center](Pre-Season 3 finale)Winter. A season of serenity and requiem. The season where families and lovers cuddle together to brace against the freezing snow, which as of now blanketed the bustling city of Canterlot, including the balcony on which the Princess of the Night's bedroom resided, causing the elder sister's holy light to cast off of the white fluff, beaming directly onto Luna's face. The princess emitted a gentle groan of discontent, cracking her eyes open, a mistake she swiftly realized was so when she was blinded by the snow glare. The Alicorn then decided to turn over, and rise up, her midnight blue comforter falling lazily off of the mare.
"These mornings come quicker than I remember…" Luna mumbled to herself, before sliding out of the king-sized bed, using her magic to quickly make the black-and-blue bed presentable to the public. The mare briefly glanced at herself in the mirror residing across the room, mane still flowing along with her tail just fine. Luna nodded in approval, before stepping out of the room into the gargantuan, snow white hallway, adorned with masterfully created paintings of the princesses with very important figures from various parts of history. Astonishing golden and silver vases lined the walls, sitting on shining granite pedestals, adorned with glistening patterns of blood-red rubies, oceanic sapphires, and grassy emeralds. The princess gave one more nod of approval, before stepping onto the scarlet carpet, beginning to trot down the hall.
Soon enough, Luna turned the corner to exit the hallway, and stepped down the main stairs nearly simultaneously with her elder sister, Princess Celestia, only a few steps behind her.
"Good morning, sister." Luna spoke in a barely formal tone, picking up her pace to walk beside her sister. Celestia glanced to her left, smiling at Luna.
"Oh, good morning Luna. I'm surprised to see you up at this hour." Celestia's tone was as gentle as ever. "You're usually the one to sleep in, especially during the winter."
Luna gave a small, sheepish smile in return. "Well I decided to rise earlier today. And greet your BLINDING sun." Luna looked out into space, implying she was looking at the sun.
"Blinding?" Celestia cocked her head, as the two sisters reached the bottom of the stairs, turning right.
"Yes, the snow glare hit directly on my face." The younger sister explained, Celestia giving off a small giggle.
"Oh, my poor sister." The alicorn teased, giving Luna a gentle nuzzle, to which Luna felt a small jolt in her heart.
"I know, I know." Luna playfully pushed her sister away as they swung open a marble white door, revealing the grand dining room, with a long, shining white table sat, two throne-like chairs sitting on either side of the table. White, less formal chairs, sat in complete perfection on either side, about ten of them to a side, glistening silver and gold plates and goblets in front of each chair. The rest of the room, however, was completely blank, save for a gray door with a circular window at the far, upper right corner of the room. Luna's horn lit up with a midnight blue, as did Celestia's with yellow, teleporting themselves to their respective sides…
"So, Luna, I heard you finally had success entering a dream for the first time since your return." Celestia spoke, turning to her dark sister as they stared out from atop the towering balcony, day having gone by after breakfast with relative monotony.
"Yes I have. It was quite an interesting experience…I had almost forgot how surreal It felt." Luna remembered with nostalgia her olden abilities, which had allowed her to go into multiple ponies dreams every night. Those would have to be regained in time, however.
"Did you enjoy it?" Celestia looked at her, wings stretching briefly.
"Very much so." Luna felt a smile creep onto her face as she thought of the small filly's face lighting up in happiness over defeating her fears.
"Good. Well, I'd love to continue this conversation, but I have mail to check." Celestia's voice rose to a casual one, the personal softness erasing as the white Alicorn turned to reenter the castle.
"I'll see you later then." Luna nodded, spreading her wings and casually flying down to the ground to inspect the castle's grounds.
Celestia absentmindedly trotted back to her room, and lay down gently on her large, scarlet pillow which resided next to an unlit fireplace, sunlight firing through the glass windows near the ceiling in front of Celestia. The princess sighed, glancing down at the large stack of scrolls in front of her, knowing quite a few of them wouldn't be something she could handle or have the time for.
"Let's see…junk mail?" Celestia glared, seeing several scrolls of useless advertisements as her horn glowed, promptly lighting the fireplace. Soon enough, the Sun Goddess tossed the scrolls casually into the fire. An uncouth thing to do for a princess, but she was alone and happy about it. "Now…for more important things." She levitated a scroll upwards, unrolling it. It had immediately captured her attention.
"A letter from Twilight?" Celestia unrolled it swiftly; curious to see what could possibly be so important that a letter from her student couldn't wait until later, when she had more personal time.
"Dear Princess Celestia," Said princess's voice mumbled softly, as she read aloud. "It is my pleasure to inform you that I believe I have discovered a new reptilian species off of the edge of the Alamaregan volcano, due to my visit there. The species in indescribably unique and is relatively small. I would love it if you were to come and see this new species for yourself, as I find it incredibly fascinating. More will be explained when, and if, you do come. The prime time for you to come would be at about six o' clock P.M., tonight. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia smiled proudly at the thought of her student discovering the new species. However, the smile faded swiftly as her mind drifted. Celestia's personal interests had always drifted to more avian studies, rather than herpetological (Herpetology, the study of reptiles). Her sister Luna, however, always seemed fascinated with reptiles, so this would be a fantastic opportunity for her! Celestia rose to her hooves, eager to inform her darker sister.
Luna lay on her deep, midnight blue bed, sighing as she stared out into the land, wing slightly draped over her head to cover her eyes from the blinding sunlight, which was actually doing little to melt the snow which had overflowed Canterlot. However, Luna's ears perked up as she turned to look at the source of gentle clopping behind her.
