//------------------------------// // Seven Minutes Late // Story: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress // by NavyPony //------------------------------// The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by NavyPony Chapter Two: Seven Minutes Late Six hallways, two staircases, and innumerable confused servants later, Nightlight found himself in the office of a very upset Head Night Steward. “You what?!” Star Quill could not have mustered a third of the thunderous indignation that Nightlight had just witnessed, or even most of what Slopes could have managed were he present, but it didn’t stop the old mare from trying. “You can’t just quit your post five minutes in! Think about the shame you’ll bring on us! We’re servants of-” “Seven,” Nightlight muttered with a panicked look still locked on his face. “Seven minutes…” The interruption seemed to further provoke Quill, “I don’t care if it’s seven minutes! I don’t care if it’s seven years! You can’t abandon your responsibilities at all! Until you’re properly relieved or officially dismissed, you have no choice in the matter!” “…late.” “Ehh?” The Head Night Steward scrunched her face up in confusion, not having connected the two halves of the sentence. “Late?” “I was seven minutes late.” Nightlight managed to regain just enough composure to speak in a regular volume and shift out of his shell-shocked monotone. “Seven minutes late. Waking the Princess. She… she… I’m…” Nightlight’s hooves suddenly became very interesting to him as the panic settled into shame. “… quitting.” The steel colored unicorn clopped a hoof on her desk loudly enough to snap her subordinate out of his reverie. “It’s a bit late for that isn’t it?” she hissed. “If you didn’t want the job, you shouldn’t have taken it; I gave you the chance to refuse the job, didn’t I?” Nightlight didn’t remember that conversation, if it had actually existed. Nonetheless, the elderly unicorn’s harangue didn’t give him the chance to interrupt. “Now you’re committed, and to her royal highness, Princess Luna, no less. By the honor of the Night Stewards, you’re going to march back to her chambers, the dining hall, or wherever the hay she is at the moment, and apologize. Profusely. Then you’re going to continue serving her to the best of your capacity, whatever that may be.” “But I-” “You are going to carry out your responsibilities, Nightsight, or you are going to personally inform her Highness why you were unable to do so. If you want to quit, we can talk about it in the morning or you can turn your resignation in to Princess Luna personally.” “But I-” “Is what I said clear, Nightbright?” Whatever rigidity had remained in his shoulders disappeared as Nightlight slumped. Ponies couldn’t just waltz up to a goddess and quit their posts – it’d be like asking for a one-way trip to the dungeons. “Yes ma’am, it’s crystal clear,” he muttered, examining the carpet between his forehooves. It just wasn’t fair. “Is… is that all?” “Yes. Get to finding the Princess and back to work. You are dismissed,” the Head Night Steward barked, turning back to a colossal sheaf of papers. “And no more screw-ups!” she called without looking up. Sufficiently cowed, Nightlight faced about and departed Star Quill’s office in a much calmer, but certainly no happier state than the one he arrived in. With as much composure as he could reasonably muster, he reluctantly made his way back through the castle. While he was slightly less scared for his personal well-being than he had been, the remainder of the evening wasn’t looking any better from his perspective. Putting off royal interaction for as long as possible (up to and including the remainder of his life) being the first and foremost thing on his to-do list, Nightlight found himself moving much more slowly than was normal for him. He soon decided that the best and worst parts of moving slowly were the same – the opportunity for thought. ‘How does a pony deal with a living goddess?’ Nightlight didn’t know; it wasn’t something he’d had much experience with. ‘Okay then… how does a pony not deal with a living goddess?’ Ambiguity of the Equestrian language was every servant’s bane… and friend. ‘Do you mean to ask what the wrong things to do are, or the best way to not do?’ Realization struck Nightlight: if he never found Princess Luna over the course of the night, she wouldn’t be able to banish him, and then he could quit in the morning. There were no downsides whatsoever! ‘So then… how do you do that?’ The obvious component was simply to avoid the princess, but come morning, he’d need to have an alibi for the entire night, wouldn’t he? Although Princess Luna might not miss him, other ponies (Star Quill and Snowy Slopes, to name a few) would notice that he was nowhere to be found, so it wasn’t as if he could just spend the hours hiding in an empty room. ‘No… you have to make yourself seen. Let other ponies know that you’re trying to do your job, without doing it. That’s…’ It wasn't that hard, actually. Giving the appearance of work without actually working was one of the first tricks any servant learned, whether or not they actually used it – there was even a mnemonic for it. ‘What was it… worry, hurry, scurry?’ All he had to do was rush about the castle looking for Princess Luna without actually finding her, and as long as everypony that saw him thought that he looked busy, they wouldn’t say anything. Right? ‘Right. So the only question is: where can I start looking that she could legitimately be, but wouldn’t reasonably be?’ It didn’t take him long to go over the evening’s hypothetical schedule. It was six fifty-nine, fifty-seven minutes until sunset/moonrise – dinnertime. Which meant Princess Luna would be in the Grand Hall. Which meant that Nightlight ought to head towards the princess’ chambers, where she had just been. ‘Actually, you might be able to just follow a couple steps behind her all night, looking for her without ever quite catching up?’ Over the course of some two staircases and four corridors, Nightlight was so caught up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice the distinct lack of other servants. In fact, he was hardly aware of the conspicuous silence about him until another pony broke it. “You there!” shouted a gruff voice from the end of the hallway. “You look familiar – what’s your job?” Nightlight firmly believed that charcoal-coated ponies in royal armor were always bad news. Today turned out to be no exception. “I’m… the Assistant to the Secondary Night Steward. Is there a problem?” It was a stupid question. Nightlight had never seen a worried guard before, and this guard looked worried enough for three ponies. The unicorn guard nickered as he approached the young servant with apparent relief. “Not anymore. Follow me.” “Uhh…” Before Nightlight could argue, the large guard wrapped a hoof around his neck and began ushering him in the exact direction he’d been headed. Resistance was pointless – this unicorn was a hoof and a half taller, and had enough magic to rip him to shreds. The only option was to go along with the frightened soldier. “You… uh… said there was a problem?” His question was answered when an enormous voice boomed from out of sight in the castle. It was a frighteningly familiar sound. “Where is Our hoofservant?! Thou claimest servitude, but art unable to accomplish this, the most menial of tasks? Ignominy upon thee!” They were still far enough away that a pony speaking with regular volume could not have been heard, but Nightlight’s panic wouldn’t have allowed him to hear the response even if they were closer. Swearing oaths to Discord, he tried turning tail only to find himself enveloped in a pale green aura and floating a couple inches above the ground. His legs churned uselessly beneath him as he began to float closer to the source of the voice. “L-Let me down!” he cried, lighting up his own horn to try fighting off the enveloping glow. His efforts proved useless against the hold of a trained soldier. “I don’t think so,” grunted the armored unicorn. “I figured you for a runner… good lu-” The guard’s hoarse voice was cut off by the sound of Princess Luna continuing her tirade. It seemed to Nightlight that the very walls of the castle were shaking. “It concerns Us not! If thy deputies art incapable of performing so, it falls upon thee to fulfill the tasks laid down! Toil might be shifted down, but accountability is immobile! The liability remains with thee!” Suddenly, avoiding Princess Luna seemed to be a far more urgent task than it ever had been. “By Her Hooves, let me go! Please! I’m begging you! Please pleasepleaseplease let me-” Whatever pony was trying to speak to the Princess was not given much of a chance, judging from the short time before she started up again. “We are not interested in thy paltry vindications! Obedience is thy onus – if thou cannot perform the tasks assigned, perhaps thou art not fit for thy station! Go join thy deputies in combing if they are unable! GO!” Legs still flailing futilely beneath him and his own magic sputtering uselessly, the assistant steward was levitated around a corner just in time to see another member of the Unicorn Corps galloping down the hallway, presumably away from the fearsome voice of the princess. The running guard, dressed in slightly more ornate armor than the one that had captured Nightlight, stopped once he laid eyes upon the duo approaching him. “Galloping goddesses! Pine Fresh, is that the pony she’s looking for?” Pine Fresh didn’t miss a beat as