Spreading My Wings

by KingBoo687

An Astronomical Experience

Author's Note:

Before this begins, I'd like to repeat myself from the description in saying that this is a series of canon stories that featured my OC, Lunar Nights. As user Nolamancy states, there's not a lot of backstory on here for this character, with everything being posted on my FanFiction account.

There are eight total stories here (and nine total canon stories). Each chapter will be named to match the overall story that it comes from and, as such, comments have been turned off to not only avoid spoilers, but because I know these stories have been able to carry their weight, even as my writing skills evolved.

All these stories range between 2013 (Under A Lunar Wing) and this year (An Astronomical Experience) and feature Lunar in either a lead role or a supporting role. If you wish, click on the link on my profile to be taken over to my FanFiction account and read the story of your choice in its entirety, including the non-canon stories of Lunar's journeys (and there are a lot. Eight more published stories, to be exact, including the novel length canon story that's not here).

This message will appear at the beginning of each chapter as a reminder. I hope you enjoy this "quick" recap of Lunar's journey and hope that you read each story in full on my FanFiction account.

--Daniel

“After we saved the Elements of Disharmony in that realm,” Lunar said, “we helped Moonlight and Thistle save Concord and restore him to the throne of Equestria. The Elements they had were restored as well and turned back into the regular Elements of Harmony for them too. It was a win-win for everypony involved.”

“That sounds incredible,” Meridian smiled, “have you seen those ponies since then or no?”

“Unfortunately no,” admitted Twilight, “it takes a lot of magic to transport from one dimension to another, plus our royal duties have kept us from doing such a thing for quite some time now.”

“I would love to see how they have been though,” Lunar added, “it's been far too long. Maybe one day.”

“What happened after that, Lunar?”

“Not much happened for quite a while after that whole ordeal,” said Lunar, “I got used to my wings, learned how to fly properly, and performed my royal duties to the best of my abilities. The next major thing that would have happened to me would have been when I taught the magic of friendship to a pupil of my own. Twilight had been teaching and mentoring Starlight Glimmer for about a year at that point when Princess Luna told me that she sent somepony to learn from me.”

“From you?” Meridian repeated.

Lunar nodded, “I was quite surprised myself when I first heard that. Of all the ponies in the world, Princess Luna told me that I had to teach friendship to another pony, over even the Princess of Friendship. I was extremely nervous about doing such a thing, honestly.”

“That's putting it nicely,” giggled Twilight.

---

“I wonder if that would be a good–,” she heard, “but then again, what's the perfect first lesson she should learn?”

Following Twilight's lead, Starlight and Pinkie both peeked through the doorway to the library and were watching Lunar as he paced back and forth as if something were bothering him. Twilight stepped into the doorway and called out to Lunar while Starlight and Pinkie stood behind her. Lunar turned around quickly and blushed a little bit, watching as Twilight walked closer towards him.

“What are you doing, Lunar?” Twilight wondered.

Lunar gulped, then paid attention back to the sheets of paper that were spread across the table in front of him. He tried to answer Twilight's question, but found that finding the right words to use was astronomically harder to do presently. Twilight stepped up next to Lunar and noticed the sheets of paper, glancing quickly between each of them. She noticed that they all appeared familiar to her.

“Are these my friendship lessons for Starlight?” Twilight asked, turning to Lunar. “What do you need them for? You already know a lot about friendship.”

Hearing what the papers were, Starlight and Pinkie also entered the library and approached the table, standing on either side of Twilight and Lunar. Lunar, finally finding the right words to explain himself, let them know what he was doing.

“Princess Luna is sending somepony here to learn about friendship from me,” he said, looking through some of the lessons once more, “I just have no idea what I should do first since I don't know about friendship nearly as much as you do, Twilight.”

Twilight took note of how uptight Lunar was feeling and offered some suggestions to him, “Well, what do you remember about your first lesson?”

Lunar blinked, “My first lesson? Of friendship?”

Twilight nodded, “If I can recall, I had you introduce yourself to our friends on your first day. I had a similar experience, though it just so happened to be that our friends were in charge of different things in the Summer Sun Celebration that year. Plus,” she turned to Starlight, “do you remember how I started our lessons?”

Starlight smiled, “You had Sunburst and I rekindle our friendship. That was my first lesson, right around the time the Crystalling was set to happen.”

Twilight continued, “Exactly,” she turned back towards Lunar, resting a hoof on his side softly, “even Discord's first friendship lesson from Fluttershy was that he felt broken and lonely after having his only friend walk away from him. Once he got a taste of what friendship truly was, he didn't want to give that up.”

