Overcast skies arrived the day Luna closed her door to leave for brunch. Wanting to look at least somewhat presentable, she'd nicked a scarf of soft, azalea pink. The long fabric was smooth to the touch; a most comfortable cotton blend. She'd rested the midway just above her horn, and tied a knot under the back of her flowing blue hair. Try as it might, this headwear made the stiff and meager wind struggle to tussle her mane. There'd be no blue blinding for her today; today was her day to relax with some friends.
Up the hill from her bookish arboreal abode, Luna found a corner where roads met with an oaken bench. Here, she rested, sitting with a contented sigh. Some part of her thought back to this idea she'd had, that she might most of all miss the cushioned seats of her former life of luxury. That chairs and benches with not but wood under her weary legs would be completely unbearable. This transition proved rather quick and painless, however, surprisingly enough.
Just as Luna found her mind trying to stray away from the topic of her own personal comfort, a spark of magic lit up in the air not too far off. The aura was magenta, and unmistakably belonging to Twilight Sparkle. So she hopped to her hooves and began to stride over. This candid cantor ended abruptly, however, as one figure did not appear on wings. Instead, there were two of them. One of whom, she only vaguely recognized.
Setting down next to Twilight, all eight hooves between them gentle and poised with regality, was an alicorn with a soft, orangish coat. It was the sort of handsome beige a delicious pastry might be before growing brown fringes while baking to perfection in a sweltering oven. Her wavy hair, which only halfway formed ringlets at the ends, oscillated wildly between sunflower yellow and tulip red. In that way, every detail of her visage screamed of summertime. All, save for the eyes.
Those, they were deep pools of teal, not unlike Luna’s own eye color. But there was a coolness to them, a complete and utter ease to their expression. The way they seemed to judge the world around them was somehow cold as any winter Luna had ever experienced. And yet… beyond what could be interpreted as abrasive, Luna felt there was a tender understanding to them. A balance of sorts, between the heated and the frigid.
“Hello?” Luna’s greeting was quite tentative, bereft of certainty.
“Luna!” squeaked Twilight, excitedly throwing herself at her. Mid-jump, however, she halted, landing back upon her hooves with an awkward cough. “Okay, so I know it wasn't my place to invite her, but I brought along Sunset. I hope that's alright.”
Luna observed those twiddling hooves, complete with knees bent in, and performed something between a single chuckle and a sigh. “I'm sure one more guest will be fine.”
“Great. Let me introduce you two. Luna, this is Sunset Shimmer. She's the princess of patience.” Twilight made an overly dramatic sweeping motion toward her royal companion.
“Charmed, Luna.” Sunset spoke softly, an unassuming smile upon her lip as she offered up her hoof.
Luna, meanwhile, didn’t think twice about it. She knelt down upon her knee, taking said hoof into her own, kissing it. “It is an honor, princess.”
“Well that’s… certainly formal.” Sunset withdrew her hoof with a laugh that was somehow both tepid and dry.
“More formally than you ever greeted me.” pouted Twilight. If she were being earnest, it was a touch hard to say for sure.
“It is the customary show of respect and humility before royalty.” Luna stood and shrugged, frowning. “At least, it was in my day. My apologies, princess. Nary did I mean to offend.”
“My, my,” cooed Sunset, “you even speak in an old-fashioned, formal manner.”
“I have…” Luna paused, mentally giving the sentence another once over. “I’ve been trying to adapt to modern speech. But the old ways still come through, now and again.”
“Aw, no, I hope I don’t seem like I’m teasing you. I think it’s charming, really.” Fretting the awkwardness of it all, Sunset peered up at the gathering clouds. “Seems to me your town has rain scheduled. Shall we sojourn, as you might say?”
Well. She was right. Luna was about to say that. Nevertheless, away they went, heading further into town. Along the way, curiosity got the better of Luna. “So how did you become an alicorn princess?”
“Straight to the nitty gritty, I see. Nothing wrong with that.” Sunset’s smile was warm and pleasant and simple. “Like Twilight after me, I was a gifted unicorn student. Celestia saw potential in me, and took me under her wing as her pupil.”
“You've spent a lot of time under my sister, then?” Luna wondered if she might tell her all the ways Celestia may have changed in all this time. And all the things that had stayed the same, in all likeliness. Such as her love of cakes. Luna bit her tongue, though.
“Yes ma’am. However, despite what both our names might suggest, it wasn't always sunshine.”
“Oh?” Her heart skipped a single beat. This path sounded all too familiar.
“There came a time when I honestly felt she was holding me back. So I started sneaking around Canterlot castle at night trying to study and understand powerful artifacts she told me I wasn't ready for.” Sunset’s eyes were straight ahead, and Twilight didn't say much or return Luna’s concerned glance. This seemed to be a story they'd both already gone over a few times.
Luna tried to tell herself she didn't need to know further. But she did. “What happened?”
“I got caught, and she decided to send me away. Heheh, I got so dramatic when she said that to me.” Sunset peered over, catching Luna eye to eye. “I told her it was the biggest mistake she'd ever make, and do you know what she said to me?”
