//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: That Which Goes Bump In The Night // Story: Lunae Revertere // by AnarchyArcher //------------------------------// Lunae Revertere Chapter Two: That Which Goes Bump In The Night The filly gulped, ducking back into the doorway as Luna turned around to face her. She could hardly believe it, her idol - the Princess of the Night herself - was right there! The unicorn peered around the doorway cautiously, wide eyes locked on Luna. Her mind was buzzing with barely withheld excitement, almost squeeing with glee. I found her! And I didn't get caught! Oh my gosh oh my gos- As Luna looked around for the newcomer, suddenly the throne room door was pushed open farther as if of its own volition. The small pony yelped, ducking down to hide herself, but there was nothing to hide behind. The princess's eyebrows raised when she saw the young filly, then almost immediately afterwards spotting the culprit behind the opening door. "it would appear that somepony is here to see you Princess." Commander Umbra chuckled, hovering silently near the top of the doorway. "Storm Cloud spotted her climbing over the castle wall and quite the clever one she is. Avoided all those silly Solar guardsponies, at least." The filly turned bright red as he continued talking, circling down to land beside her. "Got over the wall by hovering rocks up in front of her and using them as a staircase apparently, so she was quite dedicated in getting here." Luna smiled softly at the crouched unicorn, walking slowly over to the doorway. When she got within a length of her, the Princess stopped and sat. Gently lifting the filly's head up to look at her, noting how her chest was moving quite quickly and her eyes were darting around like a cornered Ursa, asked quietly: "My little pony that worked so hard to get here... what is your name?" Gulping, she started to respond. "M.. mah name is..." The filly blushed, clearing her throat slightly and sitting up on her haunches. No! Speak clearly, you worked on this! Think of how those others spoke! She gulped, trying to put away her country accent. "My name is St.. Star Fall..." The little unicorn bowed, horn nearly touching the ground as she used the gesture to hide how nervous she was. The princess giggled quietly, raising a hoof to her face to cover her grin. "Dearest Star Fall, why hast thou come to me? T'was no easy feat, even getting by my sister's Royal Guards, if not my own Shadowguard." She gave a little bow to Umbra, as she continued: "Or even my hoof chosen Shadowbolts." Luna got up, walking over to Star Fall's side, much to the surprise of the little filly. As the little pony seemed to sit there in shock, the Princess of the Night leaned over to her Commander. "You're dismissed, I do believe I can handle one little filly." He nodded, ears twitching slightly to show his acceptance of her dominance. Glancing once over at the unicorn, the batpony took off, fly out through open doors and closing them gently behind him. Once she was sure Umbra had gone - or, as Luna suspected, taken up a hiding spot to watch over them - the lunar princess wrapped a wing hesitantly around the young filly. "So, why did you brave all of them? You could have much more easily gone to my sister, she has daily counsels for this sort of thing..." A look passed over her face, like she didn't like saying it. "B... but you don't..." Star Fall looked up hesitantly, shivering under the princess's wing. Her eyes couldn't quite meet Luna's, but she glanced up at her periodically as she continued. "I... I wanted to see you... since you... you set out the stars and moon..." The filly eeped, curling up under her saddlebags. Luna giggled at how her silvery mane fell over her eyes, lifting it magically out her face. "You like my work with the stars?" She asked softly, taking off Star Fall's saddlebags and setting them nearby with a sad smile. "I didn't think that anyone got to see them, since everypony sleeps during the night..." Breathing shakily, the small filly tried to collect her thoughts together. Oh my... I'm really talking to her... and... and she's talking to me...! Her thoughts were racing trying to come up with something to say. Pulling out of her idols hug, Star Fall turned to face the princess unsteadily. She gulped down her nervousness she ventured a quick glance up at Luna. The princess of the moon was gazing down at her kindly, but her eyes said something more. As the alicorn drew back in the wing that had been around her, the filly identified it. She's... lonely? "Y.. yeah, well, ah usually... I mean, I don't sleep much at night. I have to tend to mah-..." She faked a cough, trying to hide her accent. "Ahem, tend to my family's fields when they're all asleep, so the stars are the only things that keep me company..." When Star Fall looked up again, her thoughts of how the princess were solidified in Luna's sad smile. The alicorn looked like she was about to cry, but with a shake of her head what had looked like tears seemed to disappear. A small smile curled Luna's muzzle upwards as she lay down next to the small filly. "You... you're the first one I've heard to ever even look up at them, besides my Shadowbolts and Guard..." The princess sighed, head hanging lower than before despite the smile. "I thought no one liked them." "That's not true!" Star Fall blurted out, sitting up suddenly and her mouth starting to blabber. "They're gentle and happy, letting me know that even in the loneliness of night there still is somepony there who cares about beauty and that.... Besides! Night time would be much more scary if everypony didn't have them, and... and... oh! The moon doesn't hurt to look at like the sun!" She blushed at how the Lunar Princess had shifted back away from her surge of speech, finishing her little rant more quietly. "Um... and ah like to find out where you've moved them... when you do, ah mean..." Star Fall murmured, eyes falling to her forehooves. In the awkward silence that followed, she moved her weight from leg to leg, ashamed of her outburst. Luna's eyes widened a little from her words, the sadness once there completely gone. She put a wing over the unicorn, gently pulling Star Fall to her side. The alicorn used a forehoof to tilt her head up, so they were looking into each other's eyes. "You..you appreciate my work? No one ever has really complimented me on it. I do it to calm myself in the long quiet hours. It gets quite lonely at night, with everypony asleep, and everypony here has work to do..." The little filly cuddled up against Luna's side, earning a small smile from her as she replied: "How could