Canterlot City is typically described as a central hub of activity for all Equestria, after all why wouldn’t it be? It was founded over a thousand years ago and was still to this day the home of Celestia and Luna. Many heirs and investors made the mountainside city their home for the prestige and influence it offered its citizens. The demographic was almost entirely unicorn, but it was a fact that typically went unnoticed or altogether ignored in day to day life. After all it wasn’t as if they intentionally excluded other races, they just weren’t the type to mingle with anyone.
This, however, is all common knowledge. What is not quite as well known is that the usually bustling city atmosphere would dim down to something wholly more quiet once the weather started to warm. It was typical for the upper crust to use the summer months for luxurious vacations to all corners of the globe, and with a brand new destination of the crystal empire open to all, the number of ponies out and about was at an all-time low.
The castle itself, nestled at the top of the city proper, was just as diminished as the rest of the city. Much of the staff was allotted a long vacation around this time while only those who opted to take this time off around Heart’s Warming Eve would stay to tend to the needs of the royal sisters, or more often than not only the single sister. Luna proved to be mostly unsure of herself still in the modern political atmosphere, despite the years to acclimate, leaving Celestia a far more prominent voice.
As for the new prince, Shadow Chaser, he got to use the castle’s pool. It was a quaint area of the castle, a courtyard blossoming with all forms of fauna, which attracted countless colorful birds and butterflies. The pool itself was built to appear natural, with rocks around the edges and a tall waterfall to feed in and serve as a filter.
Unfortunately Shadow took to the water about as well as a housecat. He could swim, of course, and was actually pretty good at it, but getting the water out of his wings was always a lengthy and annoying ordeal, especially because they were growing faster than the rest of him was, and the tips were completely out of reach should the need to preen present itself.
The only reason he was in the pool was because he didn’t particularly have anything better to do. He had played through every single one of the video games and movies in his room and playing pretend on his own had ceased to fascinate him days ago. He really needed a playmate, preferably soon.
Unfortunately it seemed that he had run out of friends. Lightning was still in Ponyville while he had no chance of escaping Canterlot again. Iris had lost contact with him completely, something about her mother wanting her to avoid negative influences. Mesa had been brought to live with the buffalo in the Appaloosa region where they had a few trusted agents knowing of his extra temporal origins. Perhaps worst of all, for him at least, was that Celestia and Letterheart had worked in a joint effort to finally bring Vinyl back to her normal age, meaning she would no longer have anything to do with him.
Thinking about all this brought him to sit in the shallow end, blowing bubbles with his muzzle under the water. At least he had some chance of hanging out with his other friends again; Vinyl was everything but a lost cause. Naturally this only made him feel lonelier, prompting him to grumble almost nothing to no one in particular.
“Prince Shadow!” a slightly tinny voice came from the garden’s edge “Letter for you!”
Shadow sat up in the water, looking curiously over to see a young mare in a maid’s outfit walking toward him. He smiled, this was Cherry Blossom, one of the servants whose job it was to keep him in check while Luna was busy elsewhere. He jumped out of the pool, shaking himself like a dog to dislodge the water stuck to his coat.
“Shall I read it to you?” asked Cherry.
“I can read…” Shadow grumbled, taking the scroll and unfurling it on the ground, already knowing who it was from.
“Hey Shadow!” it read in an all too familiar messy scrawl “Great news! Saber finally has duty in Canterlot! And he’s letting me come with him so I can visit! He seems to think you had something to do with it though, did you? It’s kind of cool to think I’ve got a friend with so much, like, influence. By the way, do you know what happened to that glowy necklace? Vinyl told me she would leave it in your cabin but I’ve been back there and I haven’t seen it. Well I’m running out of scroll already (I think Sabre is buying the cheap kind) so I suppose I need to stop writing now, can’t wait to see you again!” Shadow prepared for a gleeful shout, but paused as he noticed the post script “PS, make sure the popcorn machine is fixed before I get there.”
“Important news I assume?” said Cherry, seeming curious but still respectful.
Shadow could’ve laughed “Yeah it is!” he said excitedly “I need to head back up to my room, could you get me a towel please?”