"Oh, hello sister." Luna felt herself warm up slightly, reason unknown as she stood, Celestia grinning back.
"Hello Luna. I received a letter from Twilight that I think you will enjoy reading, and possibly taking up on her offer." Celestia levitated the open letter to Luna, who silently took it, scanning it over. Celestia watched with amusement as the smile on her dear sister's face grew larger and larger, before she let up.
"Oh, this is fantastic!" Luna beamed, wings spreading out in excitement. A new species! Think of the possibilities! It could be fire-breathing, it could breathe underwater, it could absorb electricity, or it could live in groups of 10,000! Imagine! 10,000 fire-breathing, scaly, elusive creatures that have survived for thousands of years, rain nor sleet nor snow deterring the reptiles!
"So, I take you will be joining Twilight in the studies of this new creature?"
"Yes!" Luna nodded, rolling up the scroll and levitating it onto her bed, ignoring it. "I'm so eager to see this wonderful new creature…"
"Well then, you'd better hurry." Celestia chuckled softly. "I'd assume you'd like to go to the volcano with Twilight, whom without a doubt will be returning." Luna nodded in agreement, and immediately flashed back to her chambers to prepare.
The wooden door rapped with an echo, the silence in the library unusual as the lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, continued her feverous search for any hint of this old species being discovered previously as she scanned the same book for the umpteenth time. Twilight glanced at the door, heart leaping just as her body did from her sitting position as she realized the time, dashing over eagerly to swing open the door.
"Princess Celestia, I'm so happy you-." Her excited rant beginning was ended before it could begin as instead of the snow white, rainbow-maned Alicorn, she was greeted with the midnight blue, starry-maned sister of the latter, adorned in a brown hat with two, camouflage bags slung over her saddle, looking almost comically out of character. Twilight didn't know what to say, but knowing she had to muster up something soon, she could only let out a misspoken "Oh." to Princess Luna. However, soon enough, Twilight realized what she had said, and quickly began to correct herself.
"Oh, Princess Luna! How nice to see you!" Slight disappointment not showing, Twilight stepped aside to let the Princess of the Night in, Luna stepped inside of the dimly illuminated library, few candles being lit as the fires wisped across their wicks.
"Hello, Twilight." Luna gave a gentle smile, closing the door behind her. The door closing, and the gentle smile, including the surprise visit and dimly lit atmosphere created an oddly intimate atmosphere.
Luna craved for her sister to be with her in this library.
"I'm assuming you'd like to see the lizard…" Twilight let out a gentle smirk, a bit of pride swelling in her chest at such an amazing discovery. Luna had a hard time remaining regal as she let out an eager nod, the fascinating creature so close to her. Twilight turned; tail flicking lightly as she trotted off towards her study desk, books stacked on either side of the wooden table. Luna followed behind immediately.
And there it sat, in a small cage with glass for the siding and a metal slider for the roof. A small patch of linen was used for substrate (flooring), and small antennas of consumed crickets were scarcely littered about the cage. The stone-grey creature pattered and climbed about, pads on its toes letting it climb up the sides of the tall cage, as its fire-red eyes stared into Luna's, odd indents inside of its back lining down, seeming to glow a neon orange. The princess nearly squeaked in excitement, darting forward to watch the creature. As she stared, the lizard's holes in its back seemed to flare up, as it cracked open its small jaw, an almost unrealistic onslaught of flames clashed against the steel, causing it to grow from red, to orange, to pearly white. Luna backed up, the smoke lightly rising from the scalded metal as the lizard's holes seemed to cool back to a light grey, eyes still burning with the fire inside. The lizard then promptly resumed its rapid scuttling and desperate attempts to escape.
"It's acting as if it's panicked, like it's scared of being here." Twilight said in a rather formal tone, as if merely studying the creature instead of caring about its emotions. Luna cracked a grin.
"Twilight, this is fascinating! However, I think we need to take it to the Canterlot scientists, we can't keep it here. After all, we need to go back to the Alamaregan Volcano to investigate this species!" Luna's grin became almost Nightmare Moon-like as she felt herself flow with pure ecstasy as she thought of going to such an exotic place. She hadn't been there in centuries! If there was a new reptile, imagine what else could have changed!
"I concur, Princess." Twilight smiled and nodded. "We should set off as soon as we can!...You seem to already be ready, though." Twilight let out a small giggle, Luna simply nodding.
"I have already informed the scientists, I had inferred that you would want them to take a hold of the species as well."
"As per usual, you were right." Twilight hummed, trotting back over to her bed, rummaging under it. Luna sighed lightly, staring out the open window, a chilling breeze flowing through it as she discovered that even Ponyville wasn't safe from Mother Nature's wrath, a thick blanket of fluff encrusting the ground here, shimmering from her own moonlight. Luna sighed in content, closing her eyes, an odd picture of her sister wrapping her arms around Luna and warming her as the two curled up together in the snow causing unease in the dark Alicorn.
"Ready!" Luna was interrupted from her trance by the unicorn from the other side of the library breaking the silence, adorned in a green scarf, with a bright white, fluffy coat. Luna smiled eagerly, uncomforting thoughts being erased.
"Perfect!" Luna grinned, as she swung the door open for Twilight. "Then let us go!" She stepped out into the crunchy snow, staring off into the distance as she sighed, flicking her tail as Twilight followed behind her.
"Is…something wrong, Princess?" Catching the sigh, Twilight asked cautiously, trotting around her to look her in the eyes.
"Everything's fine, Twilight Sparkle." Luna assured, looking off into the mountains, knowing the elder volcano lay there. "Let us go. We have no time to waste."