anyone not notice how wonderful it is? I mean, I know Princess Celestia's sun is needed to nurture plant life and such, but without the night, everything would get all scorched and .. stuff." Star Fall stopped for a moment, gulping down her hesitation. "And I hate to say it, but she just raises the sun. You raise the moon, place ALL those stars, plan meteor showers.... amazing things!" The princess laughed, remembering how she'd draw the creatures she'd read about then transferred into the sky. Some unbecoming black splotches still were in her fur from the most recent, blending well with her dark coat. It was these small things that had kept her sane in the past years. "I... I guess you're right." She said softly, thinking over what had happened day to day for 'Tia and herself. "She has everything happening in the day, so she doesn't have time to worry about details. I on the other hoof, I have nothing but time." "Well, you should arrange things to happen at night time!" The little filly beside her prompted, stepping out under Luna's wing to begin pacing back and forth. "Like... A festival!! It's gotta sound moon like, connected to the moon... maybe a Moon Festival! It can be near the end of the day so everyone can be able to be there, and they could be happy and enjoy the fruits of their labor! Or maybe if that's too much, you could have one on the Harvest Moon, when everypony's got plenty to eat and are sad about the cold coming...." Luna's mind was momentarily overwhelmed with thoughts of how it could work, of ponies accepting her as much as her sister, and of wonderful company of smiling faces like this Star Fall's... She was jarred out of the thoughts by the filly curling back under her wing, shivering slightly. She... is she alright? Maybe she feels a bit cold from thinking about winter. The princess knew well from the books she'd read that winter was a harsh and merciless killer, and if the Hearth's Warming tales were to be believed it nearly made everypony of the clans perish. Taking mercy on the little one, Princess Luna curled her wing back around the unicorn and sharing her warmth. "Hmmm... That does sound like it would work," She reassured Star Fall and herself. "However, we would have to get my sister to help, so as ponies could come to it. I don't think she will be quite agreeable though. She's been... difficult since our dealing with Discord." Her mind thought back to that time, when they had been in that intense magical maelstrom fighting for their lives.... Magical torrents were ricocheting around the princesses as the draconicus Discord gave his last fighting efforts to fend off the magic of the Elements, sending spells, cantrips, and curses off in all directions. Luna barely could react in time to the chaos, dodging sudden fireballs and giant squirrels alike to keep the Harmonic magic flowing into Discord's body. Celestia wasn't bothering to dodge, instead countering the majority of mishaps thrown at her and taking a few hits from those she didn't bother to block. The rainbow of magic flowing from them began pushing back the tide, and in a matter of minutes a statue of the Chaos Lord stood in his last pose, mismatched hands trying to ward off the Element's curse. Celestia's head slumped, legs quivering as she heaved several deep breaths. Her appearance was one of somepony that had just gone through hell, flanks and sides with long scars, mane disheveled, and bruises spreading across her fatigued form. Luna knew she too must look awful, she could feel a bit of blood running down the side of her face from one near miss from a flying mountain's peak. She raised a forehoof up, wiping her forehead and letting out a long sigh. "Oh Mother, thank goodness it's over..." The Princess of the Night groaned, falling back on her haunches in the dirt. "I.. I don't think I could have held out much l... longer.." The Princess of the Day spun suddenly, raising an accusatory forehoof at her sister. "What were you thinking?!?" Celestia bellowed, eyes narrowed with anger. "You were supposed to make sure he didn't mess anything up more or get away, not fight him with me!!" Her gaze went to the area surrounding them, chaotic taints fading now that their master had perished. However, a large area around where they had fought the final showdown was completely decimated in all directions for hundreds of yards. The only thing still standing in the dead area was the ancient castle where the two of them had found the Elements and learned of their power. It was more damaged than before, two of the three towers that had been left were collapsed and the stonework was scotched black. However, Celestia only had eyes for the last massive burst of magic Discord had let off in an attempt to rescue himself from defeat. It wasn't fading like everything else, instead sinking into the very landscape behind Luna, into trees and the dirt alike. The plants began waving erratically, then stopped. Little white flowers seemed to change colors momentarily, but then faded back to normal. Luna didn't see that last part, only her sister's eyes narrowing in rage as she braced herself for the explosion. 'Tia didn't disappoint, mane and tail erupting in a burst of flame as her eyes glowed a bright gold. "Sister, you deliberately disobeyed me, neglecting your duty to protect the land and its people, just to foolishly help me!" The white alicorn turned, flames calming only marginally as she began trotting away. "Now I need to clean up your mess, you idiot. I expect you to go think about what you have done, while I actually do something about it!" Celestia stormed off, entering the castle and leaving Luna in the dirt with her eyes watering. Luna shook her head a little, trying to get the memory out of her head and get herself back into the present. The view of the inside castle that had survived the battle didn't help much, but she tried to keep talking for Star Fall's sake. "Y.. yeah... well, it's my fault the Everfree Forest is starting to get strange lately... I don't know if you came from that way, but ponies are saying deeper in there are trees that hunt like wolves." The little filly shook her head, not looking up. "Nah, I came from the coast... I only passed through a small wood on my way here... the Whitetail Woods?" The dark blue alicorn nodded, knowing it from maps she'd seen but rarely been that way in the past ten years. "I see," Luna sighed, not sure where to go from there. She needn't have worried, the unicorn quickly spoke back up. "But I know how to make everypony like you!" Star Fall spoke, wide eyes watching her idol. "All you need to do is save somepony from ah monstah!"