The Lunar Millennium

by Sasha Nein

Arc 1 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Luna awoke after a fitful night. The headache that had been festering after her surge of magic at the mines finally went away in the wee hours of the morning, but most of the night had been her tossing and turning in bed.

All too soon, there was a knocking on the door, followed by Copper’s voice telling her to get up. She glanced at the pitiful amount of light seeping past the window curtains. “It’s too early,” she groaned. “I shouldn’t have to deal with this horse manure.”

Oh to be a princess again, so at least she could sleep in. She chuckled morosely, forget being a princess; her alicorn form didn’t even need sleep! Luna rolled over with another grumble. It seemed she had made her disguise a little too good.

Rather than risk Ginger or Granite being sent in to get her up, she decided to get up on her own. Rolling onto her stomach, she tried to stand up, only to get caught in the blanket. Looking down, she could see it had tangled itself around her legs and horn, again.

“Cursed thing. Why must you win every night?” Growling, she kicked the blanket until it surrendered. “I think when I finally leave here, I shall buy Copper a new blanket, and then burn this one and dance on its ashes as a final victory.”

Finally on her own four hooves, she went through her usual morning routine, which in this case consisted of running a brush through her mane and tail. Without amenities such as a shower, bathroom, or running water at all, there was very little upkeep to do each morning.

A clatter of dishes rang out a beat from the kitchen area. No doubt it was Ginger preparing breakfast for the family. It was like clockwork, every morning at the same time for every day Luna had been here. She wondered if it was an earth pony thing or just her never paying attention to schedules back at the palace.

“Good morning, Clover.” Copper’s cheerful voice assaulted her ears as she stepped into the dining room. He was sitting at the table, smiling and looking wide awake.

Luna blinked her eyes at him, her brain trying to formulate a response. Eventually, she was able to mumble something that not even she knew what it was. Taking a chair, she laid her head on the table.

Copper chuckled. “Not a morning pony?”

“How’d you guess?” Luna grumbled, although she wasn’t sure Copper heard her.

“You’ll get used to it,” Ginger replied. “I’m sure the Academy didn’t let you sleep in that long.”

As much as Luna wanted to mutter something about it being a complete schedule change, she being the Princess of the Night and used to going to bed at this time, not getting up, she kept her muzzle shut. Which was good, as Granite took that moment to head into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Harsh Lesson says that ponies who sleep in are lazy layabouts who don't deserve respect." Granite sniffed, giving Luna a critical glance that was entirely wasted on the mare.

"That’s a little naive," Copper said, eyeing his daughter disapprovingly. "What about the night watch ponies, Granite? They are all up late watching and keeping us safe, are they lazy for resting during the day?"

Granite said nothing, instead moving to take her place at the table and ignoring Luna. The air thickened palpably as Copper rebuked his daughter. Ginger suddenly seemed to have gotten much quieter as well; Luna might have laughed at the mood change if she’d not been in the middle of it all.

“Well? Are they?” Copper prompted.

“But they’re working,” Granite said.

“Maybe so,” Copper conceded with a nod. “But, obviously, since they sleep in they must be lazy, right?”

The filly was quiet for a moment. “She had all night to sleep. Sleeping in is just lazy. You, me, and mom are awake.”

“As is she, Granite. It is wrong of you to insult her for doing something that she is not,” Copper said, facing his daughter. “It is also very rude.”

Granite looked like she was about to keep arguing, but Ginger broke in. “Granite, listen to your father. He is right, Clover is awake and ready for breakfast like the rest of us.” Giving a scowl, the filly sat at the table, sulking.

Ginger came over to the table a minute later, placing down four plates of food. “Come on, eat up. Breakfast is a good way to wake up.”

Luna took a bite, not caring about manners and just going for it. As much as she would never admit it, eating did make her feel more awake.

Ginger finished a bite, before speaking. “I’ll drop Granite off at school today, then I have to get to work. Peppermint will need help with the breakfast crowd.”

Copper set down his fork. “I’m still not comfortable with you working, Ginger.”

The mare pursed her lips. “I know. You’ve said it before, but I have been doing it for the past few years just fine. I had to do something while you were gone. I couldn’t just sit around the house all day while Granite was in school.”

“I understand that, Ginger,” Copper responded, he then sighed. “But with the timberwolf sighting and me being back, I was just hoping that... Well—”

Ginger placed a hoof over Copper’s. “It’s alright, Copper. Until this timberwolf situation gets under control, I will just be sure to either get off early to take Granite home, or go on break long enough to do so.”

