//------------------------------//
// A Late Night Breakfast 
// Story: Fairytale Bliss 
// by fallen starr 
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The more Twilight thought, the more she needed to know what had happened between Sombra and Luna. Surely, her leaving then couldn’t have been all of it. Luna had been smitten, certainly, but in love? No, not then. Not when she left his castle. If that was all, there was no advice. Was Luna going to tell Twilight to do whatever version that time had of wallowing in pity and ice cream? It seemed so unlike Luna, and yet the thought kept coming back. She had to know.

So when Luna, eyes wide and wings half flared from surprise, closed the main doors to her chambers, Twilight sat, notebook held aloft in her magic. Her tail twitched as Luna sighed. “Good evening, Twilight.” 

“I’ve been thinking about everything with you and Sombra,” Twilight started, but Luna held up a hoof.

“Not yet. First, I need coffee. And a pastry.” The walk to the kitchens was a short, quiet one. Luna didn’t say a word as she watched the coffee make or as she selected her pastry. She didn’t even glance at Twilight as she found a suitable place to sit – which happened to be one of the servant break tables. It wasn’t until Twilight had managed to sit, with her own pastry and coffee, that Luna even relaxed. “Very well, I suppose now is as good as later.” Her horn glowed and a box appeared on the table. 

Twilight reached for the box, but Luna stopped the lid from lifting with a heavy hoof. “Not yet.” 

“Sorry.” Twilight withdrew her hand. The box, now that she took the time to really notice it, was wide and tall. The color had faded, though it was apparent that it was a highly treasured object. The lid and sides held an emblazoned cutie mark – that of a broken crown.

Luna stroked the box gently, gazing at it as if it were a lost treasure. “Sister kept this safe for me. She never once opened it to look inside. I later shared what is within it with her, after my return.” She looked up at Twilight, the pain haunting her eyes making Twilight’s breath catch. “You will be the fourth person in all of time to know what is in this.”

As eager as she had been earlier, Twilight stilled. She took a deep breath to settle the rumbling in her stomach. “Luna,” she said softly, looking up so their eyes met. “You don’t have to show me this. It’s important to you.”

Luna smiled. “You are important to me. This…this is a relic of a bygone era. A time, a place, events that will never happen again. You, you are present. You are here, with me, now. This is important. You are more.” She shifted, ruffling her wings, and cleared her throat. “I simply wish to choose what it is that you see of this. Some are not pertinent to your situation and the language is archaic. I do not wish for something to be lost in the translation.”

Twilight swallowed and nodded her head. “Okay."

Without any great ceremony, Luna lifted the lid with her hoof and gently floated a piece of parchment out of the box. “I told you I had left, yes? Well, Sombra soon realized his mistake.”

Dear Princess Luna,
I hope this letter finds you well.

“You won’t mind, I trust, if I simply skip the pleasantries?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, of course not.”

With a nod, Luna looked back to the letter.

In my request for your hoof, I made a grave error. I know how you seek to show your sister that you are her equal. That your stars, your night sky, shines just as beautifully as her day. That there is worth and beauty to be had in the dark. I mistook you desire to shine and for that, I payed the price. 

Let me expound upon my offer. What I said remains true. I did not, however, tell you the boon my kingdom would receive. That I would receive. 

A mare, whose mane flows and sparkles even in the darkest of shadows. A smile that shines brighter than any sun could imagine. A laugh, a beauty, a mare surpassed by none. I only told you of those boons to your country. Imagine what a Princess such as yourself could accomplish as a Queen.

Luna cleared her throat. “Sombra had a way with words. I had shared much of my inner turmoil with him, and he had cared. I wanted nothing more but to join our two great nations. Celestia…did not approve. She told me vicious lies about him. Or so I thought. I received many letters such as this, each more grand than the last. Until they stopped.”

This had been Luna’s fastest reply yet. Was he now taking his time to compose another letter, or had hers been lost? Each day she eagerly awaited any incoming missives, and every day, she was disappointed. It was already a week out of the longest time she had waited before. 

