On the day of the Summer Sun Solstice a filly seizes her chance to meet her idol, the imposing Princess Luna, and ask for one small favour; a brighter night to share with her father.
Smoky Nights would like nothing more than to sleep through the day and explore the night. Unfortunately, her parents don't share her passion. They believe, like many ponies, that the darkness hides too many dangers for a young pegasus to fly safely, even by moonlight. Desperate to prove them otherwise, Smoky approaches Princess Luna with a request that she make the night brighter. This small favour marks the beginning of a friendship, a bond that will follow the Princess like a shadow for the rest of her life.
With her hooves buried deep in her father’s mane Smoky Nights strained to see above the crowd. He chuckled as she pushed his head down. But even from her vantage point on his back she still couldn’t get a good view of the princesses. Her wings flapped anxiously at her back but she didn’t try to fly. The air was already full of pegasi that could keep themselves airborne for the entire ceremony. Smoky didn’t have their stamina yet.
“Can’t you carry me up there?” Smoky begged her father, yet again.
“And leave your poor mother behind?” Ruby Sunrise replied.
Checklist pouted up at her daughter, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Just watch the stage, sweetie,” she said, “Princess Celestia will be raising the sun in two minutes and you’ll see her then.”
Smoky sighed dramatically. She strained again as far as she could reach and caught a quick glimpse of Celestia’s flowing mane, but that wasn’t the princess she wanted to see. She adjusted her position and tried to climb onto Ruby’s head. He protested, laughing. Smoky’s hooves shot out from under her as he shook. She would have slipped off if Checklist hadn’t caught her with her magic.
“If you’re not going to be careful you’ll have to stand down here with me,” she told her daughter sternly as she lowered Smoky down onto Ruby’s back.
Smoky sat down obediently and tried keep her twitching wings still. She could hear the other ponies in the crowd murmuring excitedly as the time for the first sunrise of the Summer Sun Solstice drew closer. Smoky stood up again and caught another glimpse of Celestia taking her place in the centre of the stage. Checklist began counting down excitedly under her breath and bouncing slightly, making her husband laugh yet again.
Their excitement latched on to Smoky as well and she grinned as the crowd went quiet and the princess spread her wings wide. Everyone went still around them just for a moment as Celestia rose up off the ground, her horn burning almost as bright as the sun that rose behind her. Smoky watched, enraptured, as the sunlight spread out across the crowd, driving back the darkness of the night. The crowd went wild with delight.
Ruby and Checklist cheered along with the others and stamped their hooves. Smoky was silent in the midst of the hubbub. Her gaze drifted away from Celestia and settled on the younger princess, Luna, standing tall and solemn at the side of the stage. She thought the dark blue princess looked a little sad despite her regal presence.
The commotion over the risen sun died down slowly. The two princesses stepped off the stage and nodded their respects to the crowd as it parted before them. Celestia smiled all around her and gracefully accepted every compliment sent her way. Luna walked a step behind her sister, her smile smaller and her part in the ceremony unmentioned. She kept her head high though, outwardly unfazed.
As the opening in the crowd spread Ruby and Checklist found themselves near the edge. Smoky stood up taller as the princesses approached and called out to Luna. Her small voice was lost in the tumult around them. She tried again and again and still couldn’t make herself heard. The princesses passed by without even glancing her way.
Smoky refused to let this chance pass her by, though. She scrambled up her father’s head and used him like a diving board. Her tiny wings lifted her up and over the heads of the ponies beneath her and out into the space left behind the princesses. She flew hard for as long as she could manage and when her tired wings gave up she crash landed at Princess Luna’s hooves.
The princess stepped to the side in her surprise and stared down in confusion. Celestia paused for a moment as well and then stepped up to the little filly and smiled down at her.
“Hello,” she said warmly, “are you alright?”
Smoky stared up at her, getting more embarrassed with each second as she realised her parents were calling to her and trying to push their way through the crowd. She scrambled to her hooves, acutely aware that her hair was all out of place and at least one feather was sticking out at a weird angle.
“I… I just wanted to…” Smoky began, pawing at the ground.
“Do you want to walk with us?” Celestia asked kindly.
Smoky blinked her yellow eyes rapidly and then shook her head. Finally she got up the courage to look up at her idle, the princess of the moon, and spit out what she wanted to say in a jumbled rush. “I just wanted to ask if you could make the night a little brighter because my parents won’t let me fly at night when it’s really dark but it’s my favourite time and I sent you a bunch of letters but they must have got lost even though dad said he delivered-”
“Smoky!” Ruby cried, finally breaking free of the crowd. He swept his daughter up with one leg and tried to bow at the same time. “Princesses, I’m so sorry! I’ll get her out of your way.”
“No,” Luna said firmly. Ruby froze in place. Pressed up against his chest Smoky could feel him trembling slightly. The princess knelt down slowly until she was level with the filly and a small smile spread across her face. “I should be sorry. I clearly do not read my mail often enough. I will make sure that tonight will be extra bright just for you.”
Smoky beamed with delight. “Thank you, princess!”
“You are very much welcome, little one.”
Luna straightened up and returned to her sister’s side to continue their slow walk back to the castle. On his daughter’s orders Ruby stayed exactly where he was until the princesses had gone out of their sight. Later, as the family was walking home, Ruby and Checklist’s gentle scolding could do nothing to dampen Smoky’s joy. She skipped between them, gleefully ignoring their complaints and singing, off-key, about how beautiful the night was going to be.
Ruby was the first one to give in and sing along. Checklist admonished the both of them, though she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
The day of the Summer Sun Solstice was the longest Smoky had ever known in her short life. The festival was as bright and loud and exciting as it was every year, but for the first time it wasn’t enough to hold the filly’s attention. She loved the bright colours of the decorations and the incredible art that was on display all around her, some that was even better than her father’s paintings, and especially the delicious food that she was only aloud to eat during festivals. But it was still not enough. Nothing could compete against her excitement for the coming night.
Ruby tried to sit her down beside him with her own little easel so she could play with paint while he sold his art. Smoky had never shown much talent for art, but it didn’t stop her father from trying to encourage her to follow in his hoofsteps. Checklist did the same thing when Smoky visited the postal office where they worked. Smoky usually didn’t mind their meddling. She was just as eager to get her cutie mark as every other foal. But today it only frustrated her.
“Something existential today, sweetie?” Ruby asked when he took a look at her canvas.
Smoky dipped her hoof into a can of dark blue paint. The canvas was already covered in swirls of blue, black and purple paint. She added another as she replied to her father. “I’m bored. Can I go home?”
Ruby sighed unhappily. “You can’t just sleep the day away, Smoky. Don’t you want to play with the other foals? Or you can go for a walk with mum when she comes back.”
She dipped her other hoof into the white paint and began dabbing at the canvas. “But I want to be awake for tonight. Princess Luna said she’d make the moon brighter, just for me! And you said you’d go flying with me.”
“And I will, but that’s no reason not to enjoy this lovely day. Princess Celestia raised the sun so we could all enjoy it. Don’t you want to respect her hard work as well?”
“Didn’t look hard,”
“Professionals make everything they do look easy.”
Smoky stepped away from her canvas, leaving blue and white prints on the grass, and went to wash her hooves clean in the wash-up bucket. Ruby frowned at the painting she had left behind and looked as though he was trying to decide what else he could say to try to change her mind. His attention was soon caught by a possible customer approaching his stall, their eyes lit up with awe. He cast one last worried glance at his daughter before hurrying to greet them.
Once her hooves were as clean as she could make them Smoky returned to her canvas and lay down in front of it. Her attempt to capture the beauty of the night had failed, as it always did. No matter how many times she tried she could not paint her memory onto the canvas the way her father did. Her attempts just never looked as good as the real thing. No matter which technique she used or how many times she mixed the paint she could not recreate the way the stars glittered in a velveteen sky or the entrancing glow of the moonlight where it stroked Canterlot’s towers or the waterfalls that poured steadily down the mountain.
Smoky sighed and laid her head on her legs with her gaze pointed away – away from the painting and away from the festival beyond Ruby’s stall. She let her eyes close and deliberately slowed her breathing bit by bit until the air was barely moving through her nose. She felt each inch of her body as it relaxed and moved steadily towards sleep.
She had almost drifted out of reach of consciousness when Ruby shook her awake and pushed her to her hooves.