“I can walk home just fine!” Granite protested. “I’m a big girl, mamma lets me walk back when she’s busy!”

Copper sighed again and poked at his breakfast. Ginger glanced at Granite, then back to Copper. Luna watched on with interest, the conversation seemed to be progressing without even any words being said, but much of the inference was lost on her.

She’d never been the best at reading ponies, that had always been Celestia’s forte. After all, there was no need to read faces in dreams. A pony’s innermost emotions and thoughts were laid bare in their own minds. No, problem solving was what she did, not problem searching.

Though beyond that, this was a family matter. While she felt like she could count Copper and Ginger as friends, she was not a member of their family. How they lived their lives, and raised their daughter, she had no say in.

Once upon a time she would have approached each pony within their own dreams and guided them towards a good solution, but now wasn’t the time. Many ponies would still remember the nightmares forced upon them from her darker self, making any attempt to associate with them dangerous. Still, even though Granite was too young to experience any of that, she wasn’t all that eager to enter the filly’s dreams anyway.

Besides, using that magic could potentially be like a beacon to Celestia and that was the last thing she needed. It was unlikely, but Luna wasn’t keen on finding out for sure. No, it would just be best to play things safe and stick to the waking world.

Luna nodded and trotted to the door. Granite was there, idly picking at the floor. Looking up, she scowled as Luna approached, but said nothing. For her part, Luna decided silence was the best course of action and sat down to wait opposite the filly.

Thankfully, the tense quiet lasted only a moment before Ginger bustled up. She had acquired her own pair of saddlebags from somewhere which were battered with use but still held a design of her cutie mark.

“Well, let’s go!” Ginger said, hustling her daughter out the door. Flashing a polite smile to Luna, she called back, “You have a good day at the mine, dear.”

Luna gave a halfhearted wave as the home devolved into silence once again, but Copper appeared quickly, much to her relief. “You ready to head to the mines, Clover?”

Giving a nod, Luna joined him. “Yes. Though I admit that I’m not looking forward to organizing and filing the equipment trailers.”

“Given how you handled them yesterday, you should be done by lunch.”

The memory of the headache that caused her made Luna wince. “Yes, well. There are limits to magic.”

Since all of the equipment was stored at the mine, they didn’t have to collect anything before leaving. Copper gave his wife and daughter a hug and kiss, promising to be home after work. Luna said nothing, standing to the side until they left the house.

A steady stream of ponies was heading up the hill to where the mine entrance was. They fell into step with another pair of ponies, Copper exchanging greetings with them. Still feeling tired, and a bit grumpy, Luna merely nodded at the one who bothered to acknowledge her presence. Neither spoke to her.

A short walk later, and they were all at the mine. Luna broke off from the group as they went to clock in and get their equipment, while she headed for the main office. Her morning routine was always the same: take care of any clerical work that needed to be done, first, then resuming her attempts to get this place into some semblance of order.

Upon reaching the main office, her first action was to stop and mutter a curse. Rocky had obviously already been here, as the little tray marked “In” on her desk was piled quite high. The stallion himself was nowhere to be seen, most likely having ventured into the mine after dropping all of his work on her.

Taking a seat in her appropriated chair, she plucked the first paper off the top of the stack, and the next, then sighed. They looked like documentation for every employee at the mine. While it was probably smart to make sure everyone in the mine was actually supposed to be there, it looked like Rocky had gotten new paperwork for everyone. Grumbling, she filed it away where it should go. Fortunately, Rocky hadn’t messed with her filing system at all, yet. At least this way she could just throw out any of the old, mouse chewed forms she still hadn’t gone through yet.

Sorting through the stack took her the better part of the morning. The bell signaling lunch would ring soon, letting the miners down below who couldn’t see the sun know that it was break time. Ginger had packed both Copper and Luna a lunch, which the mare eagerly dove into. Another downside to this body was the need for food and energy. Her magic still wasn’t recovered from yesterday. Another display like that, and she’d have gone well beyond the limits of a unicorn, and would be pushing her limits even as an alicorn.

While eating the sandwich she had for lunch, Luna decided to continue working. Grabbing the inventory clipboard in her magic, she headed for the equipment trailers. With luck, nopony had messed things up too bad this morning.

Taking another bite of the sandwich, she opened the door to the first trailer, seeing that things were much as she had left it yesterday. The pile of items was smaller, but that was to be expected with ponies having grabbed them to use that day. She flipped to a blank page on her clipboard, quill and ink at the ready.