Luna simply shook her head, trying not to let all the bad memories show in her face.
“She told me it was only one of many.”
It couldn’t be hidden. A quite audible gulp punctuated Shimmer’s statement, as it thudded in Luna’s throat. She knew exactly what such a powerful statement referred to, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
“So later that night,” continued Sunset, “I made my way below, into the dungeons of old Canterlot castle.” She lurched into a creep, playfully recreating her misdeeds. “Deep within the innermost sanctum, my goal lay in wait: one of the most powerful and mysterious artifacts in all Equestria.”
“Did my sister banish you for your impudent vie for power, like she did me?” Luna’s brows weighed as heavily on her eyes as they did her conscience. Yet still she looked straight ahead, ignoring the gaping looks of concern.
“Luna? Are you okay?” Twilight jumped ahead, putting herself in between them without thinking. All the same, she knew Sunset would wait. She was the patient one, after all.
“I am quite alright, princess. Mine own punishment is but ancient history, most literal.” She kept walking as the others paused their step a moment.
“Luna, you just got like, really old-fashioned with your speech now. What's going on?” Twilight caught up with her once more, Sunset close behind.
“Verily?” Luna first peered at Twilight, but her gaze wandered off, realizing what she'd just said. “Ah. Right.”
“You can talk to us, Luna,” affirmed Sunset with a reassuring smile, “we’re all friends here.”
There was that word again. All sorts of new ponies have said it to her since she returned. It felt like her first day all over again. Yet, hopefully this one wouldn't end with any sort of monster battle. “I suppose this story brings back a lot of bad memories.”
“Of course, how rude of me.” Sunset frowned, and the mood drained to dower gray. Or perhaps it was the listless cloud coverage that persisted well overhead. “I should have thought more about your perspective before blustering on with my story.”
Luna drew a deep breath and turned to the royalty she walked beside. Twilight was trying to soothe the sting. As she looked between the two of them, she thought again of the old life she had left behind. Yet even still she shoved that thought back down. “Sunset. I don't want to make this about me. In fact, I'm tired of so much being about me. I'm not a princess, I'm not a hero; that's all in the past. I'm a librarian now, and…” She paused. The blue and purple eyes upon her twinkled with growing curiosity as she ground her teeth. “And I love a good story, so why don't you finish yours? I'm so sorry I interrupted you.”
Sunset hesitated. “Only if you're certain. There isn't much left to tell.”
“I am.”
“Well…” Her line of memory traced back along those events that felt so long ago, and the order thereof. Her eyes sparked upon the moment for which she searched, lighting like a candle in a dark room. “That's right. I never got the chance to use the artifact.”
“No?” Luna again noticed Twilight made no commentary on any of this tale. No doubt she'd heard it all before.
“Celestia appeared above me in the stairwell. She told me not to go. At first I thought she was still trying to hold me back, and I flew into some pretty angry shouting I'm none too proud of, even now.” Shimmer’s laugh was soft and timid, her eyes darting away from Luna’s gaze, as non-judgemental as it may have well been.
“Heh. I think I know what that might feel like.”
“Heheh. Right. So, anyway… Celestia, she didn't argue, didn't fight. Instead she apologized to me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She said she was sorry for not showing greater patience with me, while also trying to instill that into me. When she approached, alone and with no guard, at first I thought it was a trick. But when she was right there in front of me, I finally noticed.” Her hoof found its way onto Luna’s shoulder. She gazed up into her eyes hoping the connection was felt. “She was crying.”
A moment passed. Luna peered at the friendly hoof on her shoulder, and back to her. “I don't understand.”
“I know you said you didn't want this to be about you, Luna, and I'm sorry. But it was sort of about you the whole time, in a way, just as much as me.”
“How so?” She sounded unconvinced perhaps. Or, just as likely, unwanting of whatever this revelation was.
“Your sister told me her initial reaction reminded her so much of how she'd treated you, and that it hurt. She regretted it so much, and begged me to give her a second chance. And, well, after that, I learned how valuable patience is, and the rest is history.”
Luna gawked a moment at Sunset’s pleased expression. Deep within the realm of her mind, there lay dry and barren a waterwheel which creaked to a halt. She thought and she pondered and she wondered. Not to keep her waiting though, she returned the gentle touch of the warm princess. “Thank you so much for confiding in me. I’m honored by your trust.”
Twilight watched as Luna idly turned and continued down the path. She frowned at Sunset, lowering to a hush. “What was that? Do you think it worked?”
As Sunset sidled alongside Twilight, she gently pat her with one wing, pulling her in close and bringing her along. She too spoke quietly though, wishing not to offend Luna. “Don’t fret, dear. Maybe it did, but maybe it did not. Regardless, we shouldn’t push. If she needs more time to come around, then we should let her have it. Alright?”
“Alright…” Twilight was unsatisfied to be sure, moping along, absolutely fixated on the sad, sad pony that led their trio onward. What she wouldn’t give to help her out.