“It’s the princess!” he whispered excitedly into her ear.
Blinking in the bright light Smoky stumbled against his leg and yawned. He pushed her mouth closed and made sure she was standing up straight before trotting out of his stall to greet the princess with the others nearby. Smoky couldn’t see which princess it was through the crowd just yet. She sat down to wait beside her canvas and watch over her father’s paintings while everyone else pampered the princess with attention and compliments.
She didn’t have to wait long.
The crowd parted and Smoky gasped in surprise to see Princess Luna walking slowly past the stalls. She jumped back onto her hooves and scrambled to clean up her corner. A small tin of paint went bouncing away into a bush in her rush, trailing splotches of red in its wake. Smoky chased after it with a rag gripped between her teeth. She swept up most of the mess and then tossed the rag under the bush before returning to the task of tidying the other cans. She had most of them out of the way by time the princess paused in front of her.
Smoky beamed up at her, panting.
Luna stared back, her expression slowly descending into worry.
“Are you quite alright?” she asked hesitantly.
Smoky glanced down at herself, wondering if she had caught a thorn on her coat. Ruby came out of the crowd then and swooped down on his daughter with a slightly panicked cry.
“Smoky! What have you done to yourself?” he asked, touching her face gently.
“Nothing,” Smoky replied, trying to squirm out of his grasp.
“You look like you’re covered in blood.” Ruby passed his hoof over her cheek and frowned at the red smear that had transferred to his fur. He sniffed at it tentatively. “Oh, or maybe it’s just paint.” A relieved laugh bubbled out of him as he fetched a new rag from his bag.
Luna laughed as well, in her regal way. She smiled down at Smoky.
“Have you been painting?” she asked, glancing around stall.
“Just messing around, really,” Smoky admitted, casting a bashful glance at her easel.
Luna stepped gracefully past the filly to take a close look at the canvas and the swirls of paint still drying on it. While the princess considered it Ruby went at his daughter’s face with a wet rag to clean off the red paint splattered across her muzzle and forelock. Smoky did her best to watch for the princesses’ reaction even though her father was constantly getting in the way.
“It’s quite lovely,” Luna said, smiling again down at Smoky.
The filly ducked her head, only to have it pulled back up by Ruby so he could keep scrubbing. “It’s nothing special, but I’m glad you like it, princess.”
“I hope the moonlight tonight will inspire you to paint another picture just as beautifully.”
“Oh, I can’t wait!”
Smoky squirmed excitedly, making her father laugh. Ruby finally gave trying to clean her and let her go. The filly bounced on the spot, grinning wide at the adults standing around her. The princess laughed again, softly and politely, and soon excused herself to view the rest of the stalls in the festival. Smoky continued to bounce and beam long after the princess was out of sight. With her excitement renewed she propped a new canvas on her easel and attacked it with new passion and inspiration.
Ruby laughed as he watched his daughter use the tip of her tail like a paint-coated whip. When splatters flew past their mark and landed on his own paintings he cleaned them up swiftly but did not dare to puncture her enjoyment. He had never been one to put a stop to another pony’s joy, even if it meant spoiling his daughter. Seeing her so happy and energetic while the sun was still up was a sight he wasn’t going to let slip away too easily.
He was so delighted he agreed to hold the canvas for her when she needed it at an angle that the easel couldn’t provide. He would have laughed when her dripping tail splashed black paint across his face if he hadn’t had the canvas held in his mouth.
Smoky laughed with him.
“It suits you,” she insisted.
Ruby placed the canvas carefully back on the easel and dipped the longest feathers on his wing into an open can of silver paint.
“Well,” he said with a grin, “I think this would suit you.”
Before she could get out of reach he flung his wing out, splattering Smoky’s dark blue mane and grey ears with the bright silver paint. She dived toward the paint cans, ready to start a war, just as her mother returned to the stall with lunch for the three of them.
Checklist flattened her ears against her red and green mane as she took in the mess her childish husband and daughter had created.
“Oh, again?” she grumbled. Ruby dipped his head, blushing through his orange fur. Checklist lowered the picnic basket she was carrying with her magic and began lifting rags. “Sweet Celestia, my chores will never end with the two of you around.”
Despite Smoky’s overactive imagination, the night was not delayed or cancelled. It arrived exactly when it was meant to, which still seemed much later than she believed it should be. The festival for the Summer Sun Solstice was winding down as Celestia’s magic lowered the golden orb of the sun slowly out of view. As darkness descended lamps were lit all across the city to keep the full weight of the coming night at bay.
As he had promised hours beforehand, Ruby allowed his daughter to climb onto his back in preparation for their traditional viewing of the moonrise. Checklist kissed them both goodbye and wrung promises from each that they would be home in an hour to help her unpack the cart that their stall had been packed into. Smoky did her best to hurry the formalities along and almost screamed when her parents responded by moving in slow motion. For once Checklist broke first and laughed at her daughter’s frustration.
“Oh, go,” she said, hiding her grin behind her hoof, “before she strains a muscle.”
Ruby leapt skyward obediently and his laughter echoed out over the festival along with the talk of the thin crowd of ponies that remained. Smoky clung to him with all her might as the ground and the city fell away beneath them. Her tiny wings fluttered rapidly, straining to raise her into the growing beauty of the night sky. Their desperate efforts were too little to lift her from her father’s back, but secretly she hoped she was helping at least to ease her weight. She was getting bigger every year, after all, and soon he wouldn’t be able to fly with her like this. She only hoped a growth spurt would give her wings the strength they needed before she had to face the horror of being left behind on a night like this.
As father and daughter rose above the city and its spires the air grew cooler and the night embraced them. Ruby flew slowly, following the string of lights that marked the main path out of the city and up the mountain. He wasn’t the only pegasus in the sky and he kept that thought close in his mind as he flew, constantly squinting into the darkness to make sure there was no one nearby to crash into. Smoky was too distracted looking for the first hint of the moon to notice.
The path they followed led all the way to the peak of the mountain, but few ponies climbed so far. Instead they climbed only until they were above most of the towers of Canterlot to a field with a view clear to the horizon. The spur it rested on was large enough to hold a few hundred ponies, though only a few dozen where there when Ruby landed among them.
Smoky leapt down from her father’s back immediately and raced away, toward the edge of the spur and the night spread out beyond it. Ruby followed at a calmer trot, greeting ponies he knew and occasionally pausing to talk to one or the other. As a mail pony it was part of his job to know every pony in Canterlot and he enjoyed taking the task seriously, especially since he actually had enough free time now for proper chats.
Knowing she had left her father behind, and unconcerned that she was alone in the crowd, Smoky slowed when she reached the mossy rocks that marked the edge of the spur. She climbed the biggest of them and sat down on a soft patch of moss with her forelegs crossed and her head craned back. The stars were just starting to bloom in the darkness above. They blinked into existence one by one, as if some pony were carefully poking holes in the night sky with a needle.
Far below the stars, the moon finally peaked over the distant line of the horizon. Its gentle glow filled Smoky’s eyes as she watched it climb gracefully into view. She only distantly noticed the chatter of the other ponies in the field. The beauty of the night had seized her, and she didn’t want it to let go.
With her head on her hooves and her eyes half closed Smoky breathed deeply, taking in the sweet scent of grass and moss and soil. The cool breeze stroked her back like a mother’s hoof and in her mind it lifted her away. Her imaginary-self glided out over Canterlot, banked around its towers and spires, and then left it far behind as she flew up, and up, and up, until her hooves touched down on the glowing surface of the moon. Weightless and careless she danced across the moonlight with stars swirling all around her as a delicate, crooning music called her on.
Smoky woke to her father’s hoof resting on her back.
“Looks like you’re ready to head home,” Ruby said warmly.
Smoky jumped up. “No! I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“It’s time for bed anyway. The moon will still be there tomorrow.”
“But it’ll only be extra bright tonight,”
Ruby nuzzled her fondly, smiling. “We’ll just have to take the long way home then.”
Placated, Smoky gazed one more time up at the brightest sphere in the sky and sent a quiet word of thanks to its princess. Then, with her farther beside her, she set off at a trot toward the path leading back to Canterlot.