One by one, she floated over items, making a note of each item on the page, before putting it in its proper place. Handling each item by itself, rather than all at once like yesterday, did not cause a return of her headache, thankfully. It slowed the process down, but that was better than getting a migraine, or magical exhaustion.

Slowly but surely, she worked her way through the piles in each trailer, being careful to note how many of each item they had. She would compare this to the official inventory list that Rocky had.

Each trailer took her about half an hour to organize, but when she was done, everything had a place and there was plenty of empty space left for the remaining tools. Within the next day or two, she would have to implement a system wherein each pony wrote down what they checked out, to maintain accountability, and in case equipment went missing.

Sitting outside one of the trailers, she reviewed her findings, versus the inventory list and the roster of ponies working. In a perfect world, what was in the trailers, plus one of each item for each pony working, should equal the inventory.

Several minutes later, and Luna set the clipboard down with a frown. “There’s something off here,” she muttered. “Even accounting for discrepancies due to shoddy bookkeeping, there’s simply too many missing tools.” She looked at her notes again. “Where even do two dozen pickaxes go missing?”

The pickaxes weren’t the only things missing, either. Several drills, gallons of lamp oil, lanterns, shovels, almost every category had at least something missing. “This is ridiculous. Either Rocky’s records are worse than I thought, or ponies are misplacing or stealing things. Either way, I need to find out.”

She stood up, ready to tackle the problem, before a thought hit her. This meant that she’d have to go into the mines to investigate. She faltered for a moment, glancing towards the entrance. “I know he said to stay out of the mines, but this is important.”

Her mind made up, she stopped by the main office long enough to leave a note on Rocky’s desk, letting him know where she was. Her bases covered, she headed towards the mine shaft.

This was her first time getting close to the shaft, and it surprised her how deep it was. A platform, crewed at the top by two ponies at a crank, lifted the raw materials out of the depths, while a steep series of ramps provided access by hoof. The ramps were lit by scattered lanterns, as the shadows grew thick on the way down. According to Copper, the bottom of the shaft was like being in the middle of the forest on a moonless night, it was that dark.

Despite the ramshackle look of the ramps, it barely creaked under her hoof as she started down. Rather than a lantern helmet like the miners wore, she had a simple one held in her magic. For now, it was unlit as she traversed the ramps, just wide enough for two ponies to walk side by side.

There were a few ponies moving about here and there, but all of them ignored her. One was roped over the side of the ramp, seemingly reinforcing it. Another was walking up the ramp towards her. The two at the top operating the pulleys gave her a cursory glance, but that was it.

The light grew dimmer as she squeezed past the stallion coming up. He gave her an annoyed glare, but said nothing. Continuing to descend, Luna still felt no need to light her lantern. If that stallion could return without a lamp then it probably wouldn’t be getting much darker.

When she reached the bottom, a large entryway opened up into a tunnel, not far in it she could see it was lit with its own lanterns. They were unkempt, she realized, and thus did not shine well enough to be seen from the shaft. Still, it was enough that she didn’t need her own lantern.

Just as she began moving forward, a clatter began to faintly echo towards her from deeper in. It wasn’t long before a brighter light swerved around a corner and moved towards her. A minecart revealed itself, coming closer on the tracks that ran out to the shaft. She then saw the hoofcar behind it; two ponies, with bright lanterns attached to the cart, powered the short train up the tracks.

Luna stepped to the side, letting the cart pass her by. As soon as one of the stallions saw her, he motioned to the other to stop. The cart came to a halt not far from her. “Where are you going?” the one who noticed her asked.

“I have business down in the mines,” she responded. “Also, would you happen to know if Rocky is down here?”

The two stallions shared a look, before one shook his head. “Listen, the mine is no place for mares. Even ones that work here.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Either way, you can’t go into the mines without a hard hat. It’s the rules.”

Looking around, Luna spotted a small pile of hard hats at the base of the ramp. That must be where some of the missing ones went. She grabbed one in her magic and placed it on her head. It sat at an awkward angle thanks to her horn, making her feel a little ridiculous. If she was going to spend time in the mine, she would have to modify a hat to fit her.

“Satisfied?” she asked the stallion.

He sighed. “Look, just be careful down here. Don’t touch anything. And for Celestia’s sake, if the ground starts to shake, get out of there. It means the whole thing could come crashing down.” Without saying anything else, the two stallions continued on. At the end of the line, they locked down the cart before stepping onto the elevator. With a creak of old wood, the platform rose up and out of the hole.

Adjusting her new hat, Luna headed down the path into the mines. She knew from talking to Copper that there were two lower storage areas down here, where miners kept some equipment. Figuring out where those were, and adding their stock to her inventory, would fill in some of the gaps.

