Epilogue: The Doctor’s Gift

Princess Luna smiled softly as she looked over the three fillies, who had succumbed to their weariness a short while ago. Try as they might, they simply couldn’t keep their eyes open as the Night Princess told of what happened at the Ponyville Train Depot that day, but she knew it did not matter. She knew what she said, and the lessons to be learned, would sink into their hearts regardless.

After all, being Princess of the Night, Equestria’s stewardess of dreams and the realm of sleep, had its perks.

With a gentle sigh, the dark blue alicorn leaned forward, her horn aglow as she tucked back the rumpled quilt under which the three fillies lay. In response to the movement, instinct took over, and the ponies’ small forms curled closer to each other in a way that warmed Luna’s heart more than any fire could.

With a single thought, the magical cobalt flame in the room’s hearth extinguished itself, leaving neither an ember nor a puff of smoke as evidence. And with the only light in the room coming from the hall outside, Luna finally took notice of the form casting a shadow across the floor, standing in the doorway as it had been for quite some time.

“How long have you been lurking there, sister?” the dark alicorn asked, not having to look behind her to recognize who had intruded upon the young ponies’ “story time.”

“Oh... not too long.” The Sun Princess smiled coyly. “I happened to come by just as Spike got spirited away.”

“Midnight has long since passed.” Luna shook her head, turning away from the fillies with a longing expression before she had to crane her neck slightly to look up towards the light magenta eyes of her sibling. “You should be asleep.”

Anypony present would have agreed with Luna’s statement; Celestia, the Princess of the Sun, hardly appeared to be at her best. Her usual glowing radiance was suppressed at this time of night, and her golden hoofcuffs and regalia were conspicuously absent, as was the crown that many could not say they had ever seen her not wearing. This combination of missing royal props gave her what most ponies would think an “inappropriate” level of casualness. Her mane and tail still flowed like water, as Luna’s did, but they also appeared unkempt and less-than-perfectly maintained, giving the white alicorn’s normally indescribable, unobtainable regal beauty a degree of messiness that would have made some of the stiffer nobles faint.

Luna found her current appearance far more to her liking than the image that she had to maintain for the common Equestrian. It almost made her seem like a “normal” pony.

“What can I say, Lu? It’s Hearth’s Warming. The anniversary of one of the proudest days of our lives. You know I’ve never been able to sleep well during the holidays; Too many memories.”

Luna huffed slightly, shaking her head as she tried to suppress her amusement at Celestia’s nostalgic interpretation of what had been a very turbulent, trying time for both of them.

“And you will have to go to sleep in six. I thought I would keep you company for the rest of the night.” Celestia nodded, turning a bit to allow her sister to exit the room the three usually-troublesome fillies were now sleeping soundly in. “You always did have trouble staying up during the day.”

In years past, she would have argued about her inability to remain awake during the daylight hours when most ponies had only just gotten through breakfast and started their days. But the years since her return had given her a bit more maturity than she once had, allowing her to accept that, in spite of what many of their subjects thought, both she and her sister had their share of flaws.

“Thank you, sister,” Luna sighed softly, grateful for the company as she would miss the festivities while most ponies were awake.

“I am curious, though...” Celestia fell into step beside her younger sister as they walked down the dimly lit corridor. “That story...”

“Why would it be?” Luna responded. “Whatever else we may be, Tia, we are not omniscient.”

“And don’t I know it...” Celestia chuckled, the simple sound still managing to carry the kind of subtle grace and loveliness that the Night Princess loved to hear from her sister. “Still, I would like to hear it in full.”

————————

Stargazer Ridge
Ponyville, Everfree Province of Equestria
27th of Winter, 1002 C.R., 10:48 p.m.

Scootaloo the pegasus filly looked in awe at what now stood beside her, having spent the last half hour assembling the darn thing despite her hooves shaking from more than just the cold.

Scootaloo took in a breath, her heart racing slightly as she leaned forward, giving her last and most unexpected Hearth’s Warming gift a try.

Her mind had been racing as she followed the instructions by lantern light to set this thing up, remembering the events of just two days prior.

Her dad, Gus, and the Doctor got along well enough, although the brown stallion had tried to stay out from between the animated discussions of the entomologist and meteorologist who, surprisingly enough, happened to have quite a bit in common. Though, at certain points, he simply couldn’t resist throwing in an occasional jargon-laden correction or comment that flew way over her head (and sometimes over both the adults’ heads as well).

As for what they did for Hearth’s Warming, she had taken part in the sledding events with Doppler, which had won the pair a hefty bag of Bon Bon’s decadent salt-water taffies. And even though they didn’t win first place, she and Spike had tried their hooves (and claws, she supposed) at the snow sculptures.

She was still convinced they would have had a better chance at that Chocobee honey if Spike hadn’t sneezed halfway through and melted their first attempt.

But still, it had been fun, and although there had been some grumbling about a lack of gemstones during the dinner that the Doctor had prepared, it had been a very enjoyable experience for all involved. She didn’t know where the hay in Prance this “Paris” place was where he learned to cook, but if they ate like that all the time, she would seriously consider moving there.

As the sun started going down, Gus had excused himself after informing her father that he would certainly try to get back in touch with some of his old colleagues to see about starting up a new study. About what, she really had no idea, but apparently it was interesting enough for the no longer perpetually-gloomy pony to seriously consider coming out of retirement.

And then it was time for the customary Sharing of Gifts that had been a part of Hearth’s Warming tradition almost as long as the holiday had existed.