As they wound their way back down the mountain Smoky occasionally leapt off the path and flew instead of walking. Her father hurried after on the ground as best he could. The path meandered all across the mountain and was often out of sight of the moon. Even on the night of the Summer Sun Solstice there were few lamps to light it. The occasional unicorn led small groups with their glowing horn, but Smoky passed them by. The way their light caused the shadows to flicker made Smoky’s eyes hurt. She preferred to flutter through the shadows under the trees, where the light was always constant and it was easier to see where she was going.
At the end of the path, just before it joined the main road into Canterlot, Smoky stopped under the trees to wait for her father to catch up. He wasn’t far behind, though he was panting when he trotted up to her.
“It’s a good thing your mother didn’t come,” he laughed, “you’d give her a heart attack.”
“I was just having fun,” Smoky protested, flattening her ears guiltily.
“I know, sweetie,”
He pulled her in for a hug with his wing and then they moved into the bright city together. Smoky yawned as they walked. Even her love of the night couldn’t compete with the exhaustion following such an exciting day. When the pair arrived home she went straight to her bed, after apologising to her mother for staying out later than she was supposed to.
Smoky’s room was small and cluttered and tucked into a corner of the house that looked out over a piece of the royal gardens. Her bed was a nest of pillows and a well-worn blanket hanging in front of the window. She flew unsteadily over the dolls and building blocks that littered the floor and tugged the curtains open before flopping into bed. Moonlight reflecting off a fountain in the garden splashed across her room in rippling waves.
She drifted into sleep with a smile on her face and the beauty of the night resting deep within her heart. In her dreams she flew effortlessly again, raised by the music of the stars.
The moment school ended for the day Smoky was racing out the door and down the pathway to the gates. She dodged other foals with hops and brief moments of flight. She didn’t pause for a moment until she barrelled through the door of the post office and tumbled head over hoof into the back of some poor pony’s legs. Smoky mumbled a quick apology as she righted herself and then dashed around the counter and leapt onto Checklist’s back with a wing-assisted hop.
“Ah, you little monster,” the unicorn protested, laughing, “Did you even tell Mrs Lamp you’re sorry? You all but knocked her down.”
“Not to worry, Checklist,” Mrs Lamp assured her, “foals will be foals,”
Smoky smiled sheepishly over her mother’s shoulder. “Where’s dad?”
Checklist sighed dramatically. “He should be in the back, if you must abandon me.”
“I love you too, mum,”
Smoky jumped down and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before trotting into the back room where the mail was sorted. Two unicorns were sorting through stacks of newly arrived letters at the front of the room. Three pegasi were playing a game of cards near the doors while they waited for the chance to make their deliveries. Ruby Sunrise was among them, and when he heard his daughter enter he called her over.
“My lucky charm is here!” he crowed.
“She won’t save you,” Hot Hoof declared, smirking behind his cards, “nothing can.”
Smoky ignored all their twittering and sidled up to her father. “Dad, have you been to the castle yet?”
“Nope,” Ruby replied, “I’m still waiting on Kaleidoscope.”
Smoky turned and bounced across the room to where the two unicorns sat, partly obscured behind a flurry of flying letters and packages. She crept as close to the green unicorn as she safely could and spoke up quietly to begin with, just in case the pair were feeling jumpy.
“Are you almost finished with the castle mail, Kaleidoscope?” she asked.
The green unicorn glanced down at her without pausing the flow of letters rushing past her.
“Let me finish this bag,” she said with a smile, “are you trying to steal our Ruby away early?”
“No, I want to go to the castle with him.”
“Off to bother the princess again?” Ribbon, the other unicorn, inquired, “You need a new hobby, Smoky.”
“But I made a painting for her.” Smoky turned to show the pair the canvas peeking out of her saddle bag. “She said she liked the one I did at the festival, so I made her one inspired by her moon that night. Miss Pansy said I could send it to the castle, but I want to deliver it.”
“Can we see your painting?”
The saddle bag began to glow with Ribbon’s blue magic even before Smoky had a chance to begin protesting.
“No, no!” Smoky cried, “It’s for the princess only.”
Ribbon closed the flap on the saddle bag and laughed. “Alright, Smoky, I’m sorry,”
“I forgive you.”
Kaleidoscope pushed a full bag of mail across the floor toward Smoky, saying, “Here you go, sweetie. You can be off just as soon as Ruby gets off his butt.”
“You’re one to talk!” Ruby retorted as he left the card game.
The unicorn only laughed. She lifted the bag with her pink magic and settled it carefully on his back when he presented it to her. Smoky bounced impatiently on the spot while she waited for him to get ready. When it was finally time to leave the ponies left behind sent them off with good luck wishes. Smoky waved goodbye to each in turn.
“Feel up to flying with me today?” Ruby asked her as they stepped out of the post office into the small garden behind it.
Smoky flapped her wings experimentally. “Just a little way,” She peered up at her father imploringly. “How much longer do I have to wait before they work properly?”
“They already work, sweetie, they only need to get a bit stronger.” He put his wing over her and hugged her close for a moment. “Just keep flying every day and you’ll be up there with the best of them in no time.”
“I don’t care about the best. I just want to keep up with you.”
“I’ll be the one worrying about keeping up with you soon, just you wait.”
He spread his wings and leapt into the warm air above the garden. Smoky followed right behind him, her little wings beating hard. They flew just above the rooftops, following the main road that flowed through the centre of Canterlot. Other pegasi soared above them while earth ponies and unicorns strolled along the road. The summer wind was full of cheerful talk and the sweet pollen of a thousand different flowers. Smoky breathed in deep but kept her eyes on her father’s tail rather than stare at the world passing by below.
They had put four whole blocks between them and the post office when Smoky finally gave in and admitted that she couldn’t fly another moment. Ruby glided to the ground beside her, always at the ready just in case she fell. She stumbled when her hooves touched down on the unyielding road a touch too hard.
“See?” Ruby said proudly, “you got further than last time.”
Panting, Smoky could only smile up at him. He beamed back and then set off at a bouncing trot up the road.
Smoky knew it took much longer for them to walk than to fly and if not for her father’s irrepressible joy she would have felt terrible for delaying the royal mail. Checklist liked to say that as long as there was one small thing in the world to be happy about, Ruby would never be sad. Some ponies would have been jealous if his happiness weren’t so contagious.
Uncaring for the weight of the mail on his back or the other ponies passing by, Ruby began to sing as he trotted up the centre of the road.
“Little filly, come quickly,
I’ve got a treat for you.
In sunny Fillydelphia,
Where the sky is beyond blue,
We’re all waiting on your smile,
And a taste of the love you grow.
“Little filly, come quickly,
I need some help from you.
In faraway Maretonia,
Their crops have grown too high.
No one can reach their tasty treats,
You’ve got to help us fly.
“Little filly, come quickly,
The time has passed us by.
In lonely Everfree Forest,
I’m waiting on your song.
Not even birds can sound the same,
I’ve been here all day long.”
Ruby sang without a care for what the ponies around him thought of his plain voice and didn’t pause to do more than breathe until they reached the gates of the castle. Smoky walked obediently by his side as they made their way through the cool castle halls to the princesses’ study.
“Looks like you’ve got something stuck to your tail, Ruby,” the guard by the door pointed out, laughing.
Ruby nudged his daughter out of his shadow before stepping into Celestia’s study to deposit his heavy load. He raised his voice so they could hear when he replied. “Smoky insisted she had to deliver her present for Luna in person.”
“Is that so?” the guard bent down so he was at eyelevel with the filly, “The princess is busy right now, I’m afraid, but you can leave it with me. It’ll be my honour to see she gets it.”
Smoky shook her head even as she wilted. “But I wanted to give it to her! Can’t I see her just for a second?”
“Sorry, darling,” he glanced up and down the long, empty hall and then leaned in even closer, his expression was serious despite the ghost of a smile. He gestured behind to a small table. “Tell you what, if you put it on that table just down there, it’ll be the first thing the princess sees when she comes out. There’s no way she could miss it.”
“Ok,”
Sighing, Smoky dragged her hooves across the marble floor to where the long table stood, decorated already with flowers in glass vases, a silver candelabra and a gilt mirror hanging above. While she pulled the canvas carefully from her saddlebag and propped it up on the centre of the table, right below the mirror, her father came out of the study and began chatting with the guard. She kept one eye on them while she adjusted the canvas and made absolutely sure neither were watching before darting to the door opposite the table. It was already open, just a crack. She squeezed through the gap in a second, leaving behind just one loose feather.