On a busy, bustling corner sat a restaurant with ample patio space to overlook all the ponies and carts passing by. Along the side of the road, Luna led on her royal entourage. A good few passers by turned their heads nearly all the way about when noticing the local town hero flanked by two princesses of Equestrian royalty. Luna urged them pick up the pace, the heat rising in her cheeks. The very last thing she wanted today was a heavy burden of attention.
Upon their approach, from one of the outdoor tables, a familiar pony waved, flagging them down. Though the sun struggled to light the day, her complexion nevertheless glowed. She rose from her table and, head held high, trotted as prettily as she pleased, right over to the gate leading onto the patio. With nary a second thought or permission from the staff, the pale unicorn unhitched the latch, and beckoned Luna and her friends on through.
“Luna, darling, it’s so very good to see you again!” Rarity stretched up high as she could, and kissed either of Luna’s cheeks. The white sunglasses she ended up not needing today idly clattered about, hanging from the neck in her dark blue blouse with pearlescent white buttons.
“Thank you again, for inviting me.” Luna awkwardly cleared her throat and motioned toward the two princesses she had in tow. “I really hope I’m not taking advantage of your offer, b-but, well…”
“Space is nary an issue, my dear. It’s 11 on a weekday.” Rarity gave her a chiding grin, though, nudging her. “I just wished you’d told me who your guests would be. Otherwise I would’ve dressed more properly.”
“Nonsense,” insisted Sunset as she approached alongside Luna, “this is hardly a formal affair. We are but friends breaking bread together; no need to get fancy on our behalf.” She smiled that warm, reassuring smile she had, before looking Rarity up and down. “Though I will say, you already seem quite sharp.”
“Baha! Do go on, you’ll make me blush.” Rarity’s claim held little water, as she’d already begun to blush as it was.
Twilight timidly approached, extending one hoof for Rarity, merely because she seemed to recall that’s a thing you ought to do when you meet a pony. “Hi, Rarity was it? I’m Twilight. I-I mean, we’ve already met, of course, after, well, you know.”
Rarity shook, weakly smiling back. “I do recall, yes. We never got to formally introduce ourselves, of course. Sorry about that.”
“Oh, no, if anything, I’m the one who’s sorry.” Twilight held her hoof to her chest, frowning. “I got so caught up with everything going on, I took leave of my manners.”
Rarity gave her a wink. “Well we all certainly know each other now. And since we’ve all met, why don’t you two majesties go find a seat next to Fluttershy, over there. I just need to borrow Luna for a moment.”
“Me?” Luna looked on in bewilderment, watching the two princesses slowly transition out of earshot. Her heart paused when they did and Rarity turned to her, that cheery disposition fading. “Rarity?”
“The other night, Sweetie Belle was sick as a dog. I’m sure you heard?”
“Pinkie told me, yes.” Luna let her head sink, meeting those unhappy sapphire blue eyes. Her own ears reflexively folded back, fearing the worst.
“In her fever-driven delerium, she told me about your little deal.” Rarity narrowed her eyes, her mouth tightening on the word like a starving snake constricting its prey.
Luna’s heart sank, falling the same way she’d watched Sweetie and her two friends fall off her back when she’d accidentally teleported them into Canterlot skies along with her. Sweetie had said she wouldn’t speak of that if Luna didn’t tell her elder sister about interfering with a unicorn’s sword in a pitched fight. All she could manage to bring up in response was “Oh.”
“Listen,” bade Rarity, sounding exasperated, “I am thankful you kept her safe. I always knew she was in good company. I’m just miffed you kept this from me.”
“I understand.” meekly responded Luna, her eyes trailing along the ground. Shame burned away in her chest. What she wouldn’t give to redo those events and make everything right. Just like so many before it.
Rarity cupped her cheek and supported her drooping face. “We’re over and past it, alright? I just wanted to get that off my chest, and hope we can be more honest. Okay, Luna?”
“I’ll certainly try, Rarity. I’m so sorry. I never meant--”
“I know, Luna.” Rarity tried to reassure her best as she could with her meager smile. “I know you’d never do anything to hurt me on purpose, I trust that. We’re just… going to do better from here on, aren’t we?”
“Much better. I promise.” Luna’s head rose out of Rarity’s hold. She stood of her own volition now.
“Great. Now, let’s not keep our friends waiting.” Before moving on, she remembered. “Oh, by the way, Pinkie sent along your message. ‘We’ll miss her and these smell nice.’”
“That’s our Pinkie Pie.” giggled Luna, alongside Rarity, who sashayed off, Luna dutifully in tow. As they approached the table, Fluttershy was just finishing her introductions.
“And, well, that’s what I do.” Her long pink mane fell off her eye, allowing her to spot Luna, and her face lit up. “Luna, it’s nice to see you again. I’m glad to see you’ve made even more friends.”
“I’m really glad too.” Luna claimed a chair in between Twilight and Sunset, and she watched after Rarity as she took the spot next to Fluttershy, on Twilight’s right. She gestured to her left. “Of course, Sunset here is a rather new acquaintance.”