A quick dry, some mild room cleaning, and the space of about four hours passed in heated anticipation of Lightning’s arrival. Sabre was going to be on the city’s evening patrol so Luna’s time to raise the moon had come and gone before the familiar red pelt came into view, racing across the drawbridge at the speed of her namesake.
Shadow was standing in the main foyer with Luna, his wings fluttering madly in anticipation. The tall alicorn put a hoof on his shoulder to steady him, hoping he would hold some degree of sanity. “Remember,” she said, glaring down at him “Getting to play with your friends is a privilege, not a right. If I catch you sneaking off the castle grounds tonight you lose your television for a month.”
“I know…” said Shadow begrudgingly, but he remembered less than a second later that the castle and garden would have plenty of secrets for them to discover without leaving…
Before he could really finish this thought however, the red flash barreled into him full speed, electric blue tail flashing back and forth as her hooves wrapped around him in a firm hug. “Shadow!” Lightning practically squealed “You have no idea how boring school is without you there! I was ready to climb the walls! Cheerilee kept pairing me up with Fussy Budget! Do you have any idea how annoying she is?”
“Give him a chance to breathe, Light,” said Sabre, only a little behind in his heavy armor, but looking much more winded “Sabre Strike, reporting to duty Princess.”
“Very prompt timing,” said Luna, waving a hoof as she resisted her own urge to laugh “You’re almost an hour early, though I think I could guess the cause.”
“Yes…” said Saber, watching as Lightning and Shadow fell into what seemed to be some form of competitive catching up “She tends to be very energetic when it comes to this sort of thing…”
“Well she’s in good hooves now, don’t worry,” said Luna, smiling reassuringly “You’ll be taking the western perimeter tonight, we’ve noticed a rise in activity over Neverspring and we’d like to be prepared for any possibility.”
Saber shuddered imperceptibly “But Neverspring… that’s the home of…”
“Yes,” said Luna, cutting him off mid-sentence “I understand your misgivings, but we need every hoof we have available in case of an emergency situation, can I trust you to do your duty?”
Saber’s muscles tensed as he let out a slow breath “Yes ma’am…” he said, fire burning behind his eyes.
“Very good,” said Luna “Captain Dusk Stone will be waiting for you on the outer wall, bring me back some good news.”
“Understood,” said Saber, snapping off a salute then turning to Lightning “Stay safe alright? I mean it this time…”
“Yeah, sure,” said Lightning, not really paying attention “And then Scootaloo just walks right up to Silver Spoon and…”
Saber sighed, bowing to Luna once more as he marched off, across the drawbridge, and down toward the wall.
“Can I trust you two not to cause any trouble if I let you wander about the castle?” asked Luna to the two foals, smiling kindly down at them “If you two create any more chaos you know there will have to be consequences.”
“I think we’ve pretty much learned that first hoof,” said Shadow, showing just a little humility for once “There isn’t anything in the abandoned theatre is there? Lightning and I were gonna try to put on a play!”
“Can you send us some costumes and stuff too?” asked Lightning in a pleading voice “Like pirate stuff, or armor, or…”
“There’s an old dress-up set in Cadence’s old room,” said Luna with a smile “I’ll have them brought to you, do you think that will be enough?”
“Some royal guard’s armor would be cool too…” said Shadow as Lightning rolled her eyes.
“I’ll see to it,” said Luna “Now run along you two, I’m sure it will take some time to set the stage before you even begin.”
“Yeah, she’s probably right,” said Shadow “How are we setting it up again?”
“We’re going to be doing pirate robots,” said Lightning “So we want to do a water scene get the waves and cannons and stuff, maybe see if we can take any of the broken electronic stuff to use as robot guts!”
“But I thought we were gonna do knights versus a dragon…” said Shadow, sounding somewhat dismayed “And robots are used all the time, why would you want to do that?”
The two began wandering along the corridor in the vague direction of the stage. Luna repressed the urge to laugh again, finding the squabble highly reminiscent of her own with Celestia. As her train of thought travelled down the tracks to her solar sister she realized that now would probably be an opportune moment to talk with her about the rising of Neverspring, or at least as good of a moment as any really was.
After tipping off the guards to the two foals’ need of costume supplies she directed her attention to the golden steps up to her sister’s room. Things may have been somewhat tense as of late, but a lengthy discussion was nigh unavoidable.