Lunar thought for a second before speaking out again, “So, the first lesson can be anything, really.”

“Right,” Starlight agreed, “and I think this would be a good opportunity to see what that pony likes to do.”

“Like a party?” Pinkie Pie hopefully asked, reaching over for her party cannon.

Twilight giggled, “Perhaps, Pinkie, but what I think Starlight means is that when you share a common hobby with somepony else, that can snowball into something bigger in the future.”

“Our bond was and still is magic,” Starlight said, “even if our first lesson had nothing to do with actual magic, Twilight did show me what the magic of friendship can truly do for one another, even after not talking to Sunburst for years, at that time.”

Lunar rubbed his chin lightly, “Princess Luna did say that this pony she's sending was very enthusiastic about her night.”

“Sounds like a certain somepony I know,” Starlight smirked, nudging Twilight playfully while quickly glancing towards Lunar.

“You can use your knowledge and interests of the night to connect with this pony,” Twilight suggested, “and then, when you both do connect, lessons will typically show themselves to you rather than you finding them, as I've come to learn with by mentoring Starlight.”

“I am pretty good, aren't I?” Starlight giggled lightly.

A round of laughs went around the four ponies shortly thereafter. Feeling a bit better about the situation given to him, Lunar decided to first develop a connection with the pony first before deciding on what to do afterwards.

---

“Finding the right lesson was hard,” admitted Lunar, “but, luckily for me, I have a pony by my side that really helps ease my mind.”

“Aww, Luny,” Twilight smiled, blushing a bit.

“So what was it that you did with that pony?” Meridian wondered, “Umm...what did you say their name was?”

“Her name was Astral Flare,” answered Lunar, “and our first lesson involved mapping out constellations in the Ponyville nighttime sky. Princess Luna told me that she enjoyed being outside during the night very much and, following the advice that Twilight had given me, I decided to do something we both could enjoy together.”

“Sounds reasonable,” said Meridian.

“I thought so too,” agreed Lunar, “and when she arrived, that's just what we did.”

---

“Astral Flare,” Twilight smiled, watching as Spike left through the castle doors, “allow me to introduce you to my pupil, Starlight Glimmer, and the Prince of the Night, Prince Lunar Nights.”

“It's a pleasure to finally meet you,” Lunar smiled, “I heard of your arrival from Princess Luna herself.”

“Th-the pleasure is mine,” Astral responded nervously.

“Hey there, Astral,” Starlight beamed, “I can't wait to share some memories with you.”

“Me either, S-Starlight,” added Astral.

“Lunar here is a nocturnal pony like yourself,” Twilight explained, “Princess Luna said that you enjoy her nights more than the day. Was that correct?”

Astral nodded, “Yes, Prin- I mean, uhh, yes, Twilight.”

Twilight giggled, then turned to Lunar, “You want to tell her what you did before you earned those wings?”

Lunar smiled a little bit more, paying attention towards Astral, “I used to map out some of the constellations that were above Baltimare before I came here. Studying magic under Princess Luna's wing was an incredible experience, but I think it would be fair to say that I wouldn't be standing here today if it weren't for the hard work, determination, and slight pushing of not only Princess Luna, but Twilight as well. It's their doings that helped me realize my own destiny.”

Astral's eyes grew wide with intrigue, “So you like the night sky too? Do you still have your work?”

Lunar chuckled, “I certainly do, though admittedly, it hasn't seen much volume since I became a prince of Equestria. Perhaps that could change tonight.”

“I would love to do such a thing with you tonight, Prince,” Astral beamed excitedly.

“Please,” Lunar smiled, raising his hoof towards Astral, “Lunar will do just fine. I'm gonna go out on a hunch that Twilight already said this, but in case she didn't, you can leave the formality to meeting and engaging with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It feels weird to have others call me by my title.”

“Of course,” Astral nodded.

Lunar then turned to Twilight and Starlight, “I'll see you both in a little bit. I'm going to go out with Astral and see what we can discover together.”

“Enjoy yourselves,” Starlight replied.

“We'll see you later,” added Twilight, nuzzling Lunar slightly, “when you return, we'll have some coffee together before going to bed.”

“Sounds good, Twily,” Lunar delightfully responded, turning back towards Astral, “shall we start our cartography together then?”

“I can't wait!” Astral eagerly shouted, walking alongside Lunar out of the Castle of Friendship.