The room she found herself in was darker than a moonless night and stirred by a fragrant breeze that made Smoky shiver. She could see only shapes within the shadows at first. But as her eyes adjusted she began to recognise some of the shapes as furniture and others as cushions. She stepped out of the wedge of light that came through the open door and the darkness came suddenly into focus. Where she had seen shapes a moment before she now saw details as clearly as if someone had flung open the curtains. The greatest surprise of all was the thousands of tiny stars painted on the dark walls and roof. The longer she stared the more constellations she recognised, but nowhere was there any sign of a moon.
Smoky almost leapt out of her skin when a pile of blankets by the wall suddenly reared up and spoke.
“What are you disturbing me for?”
The filly dropped to the floor, trembling, and cried out, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
There was a moment of silence but for the rustle of the blankets, and then Smoky was staring up at the ruffled Princess Luna. The alicorn stared back for a moment before a yawn overtook her and she had to cover her mouth with a hoof.
“Oh, Smoky Nights,” she said once the yawn had passed, “did the guard let you in?”
Smoky flinched guiltily.
“Ah.” Luna smiled and nudged the filly with a gentle hoof. “Up you get, little one. Are you lost?”
“The guard said you were in here,” Smoky admitted as she got slowly to her hooves, “I wanted to give you a painting I made but he said not to and I was just going to leave it on that table but then I saw the door was open and I didn’t mean to wake you up… I’m sorry princess,”
“Your apology is accepted. Now why don’t you show me this painting?”
Smoky gladly darted back through the door; and straight into the guard that had told her not to go inside. He jumped backwards in surprise and then cringed guiltily when the doors swung wide to reveal the princess. He dropped into a low bow with his blushing face turned to the floor and babbled a torrent of apologies that only stopped when Luna touched his lowered head.
“There’s no need for that,” she said firmly. She cast her eyes across the hall, taking in the cowering guard and Ruby’s desperate attempts to herd his daughter out of sight without catching the princess’s attention. Finally Luna’s gaze fell on the canvas sitting on the table across the hall and a smile lit up her face. “It looks beautiful, Smoky. Did you do this all on your own?”
Smoky slipped out of her father’s grasp and bounced over to stand proud beside her art. “I made it just for you, princess, because your night inspired me.”
“I’m honoured, thank you,”
Smoky’s grin was almost painful in its magnitude. “I’m so glad you like it!” Her joy was quickly dampened, however, when she saw the guard peeking fearfully at the princess from his prone position. “Please, don’t be angry with him. He didn’t mean to let me go in your room.”
“Do not worry about Fleet Feather,” Luna assured her, “he will not be severely punished. But I am afraid I have a long list of duties ahead of me, so I think he should see you out. I would not want you to get lost.”
A blush rose in Smoky’s cheeks and she did her best to laugh it away even as Ruby steered her away with a heavy hoof on her shoulder. The guard scrambled to his hooves and gave the princess a wide birth as he hurried down the hall. Smoky’s laughter died at the sight of his anxious expression, so she trotted to catch up with him and gave him her brightest smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “please don’t look so upset, your fur is green enough already,”
“Smoky!” Ruby hissed, pulling her back to his side, “leave him-”
“Wait,”
The princess’ cry wasn’t loud or demanding, but it made both stallions stop in place even so. They turned to watch as Luna walked the short distance and looked down at Smoky.
“Did you say Fleet Feather was green?” she asked.
Smoky nodded, clearly confused. “Isn’t he?”
Luna tilted her head to the side while she considered the filly. “Smoky, look closely at Fleet Feather, and then close your eyes until you can just barely see him.”
After a quick glance at her father Smoky did as she was instructed and squinted at the confused guard. His coat still looked bright green through her eyelashes and she wondered for a moment if she was doing something wrong. The thought of somehow failing the princess made her shift her weight nervously from one hoof to the other and her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly to try to clear the pain away, and almost cried out in shock when Fleet Feather turned from green to grey between one blink and the next. The change only lasted for an instant. As soon as she opened her eyes wide he was green again and confusion swept over her.
She turned to the princess, utterly confused. “He changed colours!”
Luna nodded, smiling. “The guards’ wear enchanted armour so they all appear the same. It seems you naturally see through the illusion. I think you may have also seen clearly in my room, because any other pony would not have been able to see me in that darkness.”
“Smoky…”
The filly turned at the sound of her name to find her father staring at her, but not at her face. His eyes were filled with wonder and joy and locked on her flank. When she twisted to see what he was looking at she was filled with delight at the sight of the cutie mark that had appeared. Nestled in the grey fur on her flank was a golden quarter moon rising out of a dark blue cloud.
“Congratulations, Smoky Nights,” Princess Luna said.
Overwhelmed with joy Smoky hugged her father, Fleet Feather and the princess and then ran in circles around them, laughing. Ruby chased her and laughed with her. When he caught her he swept her into a tight embrace and nuzzled her cheek.
“I’m so proud of you, my little filly,” he told her, “I knew you had something special in you.”
Canterlot glowed so brightly against the mountain it rested on that Smoky watched it approach for over an hour. It grew from a speck the size of a firefly to a fully-fledged city as she flew steadily through the cool darkness that covered the rest of the land. A satisfying ache pulsed in her shoulders and wings with each beat. After such a long flight she was glad to touch her hooves to solid ground outside the castle doors, even if it meant immersing herself in the bright lights that surrounded it and lined its halls. She bowed her head slightly to hide her sensitive eyes behind her long fringe before trotting up the steps and approaching the guards.
The unicorn on the left nodded in greeting and opened his half of the massive door with his yellow magic, saying, “Princess Celestia asked that you see her as soon as you arrived.”
Smoky paused on the threshold. “Did she say why?”
“She was too busy to spare us that information.”
“Of course, sorry,”
She smiled an apology as she began moving again. The door banged softly as it closed behind her. The halls were empty except for her hoof steps and the occasional guard nodding at his post. She exchanged nods with each one that acknowledged her and spoke only to ask where to find the princess. They directed her to Celestia’s private quarters and when she arrived the guards there let her in immediately, despite the late hour.
Celestia didn’t look up from her paperwork when Smoky stepped into her study. The princess lifted a bundle of letters tied with silver ribbon off a pile by her side and spoke before Smoky had a chance to greet her.
“My sister left for the palace the day before last,” she said shortly, “take these with you, please.”
The letters floated across the wide room between them and pushed themselves into the saddle bag hanging against Smoky’s right side. There wasn’t much room in the bag, but Celestia forced them in anyway.
“As you wish, princess,” Smoky replied, “is that all you require?”
“Yes, thank you,”
The pegasus bowed low, her fringe still guarding her eyes against the light that suffused the castle, and backed out of the room. The guards had almost closed the doors behind her when Celestia got suddenly to her hooves and called out after them. The unicorn that had been closing the door threw it back open immediately, wincing when it slammed against the wall. The princess looked as if she took no notice.
“Forgive me, Smoky,” Celestia sighed, “there is more.”
She cast a look at the guards and waited while they obediently trotted away down the hall. Once they were gone the princess looked down at the pegasus and said nothing while Smoky stared resolutely at the floor. It wasn’t until Smoky dared to glance up through a part in her fringe that Celestia finally spoke.
“I know Luna cares for you.”
Smoky could think of nothing to say in response, so she only waited while the princess gathered her words and continued.
“I dislike needing to ask anyone for assistance in a personal matter, but I feel as though I have run out of options.” Celestia glanced away. Smoky couldn’t believe her eyes. She had never seen the princess so uncertain. “My sister will not respond to me. We argued. I fear she has taken herself away into the Everfree Forest and skirted her duties.” The princess glanced over her shoulder, back into her study. “She was late raising the moon tonight. I fear she may be punishing the ponies to get at me. You must talk to her for me.”
In the quiet that followed Celestia’s confession Smoky took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. The lights burned even through her eyelids.
“Princess,” she began slowly, “I cannot guarantee I can find Luna if she does not want to be found, but I will do my best.”
“Thank you,”
Celestia took a step back toward her room, paused again, and inclined her head ever so slightly toward the young pegasus. Her horn glowed for a moment and Smoky felt the saddle bag shift on her right side as the bundle of letters readjusted their position.
“My sister was right to take you on as a student,” Celestia said softly, “I’m sorry I’m so often short with you.”