“And it’s been such a pleasure meeting you all. It’s also just nice to get out of the castle once in a while.” Those thick eyelashes of Sunset’s bat once, punctuated by a smile that seemed to warm the table around her.
Luna sat, unsmiling, or rather, not returning or repeating that sentiment in expression alone. She looked over at two of the friends from her primary group, the ones she saw far more often, grimacing slightly. “I’m so sorry to have sprung these two on you girls so last minute like this.”
“This again?” Rarity chuckled, waving off one hoof at the ankle dismissively. “It’s fine! Really, darling, it’s quite alright.”
“I’ll admit,” uttered Fluttershy, continuing with a most ponderous look on her face, “when I saw two princesses would be joining us, I got pretty nervous. But then I remembered that you used to be royalty too, Luna. And you don’t make me nervous, so why should they?”
“Funny,” laughed Luna, “I seem to recall a certain pegasus intimidated by, what was it, my height?”
Fluttershy squinted at her shrewdly, a smirk growing under the falling pink locks that obscured her face. “And I seem to recall a dark, brooding unicorn of mysterious origin, whom Pinkie found skulking about, what was it, the alleyways in a hooded cloak?”
Luna snickered, then feigned a wounded expression. “Ooh, ow, that hurts, Fluttershy. Ha.”
“Oh, yes,” interjected Sunset excitedly, “Twilight told me about this. Your disguise, what was it again?”
Luna sighed, glancing off and smiling nervously. “Ah, but it’s so embarrassing.”
“Louise Moonshadow,” answered Rarity for her, drawing up one hoof across her face as though she were pulling on a dark cowl, “tall, dark, mysterious.”
Luna let the giggles subside. “She was a dark purple unicorn with red eyes and black hair. She was… an astrologist.”
Sunset covered her mouth to stifle the laughter she shared in, trying not to be rude. “Everything sounds so similar to the truth.”
“That was the point,” replied Luna with a nod, “a fabrication close to reality. It’s easier to recall and maintain that way.”
All settled down when their orders were taken. Twilight and Fluttershy had their own little conversation going on about the various animals in the nearby wood. The two of them were listing off scientific names, terms based in dead languages, as though it were no big deal. Across the table the other way, a talk erupted between Sunset and Rarity about fashion; matching color combinations for either of them floated back and forth right up until the food was served. That’s when a quiet layered over them as oppressive perhaps as the gray clouds overhead. Finally, someone addressed them.
“This is so nice,” cooed Rarity, idly picking at her salad, “it’s just such a shame there seems to be rain scheduled today.”
Sunset peered up into the darkening skies. “And rather soon it seems.”
“Should we hurry along?” asked Fluttershy in a disappointed tone. “I feel like I was just getting to know everypony here.”
“I’m enjoying it too.” Twilight smiled brighter than Luna could recall seeing, the genuine joy of conversation emanating off her like a spell’s magic aura. “We could use the table’s umbrella, if nopony minds otherwise sitting in the rain. In fact--”
“Here,” insisted Luna, rising from her seat first, “allow me.” She flicked her horn, and the canvas hexagon unfolded above them. A glad look too unfolded upon her, observing how well everypony was getting along. Any worry about her two friend groups intersecting washed away like all this supposed rain to come. “This will buy us at least a little more time together. We were having such a good time. Seems a waste to me, to let a little weather ruin it.”
“There you are!” called a voice from above, before Luna could return to the latter half of her sandwich. A rush of wind followed it, and a blue figure beat a set of mighty wings, the hovering stance jostling the huge umbrella that shaded the lot of them, table and all.
“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Not that she wasn’t patient, but… Luna couldn’t resist having another bite of her sandwich while she waited for an answer.
“I’ve been lookin’ all over for ya!” Rainbow set down on her hooves with a heavy thud, taking no time line up better. She rushed over.
“What’s the matter?” asked Fluttershy, speaking on behalf of Luna, whose mouth was now full. “Does it have to do with your weather team?”
“That’s just it,” huffed Rainbow, “there’s no rain scheduled, or even any clouds, just… hang on, let me catch my breath, whew.”
“Here, take a drink.” Sunset floated over her cup of water.
“Hey, thanks.” Rainbow started to sip, but then she realized who’d passed her the drink and nearly choked. She coughed and spat and tried to clear her throat, a single tear forming at the corner of her eye.
Fluttershy dashed round the table and set to patting her back. “Are you okay?”
“Ugh,” spat Rainbow with a mildly upset groan, “who cares about that? You girls are hanging out with three princesses!”
“Two.” curtly corrected Luna, before crudely biting into her sandwich again.
“Two princesses!” restated Rainbow. She returned the cup and apologized, sinking to her knees. “I’m so sorry for taking your water, your majesty.”
“Hey, now,” laughed Sunset, “it’s alright. Please, if you need it, feel free to have a drink. We’re all friends here.”