---

“I took her to a hill that really overlooked a lot of Ponyville and we mapped out some of the constellations on the empty maps I prepared for us both,” Lunar explained, “and that's where I really got to know just what kind of pony Astral was.”

“And what kind was she?” Meridian curiously asked.

“A pony that reminded me a lot of myself, honestly,” admitted Lunar, “like how I'd lived my life prior to becoming an alicorn. I learned a little bit about her past while we were alone together – her father abandoned his family and her mother had passed away a short while before meeting Twilight and myself – and really came to understand why she liked studying the night sky; it provided a distraction for her.”

“Fascinating,” said Meridian.

“When we were finished for the evening,” continued Lunar, “I took her back to the castle and into the library, where we met Starlight and Twilight, and we continued talking there, uncovering a bit more about why friendship is important to the stability of Equestria.”

---

Twilight smiled, sitting down in her own chair inside the library, adjacent to Lunar and across from Astral, “How did the friendship lesson go?”

Lunar sat down next to Twilight and smirked, “I think it went pretty well. Wouldn't you say so, Astral?”

Astral blushed, “I-I guess so? It didn't feel like one, though.”

“And that's the beauty of them,” said Twilight, “they usually don't feel like lessons once you get the hang of them.”

Astral sat down across from Twilight and adjacent to Starlight. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled, impressed with the flavor the coffee had. Starlight closed her book and smiled.

“So, Starlight,” Twilight spoke, “how long have you been studying friendship with myself, would you say?”

“Probably about a year or so now,” Starlight answered, “it's impressive, honestly, how fast time flies by.”

“What did you do before meeting Twilight?” Astral wondered.

Starlight blushed slightly, twirling a strand of her mane with her hoof, “Well, I guess I can go into details about that; we're all friends here.”

“Precisely,” smiled Twilight.

“And there's no judging here,” added Lunar.

“And that's what I love about being given a second chance by you, Twilight,” Starlight mentioned, “it really is nice to see somepony do something like that to another pony.”

“It's my pleasure, Starlight,” Twilight said, “friendship is something that everypony should fight for.”

“And that's something I've had to learn the hard way at first,” Starlight stated, turning to Astral.

“What do you mean?” Astral asked.

“Before I met Twilight,” Starlight explained, “I ran a town on the far outreaches of Equestria. It was very secluded and nopony really ever bothered us, minus Tirek when he went around and stole magic. In that town, ponies would come and I would discretely convince and manipulate them into giving up their talents and living a life that was devoid of special talents and cutie marks in general.”

“Really?” Astral replied, intrigued by Starlight's explanation.

Starlight nodded, “I used my magic to take their cutie marks and replace them with an equal sign. I lived in that town for years and, when I finally met Twilight and her friends, I was reluctant at first, but pressed forward with my mission to show Equestria that cutie marks are nothing but a cause for pain. I thought that if I could take Twilight's cutie mark, I could show Equestria that even a princess like her was willing to give up what made them special.”

“What happened next?” Astral asked, taking another sip of her coffee.

“Well,” continued Starlight, “Twilight and her friends managed to convince the other ponies of the town to go after their cutie marks and eventually ran me out of the town and into a maze-like cave system that I used to get away.”

“Sounds rough,” Astral said aloud, thinking that she didn't.

“That's not all,” Twilight commented.

“It's not?” Astral responded.

“Nope,” Starlight smirked, shaking her head, “you see, after what happened, I followed Twilight and started studying her a little bit in secret, trying to see if I could use something of hers against her. When she was giving a lecture to the ponies in Princess Celestia's school, I came across an old spell from Star Swirl the Bearded that involved time travel. Combining it and rewriting the spell slightly, I managed to go back in time myself and make it so that anypony who used and casted the spell would send me back as well.”

“That's incredible,” Astral said in awe. She didn't think it was possible for a unicorn to travel back in time and began wondering of the infinite possibilities she could have if she knew that spell.

“So,” continued Starlight, “I used the spell to send me back to a specific point in Twilight's history.”

“What was that?” Astral wondered.

“A race at a flight school in Cloudsdale,” answered Twilight, turning to Astral, “you see, my friends and the friendships we've developed over the years are quite unique.”

“How so?”

“During that race,” Twilight exclaimed, “our friend Rainbow Dash performed a sonic rainboom. If it weren't for that rainboom, Rainbow Dash might not have been able to defend Fluttershy's honor, Fluttershy might never have discovered her love for animals, Applejack might never have realized that she belonged on her farm, and Pinkie Pie might never have decided to leave hers. Our friend Rarity has an impeccable sense of fabulosity, and that's something that can be traced back to the rainboom. Even more, it might be hard to even fathom what my life might have been like had it not been for the rainboom that occurred. The rainboom allowed me to unleash my full potential and enroll in magic school.”