he maintained his grip on the dark-hued servant. “Ehh…” He shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. “No clue, but he said he was a night steward. That’s close enough, yeah?” Ignoring the obvious alarm in Nightlight’s eyes, the senior guard shrugged with relief. “Good enough for me.” Wrapping his own aura (a wooden brown) around Pine Fresh’s green, the new guard began assisting with the telekinetic transport of their catch. “Sorry about this kid,” he consoled with a tone that didn’t suggest any degree of sympathy. “But she’s the bucking princess. If I didn’t get somepony to be her hoofservant soon, she’ll…” he trailed off, shivering at whatever threats the night princess had laid upon him. “I haven’t felt like that since basic training. Anyways, you ready for this?” Only one word came to mind. “No!” he declared, shaking his head frantically. “Rough.” With that, the pair of guards floated the fearful servant around the final corner, into the sight of a fuming goddess. With particular smugness, the superior guard announced, “We’ve located your hoofservant, your Maj-” The chief guard was cut off when the dark princess laid eyes upon her airborne servant with a stark realization. “Thou!” she roared, immediately recognizing the little unicorn from earlier. “Thou art Our hoofservant?! The one who so avariciously weighted his time before Ours?!” Nightlight thanked… everything that alicorns, powerful as they might be, weren’t mind readers, and couldn’t hear the vulgarities repeating in his head. Nonetheless, it was only luck that kept the foul words in his mind and off his lips. “Not only art thou blamable for Our tardiness in rising, but also Our current unpunctuality! Dost thou possess any vindication thou might allege for thine delay?” A short silence occurred while the two guards released Nightlight, allowing him to drop unceremoniously to the floor. “WELL?” At this point, the two guards had taken several steps back, mostly out of fear, but Nightlight could only look up at the towering goddess from the floor and sum up the situation to the best of his understanding. “What?” This only served to further perturb the furious princess. “Wouldst thou rather We perorate in lexes more happening to one of thy unpretentious intellect? Very well! THOU! ART! LATE!” Even as she gained volume, her voice seemed to become colder and the room about them seemed to darken; the guards were nowhere to be seen. Princess Luna bent low towards the servant lying prone before her, staring him in the face and hissing, “Why is this?” Somewhere, in the very back of Nightlight’s mind, some scrap of his training had taken hold. Whether it was a matter of his honest disposition, the efficacy of his indoctrination as a servant, or simply an inability to concoct a persuasive answer, the dark pony gave the most basic response available to a servant. “No excuse.” The teal eyes staring at him widened just slightly, and he repeated himself slightly louder. “I… have no excuse, your Highness. I was late because I was frightened.” The dark queen snorted angrily before responding. “Foal,” she spoke in a voice loud enough to be any other pony’s shouting. “Because of thy fears, We are belated. Thy timeliness, or lack thereof, shall be addressed at length in the future, but for now We have no more time to squander upon thee.” Finally she looked away from the trembling pony on the ground, staring down the hallway and towards the rest of the castle. Stamping a hoof on the ground with enough force to crack stone, she shouted, “Lead Us to the Grand Hall, that We might break fast.” She stood still for a moment, holding her pose while her tiny audience stared in shock. “Immediately.” That snapped him from his paralysis physically, if not mentally. “Y-yes your Highness.” Nodding for nopony’s benefit, Nightlight got to his feet with a nearly robotic detachment from his surroundings. ‘Order from the Princess. Breakfast. Grand Hall.’ He knew where the Grand Hall was… this was an easy order to fulfill. “R-right this way, P-P-Princess.” Hiding his face in his long mane, the young hoofservant began marching towards the royals’ dining hall, without a glance behind him. ‘Just pretend she’s not there. Just pretend she’s not there. You’re just walking to the Grand Hall without a dangerous alicorn behind you. Yeah.’ No. Even discounting the sharp click, click, click, of her silver horseshoes striking the stone hallways, her presence was impossible to ignore. He could veritably feel her existence, an oppressive aura emanating from behind him. Just being around her was enough to make him break out in cold sweat. When other ponies spotted them from across the hall most would freeze momentarily before fleeing as if they’d just seen the grim reaper. ‘Or perhaps Nightmare Moon,’ he reflected. ‘How many ponies know that Princess Luna is back?’ Judging from the looks they were getting, the answer was close to zero. Fortunately, the princess seemed indifferent to most of the frightened ponies scurrying about. Unfortunately, there was one pony that she was concerned with. “Hoofservant,” she snapped, sending Nightlight jumping into the air, “make haste. We are already late.” By the time he hit the ground, he was already in a fast canter. “Umm… y-yes. Yes, your Highness.” The steady click, click, click, of her steps didn’t change tempo in the slightest, as her longer legs easily matched his pace. They turned a corner, frightening off a host of servants bearing platters of food, but Nightlight ignored them. “Is, is this better?” “Hardly,” she spat with surprising quiet. “But it matters not.” “Y-Y-Your Highness?” Nightlight faced back in bewilderment, turning to look at her for the first time in the last ten minutes. ‘Why does it not matter? Is she finished with me? What does that mean? Is she going to-’ Princess Luna’s gaze didn’t leave the doorway in front of her as she moved around her guide and into the Grand Hall. ‘Grand Hall? We’re here?’ It dawned on Nightlight that he’d been so frightened of the princess that he hadn’t actually been paying attention to where they were; he’d simply been moving on autopilot.   Nightlight could only stare as she trotted around the last corner. “Follow Us,” she hissed from out of sight, leaving the poor pony to scramble after her. When he finally collected himself enough to interpret and obey her orders, the scene he faced in the hall was entirely unlike what he’d expected. The entire room was done up in the finery usually reserved for major celebrations and balls, complete with decorative columns, tapestries, and statues. It looked as if Celestia Statues #6-#8 had also been brought out of storage specifically for the occasion. The day staff must have been working continuously to set this up in such short time – events like the gala usually required days of planning followed by weeks of set-up, but Nightlight knew that this room had been in its usual state when he’d gone to sleep in the morning. Even more surprising than the decorations were the ponies contained within. All along the outside edges of the room and filling the balcony on the upper level were hundreds of ponies in their best outfits. Not all of them were nobles, either. There were palace servants in their most formal uniforms and even commoners in the mix, although they seemed to be grouped accordingly. All of them were intently focused on the little grey table in the center of the room, set out for two. One of the seats was already taken. The white mare at the far end of the table rose, a gentle smile adorning her face. She unfurled her wings, lifted her horned head, and spoke. “Sister, how good it is to see you. I am glad to have you back.” Nopony in the room, Nightlight included, could help but smile – such was the effect of their sovereign’s bubbly voice. It was only after Princess Celestia’s words faded to silence and the crowd laid eyes upon the unthinkable that some of the smiles faded. Celestia’s presence was not enough to keep the murmurs of ‘Nightmare Moon’ from the crowd’s lips. If she heard the hushed mutterings (and the dark steward was certain she did), Princess Luna was unfazed by them. She trotted to the table in old passage*, head held high and seeming to dance as she moved. “Yourself as well, sister,” she responded. “It is good to be back.” It was an elegant, feminine voice, one both soft and subtle, but moreover a voice completely at odds with the one she’d been using up to that point. It was so different from what he expected that Nightlight stumbled over his own hooves in surprise, resorting to a clumsy skipping movement to keep from tumbling across the ballroom floor. Nopony noticed. In fact, it seemed entirely unlikely that any of the ponies in the room had actually noticed his presence. ‘Which, honestly, is the best I can actually hope for,’ he considered with some relief. Every servant knew that the best form of recognition was no recognition. Cantering a couple steps to catch up, Nightlight fell back in step behind the princess while she made empty small talk with her sister. “And how have you been, sister, in the time I’ve been away?” They were two dozen steps from the grey table. “As well as might be hoped, but no better. I’ve missed you terribly, sister.” Seventeen steps away, and they were speeding up. “And I you, sister. It seems things have been very much in order?” They were eleven steps away. “They will be better with you here, sister. But where are my manners? Won’t you take a seat and join me?” Four steps. Princess Celestia motioned to the seat opposite her with a smile. Two steps away. Princess Luna stopped, beaming kindly. “I would love to, sister.” Nightlight stopped. Not knowing what else to do, he just stood in place behind her. ‘All I have to do is not move and I can’t mess up, right?’ Nightlight simply stood still. Perfectly still. Totally, perfectly, still. Then a sharp, almost inaudible sound struck his ears. “Pull out Our chair.” Totally, entirely, perfectly, still. “Now, foal.” It was just an edge louder this time, but still quiet enough that nopony else could possibly hear it. The Princesses just smiled at each other. Totally, entirely, absolutely, perfectly, still. Princess Luna actually moved a fraction of an inch as she hissed at him. “If thou dost not pull Our chair out forthright, thy-” Nightlight’s ears started working right in time to learn of his impending fate. ‘BUCKBUCKBUCKBUCKBUCK ME!’ he screamed internally, even as he wrapped a glow of yellowish magic around the large chair and slid it out enough for the dark alicorn to fit between it and the table. Both princesses sat down in perfect unison, and began their meal. Nightlight simply stood still. They’d arrived nineteen minutes late. It was forty-one minutes until sunset. Standing still for the thirty-one minutes the meal took place, Nightlight had nothing better to do than watch and listen. Unexpectedly, The Royal Pony Sisters spoke of nothing important throughout the course of the meal. Never touching on the reason for Luna’s homecoming, they made small talk, discussing the weather, each other’s appearances, and the meal before them. Said meal was brought out and announced by a pale green earth pony which Nightlight recognized as Celestia’s personal chef, and a midnight blue unicorn who seemed remarkably calm. It was an enormous four-course meal, but the two of them partook lightly, hardly eating more than a couple bites from each dish. Throughout the procession, the hundreds of ponies surrounding them simply watched and whispered, listening to a pair of immortal goddesses chat about… nothing, like they really were sisters. Eventually he simply shut out the sounds of their chitchat. At some point in the middle of it all, Nightlight finally understood the point. These ponies had come to watch the sisters dine, but judging from their reactions at Luna’s arrival, nopony had known that she was returned until tonight. ‘This is their way of announcing her return without announcing it, isn’t it?’ They were avoiding serious subjects because… why? ‘Have they not decided what she’s going to do? Will they save that for something else? There’ll be a lot of changes soon, won’t there?’ It was eleven minutes to sunset when both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both rose to their hooves. The movement alone shook Nightlight out of his reverie. ‘Be ready, Night. We’re going to be moving soon.’ He was right, but not before the sisters finished their conversation. “And will you be reassuming your duties raising the moon, dear sister?” Celestia asked, inciting a wave of murmurs through the crowd. Luna responded with a humble smile and a bell-like peal of laughter. “Of course, sister, as long as you promise to raise the sun in the morning.” Half the tension in the room vanished. “After all, I don’t envy anypony responsible for both the sun and the moon.” The joke was that Celestia had done both for a thousand years. Right? ‘Was that a joke?’ Nightlight wasn’t sure. Everything seemed surreal. Alicorns weren't supposed to joke. Celestia’s smile widened an edge beyond its usual composure at her sister’s remark. “Of course I’ll raise the sun tomorrow dear sister. Though, I must admit that in my experience the sun’s not so bad; it’s the night that’s more difficult.” “Oh? Then isn’t it fortunate that I have returned?” Luna laughed once again, filling the hall with the same incongruous ringing sound before nodding to her sister. “Unfortunately, I find that it is almost time for me to take my leave.” The Moon Princess rose to her feet, subtly pushing her chair out from under her while the Sun Princess did the same. “After all sister, it is nearly moonrise.” “Not before sunset, my sister,” the older mare chuckled. “Of course not.” Luna closed her eyes and bowed her head a fraction of an inch while she concluded. “It is good to see you again, Celestia.” To the shock of everypony in the room, Celestia returned the gesture in kind, inclining her head an equal amount. “And you too, Luna. I’ve missed you.” Without warning and in perfect harmony, the princesses both broke the bow and turned away from each other, beginning to trot out doors on the opposite ends of the room. As intensely mindful of the action as every other pony in the room, Nightlight had enough discernment to realize he probably ought to follow the Lunar Princess. Without having to be told, he turned as she passed, trailing directly behind the stately alicorn as she trotted out. She kept to a light pace until she turned out of sight, dropping her indulgent smile and returning to a more normal gait. ‘Of course, it’s not as if you actually know what’s normal for her, do you?’ This ignorance made itself acutely known when the princess simply stopped walking and turned to face Nightlight. If it had been any other pony (not counting her sister), he might’ve pointed out that staring was rude. It being the immortal being who was once Nightmare Moon, Nightlight chose to stay silent and try to keep his legs from trembling. ‘Oh goddess, did I do something wrong? Did I forget to push her chair in when we walked out? No, I forgot to pull it out for her, and I was supposed to, wasn’t I? No, I didn’t turn to follow her soon enough, or she noticed me trip, or –’ “Hoofservant.” She’d returned to a cold tone to match her stare. Nightlight’s attempts at composure failed utterly. “Y-y-yes, your Highness?” Luna showed no concern over her servant's trepidation. “Lead Us to the Astral Dais. We have but a modicum of time prior to moonrise, and must convene there with Our sister to observe the formalities.” When her demands failed to elicit a reaction from her servant, she simply repeated herself with increased volume. "Lead Us to the Astral Dais." He simply continued stare back at the princess, his eyes widening in fear and legs moving from ‘tremble’ to ‘vibrate’. “Well? What is thy problem?” Silence. “Answer us!” Nightlight took a deep breath before he could stutter out a response. “Y-your H-H-Highness… w-what’s the Ast-t-tral D-Dais?” Princess Luna’s narrowed eyes widened in… shock? Anger? Nightlight had never known a pony to do that when angry, but tonight was a night of firsts. ‘Oh goddess, please don’t-’ Her spectral blue mane whipped back in a burst of unfelt turbulence. “What is the Astral Dais?!” she thundered, as if she didn’t believe the question was serious. “The Astral Dais is the ceremonial location wherefrom the astral bodies are maneuvered! The platform from which Our sister shall lower Her sun, and We are to raise Our moon!” A tinge of distress, distinct from her anger, had begun to enter her voice. “We are to meet Our sister there immediately!” “I-I-I…” He was SO getting banished to the sun for this. “I don’t know… where it is.” At this point it was obvious that her upset was more than anger, although that still comprised the majority. “Foal! Thou art Our Hoofservant! How dost thou not know from whence Our moon is risen?!” An unbidden thought dripped through Nightlight’s mind as she asked her question. ‘Why doesn’t she just go without- Oh.’ She didn’t know where this place was. ‘She… probably doesn’t know where anything is.’ That was probably why she’d waited outside her chambers for him – she didn’t know where the Grand Hall was. That was why she was so upset about not knowing where this Dais-place was – she didn’t know. Which meant… If neither of them knew where this place was… It was eight minutes until sunset, and he knew that the moon was going to be late. That couldn’t happen, could it? ‘No… No. No. No. Think, Night, think,’ he started to tell himself. ‘They must’ve told you where this place is during your briefing earlier. Think, think.’ He wracked his brain, going through every subject Snowy Slopes and Star Quill had covered this afternoon. ‘They mentioned dinner, then said Luna would join Celestia afterwards to officially lower the sun and raise the moon…’ It was to no avail; if they’d told him where this place was, he couldn’t remember. ‘Alright Night, don’t panic yet. What do you do when there’s a problem you can’t solve?’ Ask your higher-ups for the solution. ‘No good. Not enough time to find them.’ Ask anypony else for the solution? ‘Better, but…’ Apart from him and the raging alicorn, the corridor was empty. ‘Why are there no other ponies around!? Where are the guards!?’ Left with no other recourse, Nightlight could do nothing but despair. ‘Where’s Princess Celestia!?’ Nightlight’s thought process may have been shutting down, but the Lunar Sovereign’s hadn’t. “FROM WHERE DOES OUR SISTER RAISE THE SUN?” “I- that- the…” He didn’t actually know; he was usually performing turnover with the day stewards during sunrise. “Her room, maybe?” The princess struck a hoof against the marble floor in frustration, sending flecks of stone into the air. “IT WILL BE THE TALLEST PLACE WITHIN THE CASTLE! WHERE IS THE ASTRONOMY TOWER?!” Astronomy Tower? ‘Oh!’ “The observatory!” ‘But that’s not-’ “BRING US TO THIS OBSERVATORY!” It was seven minutes to sunset when Nightlight took off at a dead spring for the observatory tower. At an efficient trot and without stopping for any reason, it would’ve normally taken an unathletic unicorn just under ten minutes to get from the Grand Hall to the observatory. If it was an urgent manner and the pony was galloping hard, five minutes was quite possible. As it turned out, having an irate goddess for motivation allowed a pony to sprint the distance in three minutes. Panting hard as he finished the stairs, Nightlight threw open the doors to the observatory for the surprisingly calm alicorn he was leading. It was four minutes to sunset. There was just one problem. Examining the chamber languidly, the dark goddess commented that, “This is not the Astral Dais.” An ominous, pregnant pause ensued, but there was not time for Nightlight to interpret the meaning behind Her Highness’ words before she spoke again. “Hoofservant,” she asked smoothly, shifting her scrutiny from her surroundings to her retainer, “is this not the highest point within the castle?” Gravity seemed to increase by an order of magnitude for Nightlight, feeling the weight of the princess’ gaze. In spite of her bloodcurdling glower, her wrathful countenance, and the way her mane churned as if it were in a hurricane, Princess Luna’s voice never raised a decibel. In fact, it never showed the smallest measure of emotion. “I take that for a ‘nay’. That being so, where, precisely, is the highest point?” While it would’ve made sense for the observatory to be the tallest aspect of the castle, Equestria's builders and architects had augmented the palace over the years with more thought to their own fame than the needs of the astronomers. The result was that the most recent addition to the castle, the spire jutting furthest from the mountainside, was also the tallest. Named ‘The Glorious Star Keep of Our Illustrious Goddess’ by its designer, it was so-called for almost a hundred years until a passing maid let slip to Celestia what the servants had pragmatically dubbed it. “The Tall Tower.” Luna bent down towards her hoofservant until she was only inches from his nose. Her frozen teal eyes just widened, and widened, and widened until they consumed everything else. “Take me to this Tall Tower.” ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ It was 8:03 pm when Nightlight came to. The confused pony re-entered reality to find himself in the topmost chamber of the Tall Tower, watching the Princess of the Moon usher in the night, Her night, for the first time in a millennium. It was the most beautiful thing that Nightlight had ever seen. Exuding an atmosphere of gentle serenity and flapping her wings far less than should have been necessary, she rose above a small design cut into the balcony, until she reached some seemingly arbitrary height. Hovering, she raised her forehooves to the sky and was suddenly wrapped in an aura of deep blue. Or was it an aura of silver? Indigo? Slate grey? Sapphire? Black? Cobalt? Charcoal? Navy? All the colors of the night seemed to blend together, embracing their mother in a surreal blend. Without warning, she flicked her wings out to their full span, and the moon exploded over the horizon, larger and brighter than it had been seen in living history. The night goddess paused momentarily, perhaps to simply bask in the glory of her work, before elegantly gesturing with a forehoof. Starlight began to fall from the sky like rain. At first it was only a couple points shining through the dark, the brightest stars used for navigation, but they were soon followed. Constellations appeared, and then other, smaller designs. Before long, great swirls and whorls of star-stuff painted the heavens, entire galaxies and nebulae visible to the naked eye. Flights of shooting stars began to skip about the night sky. The aurora, usually only visible in remote northern regions, stretched its multi-colored fingers above the horizon. It had been a thousand years since anypony had beheld such a night sky. With a rich sigh, the smaller alicorn landed and finally opened her eyes to gaze upon her efforts. “I’ve missed this,” she finally whispered. “I have, too,” murmured the compassionate voice of Princess Celestia. “It’s good to have you back.” Nightlight was so enraptured in what he’d just witnessed that he hadn’t even been aware there were ponies in the room besides himself and Luna. He didn’t care. He couldn’t care, not after seeing that. “Wow.” The satisfied expression on the princess’ face vanished for a moment when she heard Nightlight’s voice. A second later, her countenance returned to the airy mien it had just been. “Tia, would you be so kind as to step outside for a moment?” “Lulu…” the white princess crooned, glancing at the oblivious black unicorn, “Do you really-” She didn’t even allow