Celestia herself was in deep thought within her own chamber, poring over a pile of old looking scrolls. When she finished with one she would oh so carefully roll it back and add it to the stack of those already perused, a consistent shield spell holding the parchments to protect them from falling apart at the movement.
The quick tapping upon the golden entryway broke her concentration as she turned toward the voice permeating the thick door magically, “Celestia,” Luna spoke “May we converse?”
Celestia’s heart sank somewhat, it had been a long while since Luna had called her professionally by her name and not something more intimate, “Dear Sister,” or even merely “Sister” seemed like an ancient past. Even if things were sour in their relationship, it still hurt to hear the one closest to her call her by her formal name. She heaved a sigh, gingerly returning the scrolls to their small cubby in the wall and sealing the gap so it appeared just as if it were part of the rest of the wall.
Luna apparently wasn’t waiting for a response as the door rolled open and Celestia turned to face her. “We need to discuss Neverspring,” she said professionally “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, we are more than likely on the verge of another attack…”
“Yes, I am aware,” said Celestia, sounding somehow more somber than usual “I’ve heightened the guard in the villages near the border as well as those here in Canterlot.”
“But are you sure that will be enough to keep them at bay?” asked Luna “After all they had a very successful attack to more than three years ago, they will be bold…”
‘That is one of the reasons I’m not nearly so worried,” said Celestia “They were overly confident last time, and had a much more forward assault. Their troops will be much diminished. If they decide to attack we’ll be more than ready for them”
“But don’t you think they might be planning some sort of more tactful strategy?” said Luna “Chrysalis is not ignorant about these things, if she’s attacking then she must have something she expects to serve as a catalyst to her victory.”
“There are very few magical artifacts to that effect that are unaccounted for,” said Celestia “Your son has ensured that rather well… It’s going to be several years before the pool of desires can be activated again, the ageless gauntlets have been sealed beyond the reach of any pony, and the cone of time, one of the few lost artifacts still in existence, has been discovered and secured.”
Luna nodded at each acknowledgement, secretly proud of Shadow, outwardly refusing to show it “There are still things in Equestria she could use toward her disastrous advantage,” she said, forcing a calm tone “The mirror pool for instance, or the blasphemous rift, Twilight’s mirror… that’s just to name a few!”
“Most of those are in our control,” said Celestia, praying Luna wouldn’t dwell on thoughts of the rift “Or at least sealed, protected, and secured. If she has some magical artifact in her possession it would be relatively new...”
There was an intimidated silence as both princesses realized at the same moment. “The only recent artifact,” said Luna tensely “Would have to be the shards of Nightmare Moon’s armor…”
“You did secure those did you not?” said Celestia, determined not to let her worry affect her, “What sort of precautions are in place?”
“I scattered the shards,” said Luna with shaky confidence “They’re miles apart. Especially the helm, I placed that well beyond her reach…”
“Are you certain of this?” asked Celestia urgently “Is there no way Chrysalis could obtain the pieces?”
Luna shook her head, betraying her misgivings “I am certain of the helm…” she said with false confidence “Though it would be prudent to send in a patrol to confirm…”
“If you think it’s necessary then go,” said Celestia “You and I both know what horrifying potential that… demon… could posses with the changeling queen harboring her… And what dire consequences would be needed to prevent it…”
“Of course…” said Luna in a fearful tone, pure horror flashing behind her eyes at the very thought, “I will go about the examinations with all haste…”
The crisp, professional tone may as well have been a whip used against her as Luna turned and left the room. Celestia released a pained sigh, Luna was afraid, terrified even, of the result that may come from this event, but she wouldn’t confide these feelings even in her own sister. It felt like a new low in their relationship, one from which they might never return…
“So they actually broke down the wall?” asked Shadow, rolling a large papier-mâché boulder across the stage “That really sucks, I liked that tree-house…”
“It was kind of falling apart on its own remember,” said Lightning, standing on one of the platforms that held up a castle piece “They didn’t do much, but they knocked a huge hole right through the big carving, you know the one with the sun and moon? It makes me almost feel like they might have been looking for something…”
“Oh man…” said Shadow, oblivious to her doubts “I really liked that one, now we’ll never know what it said.”