Her first option was to follow the main tunnel. There were branches going out from it, but most of them looked disused, some even blocked off entirely. Those would be older, mined or unsafe tunnels. As they were cleared out, the miners would need to venture deeper and deeper, looking for more ore.

It took her several minutes of walking, but she finally found a hub of activity. Ponies were congregating under a string of lanterns. Boxes and tins were set to the side, food being consumed. It was lunch time for them.

She approached the group, looking for anypony she knew, specifically Rocky. Her arrival caused more than a few heads to look at her. One of the stallions got up. “Clover? What are you doing down here?” Tank asked.

“I’m looking for Rocky, as well as any lower storage places you have down here.” She floated her clipboard up to him. “I’m taking inventory of all the equipment. There’s some missing items.” She watched his eyes travel down the clipboard. “A lot of missing items, in fact. I need to find them.”

Tank bit his lower lip, his head looking further down the shaft. “Both Rocky and the storage are further on, but...” He hesitated a moment.

Luna cut him off. “I’ve had enough ponies tell me it’s too dangerous. However, I’m already down here, so please just take me to Rocky. Or tell me the way and I’ll find it myself.”

The stallion was silent for a while, seeming to judge his options. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, I’ll take you down there. Better you have an escort who knows these things. It’s too easy to get lost.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you, Tank. Please, lead on.”

Turning back to his lunch tin, Tank closed it and began wiggling into a harness that had two raised lanterns hanging above each of his flanks. Looking closer, she noticed there were also various pockets and loops that held various mining tools. She waited as he shrugged and adjusted a few straps for a more comfortable fit.

Trying to ignore the pointed stares as she waited, Luna glanced over her clipboard. She realized that there would was probably one of these harnesses missing for everypony down here, as well as tools that went into each. Still, the storehouse had none of these harnesses so there was probably still a large pile of them down here somewhere.

Finally, Tank turned and nodded to her and they headed for the largest tunnel which had the mine track disappearing into its inky depths. The entire group of miners stared at them as they left the room. Once they were around a corner out of sight, Luna turned to look at him. “I apologize if I’ve caused you any trouble.”

“I was already finished with lunch,” he rumbled, “Probably about time I got back to work, anyhow.”

They walked until the silence got so thick, Luna couldn’t stand it anymore. “So, tell me about yourself, Tank,” she said, her voice echoing around the tunnel.

He looked taken aback and gawked at her. “What?” he finally managed.

“I’ve only heard a little bit about you from Copper and Ginger.”

“Why do you care?” Tank asked bluntly, still looking at her intently.

Luna blinked at his scrutiny and turned away. “I... Sorry... I was just trying to make conversation. I meant nothing by it.”

Tank was silent for a moment as they turned a corner and began moving down a smaller tunnel. “You’re an odd mare, Miss Clover.”

“I was just trying to be friendly!” Luna protested, nearly tripping on the track.

The stallion sighed. “Friendly? Why would a unicorn ever bother being friendly.” Tank stopped abruptly, forcing Luna to do the same as he turned to face her. “Why?”

“I... Well...” Luna floundered for a moment before falling silent. Why was she being friendly? These ponies hadn’t shown her anything. Perhaps Copper and Tank had, but nopony else. There was no reason for her to not reciprocate the attitudes directed at her. It wasn’t like they could do anything.

Actually, why was she even here, in this town? Her ultimate goal was to get home, so why was she here, working in a mine? She could just go find a quiet place in some forgotten corner of Equestria for all it mattered.

She thought of Copper and the mindset that so many ponies had in this age. The pony tribes were hardly united, racism and inequality was rampant everywhere. Why was she being friendly? Because somepony needed to be. This wasn’t harmony.

After seeing all that had changed in Equestria since her return, and how much more Twilight Sparkle had been doing, it hurt to be back here and see the worst ponykind had to offer. Something needed to be done. Somepony needed to do the right thing.

Deep down, Luna knew that was why she was still here. After spending so much time working with Twilight, there was no way she could walk away from this little village without doing anything. She was here because, if not her, then who would teach these ponies to be better?

Luna cleared her throat. She had been standing silent for a minute or two, but Tank was still waiting expectantly. “Because it’s the right thing to do.” she said, looking into the large stallion’s eyes. “Because I know I can be a friend, and I want to.”

Tank stared at her silently for a time. Then, he snorted and continued walking. “You are an odd mare, Miss Clover.” He flashed her a small smile. “But I think that’s okay.”