Lunar smiled, then looked towards Astral, “It's not often that a pony and their friends can trace a single event in their past that affected them all in the long run.”

“Right,” added Starlight, turning back towards Astral as well, “and when I went back in time to change the outcome of the race, I successfully did so and watched as Twilight's future changed as well so that her friends never met.”

“You did?” Astral asked.

“A few times actually,” Starlight answered, “remember, I wrote the spell to bring myself back as well, and Twilight did that a number of times, but each time, I changed the race's outcome.”

“What happened then?” Astral questioned. “I mean, clearly things are normal right now, right?”

“Right,” Twilight said, “and since I had never met a pony with such magical capabilities as Starlight, I had to convince her to stop on her own accord. I showed her what would happen to Equestria had the rainboom never happened and,” she turned to Starlight, “I think we can both agree that it wasn't great.”

“Not one bit,” agreed Starlight, turning to Astral, “and that's why I thank Twilight for giving me a chance and teaching me friendship. She could have easily said no and banish or punish me in whatever way she thought fit because of what I did to her and to her friends, but she didn't do anything like that. She knew that my previous experience with friendship was bad, but she was willing to help work with me to make me see the positiveness in making friends. I have her to thank for that.”

Astral nodded, then rubbed her chin softly. Lunar smiled, offering his take as well.

“I owe Twilight everything in regards to friendship as well,” he told Astral, “like I told you, if it weren't for her,” he flared his wings out to show Astral, “then these two wouldn't be here right now. Again, friendship is a powerful thing to have in our lives. It creates lifelong relationships with ponies we care about dearly and they help make Equestria a safer place.”

“I suppose so,” Astral said, thinking back to what Twilight said earlier about a bad futuristic outcome, “do you mind if I see what exactly you were referring to when you said that the future wasn't great if the rainboom never happened?”

“I suppose that would be okay,” Twilight obliged, using her magic to show the image she showed Starlight once.

Surrounded by an interesting color aura, Twilight, Starlight, Lunar, and Astral were all brought to where Twilight and Starlight once stood. Astral looked around and wondered what she was looking at, cocking an eyebrow slightly.

“There's nothing here,” she finally stated, turning back towards Twilight.

“That's right,” Twilight confirmed, “in the future, Equestria becomes, well, nothing.”

“I'm not sure I understand,” Astral retorted, “how can that be possible?”

“I asked the same thing myself,” Starlight admitted, “when I first saw this, I didn't understand either.”

“I let Starlight know that the friendships I created and molded are important to the stability of Equestria,” Twilight explained, “and why it is like that, I am not sure myself. It just so happens to be the case.”

“But what would make one group of friends so important to Equestria?” Astral asked instinctively. “I don't believe that can possibly be the case.”

“Well, Astral,” Twilight started, only to be cut off by Lunar.

“Do you mind if I take this one, Twily?” He asked her.

Twilight giggled lightly, “Okay, Lunar.”

Lunar smiled, then started answering for Twilight, “Let me ask you this, Astral: Have you ever heard of the Elements of Harmony?”

Astral nodded a bit, “I read about them when I was younger, in a book called Ancient Artifacts of Equestrian History.”

“Tell me what you know about them,” Lunar said.

“Well,” Astral started, “from what I remember from the book, there are six elements in the world, but only five of them are known – kindness, generosity, loyalty, laughter, and honesty. The sixth is a mysterious element that nopony has seen in years.”

“Hmm,” Lunar pondered, “how long ago did you read that book?”

“Umm, h-had to have been five or ten years ago?” Astral answered, unsure of the exact time since she read it. “I'm not sure when. Why do you ask?”

“Because that's not entirely true anymore,” replied Twilight, “the sixth element is my element: Magic.”

“The Element of Magic?” Astral repeated.

“Yup,” Twilight smiled, “that element appeared to me when I heard my friends coming to my aide when we went up against Nightmare Moon a long time ago. That, however, is a story for another time.”

“Okay then,” Astral said, looking around again.

Lunar continued explaining the answer to the earlier question, “So, one group of friends is vital in Equestria. In this case, when Starlight altered the timeline, the Elements of Harmony were also affected, meaning that they were never found and Equestria was left defenseless when problems started to show up, like Nightmare Moon and King Sombra.”