her sister to finish the question, cutting her off with exasperation in her voice. If Nightlight had been paying more than half-hearted attention to anything other than the sky, he might’ve recognized this as an old argument. “Yes. Yes I do. And don’t tell me otherwise. Whatever the case, he’s my servant to deal with as I see fit. He is my responsibility.” Celestia pursed her lips, pausing briefly before responding in an intimate tone. “Of course. I’m sorry sister, it wasn’t my place.” She turned her head to face Nightlight, speaking matter-of-factly as she walked out of the chamber. “Please summon a pair of guards for my sister, and have a guest room prepared before you retire for the night.” ‘Is she…’ Princess Celestia was talking to him. ‘What? Retire for the night? Is… what… that? I sleep during the day.’ So confused. From nowhere, an elderly white unicorn took a step into Nightlight’s peripheral vision, joining the Princess as she exited. “Yes, Highness. Will that be all?” Snowy Slopes asked, sparing a glance at the young servant he was leaving behind. The usually stoic Head Steward looked almost apologetic, evoking significant concern in Nightlight. ‘Where are they going, and why does he seem so… oh. Buck.’ “Yes, I’m expecting my student to be arriving soon, and my sister will be needing somepony to-” The doors snapped shut behind the pair as they marched out, leaving him alone with a certain alicorn. An alicorn who had the right to be very, very angry with her hoofservant. The quiet click, click, click of horseshoes striking stone resounded from a corner of the room that Nightlight absolutely refused to look at. ‘Moonrise was late.’ Click, click, click. He wished, not for the first time, nor for the last, that he knew how to teleport. Click, click, click. Barring teleportation, the painless suicide spell taught to secret agents would have been good enough. Click, click, click. Nightlight shoved his face into his long mane, unable to do anything other than brace himself for the inevitable. His brain was whipping at a million miles an hour, adrenaline was pumping through his system, and he’d already begun to sweat. The most coherent thought he was able to form amounted to, ‘Please don’t kill me.’ Luna did not even look at him, instead frowning angrily out a window. It was as if speaking to Nightlight was now beneath her. “Seven. Minutes. Late.” ‘Oh goddesses, please...’ Princess Luna didn’t speak above a conversational volume, but to call it speech did not do her words justice. Her words were not formed from sound, but rather from the coldness of space. “The moon was seven minutes late tonight, because of you. I was seven minutes late tonight, because of YOU. Already you were late in rousing me, required me to wait without my quarters for you, caused me to be unpunctual for dinner, and embarrassed me before my subjects and my sister, to say nothing of the minor failings that I have not time to list. This, however… THIS WAS UNPARDONABLE!” She exploded, turning on her hooves and marching violently toward her cowering servant as she began to scream. “IT IS ONE THING TO INCONVENIENCE ME. IT IS YET WORSE THAT YOU HUMILIATE ME IN FRONT OF MY SUBJECTS, WITH YOUR INCOMPETENCE AND LATENESS. BUT YOU DARE MAKE THE MOON ITSELF LATE!? THE MOON, THE STARS, THE NIGHT, AND EVERYPONY WHO IS TO BEHOLD THEM MUST WAIT UPON YOUR CONVENIENCE!? OR IS IT MERELY YOUR INEPTITUDE!? YOU USELESS, BUNGLING FOAL! ONE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE INCOMPETENT WHEN ALL OF EQUESTRIA SUFFERS FOR YOUR FAILURES!” It was not until her Highness turned away from him and walked back to the balcony that Nightlight realized the sheer force of her voice had been pushing him into the wall to his rear. Her volume returned to a more normal level as she did so, but the same awesome weight remained in her speech. “One cannot rightly claim that which is undeserved…” she uttered, staring up at the full moon, “and Equestria does not deserve you. It deserves better. The Night deserves better. As of moonset this evening, you are the lowest of my servants. You are no longer a steward, and you will no longer be treated as such. Until you can perform in the capacity that Equestria herself deserves, you are merely a servant, and an incompetent one at that.” The darkness rippled around the Lunar Princess, and Nightlight couldn’t help but wonder if Nightmare Moon had returned instead of Princess Luna. “Get out of my presence.” “Now.” * A/N: Passage (rhymes with ‘massage’) - refers to a specific and relatively difficult horse gait. It looks vaguely like a slow-motion trot with a lot of air-time between steps. Calling it ‘old passage’ is just to emphasize that it would seem incredibly formal to a pony, and is probably not used.