“I just want to know why some pony would do that,” said Lightning, jumping down from the platform to push another one of the cardboard castle walls into place “I think there was a hollow spot there already, there were a few smooth parts where I think the gap was…”
“Oh well,” said Shadow, still not seeming to care about whatever lost treasure may or may not have been hidden in their playhouse “It’s not like I’m going to be seeing Ponyville again for the next year…”
“Don’t talk like that…” said Lightning “Iris isn’t even allowed outside anymore, meaning you’re pretty much the only friend I have left. If you end up getting in more trouble and staying here longer I’m going to kill you.”
“Oh, well kill your only friend then why don’t you?” said Shadow with a smirk “I bet you’ll be a lot less lonely after that huh?”
“Fine, I won’t kill you then,” said Lightning, sticking her tongue out playfully “But I will do something even worse, so don’t let it happen.”
They burst into a synchronized laughing fit, but were cut off abruptly as the door to the auditorium swung open. They turned to observe the newcomers, surprised not just to see Princess Twilight, but even more so to find that she wasn’t alone. A tall yellow stallion was with her, his mane a massive explosion of a familiar electric blue.
“Flash…?” asked Lightning in curious recognition.
Twilight and her accompaniment turned in surprise, clearly not expecting anyone else to be here. “Lightning?” said the stallion, obviously not believing his eyes.
Lightning gave a self confident smile “It’s been a long time cuz!” she said excitedly, dashing over to them while Shadow, still somewhat bewildered, followed behind her.
“Yeah, it has,” said the stallion, giving Lightning a quick hug then turning to the pegasus “Prince Shadow is it? I don’t think we’ve met before. Flash Sentry, I’m a lieutenant posted at the crystal empire.”
“That’s what I thought…” said Lightning, eyes narrowing in suspicion “So what are you doing all the way out here in Canterlot?”
Twilight, who had been silent throughout this exchange, blushed a light pink and turned away. “Called to duty here,” said Flash, sounding much rehearsed “Celestia’s tightening the guard for some reason or another, you know how it is.”
“Uh-huh…” said Lightning, eyebrows bouncing as she looked between Twilight and Flash, “And I suppose she’s just giving you the grand tour of the castle huh…?”
“Yep, that’s right,” said Flash, proving his worth as a brilliant liar “So what are you guys doing here?”
“We’re trying to make a play!” said Shadow, seeming totally oblivious to the previous exchange “We finally decided to just do a castle and dragon sort of thing… except there’s no dragon… and it really isn’t our story… we couldn’t think of a story that had both pirates and robots anyway.”
Flash laughed “Well if you guys are ready we would love to watch you!”
“Flash…” said Twilight “We really should go…”
“Aw, come on Twiley,” said Flash, eliciting another blush “It’ll be fun for us and them.”
“Please!” said Lightning enthusiastically “We worked really hard on the story and the set and…well… everything! You’ve got to see it, please!”
“Well… Alright,” said Twilight, knowing full well that when Flash made up his mind about something she had pretty much no hope in the world of changing it.
Lightning and Shadow made a mad dash for the curtain again, kicking aside the stone that was holding the wheel in place, letting it spin closed with a loud poof. “So how do you know that guy?” asked Shadow as they scrambled to finish setting up in the dim light.
“He’s my cousin,” said Lightning “We really don’t know each other well though, we’ve met maybe two, three times?”
“I guess working for the guard runs in the family huh?” said Shadow, snapping the black cape that was his costume around his neck “Not going to go into duty on me are you?”
“Not in a million years,” said Lightning, clambering up onto the tower platform and donning a plastic crown “Alright, let’s go!”
And so the curtain rose and an unsuspecting couple was bombarded with an entire thirty minutes worth of two young ponies play-acting the first part of legend of Zelda, with Shadow playing everyone from Link to Ganon while Lightning acted as all the females, Malon to Ruto. There were occasional long pauses when they rushed backstage to change costume. Lightning did this more than Shadow because he was almost always Link.
As the curtain finally fell, Twilight and Flash politely clapped at Shadow’s procuring of the master sword, apparently the end of the skit. Lightning and Shadow dashed out in front of the curtain to give one last excited bow.