“Still,” thought Astral, “seeing such an extreme case is odd. Seeing this is almost like getting struck by lightning or having your wings clipped; it just seems extremely unlikely.”

“While it is true that disrupting a friendship at random wouldn't necessarily lead to this exact moment,” admitted Twilight, “it is true that with fewer and fewer friendships in Equestria, it will get weaker and easier to invade, possibly even resulting in the return of the Windigos.”

Astral nodded, then took note of this important and powerful image while Twilight reversed the spell, bringing their normal surroundings back to them. Twilight looked to the clock and yawned a bit.

“Wow,” she giggled, “it sure is getting late.”

“It is,” Starlight agreed, “I think it's time I hit the hay.”

“Same here, Starlight,” Twilight smiled, turning to Astral, “it was great having a chance to talk to you about this sort of thing.”

“Likewise, Twilight,” Astral replied.

“Goodnight, everypony,” Starlight yawned, rising from her seat and heading for her room, “see you all in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams, Starlight,” Lunar smirked.

Starlight chuckled, “I'll know if you step hoof in my dream, mister.” She exited the library and went to her room.

Astral looked towards Lunar, “I guess it's time I get going too.”

“You have your own place you're staying in here in Ponyville?” Lunar wondered.

Astral shook her head, “N-not exactly. I was gonna stay in one of the hotels nearby.”

Twilight rose from her seat and smiled, “Well, since you are learning from Lunar, we could provide you with a room of your own here in the castle. It's large enough where there is extra space for other ponies. I can show it to you tonight since Lunar has to get ready to perform his nightly royal duties.”

Astral blushed slightly, “A-are you sure, T-Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, “Of course I am. Come on, I'll show you to your room.”

Astral smiled softly, “Th-thank you, Twilight.” She turned back to Lunar and waved to him, “Thank you for tonight, Lunar. I can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow.”

“Likewise, Astral,” Lunar replied happily, “get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams now!”

Following Twilight out of the library, Astral was being guided to her room for the night, smiling to herself buoyantly.

---

“I remember going into the Dream Realm that night and seeing all the dreams of everypony there, mostly my friends at the time,” Lunar said, “I met Princess Luna there, we spoke for a while since she wondered how the experiences were going for the first day, and then I went about my normal duties, entering the dream of a young pony who was experiencing a nightmare.”

“As far as duties go,” Meridian started, “could you explain in detail what it is that you do in the Dream Realm, as you put it?”

“Of course,” smiled Lunar, “my duties are to assist Princess Luna inside the Dream Realm and assist with ponies having nightmares. If a nightmare goes unchecked, there is a possibility that said nightmare could dangerously impact a pony's psyche. Prior to my ascension to the throne, Princess Luna would focus solely on the ponies who were experiencing horrific nightmares. Since I've been crowned a prince, we both help anypony who may be having a nightmare, no matter how small it may be. There are days where a lot of ponies are experiencing nightmares, but often times, we have enough time to dedicate to any one pony at any one time.”

“Interesting,” Meridian beamed, “and that's your main royal duty, correct?”

“Correct,” nodded Lunar, “any other duties I'm assigned are done with Twilight by my side.”

“Going back to your pupil,” Meridian said, “what did you do that night? Was it different or uneventful?”

“It was different,” chuckled Lunar, “but I wouldn't say 'uneventful.'”

“How so?” Meridian wondered.

“Well...” Lunar replied, looking up in the process.

---

“...and that's why it can be hard, but rest assured, things will get better in the long run.”

“How are you so sure of that?”

Lunar smiled, “Better things start with positive attitudes. It's hard, but simply smiling genuinely can be the difference between making someone's day. Positive thinking, as silly as it sounds, can really go a long way.”

“I guess so. But how do I begin?”

“Start by waking up and telling yourself that today will be a good day,” Lunar advised, “then things will become easier, especially as you do that more often.”

“Thank you for helping me, Prince Lunar. I'll do just that!”

“Anytime, my little pony,” chuckled Lunar, exiting the dream of a young colt.

Reentering the void of the Dream Realm, Lunar sighed contently, satisfied that he was able to help ease the stress that they were feeling. He looked around for another pony that may be experiencing a nightmare, spotting Luna in the process. He saw that she had a worried look on her face and approached her, wondering what the matter was.

“Everything okay, Princess Luna?” He asked. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“Come with me, Lunar,” Luna replied, taking his hoof in the process, “there's something that I wish to show you.”