Smoky bowed low. “I would not dream of holding it against you. I know your position is a stressful one, and arguing with your sister cannot be helping. I will do everything in my power to help fix whatever problem has caused your argument.”
“Thank you.”
Smoky waited until Celestia had closed the doors before straightening up and shaking her head slowly. This wasn’t the first fight the sisters had had, but it was the first time Celestia had directly asked for help. She turned to start back down the hallway. As she walked slowly across the marble floor she thought hard about all the possible places in the Everfree Forest that Luna could have hidden herself away. Luna had introduced her student to many of them, but Smoky suspected there were still several that were known only to her mentor. Her only option would be to investigate each of them in turn. The prospect wasn’t appealing. If she was forced to visit all of them she would still be searching after sunrise.
Smoky stretched her aching wings as she stepped out of the castle and looked up, past the towers and the lights, to where the moon hung full and heavy in the sky. Only a little more than half the night had passed already. If she was going to find Luna she still had five hours to do so before Celestia’s sun blinded her.
She took a last breath of warm, grass scented air and then leapt skyward, beating her wings hard against the grasp of gravity. She felt the guards watching her until she turned away and left the city and its light behind. The night closed in on her again, embraced her. She shook the hair out of her eyes and breathed the sweet, chilly air in deep. Below her the countryside rolled away in silvery waves, lit here and there by distant towns and lonely farmsteads. The only truly dark spot was the Everfree forest, with the palace glowing dimly in its embrace.
Smoky flew low over the trees when she reached the forest. The breeze that held her up ruffled the leaves with gentle fingers and brought with it the sweet smell of fruits, flowers and wet grass. She would have liked to take her time and enjoy the peace of it. She didn’t often have time for herself, especially in such a lovely place.
The first, and closest, hiding place Smoky arrived at was a rocky clearing with a bubbling pond and no sign of the princess. The second was a sparely wooded hill overlooking a flower-studded valley, and still no sign of the princess. The third and fourth were the same. By then Smoky was only a few minutes flight from the palace. She turned away from her search to visit it, just in case the guards there knew anything about Luna’s whereabouts.
The lights in and around the palace burned low and gentle, as was common when the princess of the moon resided there without her sister. Normally there would also be some activity in the grounds, small groups of ponies dragging their heels through the gardens or chatting while they gazed at the stars. There were none when Smoky arrived. Instead the few dozen ponies who lived in the palace were gathered in the main courtyard in a nervous crowd while the guards stood uncomfortably on the steps.
Smoky glided down in a long curve, making sure she was spotted before she landed just in case they were scared of an attack. One of the guards, a unicorn she recognised because of his lemon yellow coat, jumped down the steps and ran to greet her. The sight of the worry in his eyes caused a jolt of fear to spear Smoky’s heart.
“Wisp, what happened?” she asked before he had a chance to speak, “Is Luna all right?”
The unicorn shook his head and reached up to push off his helmet. It clattered onto the flagstones and he rubbed the sweat off his forehead. He tried to grin at her and failed as his aqua eyes darted past her to the crowd. “She’s fine, as far as we can tell. We didn’t even know she was coming until she showed up this morning and started ordering everyone out.”
Smoky glanced at the ponies behind her as well and was confused to find that many of them had backed away. She couldn’t believe the fear she was seeing in their eyes. She knew most of these ponies by name, and they all knew her by reputation at least. How could they be afraid of her?
Wisp Light took her attention back to him with a touch on her shoulder. His magic lifted his helmet onto his head as he spoke. “They still can’t get over our new armour.” He glanced down at himself and shuddered slightly. “Honestly, neither can we,”
“Your armour?” Smoky looked down at it and realised with surprise that she hadn’t even noticed it was purple and silver, as opposed to the usual gold.
He rolled his eyes at her. “Squint, Smoky,”
She did as he suggested, and all the breath went out of her in one gasp. Instead of seeing a plain white stallion through her eyelashes she instead found herself face to face with a grey bat pony with purple wings and slitted yellow eyes. There was no confusion in her mind then about what the ponies in the crowd were frightened of. When she turned her adjusted sight on the other guards on the steps she saw yet more bat ponies shifting uncomfortably in their new armour.
“Luna changed the enchantments almost as soon as she arrived,” Wisp explained, “She said her royal guard should look more the part.”
Smoky glanced again at the ponies nearby and stepped closer to him. With her eyes wide open she was able to see him clearly again, although the image of how he and the other guards appeared to everyone else still hovered in the back of her mind. She lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “Celestia said she and Luna fought. Do you know what happened?”
Wisp looked up the palace behind him. “We sent a message to Canterlot, but they didn’t say anything about a fight.” He met her gaze again and placed his hoof on her shoulder. “Smoky, can you talk to her? We’ve been told not to let anyone in, but I’m sure Luna wouldn’t mind if it was you.”
“I already promised Celestia I would.”
They shared a rueful smile and then began the long walk up the steps. The guards stepped aside with clear relief on their faces. Smoky received several well wishes and encouraging words until the doors opened and she was ushered inside. Wisp walked in with her only as far as the main staircase.
“The last we knew she was in the throne room,” he said quietly, “If you need us, the pegasi are doing laps. Just shout out and we’ll come running.”
Smoky stared at him. “Please don’t suggest that might be necessary.”
He blanched, stumbled over a retraction, and quickly gave up. With his head hanging low he retreated back into the outside world and the safety of his fellow guards. The doors slammed behind him, and then cracked back open just a little.
Smoky started up the staircase at a trot. The sound of her hooves on the marble echoed back to her a dozen times over. When she reached the top and walked through the reception to the throne room beyond she found no sign of the princess, although there was a pile of discarded golden armour in one corner. Smoky moved on to check Luna’s private quarters, but couldn’t find her there either. She was starting to worry when she remembered the observatory. It was a long walk up the staircase, but when she finally reached the top she was rewarded with the sight of the princess sitting silently on the viewing platform.
Luna was wrapped in a dark cloak and staring out over the forest. The echo of Smoky’s footsteps didn’t cause her to stir until the pegasus was directly behind her.
“Princess?” Smoky said softly, “is this a bad time?”
Luna sighed gently and turned her face away. “So the guards let you up,”
“They’re worried.”
Smoky crept closer when the princess didn’t reply and tentatively sat down beside her. The view of the forest was gorgeous from this platform. Many of the trees nearby were filled with nocturnal flowers, and a river running through a nearby gorge suffused the area with the lively song of its passage. Fireflies played in and around reeds growing in a pond below the viewing platform. Somewhere in the darkness wolves called to each other.
“Celestia told me you argued,” Smoky admitted after a lengthy silence, “though she didn’t say what about.”
Luna turned to look at her finally, one eyebrow raised. “Is that what she called it?”
Smoky wasn’t sure how to reply. Fortunately for her, Luna didn’t seem to expect an answer.
“I have been alive a long time,” she began bitterly, “and of all the ponies I have met, you belong to a very small group that cares anything for the beauty of my night. My sister enjoys the love and adoration of all while I am ignored.”
“Everyone must sleep,” Smoky reminded her softly, “even you. No pony is trying to insult you. It’s just how we are.”
Luna turned on her with an expression as dark as her night. “That excuses nothing. They celebrate the day and the rising of the sun while ignoring me. They show me no respect.” Her eyes flashed as she jumped to her hooves. “Even you no longer refer to me with the proper titles.”
Smoky flinched away, but there was nowhere to go. The princess was leaning over her with fury in her eyes and a dark glow wrapped around her horn. Despite her better judgement she couldn’t help but whisper, “I thought we were friends,”
Luna reared back and looked about to shout. She pulled up short, however. Her gaze seemed to have become stuck on something. For several long moments she only stood and stared as the anger fell slowly away. Crouched at the princess’ hooves Smoky twisted as subtly as she could manage until she was looking in the same direction. It took her only a few seconds to spot Wisp Light. He was standing on the roof of the observatory, flanked by two pegasi, holding a broken weathervane with his magic. The polished steel tip was pointed straight at Luna.
Realising that the princess, her student, and the other two guards were all staring at him, Wisp stumbled backwards with a start and released his impromptu weapon. The broken weathervane struck the roof with a resounding clang and bounced off. It crash-landed in a bush somewhere below, startling an owl that rose screaming into the night.