The door to the auditorium swung open again as they looked up, a little bit disappointed to see Princess Luna. They knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth.
“Bedtime, children,” said the princess of the night sweetly, but curtly “You’ve been awake for much longer than is really healthy for foals your age.”
“Okay…” Lightning and Shadow groaned in unison, resigned to the fate of plush beds and fuzzy dreams. They padded quietly after Luna down toward the rear left tower, yawning on occasion.
“So did you have fun today?” Luna queried as they started up the steps “It looked like you were giving Twilight quite a show.”
“I just want to know what she was planning to do with Flash in that big room… alone…” said Lightning, smirking at Luna, who smiled and rolled her eyes knowingly.
“Maybe they were putting on a play themselves,” Shadow suggested “that was kind of really awesome.” He smiled obliviously as Lightning gave him an incredulous look.
“They were kissing you idiot,” said Lightning as hoof met face.
Luna permitted a soft giggle this time as she opened the door to Shadow’s room. By his request it had not been subject to the usual cleaning ritual the rest of the castle went through each night and had accumulated a comfortable filth. It wasn’t necessarily a mess, but it was clear no one other than Shadow would be able to find anything important among the clutter.
Of course Lightning took to the mess like a fish to water, finding a path through to the miniature theatre setup faster than her namesake. “Can’t you keep anywhere you live clean?” she asked sarcastically as she got comfortable in one of the big fold-down chairs.
“Your things are over by the bed area,” said Luna, effectively preventing Shadow’s angry reply “Don’t stay awake longer than an hour, or I’ll have to use a sleeping spell.”
“Okay!” said Shadow, tail wagging at the permission of another hour of gaming, hopefully involving finally being able to beat Lightning at… well… anything…
Luna turned to leave but was stopped by a sudden stuttering shout “W-wait!” Lightning called from on top of the larger of the beds.
“Yes?” said Luna inquisitively, turning back to see Lightning standing on the bed itself, shuffling her hooves and blushing slightly.
“I… I was wondering…” she said timidly “If… if you would… I mean if you want me to… maybe… play for you…?” she held up her guitar case, partially to emphasize the point, but also somewhat to hide her blushing face. It was clear she was intimidated, but she seemed to have made up her mind.
“I would love to hear you play,” said Luna, smiling kindly “I’ve heard that you’re very good, is there something in particular you want to play for me?” Lightning seemed to ponder this for a moment, and then nodded with resignation. Shadow went silent as she uncased the guitar, realizing how enormous of a moment this must be for her.
Lightning, for her part, seemed to have lost all capacity for speech. She may be on very good terms with the princess, but that didn’t change the fact she held a lot of status. It may not have weighed down quite as much as a member of the Canterlot orchestra would have experienced, but she was still performing for royalty, and even such a young pony knew that this was an enormous privilege. A shaking hoof found its place on the neck of the guitar while the other hesitantly moved forward to strum the first note.
And with that single movement all of Lightning’s anxiety melted away in the heat of radiant music. The melody she played was unfamiliar, unlike anything she ever played before, mysteriously soothing and yet at the same time holding all the power of the night. It painted the imagery of the starry sky embracing the world in pale luminescence, as if each note she played the song gained more semblance to Luna’s majestic creation.
Shadow’s ears flickered in recognition. He could swear with great certainty he had never heard this symphony of the night, and yet his mind knew each note before it left the strings. Somewhere, somehow, he knew this song, for it was a song, he knew that as well, but it seemed like Lightning didn’t know the words.
And then they came forth, and Shadow looked in astonishment to see his mother, who seemed to know the song by heart…
Hush now my child, the night’s come to play
To dance through the dreams and the shadows
Rest now my child, the time’s come to play
In dreamland you’ll dance and be joyous
Calm now my child, the world sleeps today
For time will stand still in the quiet
All ponies sleeping, they soon will away
Deep into slumber and dreamland
Fall now the sunlight, give rise to the moon
The starry night sky will soon claim its boon
And all those below her, the weary and weak
May find now in solace, the rest that they seek
Come now my child and soon we’ll away
Into the world of enchantment
Rest now my child, in dreams you will play
Away from the darkness and shadows
The final word of her chorus ended far longer than the others, and both Lightning and the Princess seemed to know it prior. Luna had tears in her eyes as the song drew to a close, leaving Shadow even more anxious and desperate than ever to remember where he might have heard it before.