“Whoa!” Lunar exclaimed, surprised with how quickly Luna was taking him. “Where are we going?”

Luna found Astral's dream once more and told Lunar to enter into it. Obliging, Lunar entered into Astral's dream and looked around. He noticed that Astral was inside a home, presumably her old home, and was sobbing to herself. He wanted to go over to check on her, but Luna forbade that with her magic, holding him back for the time being. Lunar looked back and wondered why that was the case, questioning Luna about it.

“Wait and see,” Luna told him.

Lunar tilted his head out of confusion and looked back to Astral. She was wiping her tears away with her hooves and looked towards the blood stains that were on her body. She started shaking and tried her hardest to come to terms with what had happened, but couldn't find strength to do so. Lunar looked back towards Luna and wondered what had happened.

“I've never seen such pain in a dream before, Lunar,” Luna told him, “have you?”

Lunar shook his head slowly, “I haven't. What happened before this?”

Using her magic, Luna showed Lunar what happened before he arrived, up until the point where the doctors told Astral what happened. Lunar immediately understood what happened and thought back to what Astral told him during their friendship lesson earlier in the night.

“She unfortunately passed away some time ago,” Lunar recited, looking to Luna grimly, “this must have been what happened when Aurora passed away.” He looked back towards Astral. “Dear Celestia...”

“Perhaps it would be best if you take things from here, Lunar,” Luna suggested, “it might be unconventional, but lessons can happen at any time, even in the Dream Realm.”

“I'll try my best, Princess,” promised Lunar as he watched Luna leave back into the void.

“I don't want to be alone,” Astral sobbed, wondering what she would do now that she was on her own.

Lunar nodded to himself, then allowed his magic to take over his voice, echoing throughout the room. “You don't have to be alone; not anymore.”

Startled by the new voice, Astral looked up and wiped her eyes dry again, “Huh? Wh-who's there?”

With a bright light filling the room momentarily, Lunar made himself visible to Astral and approached her slowly. Astral sniffed a bit as a result of her sobbing and looked down a bit. Lunar took note of this and continued forward.

“Prince Lunar?” She asked herself. “D-does this mean that I'm dreaming?”

“Precisely, Astral,” confirmed Lunar.

“But if I'm dreaming,” continued Astral, noticing her blood-spattered hooves had become clean now, “why don't I wake up then?”

“Sometimes we can worry about a thing so much that fear can make us feel like we're trapped inside a nightmare,” Lunar told her, using his magic to erase the nearby surrounding area, “these things are not real. The emotions felt inside of our dreams might be exerted from real events, but that does not mean we have to replicate them.”

Astral looked down again, “How much have you seen then?”

“I've seen enough,” answered Lunar, looking towards Astral and approaching her slowly, “tell me: is there something that you're deeply afraid of?”

Astral shook her head slowly; she decided to lie to Lunar for now.

Lunar rubbed his chin lightly, sensing that something wasn't right at the moment. “Are you sure about that?” He used his magic to bring Astral back inside the kitchen from earlier. “Because I can think of one or two things that could fill the void the question provided.”

Astral gulped, then came clean, “I-I'm afraid of being alone. I...I'm sorry I lied.”

“I understand,” Lunar replied, “and I probably would've done the same if I were in your horseshoes.”

“You would've?” Astral wondered, surprised to hear Lunar admit that.

“You see,” continued Lunar, “when we're afraid to show signs of weaknesses, ponies often times hide them from revealing it to others. Your phobia is nothing more than mind games you're playing in order to trick yourself.”

“I, umm, I'm not sure I understand,” Astral said.

Lunar smirked, “We're all afraid of something, Astral. Admitting that we're afraid isn't showing weaknesses. In fact, it shows how strong we really are since we can admit those fears.”

“But it feels bad knowing that you're all alone in the world,” Astral responded, “that's mainly why I focus solely on my work now. It gives me something to distract myself from the consistent loneliness that I experience day in and day out.”

“True,” agreed Lunar, “but you haven't been alone this entire time. You did get sent via royal order to learn from me, and something tells me that if it weren't an order, you probably wouldn't have shown, am I right?”

Meekly, Astral nodded, “Friendship just hadn't had the same effect on me as it had on you, Lunar. You wouldn't understand if I just told you my story.”

“Maybe not,” continued Lunar, “but those thoughts and experiences are locked into your subconscious, are they not?”

“I-I guess so?” Astral quizzically replied, wondering what Lunar was doing.