The waiter came around to address the ruckus. “Would you like me to call for a fifth plate?”
“Good question.” replied Rarity. “Rainbow?”
“No-no-no, we don’t have time for this. Can we get a check?”
Fluttershy rested a hoof onto her friend’s shoulder. “Slow down, Dash. Tell us what’s wrong.”
“Right! Okay, so, ugh, it’s kind of a long story.” She flapped her wings to stand back upright to address the table. “Basically, first the weather team thought somebody was making clouds without authorization, right? So some flyers, me with them, traced the clouds back to their origin. They’re coming from a mountaintop a ways Northwest of here. And they’re not clouds, you see, it’s all smoke!”
“Smoke?” Fluttershy’s hooves covered her mouth. “What could be causing this much smoke?”
“An honest to goodness dragon is sleeping in the cave at the peak!” Around her, Rainbow observed the faces flicking with expressions ranging from surprise, to horror, to fascination.
“A dragon?” stammered Fluttershy.
“A dragon?!” inquired Twilight, excitedly standing up.
The two of them gawked at each other. Luna interjected, setting down the last few bites of her sandwich. “Fluttershy, I’m a bit confused. I thought you said you’d always wanted to see a dragon, prior to this?”
“I’ve always wanted to see a baby dragon. Grown ones are… something else.”
Again, Twilight’s eyes lit up. “I have a young dragon as my assistant, actually!”
All that flower petal pink hair swung about, following the sudden twist of the head it was attached to. No long bangs in the way, Fluttershy stared starry-eyed headlong at Twilight. “Can I meet them?”
“I promise, Fluttershy, I’ll bring Spike along next time.” Twilight smiled, and Fluttershy smiled back. But then Rainbow put her hoof on the table with a loud thunk.
“We don’t have time to set up playdates, you guys.” She looked at Luna, desperation in her eyes, which only became more frustrated as she saw her about to bite down on the last few bits of that darn sandwich. “Luna!”
Luna paused, teeth parted over bread. “W-what? I was hungry…”
“Then stuff it, and let’s go. We need you.”
“Need me to do what, exactly?”
“Go…” Rainbow hesitated, tapping her chin, really thinking about it. “Do something? About the dragon?”
“About a dragon.” repeated Luna. She let her meal down and leaned back, staring at Rainbow over her snout, crossing her hooves. “I’m a librarian.”
“Y-yeah, but…” Dash stammered, chewing her lip. “But you’ve been on adventures like this before, facing all sorts of crazy monsters. I went on one with you!” Rainbow clenched her teeth at the lack of response. “Fluttershy was there. Rarity too! C’mon, Fluttershy, talk some sense into her.”
Fluttershy held up her hooves and shook her head. Rarity spoke up on her behalf: “Some of us would rather forget most of that dreadful night, you know.”
“Besides,” continued Luna, “I’m a librarian now. I’m not a princess anymore, and I’m not a hero. I can’t…”
Dash’s furrowed brows faded from fury to confusion. “Can’t what? Luna? C’mon, don’t be like this, I thought we were friends.”
Luna’s ears flicked. There was that word again. She sighed. “You’re right. We are, I’m sorry. But I’m not this hero that everyone in this city keeps saying that I am. The truth of it is, well, I guess I just wanted keep my head down, so to speak. To live a normal life, free of these kinds of responsibilities.”
Rainbow’s shoulders drooped, and her wings went limp at her side. She felt so responsible for bringing this on. “Luna.”
As she approached her, Luna turned away. “I know it’s selfish of me. But my previous, highly adventurous life led me down such an ugly path. I wanted to be as far away from that as possible.”
All were quiet a moment. The waiter, clutching the receipts nearby, kept his distance. Rarity broke the silence. “So what are our other options?”
Twilight stood up. “A dragon is very serious business. We might need aid of the Canterlot air force. Only armed pegasi could cover that much ground and deal with a flying beast, if it should come to a fight.”
“But that could take days, maybe even a whole week.” worriedly trebled Rarity.
“Sunset and I could help speed up the process, by teleporting back to Canterlot right away. But we’d need to make all the necessary appeals, and… well, depending on, um, the severity…” Twilight glanced over at Luna, her back still turned to them. “Celestia might also want to involve herself.”
Luna jerked around so fast, her wing knocked over her metal cup, water spilling across the ground. “Celestia would really come here?”
Sunset answered her, her voice calm and resolute. “If this is the closest settlement to the creature’s lair, then yes. It would make the most advantageous position to plan from.”
“Would that…” Twilight’s eyes grew with concern, “bother you?”
Luna’s eyes fidgeted. She tried to process a response, some way she could say she still wasn’t ready to see her again after it all. Something clamped down within her chest; breathing became hard. Beads of sweat formed on her brow, hidden away under the pink scarf she’d chosen to wear. All the eyes on her, ready for that answer any second now, they felt like rays of heat burning right through her.
