Hopefully this isn’t another dream... No, Tia is here, and my plushies, and the sun is still shining brightly outside... we must have just taken a nap or something. As much as I love Tia, I thought I had told her that I don’t need naps anymore... even without a cutie mark, I’m still a big pony! Tia’s wings are nice and soft though, and it never hurt me to curl up with her, so why not? I snuggle deeper into Tia’s embrace and I can feel her holding me tighter, even while she sleeps. Which is odd, Tia rarely ever shared naps with me, even when she was a filly. Only if it was storming outside did she ever pull me in bed with her, and I have to admit, I’ve always really enjoyed it. A lot of the time, we spent our sleeping hours tucked underneath the wings of mommy and daddy, and after they left for the war against the dragon legions... I never could really sleep the same way. Tia acted as the mother figure for me, being the one to tuck me in and read me a story, things that the maids could do, but she really wanted to help me out for some reason. I miss mommy and daddy... surely there can’t be many dragons left... could there be? I know for a fact that they can’t be dead, nothing will ever best my parents! But still, can’t they just hurry up and get home? I just hope they aren’t mad at Tia... I’m not. I guess Tia will just have to play mommy for a little while longer, and I guess since she’s bigger now, she’ll certainly have an easier job doing so. I think I like that. But the question still remains, how did I get here? My last memory before blacking out was when I was in the doctor’s office. Maybe I passed out or something, probably nothing serious. Well, whatever the reason, this gives me more quality plush time. I reach out and retrieve my stuffed snow leopard, Snowy, and my dearly beloved. A navy blue sheet of fleece, bordered in more lightly hued silk, with velvet moons and stars attached. A gift from one of Daddy’s wizards to me when I was still very small. The old, grey pony bent down and whispered in my ear that the cloth that I was holding had been enchanted especially for me, guarding the user against bad dreams. And it really worked too! Despite light teasing from Tia when we started to grow a little older, it still kept its magic. I drew the relics in tight against my chest, and dug my snout into my bundle of softness. As I nested, I felt Tia begin to wake lazily, the fatigue from her work quite noticeably displayed. She had removed her crown, pendant, and hoof guards, and to my surprise, was under the covers as deeply as me. She nuzzled me affectionately as I kicked my hooves playfully. She sat up against the headboard of my bed, and placed me on her lap while she busied herself with stroking my mane and animating Snowy for my amusement. “Why do you look so sleepy, Tia?” She responds slowly and thoughtfully, “Well Luna, I’ve been up since very early, making sure that the ponies around Canterlot get the facts straight when it comes to your return”. I slant my head to the side inquisitively, and she rustles my mane. “Did you see the newspaper at breakfast?” she asks, with a nod in response. “Well, let’s just say that some ponies aren’t exactly used to the old Luna that once graced Equestria”, she says with a loving smile. I collect my blanket once more and cuddle my way into Tia’s lap arms again. She holds me gently and gazes into my eyes, in the way that mommy used to so many years ago. “When are mommy and daddy coming home?” “As long as there are dragons to fight, I assume they’ll be gone, Lulu.”, she says sadly. “It’s okay, I know they won’t be gone forever”, I state reassuringly, which puts a smile back on Tia’s face. She draws me into a hug and says, “You were always the positive one, Lulu”, lovingly. “But, back to the topic at hand. The reason why I’ve kept you closed up in the castle thus far was because of how... things have changed.” “How so, Tia?” “Well, for one... the press, as you saw, is much more livid and aggressive than before. Back in our day, I remember that you would trot right up to press members, and for the remainder of their questions, you would be their little sweetheart.”, she says, nuzzling my nose at the word ‘sweetheart’. “After you left, the media become rather vicious, very scathing and unmerciful. And since then, they’ve been digging for gossip. Now that you’re back, everyone wants to break your story first.” I shudder a little out of fear. I don’t want those ponies to get me, I don’t like the sound of the mean ones... “But I won’t let them get you, Lulu”, she assures me, holding me close again, quelling my worry. “Your job is just to be safe and out of range of any cameras that make snap a photo of you”. “Tia, what’s a camera?”, was this some sort of invention that came about after my departure? “Oh, right”, she chuckles. “A camera is a little box that captures still images, and puts them on a piece of paper. And as you can predict, not every photograph can be as flattering as the others.” I think I get what she means, cameras are like little time capturers that hold a moment still on paper forever, no matter how embarrassing. I’ve got to stay away from those. Something tells me that Tia has had more than a few bad experiences with this time capture... box... things. “Don’t worry, Tia, I’ll be safe”, I say with a smile. “I know you will, Lulu”, she responds as she reinitiates the hug. “Alright, now that we have that taken care of, it is now the late afternoon, and I have some ponies to address.” “Isn’t that the speech thing that daddy used to give whenever something big happened?” I ask. “That’s exactly what it is, Lulu. I think the public needs to know that the real Luna is back”. “Sounds good to me, I guess. Can I watch?” She pauses, and appears to be in deep thought. I can tell she doesn’t want me to be seen outside, but at the same time, she wants to respect my wishes. After a while, she states, “I suppose you could head upstairs to your observatory, the maids have kept your telescopes in working order, so I think you’ll get a pretty good view of the speech”. I had almost forgotten about that place! Even though it was suspended directly above my head, via a long staircase that wound up the edges of my walls, I had neglected to look up in my first twenty four hours back in Equestria. “I will watch every moment, Tia”, I say happily. As she picks herself up to leave, Tia plants a gentle kiss on my forehead and bids me farewell. As she leaves, I can see her beckoning Mr. Busy Body back in to make sure I didn’t fall from the full height of the stairs up to my telescopes. This is going to be interesting.