“Dreams are similar in that aspect as they are locked into a pony's subconscious,” explained Lunar, “which means, that if you'd like to show me those experiences, I can bring them and project them for us to see. That's up to you to decide, however, and I won't force you into doing something you're not comfortable doing.”

Astral wondered for a moment, but ultimately decided that it would be okay to show Lunar some of the experiences she had with friendship as a filly, feeling that it would offer a better explanation than one she could've given herself. Lunar nodded, then used his magic to bring forth one of Astral's memories, projecting it so that they could both see it.

“This was when I was a filly of about four or five,” Astral stated, “and I was in the local kindergarten that Whineysota had. Mom was still getting over my father leaving her and I didn't really know better at the time, often asking her when he'd come home. I was maybe seven or eight before I realized that he wasn't coming back. Here, however, I had my first experiences with friendship.”

Lunar nodded and looked around the room they were in. It was a small classroom inside the kindergarten center Astral mentioned earlier and there were a bunch of colored drawings lining up along the walls as well as other items. In the middle of the room stood about fifteen fillies and colts, watching as the teacher was writing something on the chalkboard in front of them.

“Alright, everypony,” the teacher beamed, “since you've all been wonderful today, the next twenty minutes will be free time! Remember to keep our inside voices on at all times, okay?”

“Okay, Ms. Daisy,” the children responded in unison.

Ms. Daisy smiled, “Have fun then, everypony!”

Lunar noticed the fillies and colts scatter across the room and spotted the filly version of Astral. He saw that she was playing with some blocks by herself and wondered why that was the case. The adult version of Astral pointed to a group of three ponies to the left of the filly version and started explaining what was about to happen.

“Those three were the most popular ponies in the whole class,” Astral said, “and whatever they did was considered cool. It sounds dumb, but we were kids and that's usually how it goes at that age.”

“What happened then?” Lunar wondered.

Astral continued pointing to the group of three and answered Lunar as they rose from their seats, “Those three never liked me and would constantly pick on me.”

“Look who's all by herself,” one of the ponies laughed, looking at filly Astral.

“Weave me awone, pwease,” the filly whispered.

“You're a loser!” Another one of the ponies teased.

“Ye-yeah!” The final one added. “Lose-tral!”

“Stwop, pwease,” the filly cried, “Mwiss Dwaisy!”

Lunar cocked an eyebrow and saw what Astral meant now. Looking to the prince, Astral rolled her eyes and explained further.

“That,” she said, “that right there is what I had to deal with day in and day out for over ten years. Ten years! That's the reason why I never gave friendship a second thought because it never cared for me! You have no idea what it's like to experience something like that on a consistent basis, Lunar.”

“Perhaps not,” Lunar admitted, using his magic to make the vision fade away, “but I think I can attempt to relate to the feeling of being alone.”

“I'd doubt it,” Astral spoke under her breath, “with all due respect, Lunar, but friendship isn't really something that could heal these wounds.”

“I know,” Lunar replied, “but they can help patch them. Allow me to show you something from my life. This goes back to before I became an alicorn, before I met Twilight, before I met Princess Luna, before I enrolled in magic school.”

Lunar used his magic to again change the area once more. This time, he showed Astral something from his childhood. Astral noticed the surroundings and wondered what was about to be shown to her. In the middle of a small room was a young unicorn colt, a past version of Lunar. Astral cocked an eyebrow, but continued to watch.

“As a younger colt,” Lunar explained, “I was very interested in magic and I remember always wanting to get better at it. This is the day I learned I had a gift, as my parents called it. We lived in Caneighda and had a lot of different books on magic.”

The young colt used his magic to move a bunch of different items in the room around: books, the coffee table, some small ottomans, and some other things. When they heard a commotion, two other ponies entered into the room, surprised by the strength of magic the colt had.

“Those are my parents,” Lunar told Astral, “my mother, Lustrous Nights, was a Pegasus and my father, Eclipse, was a unicorn.”

Lustrous Nights approached the younger version of Lunar and asked him if he had actually moved the objects on his own.

“I-I-I-,” the young colt responded, clearly being nervous about any consequences for playing with his magic.

“Lunar,” Lustrous spoke softly, approaching the child and wrapping her wings around him, “it's okay, Luny...you can calm down now. You're not in trouble or anything.”

“Your mother used to call you Luny too?” Astral noticed.

Lunar blushed slightly, “I used to have a lot of anxiety as a colt. Mom calling me Luny would calm me down a lot.”

“I wed the wittle spell in the book,” the young colt finally said.

Astral smiled softly, “That's cute.”