“Luna, w--” Fwoosh! Twilight didn’t get to finish her question, as Luna had lept headlong into the air with one mighty beat of her huge wingspan. She and the other magically inclined had to hold the table, to keep it from getting knocked over like the chair Luna had been seated in. Everyone else joined her as she desperately stood up, watching after her. “Wait, where’s she going?!”
Rainbow Dash was quite the experienced flyer, and recognized the basics of navigation with ease. She thought for half a second about the positioning of where they were in town, and gauged her trajectory. Flatly, she answered Twilight precisely. “She’s flying Northwest.”
“Rainbow,” wearily inquired Rarity nearby, “isn’t that the direction you just came from? The direction of the dragon?”
“Yep.”
In the skies, Luna found a cloud on high for a vantage point. She scanned the horizon, looking out for mountains. From up here, she could barely make out peaks in the distance. Judging by the position of the sun, that was Northwest alright. And the billowing smoke that dwindled and trailed off into cloud layering confirmed it further. Her destination was set.
A larger cloud floated some ways off from the tiny perch she’d chosen. But, to Luna’s surprise, three figures rose up and claimed it, opposite her. The idle winds drifted them along, the distance between them slowly, slowly becoming greater. Rainbow stepped forth, to the ledge of the cloud she’d chosen with Twilight and Sunset.
“C’mon, Luna!” she shouted. “What’re you gonna do? Run off to fight it by yourself?!”
Luna looked at them, then back to the horizon. “If I have to!”
“That’s crazy talk! What happened to not being an adventurer anymore?”
“I… thought about it. Ponyville is my home now. I ought to protect it!”
“I’m not dumb, you know! I saw how bad you freaked out when the princess mentioned your sister!” Rainbow grimaced, her temper rising. She knew she wasn’t the cleverest pony she’d met, but it got such a rise out of her when anyone insulted her intelligence like this.
“Come, now, Rainbow.” Sunset moved to take over, speaking a soft and soothing tone. “Let calmer heads prevail.”
“But…” Rainbow looked to Twilight, who nodded.
“Trust in her, Rainbow. She’s good with these sorts of things.”
With a tilt of her head, and a whirl of her horn, Sunset cast a gust spell to draw their clouds closer together, in hopes of ceasing this petty shouting match. She waited until they were well within earshot of one another. “Luna, would you like to talk?”
“I think I liked my space.”
Sunset gestured all around her. “There’s open skies in every direction if you’d prefer. We don’t have to talk. About you, or what your plan is… or Celestia.”
Luna tensed up, cringing. Every instinct said to fly off. And yet… somehow, that inviting smile eased the pain in her heart, and untied the knots in her stomach. “Alright, I get it.” She took a long breath. “I don’t feel ready to see her again. And if she came to my new hometown to deal with this dragon, I’d wager it would be downright impossible to avoid her.”
“So instead, you’d face a dragon on your own?” Sunset tilted her head, but her tone wasn’t judgemental, per se; simply curious.
“Ouch,” commented Rainbow, apropos of nothing, “you’d rather fight a dragon than see your sister? That’s pretty harsh, girl.”
“Now, Rainbow. It’s not our place to judge, since we don’t yet understand.” Sunset offered the opening for Luna to continue. “Would you like to help us understand? No pressure, of course.”
Luna slumped on her little cloud, fiddling with the wispy swirls. “I don’t see how everypony expects me to go back to her like it will all somehow be different; that all my sins will simply wash away. I tried to, you know. But that was a travesty that only traumatized her.” She wryly laughed at that. “Fresh sins for the pile.”
“I understand regretting that. But your attempt at eternal night, creating Nightmare Moon? All of that was so long ago.” Sunset held out her hoof, leaning over the edge of her cloud, trying to meet her halfway across.
“For you, it is ancient history, scrawled in books and crumbling scrolls.” Luna would not take that hoof. She also ignored the arrival of Fluttershy, who timidly fell in behind Rainbow and Twilight. “For me, the memory is still fresh.”
“So you didn’t feel the passage of time at all during your imprisonment?” Teal eyes met in a brief clash, and Luna yielded to Sunset instantly. She sighed, realizing that Luna seemed to be growing only more frustrated as the topic pressed on. “It’s okay if--”
“It’s complicated.” interrupted Luna, who gritted her teeth so hard, all thought they could almost hear the sound of grinding bones over the rising winds that tossed their hair about. Still, she refused to remake eye contact. “While within the shadow, it felt like an eternal solitude, deathly quiet, all alone. Restless and exhausted, but never able to fall asleep. Now though? Now that I’m out, it retroactively feels like a fever-stricken nightmare I was finally able to wake up from, drenched in cold sweat, and feeling sick to my stomach.” She took a moment to breathe, feeling the high altitude gusts washing over her. It was cool, so very cool, and almost soothing. “And every awful thing I’d ever done now feels like it happened maybe two months ago from my perspective.”
None of them said anything to that. They simply stared at the dejected figure that limply lounged upon a lone cloud before them. Sunset’s wind magic faded, and Luna began to drift away again, slowly inching further away. Not one of them made an attempt to pull her back. What was there to do? What could be said?