Wisp’s voice broke as he called down to the viewing platform, “Are you alright?”
Luna shook herself out of her stupor. “What are you doing up there? And why did you break my favourite weathervane?”
The question seemed to be too much for him. When the princess turned to the pegasi they backed away and tried to hide behind Wisp. Smoky took the chance to clamber to her hooves and take a few steps toward the railing. Luna glanced at her.
“Smoky,” she said, frowning, “did you bring my mail?”
“Yes, princess,” Smoky replied.
She unclipped her saddle bags, let them slip to the floor and then pulled out the stack of letters Celestia had given her. They flew away from her in the grip of Luna’s magic. While the princess inspected and sorted them Smoky turned her gaze back to the roof and caught Wisp holding a whispered conference with the other guards. He met her eyes and mouthed his question again. She shook her head in reply, but waved away his concern before he could embarrass himself more in front of the princess.
“How was my sister?” Luna asked without looking up from the letters.
“She was concerned that the moon was late to rise,” Smoky replied carefully.
“Oh, yes, I should send an apology. I was just so busy today.”
“Is there anything else you need from me?”
Luna looked up from the letter she had been reading, frowning once more. “I suppose, but I want to hear your report as soon as you’re rested.”
“Thank you, princess,”
Smoky picked up her saddle bags without bothering to put it back on properly before leaping off the viewing platform. Her wings trembled as she glided down to the garden. All the strength that had carried her through the night was gone. Even her legs protested the thought of walking through the palace halls to her room. Only leftover adrenaline kept her moving.
Wisp Light caught up to her just as she was about to re-enter the palace. The pegasi that had carried him up to the roof deposited him on the grass with little effort. They didn’t stick around long enough to be thanked.
“I’m so sorry,” Wisp said as soon as they were gone, “I should never have let you go up there.”
Smoky sighed as she leant against him, as if mere contact could share their strength. “Someone had to talk her down. I just didn’t do well enough.”
“Don’t say that, Smoky,”
Without asking for permission he lifted her saddle bags onto his back and then opened the door so they could head inside. They walked side by side, so close her feathers brushed his shoulder with every step.
“We should tell Celestia,” Wisp said suddenly, halfway up a staircase.
Smoky slowly shook her head. “How do you know she won’t make it worse?”
“How do you know she will?”
She stopped walking, one foot on the landing. He stopped a second later. Quietly, almost too low for him to hear, she implored him, “Please, just trust me on this, Wisp. Every mention of Celestia just makes her angrier when she’s in that mood. Haven’t you ever wondered why the last captain of the guard left the way he did?”
Dawn came, bringing with it a warm day and an insistent tapping on Smoky Nights’ bedroom door. Even in her half-asleep state she could tell by the tone of the tapping that whoever was outside her room had been knocking for some time. For a while she considered burying her head under the covers and going back to sleep. Exhaustion still sat heavy on her bones, not to mention the well-earned ache that pulsed in her wings and shoulders.
But the knocking continued, on and on, and there was no chance of sleeping through that racket, not anymore.
Smoky finally dragged her sore body out of her bed and pulled the door open only far enough to stick her head out, along with all the tangled hair attached to it. The old guard standing on the other side continued to knock by butting his head against the door, his darkly ringed eyes closed against the dim light in the hall.
“Yes?” Smoky said.
He started as if he had been falling asleep. “Oh, there you are. Luna wants a report on… something?” He shook his head to clear it. “Nope, it’s gone. Sorry, Smoky.”
“It’s ok, Mossy, I know what she wants.”
“Good. I’m off to bed, then.”
Smoky watched him go with a flare of jealousy, knowing it was selfish. She shook it off as best she could and stepped back into her room just long enough to straighten her mane and tail, take a few bites from a bag of trail mix, and collect her notes from her discarded saddle bags. Once she had everything sorted she took one last chance to try to stretch the ache from her muscles before starting the long walk to Luna’s study, assuming that was where the princess would be.
Before she reached the study she found Wisp Light pacing in the hallway outside. He galloped straight at her the moment she stepped into his line of sight, barely managing to stop before they collided. An open letter fluttered after him, held up by his magic.
“You can’t go in there,” he said, pale underneath his new armour, “Celestia had a vision,”
Smoky took a step back and shifted her wings nervously. “What are you talking about?”
Wisp thrust the letter at her but didn’t give her a chance to read just yet. “A mail pony just arrived with this. Celestia had a vision last night about a thousand years of darkness and now she’s coming here to talk to Luna about it.”
“What’s that got to do with me not seeing Luna?” Smoky asked as she tried to catch the letter out of the air. Wisp whipped it out of her reach and moved closer to her, almost trembling now.
“No one’s seeing her. We can’t risk triggering another bad mood.” He stamped his hoof, not angrily but out of nervousness. “What do you think will happen if Celestia gets here and Luna’s already angry? What happens if they fight? Like, really fight? What if she blames us?”
Smoky put her hooves on his shoulders and gently pushed him down until his was sitting on the cool marble floor. “Wisp, when was the last time you slept?”
The unicorn’s face screwed up in an effort to fight back tears. “So you’re dismissing me too,”
“No, I’m just worried you’re not thinking straight. I’m sure Luna is feeling much better today and you have nothing to worry about. So why don’t you go to bed and let the rest of us worry for a while? I promise we’ll be careful.”
Wisp hung his head. “Ok,”
He walked away without looking up, leaving behind the letter and a lingering unease. Smoky sat herself down where he had been to read the letter he had left behind. It began as all royal missives did, with mention of any vision not appearing until near the end.
It is with heavy heart that I must reveal the heart of the problem which drives me to seek out my sister. I received a vision in the night of a terrible darkness that covered all of Equestria for a thousand sorrowful years. I fear the urgency of this warning cannot be ignored. In order for us to prepare for whatever it is might be coming I must ask you to prepare the palace guard and its staff for the worst, and to advise Luna to begin seeking out any possible source of the oncoming danger.
I sense we will be the only ones who can stand against it, together, or else Equestria is doomed.
Smoky read the letter three more times before making her way to Luna’s study. The princess smiled at her as innocently as a child as she welcomed her student inside.
“Did you get enough sleep?” Luna asked sweetly, “I know you prefer to sleep the daylight hours away, but I’ve been looking forward to your report with too much excitement to wait.”
“Princess,” Smoky began, holding out the letter with its broken royal seal, “Celestia is coming to speak with you about a terrible vision.”
Luna regarded the letter with cool indifference. “Tia can be easily upset by nightmares, I’m sure this latest one can wait.” She lifted the letter off Smoky’s hoof with her magic and sent it to settle on the top of an unsteady pile of paperwork on her desk. Smiling again, she brought out a pair of large magenta cushions and sat down on the fluffiest. “Sit, Smoky, tell me what you found in the north. You were away so long, you must have found something.”
Sighing, Smoky settled on the second cushion and watched as Luna’s magic opened her saddle bags and drew out her copious notes. “I’m afraid the opposite is true. I couldn’t find anything.”
Luna’s brow twitched with a second of worry before bending into a frown. “Did my maps fail you? How can there be nothing left?”
“I flew over the area dozens of times. I spent days walking every inch, searching every cave, and I couldn’t find any signs there was ever even a single house there.” Smoky lowered her head, anxious of the frustration that was clearly building in the princess’ tense posture. “I’m truly sorry, but it’s as if the Crystal Empire never existed. There’s nothing but snow and ice where it used to be.”
Luna shuffled through the notes with increasing annoyance. “You couldn’t see even a hint of magic in the air? Nothing at all?”
“I did everything you told me to. There was nothing to see.”
For a while the only sound in the room was the agitated rustle of paper as Luna searched and found nothing at all. When she finally threw them down Smoky was braced for anger and shouting, not tears.
“There isn’t anything!” the princess wailed, “Do you think I’ve been idle here? Not even Star Swirl’s journals have a hint of a spell that could banish my nightmares.”
“Maybe I could go back to the zebras and see if they found anything since last time,”
“So I can choke down more useless potions?”
Luna got up suddenly and stormed across the room, scattering Smoky’s notes. She had no destination in mind, no purpose. Instead she marched back and forth, releasing frustration and despair with each heavy hoof step. Smoky watched in despair, wishing the weeks spent searching had yielded something, anything. She wondered if she should have stayed longer, if the empire had miraculously returned the moment she turned for home. Maybe if she left immediately and flew harder than she ever had she would find it there in its glorious beauty, with the Crystal Heart nestled at its centre.