“I did have trouble with some R's and L's when I was younger,” Lunar chuckled.

“You know I'm not a unicorn,” Lustrous continued, “but even I could tell that that was some sort of spell, Luny.”

“Weally?”

Eclipse approached the two ponies and nodded, “Not even I can control that many things, Lunar. You have a gift.”

The young colt grew excited, “Can I open it, pwease?”

Astral giggled to herself once more, “That's adorable.”

“It's not that kind of gift, sweetie,” Lustrous told the young colt.

Lunar smiled softly and used his magic to teleport him and Astral to a different moment in that time, “You get the idea. I had a pretty good relationship with my mom and my dad.”

“Where are we now?” Astral wondered.

“Well...” Lunar began, trailing off as he motioned his head towards a set of doors to his left.

“Daddy,” the young colt called, “where's Mommy?”

Eclipse's eyes started forming tears. The young colt was unsure of what was happening, so he approached Eclipse and twirled a hoof on the ground nervously.

“Am I in twouble?” He asked Eclipse.

Eclipse shook his head, “N-no...”

“Daddy,” the colt continued, “what happened to Mommy? Where did she go?”

Eclipse wiped his tears away and pulled in his son for a hug. Astral looked towards the adult version of Lunar and saw as his eyes were closed, hoof wiping a tear away himself. Lunar used his magic to make the images disappear, looking towards Astral in the process and explaining to her what happened then.

“You see,” he started, “right before Hearth's Warming that year, my mom, Lustrous, started feeling sick and was left very weak. She spent a lot of time in the hospital near Ontneighrio and I remember Dad taking me to visit her every single day when I came home from school.” He cleared his throat briefly, sensing that he was choking up a bit. “Sorry about that. Anyways, the doctors told us that she would be okay and that she would be home just after the start of the new year. Dad and I used that as hope while we watched her be unable to really move on her own behalf. Those final few days were some of the heaviest ones of my life. That was the last time I ever saw my mother.”

Astral felt heartbroken. She looked at Lunar and, reaching out, proceeded to hug him. Lunar returned the hug with one of his own and continued explaining to Astral why he showed her what he did.

“I never got to say goodbye to my mother,” he said, “like you. I never got that closure, exactly like you. I could have ended things right then and there, but I didn't.”

“How'd you push past that?” Astral wondered.

“Remember my dad telling me how I had a gift?” Lunar asked Astral. “Or my mother explaining to me how she saw that the spell I casted was 'some sort of spell?'”

“Yeah?”

“Well after that moment,” continued Lunar, “my mom tried signing me up to attend Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, but every time I saw the application, I would throw it out. When she finally passed, I decided to fulfill her dream of me attending that school, though it took a bit of time for me to find the strength to do so. Dad always told me that she would've been proud to see how far I'd come. I went, enrolled, got accepted, and passed my entrance exam on a lenient technicality that I'll explain another time. I studied for a few years under Princess Luna's wing and, eventually, when Twilight helped me achieve my wings, I specifically requested that a seat be set aside next to my dad during my coronation ceremony. That seat represented my mother and was the closest to the aisle, which was the closest seat to me. My father and step-mother took the two seats next to the empty one.”

“So you-”

“I do what I do because I know my mother would be proud to know that I'd done it,” Lunar interrupted, “I didn't have any friends growing up, but studying magic and, eventually, friendship is what allowed me to get to where I am today – here with you talking about how friendship can change the lives of ponies. I know you don't have a great history with it, but I can tell you that friendship is indeed life-changing. If you don't take my word for it, at least take Princess Luna's word or Twilight's word for it.”

Astral looked down and wondered if what Lunar was speaking was really the honest truth. She closed her eyes tight and bit her lip slightly.

“But what if I fail?” She hesitated to say.

“Then you just get right back up and try again,” Lunar told her, “the fear of failure isn't necessarily the failure of fear. Our past does not define us, Astral, because our past is not today. Everyday is a new day and offers new opportunities for us to expand and better ourselves, that's why it's called the present. Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today will always be a gift. Use that gift to make a difference in the life of somepony, even if it's yours.”

Astral opened her eyes once more and looked towards Lunar, tears of happiness in them. She hugged Lunar once more and promised that she would give friendship a chance, in honor of her mother.

“Wonderful,” Luna smiled, entering into the dream with Lunar and Astral, “this is exceptional news, Astral, and a choice that will lead to many wondrous things in your life.”

“Th-thank you,” said Astral, wiping her eyes dry once more.