With Sweetie’s help, Scootaloo had gotten her dad a special ribbon setup to tie and wrap under his mane in order to prevent his glasses from sliding down his snout as they tended to do; something he clearly appreciated as he tended to lose them when flying at high altitude.

Her father had made special arrangements with a colleague of his in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory to test out a new cloud formation of condensed fog that was supposed to stay together even at lower altitudes. While this didn’t have many uses for the ECA (After all, who wanted to produce a rain cloud six inches off the ground?) it had “other” benefits.

But what had been most unexpected was when Spike had approached her with a gift box that she had not noticed before, making her wonder when the Doctor had found the time to slip away and get it. It had also shocked her upon opening the present to find a jar filled to the brim with fresh Chocobee honey, labeled as having been jarred that very same day. How that was even possible was beyond Scootaloo, but the question flew from her mind the moment she bit down on a piece of toast liberally smothered in the decadent treat.

Also confusing to her, and something that she chose not to share with her father, was the strange message written in a card that came taped to the jar.

What she found when she had gone to her room for the night had taken her breath away and opened up a thousand more questions that she still had no answer for.

It had taken two days of excruciating patience, but finally, she had been given the opportunity to try it out.

It was all she could think to say as the orange filly kept one eye to the lens of what had to be the most elaborate telescope array she had ever seen.

The image was perfect, crystal clear as she adjusted the focus slightly, making out what must have been Maresia, the nearest planet to Equis and so often mistakenly referred to as “the Red Star.” With this telescope, she could clearly make out the craters on its surface.

No, scratch that. She could see the craters inside those craters with this thing.

Attached to the box in which it was kept had been a single card, the inside of which simply read:

Scootaloo nudged the telescope gently to the side, focusing on tiny patch of sky and twisting a knob on a panel set into the apparatus. With no effort at all, she managed to catch a sparkling blue star in the sights of her new toy, the magnification mind-bogglingly intense enough to show the glowing ball’s shifting surface. She marvelled at the sight for just a moment before drawing back... and looking up to the glowing full moon overhead before she swallowed.

“Once...” she managed, although she doubted this was a promise that could be kept. “Just once...”

Scootaloo jumped several feet into the air as a new voice startled her, her wings buzzing loudly as she turned about, the fur on the back of her neck raised.

Her shock turned into awe a mere moment later as she realized who it was that had snuck up on her, now looking over her new telescope with an expression of interest.

“This is no common telescope, my young stargazer,” the dark blue alicorn commented, clearly impressed and taking no heed of the shock with which her appearance was met. “My understanding of the mechanics may be limited, but this could very well be more advanced than the ones used by Canterlot’s astronomy professors.”

Scootaloo stood shocked for a moment longer before she remembered herself, bowing down as low as she could bring herself.

“P...Princess Luna?” she stuttered out, although it was more of a realization than a question.

The last time she had seen the Princess of the Night had been at Nightmare Night the year before, although it seemed the ancient mare had managed to learn how to tone down her shouting, that only took the edge off of the intimidating nature presented by the Sovereign of the Lunar Court.

“Of course... I am well aware of the Cutie Mark Crusaders through my sister and the letters sent to us from yourself and your friends, the Elements.”

“And... I’m not in trouble?” Scootaloo asked, raising her head slightly when it dawned on her that the alicorn wasn’t about to do anything so drastic as to instigate a repeat of the Nightmare War. The question caused the Princess to turn her head.

“I don’t know, Your Highness,” Scootaloo managed as she stood to her hooves, trying to keep her legs from trembling. “I just thought... you know, with me being out late and by myself...”

“Is that all? That is hardly enough to warrant anypony being ‘in trouble.’” The alicorn shook her head, motioning to the telescope. “I merely took note of your interest in my night sky and thought I would grace the aspiring stargazer with my presence. But this...”

The Princess sounded intrigued as she moved towards the telescope, Scootaloo watching in amazement as she dipped her head down to look through it.

“The star you are looking at... Azure.” The Princess drew back. “It has always been one of my favorites. But even I have never seen it in such marvelous detail.”

“I know all of their names. Every single one.” The Princess gave a soft sigh before turning again to Scootaloo, who managed not to cringe under her gaze. “How did you come by this device?”

“It was a Hearth’s Warming present,” Scootaloo explained, and although she didn’t know why, she added: “From Doctor Clockwork.”

“Oh, yes.” Luna nodded. “And I’ve come to understand that when he happens to become involved with anypony, there is usually quite a story to come out of it.”

Scootaloo drew back slightly, and her hesitance was all of the proof that the Princess of the Night required.

“Uhhh, I don’t think that I’m supposed to tell anypony about it,” Scootaloo said simply, feeling uneasy as the alicorn laid down across from her.

“Oh, but I’m not just anypony, wouldn’t you agree?” Luna gave the filly a mischievous grin, something that she would have never expected on such a proper and regal figure. “But I understand that there are times when secrets must be kept.”

“Well, it’s not so much a secret as... well... ummm... I don’t...” Scootaloo stumbled for a moment before she considered.

“Alright...” she let out a small sigh. “Now, I’m only gonna tell this story one time. Could you promise me you’ll do the same?”

The Princess of the Night nodded, agreeing to the condition as the filly ran a nervous hoof over her purple mane.

“Well, it all started a couple of days before Hearth’s Warming... at the Ponyville Train Depot...”

Doctor Whooves - A Hearth's Warming Tale

by Loyal2Luna

Epilogue: The Doctor's Gift