There wasn’t much to look at as they walked down the shaft. The dirt walls were dark and the wooden support beams cast eerie shadows from the lantern, the flickering lights making it appear as if strange beings danced along the walls. The floor continued to slope down, but Luna had no idea how deep they were.

Luna looked up, seeing the beams crawling along the upper corner of the wall. Every so often, there were support posts, though if there was a pattern to it, she could not figure it out. It was difficult for her not to imagine what was over her head: numerous tons of rock and dirt. The only thing keeping all of that out was some basic geometry, and some wood no thicker than a single hoof length across.

The deeper they went the more oppressive the tunnel seemed. With Tank’s lanterns and her magic, she knew it wasn’t getting any darker, but it sure felt like it. Without a bunch of ponies moving around, the air seemed to stagnate and weigh heavily around her.

Without warning, a passageway opened up to their right. It was much smaller and sloped dangerously downwards. There was some sort of pulley system that connected from above her head down inside, but it was only ropes at this point. If there had ever been buckets on the line, they had been scavenged for other tunnels.

As they continued further more passageways opened up, their corners casting dark shadows when they passed by. It was unnerving to see so many holes that ended in blackness outside of their little pool of light. It seemed odd to have no central source of lighting.

The other unnerving thing was the sound, or lack thereof. It was eerily quiet down here, and what sounds there were, it was impossible to tell where they came from. Faint echoes filtered out of the various pathways and tunnels, surrounding Luna, but doing nothing to alleviate her nerves. The clinks of Tank’s harness were muted, while the sound of her hat scraping on her horn felt unusually loud.

She wondered where all the miners were. There should have been ponies along here somewhere that were doing some kind of work, right? Transporting ore back to the surface, adding more shoring here and there, cutting new tunnels. The lack of activity was unnatural.

“So, uh—” Luna began to ask, but she choked at the abrupt increase in noise. Clearing her throat, she began again. “So, I can see it being easy to get lost down here. Everything looks the same to me.”

Tank glanced back and, thankfully, responded, his voice somehow resonating around them. “Not really, just follow the signs.”

“Signs?” Luna frowned. “What signs?”

Her gaze followed Tank’s hoof as he pointed at one of the vertical support beams. “We carve arrows into all the struts. Side shafts point to the main shaft, and these arrows point to the exit.”

They weren’t immediately visible, but now that she knew they were there getting lost didn’t seem like a problem. It was a smart thing to do it seemed, but now her question was answered and Tank fell quiet once more. The occasional clop of hoof on the rail once again being the only sounds to break the silence.

By the time she and Tank arrived at a larger open area, with the wonderfully familiar sight of Rocky standing next to a small cage, her eyes were darting all over the place, chasing ghosts at the edge of her vision. Her ears swiveled all around, trying to locate whatever sounds she could. Even her breathing came in shorter, sharper draws. A few times, she saw Tank giving her a slight glance, but he never said anything.

At the sound of their arrival, Rocky glanced up from the clipboard sitting on a small table in front of him. “What in tartarus are you doing down here? Didn’t I tell you that the mine is no place for a mare?”

Taking a moment to compose herself, lest she prove him right in her current state, Luna floated her own clipboard over to the table, setting it down. Those precious seconds allowed her to at least appear as if she was calm. “Yes, you have. However, it’s my job that has led me down here.”

“Your job is to take care of things topside.”

“I can’t do that, if half the things I need to take care of are missing.” At this, she gestured to the clipboard. While Rocky didn’t care that she was a unicorn, like most of the townsponies, he got nervous when something was being suspended in her aura right in front of his face.

Rocky picked up the clipboard, looking at it. “What is all this?”

“It’s an inventory of everything we are supposed to have. As you can see, most of the numbers do not match up. There are items missing. Items that I intend to track down, which is what has brought me down here. I need to check the lower storage units and inventory those, as well. After that, I shall establish a system to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, and to provide accountability.”

The stallion’s eyes scanned over the paper, reading it through several times. Finally, he set it aside. “Alright, you got good reasons. But you still ain’t supposed to be in the mines. I can take care of this.”

Luna grimaced. “I’m already down here, can I at least look?”

Rocky shook his head. “Absolutely not.” He paused at Luna’s scowl. “Look, lunch is almost over and everypony will be back down here, you’ll just get in the way. I’ll set a couple ponies to transporting all the extras up to you.”

“But--,”

“No buts. Unicorn or otherwise, you’re a mare and this is simply no place for you.” Rocky glanced at Tank. “Get her up outta this dung-hole. And then get those other numbnuts back down here. I want to get that rock cracked today. I can just smell the dough behind it.”