It was a ridiculous daydream made all the more the painful for how badly Luna needed it to be true.
Finally, drained of frustration and tears, Luna halted in the middle of the room and turned wearily to catch her student’s eye.
“Thank you for trying,” she said quietly, her voice rough with emotion, “I’m glad I have you here for me.”
The moment Celestia’s chariot was spotted on the horizon Luna ordered every pony out of the courtyard so she alone could greet her sister. Smoky watched with Wisp Light from atop a wall as the royal sisters greeted each other from across the invisible gulf between them. Although Smoky couldn’t hear what they were saying she guessed from their postures that they were being perfectly polite, just as royals should be, right up until the moment the pegasus ponies trotted out of the courtyard with the chariot.
Suddenly finding themselves alone together, the sisters dropped their acts. Celestia beseeched her sister with words and body while Luna remained unmoved. Seeing the desperation in Celestia’s face, Smoky felt suddenly as if she were intruding on something extremely private. She backed away from the edge, pulling Wisp with her by the fringe on his helmet.
“We shouldn’t be spying like this,” she whispered.
After a moment of thought he nodded in agreement, reluctantly. “So, back to the entrance hall?”
Side by side they crept along the wall until they were out of sight of the courtyard. From there they had only to trot down a flight of stairs, cross a herb garden, and slip through a side door in order to reach the entrance hall where every other pony in the palace was waiting for their next orders from the princesses. Only a few of the guards noticed Smoky and Wisp’s return. One of them alerted the captain to the fact and Wisp was soon summoned to his side. Smoky didn’t follow. Instead she walked around the tense crowd of ponies and stood near the door, ready for whatever Luna might need of her.
She didn’t have to wait long.
The doors swung open just a few minutes later, silencing the crowd. Princess Celestia stepped across the threshold alone, her head high and her expression set. There was no sign of her sister on the steps behind her. Smoky took a step forward, looking worriedly out at the courtyard.
“Hearth Stone?” Celestia called out.
The captain separated himself from his guards and marched forward to salute. “Princess?”
Celestia stared down at him, momentarily confused. She was quick to brush away her concerns over the new armour, however. There was work to be done. “I need you to organise a search of the palace. You will need all your guards and the staff.”
Hearth Stone nodded as if the request was perfectly normal. “Is there a creature on the loose?”
“There is a book here somewhere, likely in the lower floors, by Star Swirl the Bearded. It is quite large and bears the title ‘In Darkest Night’. I feel I will need it in the coming days, but I have not seen it in many years.”
“We’ll find it for you, princess.” The captain turned to issue his commands to the crowd. “Guards, break into groups of three, select three of the staff each, and then come to me for your assignment.”
Smoky could see Wisp coming toward her, and she would have joined him if Celestia hadn’t touched her shoulder with her outspread wing.
“Not you, Smoky Nights,” the princess said gently, “we need to talk.”
Celestia strode through the crowd without looking back. Smoky only had time to wave at Wisp before trotting after the princess. Celestia paused when she reached the top of the stairs and the start of the hallway leading to each of the sisters’ studies. She waited until Smoky was beside her before closing the doors behind them and starting off slowly down the hall.
“Luna informed me of her nightmares,” Celestia began stiffly, her expression troubled and unhappy, “I can understand why she would keep it from me, but I thought you would know better.”
Smoky hung her head. “Luna was so sure she didn’t need anyone’s help. I’m sure she was suffering long before she told me. I couldn’t bear to break her trust.”
“How much worse did the problem have to become before you would ask for my help?”
She had no answer, only a growing guilt that she had failed in more than just her quest for the Crystal Empire. “Is she going to be alright?”
Celestia walked on for a time in silence. “I don’t know. I fear Luna’s nightmares and my vision are no coincidence. I only hope my errand will keep the ponies busy long enough for me to find some way to help her.”
Smoky felt the blood drain out of her in a chilling rush. “So there is no book…”
“There is, and I did lose it a long time ago, but Star Swirl never encountered a situation like this and I doubt his writings could assist us.”
“Princess, where did Luna go?”
Celestia didn’t answer at first. Smoky’s fears only grew larger and more solid as the silence stretched on.
“When I saw the darkness cover Equestria,” Celestia finally began, “Luna was at the heart of it.”
“But, she wouldn’t…”
Smoky’s mind filled with the echo of Luna’s voice. Complaints muttered under the breath, contemptuous glances, frustrated pacing, an undertone of hatred in every other word… Smoky had been listening to it for so long she had barely noticed the increasing frequency with which it occurred. Even endless nightmares could explain only so much. And yet she had refused to see it.
“I’ve been so blind,” Smoky moaned, putting her face in her hooves.
Celestia put a wing gently across her shoulders. “We both have.”
The pegasus raised her face to look up at the princess, in spite of the sun that glared through a window nearby and seared her sensitive eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“We are going to wait for Luna to return, and then we are going to prove to her that all of Equestria loves her as much as they love me.”
“How?”
Celestia opened the door of her study with a casual spell and took a step inside, saying, “I thought we could arrange to-”
A chill breeze sliced across her words and stole her breath. Smoky had to step to the side to see past her into the dark chaos of the study. She had rarely seen inside this room, but she knew it had never before been in such a state and the sight froze her in place. The gorgeous golden curtains were in shreds. Shards of glass cast harsh reflections of the sun from the floor. The creamy white rug was in ragged piles alongside the splinters that had once been finely crafted furniture. Even the roof hadn’t gone unscathed. Chunks of stone and mortar had been carved out of the palace and thrown amongst the rest of the carnage. It was impossible to take more than two steps into the room without crushing something that had once been beautiful, but Celestia went in regardless.
The princess tiptoed with divine care across the glass and rubble to where the largest piece of her desk lay. With a trembling hoof she pushed a cracked door out of the way and then used her magic to lift out what had been hidden inside. Smoky caught only a glimpse of something pink and blue and floppy before it was hidden by Celestia’s bowed head and flowing mane.
“Smoky,”
The voice that spoke was small and broken and Smoky almost didn’t recognise it as belonging to the princess.
“Please find my sister,”
Smoky wavered, unsure if it was a request or a command. Surely there was no point to her leaving when they had no plan? Either way she didn’t want to obey. Even such ferocious and sudden destruction shouldn’t dissuade their cause. The room could be cleaned, the furniture replaced, the window-
“Just go. Please,”
Smoky took a breath to disagree, and then the door closed in her face. Not suddenly or loudly, but firmly. She was left staring at the tiny carvings in the wood panelling in the still and silent hallway. Through the wood she heard a single muffled sob. Her hoof steps covered any other sound that might have escaped the study as she walked away.
Without the guards and staff going about their work the palace was eerie. Smoky was glad to slip out a side door and into the clear air. Under the gentle warmth of the sun it was difficult to believe Celestia’s study had been so cold. Smoky shook her fringe into her eyes and squinted through it as she spread her wings. The sky above was as clear and perfect as ever, and Smoky dreaded it.
Before taking off she scouted the area around her carefully to make sure she had all the room she needed for a crash landing, just in case. Then she turned her back on the sun and took a few running strides before leaping skywards and trusting her life to her wings. She kept close to the palace, even though she collided with it several times, until she found the conservatory tower and fell onto the balcony. There was no one inside to pick her up.
Smoky investigated the corners and under the tables just in case, but Luna wasn’t there. She had no choice but to return to the open air and begin the long and difficult task of checking each of the princess’s hidden places. After one last look around the conservatory she jumped from the balcony and turned toward the one of the closest, a cave further up the river. The Ursa Major that lived there was fond of Luna, though Smoky had yet to win its favour.
She followed the river northeast mostly by the sound of it grinding against the canyon walls. The rustle of leaves kept her away from the banks and errant branches, though not always. More than once she heard the startled caw of birds as they swerved out of her way at the last second. She tried to apologise each time, though she doubted they understood her. Under the circumstances, she wasn’t surprised to realise she had flown past the cave.
The cool, musky darkness was a welcome relief when she flew into it. The stalagmite that appeared suddenly out of the shadows was not. Her best attempt to avoid it saved her from breaking her neck, but not from smashing her shoulder against the rock. The impact sent her tumbling against the dusty floor before abruptly coming to rest against the wet wall.
