The chilly early-morning moonlight poured through the wagon car's windows. Beams of cold florescence danced across the sleeping ponies, as if asking them to wake up, begging them to play with them. Alas, nothing. Solemn shadows blanketed the car's floor, as if reflecting the moonlight's sullen loneliness. I noticed the Silhouette of Pinkie Pie's snoring mouth; opening and closing, opening and closing. It's almost as if time had slipped through my hooves. I felt no sense of time as I as I sat there, gazing at my motionless friends. Yes, friends. They may not know me as much as I know them, but I could feel their sense of security around me; especially Applejack. I glanced to the side, and I noticed that Applejack had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I pushed her head back onto the seat, which left her snoring, mouth open (much like Pinkie Pie). She mumbled something like "Well, ah' never!", then heaved her head back onto my shoulder, which caused her hat to fall off her head and back into my lap. I sighed again, and gently placed it back onto her head.
"I hope we're almost there..." Said I while yawning; I took one last look outside, then nodded myself to sleep.
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"YAY! CANTERLOT! WE'RE HERE!!!" Screamed Pinkie Pie at the top of her lungs. That mare's voice sure can pack a punch to the ears!
She zoomed past Spike, nearly knocking him over (he was delivering something to Rarity); whirled around Twilight Sparkle, who had recently woken up. "Careful Pinkie!" she bellowed, while grabbing hold of Fluttershy's mane to catch her balance. Fluttershy let out a ear-piercing yelp, which shook the entire train car. Pinkie Pie stopped short, just inches away from my face (why does she do that so often?). She grabbed my cheeks with her fore-hooves and shook the living heck out of me.
"COMMON Mr. DASH!! WE'RE HERE" She yelled.
While Pinkie Pie was quaking my head, Applejack lost her balance and tumbled onto the floor. "Wha-? What just happened...?" She asked. I had never seen Applejack so confused in my entire life! Her facial expression alone was enough to make anyone laugh. Pinkie withdrew from me, and her feet literally tangled up with each other. She fell back on the floor, laughing. She fell onto Spike, who was still struggling to get up after Pinkie Pie knocked him down the first time. This all happened in a matter of a few seconds, which is amazing, because it took me so long to describe what happened!
I helped Applejack up while Spike was still choking under Pinkie's weight. "Ra-ri-ty" he blurted out between breaths.
"Pinkie Pie!" Shouted Rarity; "Get off of Spikey-wikey right this instant! It isn't ladylike to squash someone while laughing at them!"
"I'm...not...laughing...at Spike!" She gasped.
"Well then, who are you laughing at?" Asked Rarity.
"I dunno!" She replied, seemingly to have forgotten why she was laughing in the first place, "Mr. Dash started it!"
No I didn't!
"Figured..." Mumbled Rarity.
Twilight had been helplessly trying to talk to Fluttershy for the past minute or two, who was sprawled on the floor with a silly look of shock on her face. We haven't even left the train, and chaos had already consumed us! Which made me think: "I wonder what Discord's up to...?"
"All right everypony!" Yelled Twilight, who had somehow managed to Calm Fluttershy down, or just threw her back into the seat. "Princess Luna is going to be escorting us to the Royal Canterlot Castle, so everypony please be at your best behavior! That means you, Pinkie..."
Pinkie Pie sniggered, and slapped Applejack on the back of her head, which caused her hat to fall off, again.
"Owch! Pinkie! Wah' was that for!?" She yelled.
"Oh, nothing!" She giggled, then hopped away towards the door.
"I swear to Celestia..." She whispered to herself, "That mare is such a hoof-full!" (I sniggered at how she said that instead of "handful")
Princess Luna.. It's been such a long time since I'd seen her last time. I may have not mentioned this, but I'd had many visions of her back in the days when Dashie left me. Quite confusing. I wonder why she offered to lead us to Canterlot Castle... She rarely shows up during the daytime, so this must be pretty important for her, I guess. I'd never met her before, how does she know who I am..? Does she know much about me...? What does she have to do with Dashie and me? If Celestia doesn't know I'm here, how does she know I'm here? Surely Twilight didn't tell he. I approached Twilight, who was nervously tossing things into her Saddlebag. I put my mouth right next to her ear, and whispered:
"Twilight, you didn't-" My sentence was interrupted by a trembling blast of royal trumpets. Great, I wasn't expecting a royal welcome...
Her ear twitched, then she whispered hurriedly: "Not now, Dash! I'm sure Luna's already outside waiting for us!"
Wait, what?