“Fine,” Luna huffed. “I better have all those items by the end of today, though!”

Rocky rolled his eyes and gently pushed her towards the exit. “Yes ma’am, right away ma’am. Three bag fulls ma’am. Now scoot!”

Luna grimaced in annoyance, but she followed Tank out. When they reached the lunch room, he allowed her to find her own way back to the top. He gave her a smile and a wave, which she returned, before he hopped in a cart rolling back into the mines. It was another hour before a pair of ponies started carrying out equipment and piling it at the entrance to the mine for her to sort.

It took her the rest of the day to finish her project. The ponies took their sweet time bringing stuff up to her, and even then she had to wait until the last pony was out of the mine. At least it gave her time to catalogue and organise what was brought as she went. By the time the final workers were depositing their tools under her careful eye, she was one of the last ponies left.

Soon enough, it was just her, Copper, Rocky, and Tank at the mine. With her quill, she scratched a line through one last entry. “There. Now we finally have a true inventory of all the items here at the mine.” She set the list on her desk, looking up at her boss. “I’ll create a proper list tomorrow, Rocky. That will be our new master list. As well, I think instituting a few new policies would help make sure that this list stays up to date.”

He nodded. “Sounds good. If anypony gives you a hard time about anything, tell me. You’re doing good work here, Clover.”

“Thank you. Though, why are you and Tank still here?”

Tank spoke up. “We need to coordinate the town watch. As well, while there’s a timberwolf threat, nopony goes anywhere alone.”

“And I need to lock up. Can’t do that with your fancy flank sitting in your chair,” Rocky said, giving her a small glare.

The comment about her flank brought a blush to her cheeks and she glared at the stallion, but Luna took the hint. “Right,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go.”

Copper surged to his hooves from the corner he had sunk into. “Hopefully Ginger’s already home and has dinner ready. I’m hungry.”

Together, they left the trailer, Rocky locking the door while Tank ribbed Copper about his stomach. The walk back into town was filled with idle chatter between them, with the stallions occasionally including Luna in it.

It felt good, to be included. For the first time since she got here, she felt like she might could belong. With just Copper and Ginger being the only ones to include her, this was a great step forward. Perhaps there was hope for her and the rest of the town after all.

A warm feeling entered her body as she laughed at a joke Rocky told. Sure it was ribald humor, and regarding her sister, but she didn’t care. She was part of the group. They may each still be skittish about her magic, but they had accepted her as a pony.

As they rounded the corner of the first building in the town proper, their laughter died out as a piercing cry broke the twilight air. “Hey! Get away from there!”

Turning her head, Luna saw a pony behind a building. At first, she was confused at just who he was shouting at, until what she first saw as a pile of logs behind somepony’s house, moved. With a gasp, she realized it was a timberwolf.

The others must have seen it too, because Rocky swore furiously. “Bucking idiot’s gonna get himself killed! Come on.” Other ponies seemed to be hearing it as well, because there were shapes all over town, heading towards the noise.

Racing after the stallions, Luna watched the pony and wolf square off. The pony was waving a forelimb around, seemingly trying to shoo the wolf away. The timberwolf, seeing ponies coming out of the literal woodwork started to back away with a snarl. Emboldened, the pony rushed forward, in hopes to scare the creature further.

Horror filled her as she watched the wolf pounce and saw its jaws clamp down on the waving forelimb, the wolf shook its head vigorously, driving its teeth in even deeper, sawing at the pony’s flesh. The pony stopped shouting, and started screaming. Blood drops flew in every direction as the pony was yanked around. All the ponies converging on the situation slid to a halt at the edge of the buildings in terrified fascination.

The three stallions with Luna leapt forward, past the line of horrified ponies, to try and do something, but Luna beat them to it. With a burst of magic, she sent them stumbling while she galloped forward.

“Stop!” she commanded, her voice taking on the force and tone she hadn’t used since learning modern Equestrian. It was a fitting time and place to revive the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her horn lit up with magic and her eyes glowed as she risked dipping into her alicorn power. It wouldn’t take much to get this wolf to back off, and it would save the life of a pony.

Luna skidded to a stop as the wolf, teeth still clamped down on its prize, looked up at her. As soon as its glowing yellow eyes met her glowing silver ones, it stopped.

“Let. Him. Go.”

Slowly, the wolf released the pony, who wasted no time in using his three good hooves to scramble away, staring at both it, and her, in fear.