“Did… did you like it…?” Lightning said, sounding unsure of herself, but quiet and reserved rather than afraid.
“Where did you learn this song…?” asked Luna, maintaining her composure despite the clearly intense emotion.
“I don’t know…” said Lightning “It’s just one of those moments… where a song sort of just… comes to me… do you know it…?”
The insistent instinct that he knew the song from somewhere made Shadow all the more eager to know the answer. Luna, however, seemed to need a moment to pull herself together before providing a suitable response.
“That… that song… I created it…” said Luna “It has never been played… for I only sang it but once… on the night I had to deliver my most precious treasure to the hooves of the one I loved…”
Lightning’s eyes widened, apparently coming to a revelation Shadow still couldn’t see “This song…” said Luna “Is Shadow’s lullaby…”
“I knew I remembered it…” said Shadow quietly, mind of course not entirely registering the event, but glad at least to know where it had come from.
“How did I know the song?” asked Lightning, half to herself “How could I have heard it?”
“You haven’t,” said Luna, “You are of a very few special ponies with the gift to perceive the echoes of time. It’s a very rare trait, seen less than once every hundred years or more. It’s not fully understood, but ponies with that ability can sense music from a person or place regarding their past or their future. Minstrels would use this ability to win the favor of kings and those in high office during the medieval times, and were usually the only really successful magicians before the Equestrian Renaissance.”
“Oh!” said Shadow, desperate to opine on the subject “You told me a story about that a few nights ago! About the gypsy bard remember? He was an earth pony or something who magically knew the royal ballad and used it to become quick friends with Celestia!”
“Beatle I believe his name was,” said Luna “And a true story it was. He was the court jester for a very long time and was paid handsomely for it, though that was a millennium and a half in the past.”
“But why would I be one of these time echo ponies?” asked Lightning “I’m not even a unicorn, why would it be me?”
“Beatle was an earth pony…” Shadow muttered.
“I believe any doubt you have might be abolished simply by examining the mark on your flank.” Said Luna with a smile.
“Mark on my flank…?” asked Lightning incredulously “But I don’t have my cutie…” her voice trailed off as she turned her head to observe the pattern now emblazoned on her thigh. A full round moon, crossed by the staff and notes of the song she had just played. She uttered a gasp, head going light enough she could have fainted.
“Wow…” said Shadow “I bet no one’s had a cutie mark like that in like forever! That’s so awesome!”
Lightning herself had been stunned into silence, enthralled and mystified by her own talent. She stood up and walked around in a circle several times, as if to make sure she could still see the image from all angles.
“I’ve really done it…” she said at last “I… I got my cutie mark!” she squeaked in delight as the full manifestation of joy that accompanied her newfound talent came rushing forth “And it’s a music cutie mark! I’m a musician, Shadow!” she pulled her friend into a slightly-too-tight hug as she giggled with glee.
“Yes, it is a unique and wonderful talent,” said Luna “But you will have to improve and refine it until you’ve mastered it completely. But that will come later, for now, you need your well deserved sleep.”
Lightning didn’t even bother to argue, as she bounced into the lower part of one of the bunk beds, still giggling with joy. Shadow was all but intimidated into following suit, claiming the bunk directly above hers.
Luna was momentarily perplexed by the foal’s seemingly practiced lack of desire to use the plush center bed, but shrugged it off, trotting over to lightly kiss Shadow’s forehead. “Sweet dreams my little prince,” she said.
“Aw mom…” Shadow said and squirmed “That’s embarrassing, Lightning’s here…”
Luna smiled, leaning down and planting a similar kiss on Lightning “And good night too you as well, honorable princess.”
Lightning beamed, snuggling into the covers as she was unable to find a suitable answer to this. However as Luna opened the bookshelf passage and walked out, a few words passed her tired lips “Goodnight…mom…”
“Mom?” Shadow queried from above, peeking over the edge to look down at Lightning. To his surprise she seemed to have already fallen asleep. He merely shrugged it off, proceeding to roll over as he began the venture to join her in dreamland.