What was the occasion? Why is everypony taking this so seriously? Why is Luna here leading us to the Castle? -These questions were of utmost importance to me throughout those last few moments. It is quite curious if you think about it: A royal welcome; Princess Luna; and the list goes on and on... I bet Twilight couldn't fit every awkward moment of this day onto one of her crazy over-sized scrolls! I was beginning to wonder if anyone else knew about me except, for my friends in Ponyville (and I hoped that Dashie still remembered me). The crowds yelling; The echo of the trumpets continuously whistling in my head; Twilight Sparkle yelling - all this hullabaloo squeezed the logical sense out of me. I had nothing left to do but stupidly follow Twilight outside, expecting the worst. I expected to be looked down upon as an outsider, somepony unfit for the royal Canterlot society. I was afraid they would mistake me for an intruder, and ruthlessly drag me down to the dungeons (although I couldn't figure how they'd actually do it, since I was roughly twice their size).
The sun stunned my over-exposed eyes as I exited the train car (right behind Twilight). I quickly shut them, and turned away from the blinding sunlight, most likely exposing my rather unenthusiastic nervous-like smile to the entire upper-class of Canterlot, or so I thought. I was snapped out of my trance by a firm kick to my right leg. "Owww-!" I whispered. After grasping my leg in pain for a second or two, I noticed the sunlight had stopped ruthlessly frying my face. I lifted my head up, very slowly, expecting the Sun to have hidden behind the clouds. ("Silly me!" - I thought, "The sky is blue as ever today! There most likely aren't any clouds anywhere..."
Out of all the things that could have blocked the sun, I least expected it to be princess Luna herself (I never found out who kicked me because I was engulfed by the mane six, and any one of them could have slipped under me and whacked my leg; I still blame Twilight for the crime, though). Words could not describe the shock I had experienced at that very moment: My jaw almost flew off it's hinges; my left ear started to twitch - my face was a battlefield fit for mixed emotions.
I stood there gaping at her for quite a while (or maybe it just felt like a long time). I couldn't say anything - my throat was glued shut. The thing that still amazes me to this day is that she didn't show a singe bit of annoyance; she was smiling. Princess Luna smiling, in front of me! I hadn't said a single word, and all I saw in her eyes was Love and Tolerance...
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Princess Luna had always been my favorite princess. Not that I dislike princess Celestia (I still, to this day, have a tiny grudge on her for taking Dashie away from me, but I guess it had to be done) , it's just that I understand her. What I mean by "I understand her", is that I feel her pain. I know the feeling of loneliness, loss of hope, sorrow - everything of that sort. Princess Luna is most likely the only Princess who would ever properly understand my feelings. I had always felt sorry for her, even though my life was almost constantly balanced on scales between life and death. I hadn't mentioned it, but if Dashie hadn't come into my life, I probably would have ended it myself. It sounds quite mediocre, yes. Some of you might even call me a quitter, almost as if I hadn't tried hard enough. I'm not asking anybody to share sympathy with me, no. I just want you to understand why I sometimes felt similar to Luna - banished to the moon for a thousand years.
“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.” -Orson Welles
There will be someone waiting for you at home, waiting to brighten your day with their laughter, with their cheerful smiles. Princess Luna was driven close to insanity; it almost seemed as if anger and oppression had overpowered her ability to love. Remember: no matter what you do, no matter how hopeless you seem - a spark will appear in your life; a life changing moment; a spark that ignites your inner feelings, a spark that fills your dark sullen life with happiness, hope, acceptance, joy, inspiration, friendship, and, most importantly - Love. Luna was the first to lead me to these thoughts (I realized most of this the day I found Dashie) Luna may not know this, but we have very much in common (SPOILER ALERT: I was wrong, she did know)
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"Come on... Say something!" - whispered somepony (I couldn't tell who, because my ears were drowned in the noise of laughter, trumpets, and other strange things (were they laughing at me...?)
"U-um, Ugh...Hi?" I said quietly.
Luna's smile stretched further across her face, almost from ear to ear. I knew she wanted to laugh, I could see the urge in her face! Her cheeks were slowly turning bright pink, and I noticed the air building up against them (she really did feel like laughing at me!). She quickly turned away, and let out all the air built up behind her cheeks, it sounded much like a leaf blower (I think I heard her giggle too)
"GREETINGS!" She yelled in her royal Canterlot voice as close as possible to my face. She then burst into uncontrollable laughter, and fell onto the ground, grasping her stomach with her hooves.
"Never seen a Princess do that before..." I mumbled, quite annoyed with her ruthlessly humiliating me in front of the entire city.
She hastily got up, brushed herself off, and apologized (I could sense that she was still laughing on the inside).
"I'm Princess Luna, but I'm sure you already know me..." She, for some reason, ended her sentence in a hoarse whisper and a wink.
How on Earth does she know who I am? We've never met before, and I doubt that Twilight ever mentioned me to her. There are some things you just can't explain... Hm, I wonder...Maybe we are in some ways closer than I thought....
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"Come on everypony, up the stairs! Come on, let's go! We have a lot of stairs to cover!" Yelled Luna from the top of the overhanging cliff.