Luna strode up until she was only a few hooves away from the wolf, never breaking her gaze. “Take your pack and go back to your home. Leave this town alone.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before the wolf broke eye contact and turned away, loping off into the woods. Once it had vanished into the trees, Luna let out the breath she had been holding, letting her magic dissipate and her eyes resume their disguised shade.

Turning back around, she saw many pairs of eyes staring at her, some in judgment, most in terror. A good portion of the town was standing there. The pony who was attacked raised up his good forelimb, pointing a trembling hoof at her. “Witch,” he gasped. “You can control the dark beasts.” He turned to the others. “She’s a witch!”

“Shut up,” Copper said. He knelt down next to the pony, examining the wound which still flowed red into the ground. “He’s hurt bad,” he told the others. “Clover? Can you do something for him?”

She nodded. “I cannot heal it, but I can stop the blood. You will have to stitch him up elsewhere.” She took a step towards him.

At her approach, the pony tried to scramble back again, nearly kicking Copper. “Stay away from me, witch. Don’t touch me with your freaky powers!”

Copper tried to restrain the stallion. “She’s just trying to help, you’re making it worse!”

Still the stallion struggled, even when Luna stood still, no longer approaching. It was only when Rocky laid a large hoof on his shoulder and shoved him down, that he stopped. “Tank, take him to Nurse Ratchet’s. Get him fixed up.”

Tank nodded, helping the other pony to his three good hooves and letting him lean against him as they walked away. The stallion Luna had saved cast fearful glances back at her until they rounded a corner and were out of sight.

“Copper, take Clover home. I need to gather the town watch.” Rocky glanced over at Clover. “They need to know about this, and we still need to set a watch for tonight.”

Luna hung her head down, looking at the ground. Should she tell them the wolves wouldn’t be a problem anymore? Would they believe her? She knew they wouldn’t come back now, but did they really trust her? “You alright?” she heard Rocky ask. Looking back up, she could see him still looking at her.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m fine.”

“Good,” he said with a nod. “Then you have no excuse to be late for work tomorrow.” With that, he turned around and addressed the crowd. “Get back to your homes.” Slowly, he began pushing the ponies back towards town. As they left, Luna could see them still staring at her, and hear them whispering.

Luna stared after them. Even after witnessing what she had just done, Rocky still seemed okay with her. She had almost expected him to react like the stallion she had saved. It didn’t seem like any of the other ponies were very pleased. Despite her growing worry, it seemed at least Rocky was still on her side, for now.

She felt Copper nudge her. “Come on, Clover. Let’s get home.” Side by side, the two of them walked towards the house, Copper slowing down to match Luna’s slower, dragging hoofsteps.

All around she could feel eyes staring at her. Her ears burned as unintelligible whispers made their way into them. She kept her head high, staring straight ahead as she trudged. Regardless of what ponies thought, she’d just saved that pony’s life and she knew it had been the right choice.

It wasn’t until they were halfway home, that Luna finally spoke. “He’s going to talk, you know. He’s going to talk and convince the town that I’m a witch. And you and your family are going to get dragged into it. They’re all going to talk.”

Copper smiled at her. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Aegis has always been a little loopy. Nopony ever pays him much mind.” He chuckled. “Heck, he tried to get us all to believe once that the trees were talking to him.”

Luna sensed he was trying to cheer her up, but his optimism seemed out of place. So far, she had survived in this town by keeping her head down, and trying to fit in. So long as she didn’t act out, the town seemed willing to grudgingly allow her to stay. Now that she had displayed some mysterious power, that could just be the excuse they needed to run her out of town.

Though, if anything, she was more angry that the pony had been such a fool. Trying to shoo away a timberwolf, how absurd! While she was confident in her choice, the fact that she had to make the choice to save him was irritating. It had been a tough week, but she felt like she’d been doing well for herself. It was only just today she’d made some major progress with the stallions at the mine!

“Cheer up, Clover. You did good, saving him. Without you there, that wolf would have torn him to pieces. You saved his life, I’m sure he’ll be thankful.”

She said nothing. Copper was being overly optimistic for whatever reason. Luna had seen the looks on those pony faces, they had not been thankful looks. If she was lucky, ponies would just continue to give her the cold shoulder. Regardless of Copper’s words, his family was going to take some heat for this. She just hoped that it would only be what radiated through her.

Copper maintained his cheery attitude all the way home. Luna paused on the front step, her hoof on the doorknob. “I’m sorry, Copper.” Without letting him answer, she opened the door and went inside. There, she brushed past Ginger with another apology, before going into her room and closing the door.

She lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, as she heard Ginger and Copper whispering in the hallway. And it had started as such a good day, too. Now it was all ruined. Yes, she had saved a pony’s life, but at the cost of cementing her total alienation from the town. They would never warm up to her, now. She was back to square one.