For several long minutes Smoky lay where she had fallen, weeping and gasping.
When the pain finally faded and the tears dried up and nothing had come to investigate the noise Smoky knew she had to move on. She picked herself up out of the mud and limped back toward the entrance, holding her front left leg close to her chest. She kept her head and her bloodshot eyes down, ready for the glare of the sun, and stepped straight off the edge of the canyon.
The river rushed toward her from all directions. Pure instinct thrust her wings out and lifted her out of its reach, just barely.
The moment she was high enough to reach firm ground she landed, hard, and stared slack jawed up at the dark sky. The moon hung full and bright directly overhead, exactly where the sun should have been. Surely she hadn’t been in the cave half the day?
As the weight of the moon’s appearance settled on her Smoky stumbled to her hooves and threw herself back into the rushing air currents over the river. Fear gripped her tight enough to push her pain almost entirely out of conscious reach. Something had to be dreadfully wrong. It was the only explanation that made sense. The rest of her thoughts were a chaos of imaginings of what could possibly have happened.
When the palace came into sight it looked just the same as it ever did, though darker. No one had lit the lamps for the night, so it couldn’t be true night, right? Smoky’s thoughts whipped around her mind like a hurricane, flinging debris in all directions. But what if the staff and guards hadn’t finished with their search yet? What if the ceiling had collapsed and trapped them all in the endless maze of the basements?
As if the horrible question had summoned a disaster, the roof of the throne room exploded in a blast of blue light. Without thinking twice Smoky charged toward hole left behind. Gory images of the danger her friends could be in filled her mind. She was just about to throw herself down into the smoke and dust below the hole when a beam of blue light tore open the sky, barely missing her.
Celestia flew past her only a second later, without even glancing at her.
Smoky called after the princess, but she didn’t seem to hear.
A second blast of blue light lit up the night, very clearly aimed at Celestia. When Smoky turned and saw its source, she almost fell out of the sky.
Luna flew hard on her sister’s hooves, radiating fury and hatred that was almost tangible. Her entire body was wreathed in a thick, shadowy aura that lashed out at Smoky as she passed. Luna’s eyes were wide and burning and blind to her student. Smoky tried to chase her, to help her, but her injuries finally began to tell. She fell behind. The princesses vanished around a corner of the palace, with Luna continuing to fire ugly beams of light at her sister, and Smoky couldn’t believe it. What in Equestria could have happened during the short time she was gone?
And what was that flicker that flew ahead of her?
Smoky shook herself. One problem at a time.
Celestia soared back into view, shouting over her shoulder.
“Stop this, Luna!”
But the princess of the night didn’t back down. She fired one beam after another, unrelenting. Smoky tried to call to her, to distract her at least, but nothing got through. The shadowy magic that surrounded Luna only got thicker and darker. Each spell she fired was a dense concentration of that magic. Smoky could see it surge and bunch around Luna’s horn in waves as the princess fired again, and again, and again, until she finally scored a hit.
The spell that finally found Celestia struck her with a painfully bright explosion, tearing a tortured scream from her. Smoky watched with horror as the princess of the sun fell limply through the same hole in the throne room roof that she had escaped from. The night screamed with her.
Luna only laughed.
Smoky followed Celestia’s path down into the throne room and landed hard amongst the rubble. The flicker in the air landed with her, as if the ghost of a pony flew with her. She pushed it from her mind as soon as she saw it and rushed to the princess lying limp on the floor.
“Celestia?”
The princess didn’t stir. She barely seemed to breathe.
Smoky heard the crunch of rubble under a hoof and spun around, expecting to face the stranger that had possessed Luna. Instead she saw only familiar faces and could have wept from relief. The guards spotted her in turn and came running. Wisp Light reached her first.
“Is she…?”
He couldn’t finish the question. Hearth Stone pushed past him and knelt down beside the princess to find out the answer for himself. The other guards surrounded them at a respectful distance, each with one eye on their princess and the other on the hole in the roof.
“What happened, Smoky?” Hearth Stone asked.
Smoky shook her head numbly. “I only arrived in time to see Luna attacking Celestia and then-”
“What?”
More than one pony asked. There was no chance to answer them before a crackle of laughter broke through the night and caught everyone’s attention. Standing at the edge of the shattered roof far above them was the princess of the night herself, still wrapped in anger and shadows, and grinning at the sight of her sister.
Smoky couldn’t stand it. She stood on trembling legs and shouted up at the alicorn.
“How could you, Luna? What happened to you?”
The stranger that occupied her mentor’s shape sneered down at her. It was too much for Smoky. She jumped skyward despite Wisp’s cries and flew straight at the stranger, tears standing in her bloodshot eyes.
The thing that should have been Luna glared at her.
“You dare to question your princess?” it snarled, stamping a hoof against the roof.
Smoky paused, stared, and whispered. “You’re not my princess,”
The strange alicorn tossed its head. Smoky saw the shadows around it surge toward its horn. She felt the air burn in the instant before the spell struck her. She heard two voices call out to her. But there was no pain to feel, not from the spell. Not even from the fall.
The sisters arrived together at the front steps of the Canterlot castle. The guards standing at attention stared as the pair walked past. Staff inside halted in their tracks. No one spoke even to apologise for standing in the princesses’ path, they just shuffled aside. Celestia smiled often down at her younger sister, especially while other ponies were in sight, but Luna did not raise her head.
At the entrance to the sisters’ bedrooms Celestia stopped and waited until her sister looked up and met her gaze. There was nothing but love in the elder sister’s gaze. Luna struggled to smile back.
“I am so glad to have you back, sister,” Celestia said warmly, not for the first time that day.
“As am I to be back,” Luna replied softly.
“I kept your room as close to how you left it as I could.”
“Thank you,”
Luna bowed her head. Her sister took advantage of her lowered defences to wrap her in an all-encompassing hug. Luna leant into the embrace, much to Celestia’s delight, and for several long moments the pair were one. When Celestia eventually pulled away, reluctantly, she did so only out of exhaustion.
“I hope you sleep well, sister,” she said, “We have so much to catch up on in the morning.”
Luna smiled up at her. “I look forward to it.”
Celestia stepped away and entered her bedroom only after gracing her sister with one last tender smile. Luna slipped into her own bedroom hesitantly, unsure what to expect. Her memories from before her imprisonment were vague and dark. The only thing she was sure of was the destruction she had wrought in those last few days before she gave in completely to the nightmare.
Despite her expectations, however, her room was perfectly neat and clean. The ruin she remembered was long gone. Not even a speck of dust remained. Luna walked slowly around the room, seeing things she hadn’t even thought of in a thousand years. Her favourite pillows were fluffed and pleasantly arranged on the bed. Her treasured books on astronomy had pride of place on the bookshelf between a pair of rainbow coloured crystal formations. Authentic constellations dotted the roof and carpet. A collection of brilliant peacock feather quills and crisp paper was arranged on the desk. And hanging above the desk, in a simple silver frame, was a bright, childish painting of a starry night.
A memory, her last memory from before a thousand endless years of nothing but the moon, returned as clear as the ringing of a bell. In the wake of it Luna was suddenly breathless. She ran across the room, through the thick velvet curtains, and onto the balcony. She threw her forelegs over the railing and took deep, gasping breaths of the cool night air until she could take in no more.
As she stood there, barely holding back tears, she was almost sure she felt some pony watching her. She straightened with an effort and wiped her eyes dry on her wing. It took several deep breaths before she felt ready to speak, let alone turn around.
“What is it?” she sniffed, half turning.
No pony replied.
Luna turned completely to face the doors that lead back to her room, and there was no one else there. The balcony was empty, in spite of the soft pressure of a pony’s eyes on her. Luna looked all around, including in her room, and couldn’t find even a single eye to explain the weight that had settled on her.
She began to suspect there was still some shred of the nightmare left within her when she noticed the shape of her shadow against the wall. It was faint in the moon’s light, even to her eyes, but she could still see something strange in the outline. There were too many legs, to begin with. When she turned her head, the shadow of her mane shifted to reveal what seemed to be a second head growing from her shoulder.
And yet, she felt no fear, no threat.
In fact, despite all reason, she was sure the shadow was smiling at her.
With the smallest, softest voice she had ever used, Luna spoke to it.