In a flurry of rash decisions, she dashed to the Crystal Empire. She should have written ahead, alerted Sombra that she was approaching, but she didn’t. They were to be wed soon, after all. 

Celestia stopped her before she left Equestria. The fight they had was terrible. In front of the guards, in front of whatever citizens were nearby, in front of everypony, they yelled and screamed and, ultimately, came to blows.

“I am not a child, Celestia, I rule this country the same as you!” Luna’s throat burned. Tears streamed down her face and her breath came in ragged gasps. “Let me go! At least he loves me!”

Celestia froze for a moment, as if shot by ice, before her rage flamed. “Let you go and destroy everything we have built? He doesn’t care for you anymore than he cares for his people. We have to secure Equestria, not tear it down and darken it.”

Then Luna punched Celestia. 

Twilight pressed her hoof to her mouth as giggles spilled around it. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “It’s just the way you said it. ‘Then I punched Celestia.’”

Luna smiled back. “It is alright, Twilight. We did come to serious blows and I was dragged back to the castle and detained. It took a fortnight for me to convince Sister that I would not try to run to the Crystal Empire again. I did accuse her of taking my letters, but she assured me she wasn’t. I believed her. Even to this day, I believe he knew I would not like what was occurring, and stopped writing me.”

The jovial mood turned bitter. “So that’s it? You just stopped talking?”

“Not exactly.”

It had been months since Luna had last heard from Sombra. Her hear ached every moment. She left her bed only to stop Celestia from being right. Then her chance came to escape the confines of her duties. The rulers of Fawyn had invited several dignitaries and rulers to attend a peaceful engagement party for their eldest daughter. Celestia was attending, of course, and Luna decided she would as well. 

There was a ball the first night. Celestia was dancing with a lovely reindeer by the name of Dancer. Luna, however, despised the ball. No one had asked her to dance. Until she heard a voice behind her. 

“Mayhaps the princess would honor me with her hoof?” 

Her insides froze. She turned to see him with red cloak and large crown upon his head. He looked more kingly than she had ever seen him. She hated it. Her nose wrinkled as she took him in. then she caught his eyes. Gone was the sparkling, beautiful pink. Instead, they had darkened to a deep, ferocious red. She felt her throat constricting as she took a step back. “Sombra?” She took another step back. “You’ve let your darkness consume you.”

“You knew then?” Twilight said. “Just like that?”

Luna nodded. “Indeed. And it enthralled me. He told me of the power that came with it. What he could do. How he was stronger, able to fully and resolutely lead his people. I did not flinch away from it at all. Sister, however, did. We talked for quite a while, but when she saw us, she was by my side. Pulling me away.” Luna swallowed. “I feel she knew more of my struggles that I will ever be aware of. After that, reports came from people who were escaping the Crystal Empire. And so we removed him from power, but not before he removed the Crystal Heart. The Empire was lost for a thousand years.”

The room was silent, half eaten pastries and long emptied coffee cups sitting on the table between the two mares. 

Then a thought struck Twilight. “Luna, I’m really sorry, but I don’t understand how this helps me with Flash?”

Luna looked up, her mouth falling open slightly. “The point was that sometimes your partner sees and knows parts of you that you do not know. You should go and help him, Twilight, just as you should allow him to help you.”

“That’s not what I got from that at all.” Twilight opened her notebook. “I guess I can see that, but we don’t need to help each other.”

Luna leaned forward. “Are you certain?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I’m very grateful that you shared your story with me, though.”

“Of course.” Luna studied Twilight for a moment before sighing. “Now I must attend my nightly duties. Good luck, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks, Luna.”

She wondered to her quarters and lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes slowly closed as her mind drifted, mixing thoughts of Luna and Flash and Sombra and herself. Hours later, she sat up in a daze, still angry at Flash for turning Luna into Nightmare Moon. A loud pounding on her door distracted her from those thoughts. Still half asleep, she walked toward the door, opening it with her magic. 

As the door swung open, she felt her heart stop.