“Enough.” huffed Luna, hoisting herself upright to gaze once again upon the horizon. The mountain range filled her eyes, and a newfound fire began to kindle within her, slowly, yet surely, building into a roaring flame. “I hope you got what you wanted. I’m done talking about this for now.”
“What will you do?” begged Twilight in a desperate plea to know. Her voice quavered.
“I will face a dragon, mayhaps. It will clear my head.” Luna’s wings unfolded, growing restless.
Twilight leapt into the distance between them. “I can’t let you go face a dragon all by yourself. I-I…”
“Yes?”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, and she had to remember to flap her wings after half a second of falling. The cold and curt way Luna stared at her, that one impatient brow risen like a judge’s hammer ready to sentence her into exile, it stung. Any original sentiment left her. “I’ve studied dragon culture,” she replied meekly, “I could help you.”
“Very well. I thank you for your assistance.”
“Hold on.” bade Sunset, uncertainty filling her voice for the very first time all day. “I’ll come too.”
“Well, I kinda have somewhere to be.” chimed in Dash. She got nary the laugh she’d hoped for, but merely judgemental looks. “Oh c’mon, that was funny. Pinkie Pie woulda laughed!”
“Aye,” agreed Luna with a simple nod, “she would have, were she here.”
“Thank you.” Rainbow took whatever recovery for her pride she could get. “At the same time, and I can’t believe I’m tryin’ to be the voice of reason here, but like, what’s the plan?”
Luna mulled it over, quite briefly. To her friends that knew her better, and perhaps to the ones who didn’t, this posture, this presentation: it was all more… regal than they had seen in her. “We needn’t fell the beast, merely move it. Perhaps that can be accomplished if we parlay.”
Fluttershy was the last one standing. The others began to take off, but turned back to note her hesitation. Rainbow zoomed over. “You coming, Flutters? Your animal husbandry could be useful.”
Fluttershy was a rather unassuming girl. A sort of filly none expected judgement from. Yet now here came a need for a casket for her lifelong friend Rainbow Dash, who surely perished in the wake of the confused bitterness she now wore as a mask. “For a dragon?”
“Oh, I mean…”
“It’s a huge, scaly beast with grinding teeth that could bite our heads off.” The confidence in that statement was the only thing that overpowered the fear that kept her cloud-bound.
Recovering best as she could, Rainbow settled down next to her. “Well, Magnet was a huge scaly beast who could’ve bitten your head off also.”
“I’d read about psychic river serpents, and knew they could be reasoned with. I know so little about dragons.” She idly kicked a few fluffy bits of cloud off, before Twilight landed next to her with a reassuring smile.
“I’ve read all sorts of things about draconic culture!” announced the princess with a proud look. “Trust me when I say we’ll be coming at this from an optimal position of understanding.”
“What gives?” asked Rainbow Dash. “You seem awful giddy all of a sudden.”
“Am I?” Twilight genuinely hadn’t realized. “Sorry, it’s just that this is going to be my first honest to goodness adventure.”
“Hear that Flutters?” Dash drew Fluttershy in close. “The princess’s first adventure. You wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would you?”
Fluttershy grew quite flustered, looking up at all the expectant faces. “I’m still frightened to death of the dragon, but… I want to look out for my friends.”
“Atta girl.”
Luna’s face had hardened like stone; she resembled not the friend they’d come to know, but rather the stoic figure they’d perhaps seen in the occasional painting or statued depiction. But somehow, somewhere deep within her heart, hearing those words softened her once more. “Hey,” she said to Fluttershy, “I’m proud of you.”
And then they were off.
Luna led the flight from the head of the pack. She were as though the head hunter in a raid of ravenous wolves. And she certainly felt it; though her breathing was calm enough--calm as it could be with regular wing movement, but she could feel her blood pumping. Her senses were keen as she effortlessly followed the airflow of the billowing smoke which foolishly marked their prey. And in this heightened awareness, she detected one of them approaching her flank without the need to even look. Without turning from the trails she stalked in the skies, she asked her “Yes, Sunset?”
“I wanted to apologize for earlier.”
This caught Luna off guard, so she actually bothered looking in her direction. “Oh?”
“In telling you my story earlier, I wanted to accomplish two things.”
“Haven’t you embarrassed me in front of my friends enough today?” Luna could already tell where this was going, and she didn’t like it.
“We’re out ahead of them. They won’t hear us. And you don’t have to talk anymore, just listen to some thoughts I’ve had.” Sunset waited to see that she was placated by that, and continued. “Firstly, I wanted to create common ground between us, beyond both knowing Twilight, and your sister.”
“Right.” huffed Luna. “But I’m hardly the court fool, or the village idiot. I know you were trying to help push my sister and I closer once again.”
“You caught me.” laughed Sunset, but the smile faded at once, and she grew surprisingly stern. “Much as I want to help you two, I now know that was the wrong angle. Talking to you has helped me realize that.”