"Easy for you to say!" I gasped, "You can fly!"
While trotting through the streets of Canterlot, Luna and I had become quite good friends. We chatted with each other while the other ponies (and one dragon) messed about. Pinkie Pie was shoving her face into every store window she could find; Fluttershy was busy doing whatever she does (most likely being shy, or observing animals; I dunno, Fluttershy stuff); Rarity was constantly bugging Spike about how she looked (Spike would always reply with "Absolutely marvelous!", which made Twilight Sparkle shudder); Applejack wasn't really doing anything, she was just blankly staring at me and Luna; the Cutie Mark Crusaders were constantly trying to climb onto my back, hoping for another joyride (Luna kept on sweeping them way using her magic).
"Try using the wings on your back!" She replied, barely restraining herself from laughter (again)...
"That's not funny, you know!" I panted. "Besides, try flying with three fillies on your back!" Yes, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had finally climbed onto my back, but they could stay there due to their constant complaints about the height of the stairs. It was fine with me, I guess.
I tried spreading my wings again, one by one, but I only succeeded in knocking Spike down a flight of stairs (much to his discontent, and much to the laughter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders)
"Ow, watch it!" He yelled as he got up and rubbed his scaly forehead.
"Again!" Yelled Scootaloo, who was laughing louder than everypony else.
"Looks like Spikey-wikey just had the ride of his life!" Giggled Pinkie Pie, while staring at a rather annoyed Rarity.
"Humph! Laughing at somepony's pain is not ladylike, Pinkie Pie..." Growled Rarity.
For best friends these mares sure do get in a truckload of arguments (believe me).
After an hour and a half of climbing steep staircases (and watching Luna fly up each flight with envy; Fluttershy didn't want to use her wings, "It's too s-steep" she would say), we finally reached the last flight. I never knew this, because Luna, every few minutes or so, would sarcastically say: "We're almost there! Come on, just a bit more!", then giggle away to her own content.
Pinkie Pie didn't even look tired; in fact, she looked more energetic than a squirrel on steroids!
"Ooh, I know this place! We're getting near the castle entrance!" She said (very fast, I could barely understood the words coming out of her pink mouth)
How would Pinkie remember a route like this? It's like we were led through a maze of staircases!
"Pinkie Pie" I said, "You mean you've visited Dash- err, Rainbow Dash before?"
"Hmm Hmm!" Snorted Pinkie Pie, "Of course! gazillions and bazillions of times!"
"Don't listen to her" Yelled Rarity from the lower flight of stairs (Spike was riding on her back, because the stairs were too big for him; and he probably didn't feel like getting knocked down again) "We only visited her once, and it wasn't what you'd call the best of visits..."
Wasn't the best of visits? It sounds like Dashie was her normal self then, or just traumatized from the sudden change of dimensions (don't forget that she's a few years younger than her "normal self").
"Lets keep a move on!" Luna yelled from the window of one of the towers (How's she get up there?) "We still got a lot of stairs to cover! Besides, my sister doesn't even know we're here!" She sniggered.
"Princess Celestia doesn't know we're here!?" Yelled Twilight. "Why doesn't she know we're here!? Do you know what she'll do if she finds out we're visiting Dashie without her approval!?"
Of course Twilight Sparkle needs Princess Celestia's approval for everything...
"Don't worry, kiddo!" Laughed Luna, "It's all gonna be A-ok" She then snapped her hooves together, much like a human snapping their fingers together.
I never expected this kind of extreme cool behavior from a princess, much less Luna! It's almost as if she was a normal pony from Ponyville, not the Princess of the night!
"Do you remember what your sister did to you the last time you didn't listen to her?" I said loudly (not loud enough for everypony in the Castle to hear).
Princess Luna frowned. "That was a long time ago. Besides, it was more or less my fault.." She then disappeared into the enormous Castle tower.
"Are we gonna stand aroun' n' chat all day, or are we gun' get up 'dem stairs?" Cried Applejack "It ain't an easy task gettin' up dem' spiral staircases!" If Applejack says it's hard to do, it sure as hell is hard to do! (sounds like Applejack's been here before too. I wonder how many interesting things I'll find out before the end of the day?)
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I wanted to make this chapter the final chapter, but what the heck. I can't fit everything in one chapter! I decided to make this the "before last" chapter, just to give myself enough room for the last chapter. I really enjoyed writing this one, mostly because I laughed at everything everypony did. Yes I actually laugh at what I write; Mostly because I have to imagine everything happening in my head before writing it down. The reason for the enormous pauses between chapters? Well, I've been mastering the use of both FL Studios 10 and Ableton Live 8 (not to mention WaveLabs), and it's been a pretty cool experience! If you have any questions regarding the plot, or about basically anything, feel free to send a message to me and I'll answer it as soon as possible!