Luna rolled over and squeezed her eyes shut. The night’s events replayed in her mind, but they were shunted aside as the accusing stares of the ponies haunted her. As she had been ushered away by Copper their eyes had been so... No. Luna buried her muzzle in the blanket. They had just been afraid; afraid of what they didn’t understand. It wasn’t their fault for making her uncomfortable and she shouldn’t blame them for being cautious. She shouldn’t be getting worked up about this. She knew what she was doing was right, and someday others would see it too. But... why did it their glares still hurt so much?

It could have been a few minutes, or an entire hour, as she lost herself in brooding before she heard a knocking at her door. “Clover, dear?” she heard Ginger’s voice say. “Dinner is ready.”

She debated on whether or not to eat with them. After a moment she decided that she wouldn’t try to alienate her only friends while she still had them. Wiping her nose with a hoof and sniffing deeply, she rolled over and got up. Opening the door, she saw a worried looking Ginger staring back at her.

“Are you okay?” the mare asked.

Luna nodded. “Yes. I’m fine.”

Ginger raised a hoof to Luna’s forehead. “No ill side effects?”

She shook her head, gently pulling Ginger’s hoof down. “No. It was just magic, same as I’ve always done.”

That seemed to make the mare smile. “Well then, you’d probably like something to eat. I’m sure you’re hungry after that display.” She turned around, heading towards the kitchen, Luna followed behind.

They sat at the table, three places set instead of four. “Where’s Granite?” Luna asked.

“She went home with a friend today. I’ll be picking her up after dinner,” Ginger said.

They started to eat in silence. It wasn’t much, just a simple salad with some bread. The bread had some herb baked into it, and under other circumstances would have been delicious, but to Luna, it tasted like ashes.

What was she even doing here? This wasn’t her home, yet she wasn’t even trying to find a way back! She was trying to earn the affections of some random earth pony town in the hardest way possible. Home...

Ginger cleared her throat. “Copper told me about what happened. You did a good thing, Clover, saving Aegis’s life.”

“The others could have handled it,” Luna grumbled.

“Even so, just because somepony else can do something, doesn’t mean you have to stand by and watch. You acted, and because of that, somepony is still alive. So thank you.”

Luna didn’t respond, just continued eating. Ginger opened her mouth to say something else, but Copper nudged her, shaking his head. The rest of the meal passed in silence.

As soon as she was done eating, Luna excused herself and stood up, heading back to her room. There, she curled up under the covers. The sounds of the dishes being done floated under her door, as did hoofsteps a moment later.

Her door opened, Copper peeked his head in. Upon seeing that she was laying down, he let himself in, sitting at the edge of her bed. “Hey, Clover. Listen. I know that you’re worried about what everypony in town is going to think about what happened this evening. Don’t worry about it. It’s like you said. It’s just magic, like you’ve been doing. Once they understand that, then they’ll accept it just like they’ve been accepting it so far.”

He placed a hoof on hers. “Everypony at the mines has been getting used to your magic, especially after your big display the other day. And coming down into the mines itself took guts. They saw that, too. You’ll earn your place here, I know it. What happened tonight won’t matter at all. Tomorrow, ponies will be talking about how you saved Aegis, and the town, and not your magic.”

Giving her hoof a few pats, he looked over at the door where Ginger was standing. Giving her a nod, he turned back to her. “Listen, Ginger and I are going to go pick up Granite. If you really want to take tomorrow off, I’m sure Rocky won’t mind.”

At that, Luna finally spoke, pulling her hoof away from Copper. “No. I want to work. Honestly, I’m fine.” She sat up. “I can take whatever the consequences of this are, I know I was right in what I did. I just wish...” She stopped, a frown forming on her features. “I just hope you don’t get caught up in the repercussions for my actions.”

He stood up, giving her a serious look. “Alright then. We’ll see you bright and early in the morning.” Turning, he headed to the door.

“Copper?” she called to him.

He stopped, facing her again. “Yeah?”

She favored him with a small smile. “Thanks, for being a good friend.”

He smiled back. “No problem, Clover. Get some sleep.” He closed the door behind him. Luna soon heard the front door open and then close.

Wriggling down into the pillows, she stared at the ceiling again. Maybe Copper was right. Maybe she was overreacting. If she was being honest with herself, she did that a lot. Maybe Twilight had rubbed off on her more than she’d given it credit.

Perhaps... Just, perhaps... Tomorrow wouldn’t be so bad.