Luna pursed her lip, trying to piece that one together. “Would you mind terribly elaborating on that one?”
“My initial understanding was you figured things hadn’t really changed; that the world still remembered your misdeeds, and your sister had yet to forgive them.” Sunset pointed, singling Luna out. “But the lack of change you fear is within you yourself.”
“Me?” Luna touched a hoof to her chest, confidence briefly fading.
“I think you fear that you yourself have not changed enough to warrant moving on, in the same way you’ve been told the country and its monarch already long since have. And perhaps it’s part of why you balk at the notion of going back to her; that it will all somehow invalidate your efforts to change on your own, because you’ll just be going right back to the old life you knew, which led you down that road.”
Sunset adjusted for a rising wind, but continued on. “I also theorize, and forgive me if this is too much, that a lot of this is an effort to rapidly achieve the change you desire, to help you move on. You’ve changed locale, you’ve changed profession, you’ve changed everypony you associate with.”
Luna wasn’t really sure what to say to, well, any of that. “I--”
“Worst of all, I think your prolonged isolation in the moon might have severely damaged your mental health.”
“M-mental health?” It was not a term that Luna recalled. Ever. “You mean like, fortitude against charms, and psychic attacks?”
“Wow,” mused Sunset, taken aback, “you’ve missed out on a lot of progress.”
No, this was not something Luna was in the mood for. “Did I not announce prior I was done discussing this?”
Sunset ignored her, offering food for thought instead. “Let me ask you this, Luna: has it been a frequent thing with you to physically lock up whenever you’re presented with a difficult choice?”
Luna’s eyes widened when, for a brief, yet far too eternal moment, her body tensed in response. What were once graceful, beautiful wings with majestically wide spans seized up, as though bound by some spell. And in that blink of an eye, that skipped heartbeat of a split-second, she began to fall out of the sky. After watching her recover, Sunset fell back to rejoin the others, pointedly not clearing up their confusion. Then and only then, though, did Luna finally get her wish, for this accursed conversation to stop.
The rest of their flight was relatively quiet, save for the winds which equal parts guided and impeded them. As well as the stop at a watering hole to refresh. Yet even then, none of them spoke. In the silence of it all, Luna sternly urged them on. And after a half-hour, their destination lay ahead of them. At long last, the Smoky Mountains finally had an appropriate name.
A single peek stood out among the rolling hills of rock and stone. High in the face sat a cavern’s mouth, a gaping maw from which spewed the toxic black airs, like how an angry individual might vomit forth a bile so hateful and venomous as to poison the hearts and minds of those around her. And in the back of Luna’s mind, there flashed a fading memory, not nearly as distant as she would’ve liked; of Celestia’s teary eyes during their first argument.
It was time Luna took the change she sought.
Upon reaching the mouth of the cave, a growling rumble shook the lot of them deep to their cores. Fluttershy ducked behind the tallest of the group she could find; in this case, Luna. Through the smoke filtering overhead, one might be forgiven for mistaking this uproar for the sort of ferocious upset that would indicate the exact sort of extreme prejudice that preceded aggressive, brutal, graphic violence, utterly offensive to any sense of decency.
Under Luna’s billowing blue tail, Fluttershy meekly cried that: “I like having all my blood still inside me. Let’s just go.”
Rainbow blocked her retreat. “Sounds like snoring to me.”
“Aye,” Luna coldly affirmed, “the beast slumbers.”
“Well?” Sunset looked to Luna for an answer before she even asked the question. “What next?”
“The tunnel is tall enough, such that the smoke won’t impede us.” She channeled a basic energy through her horn, and an orb of light appeared above her head. “Let us away, and find what we can while the moment is still opportune.”
Rainbow hoisted Fluttershy off the ground, waiting for Luna to get somewhat out of earshot to whisper to the princesses before they could follow. “Uh, your um, majesties? Is that what I should call you?”
“What is it Rainbow?” asked Sunset. Then she gave her a more cordial look. “Also, you can call us Sunset and Twilight.”
“Oh, okay, cool. Well, Sunset, I was just wondering if you knew anything about why Luna’s talking all fancy like that. And not like Rarity’s ‘proper Ponish,’ either.” Rainbow shrugged at them, bereft of understanding.
“It is a bit odd.” added Fluttershy.
The two royals exchanged a disheartened, if knowing look. Twilight took the lead, being better friends with her than Sunset was. “Earlier, she mentioned something about slipping into a more old-fashioned manner of speech when her head is stuck in the past.” Here, she turned back to Sunset, almost accusatory in her glare. “I don’t know what you said to her earlier in our travel, but it sure didn’t help.”
“It’s a process, Twilight.” Sunset shook her head, feeling no less worried about her than the others. “But just not thinking about it, avoiding it the way she has? That’s not going to help.”
“You really think she’s doing that?” This conversation had been going for all of a minute, and already, Fluttershy sounded as though she might cry.
“Has she talked with any of you, the other Elements, about it?”
“She has, actually.” Hope filled Fluttershy’s voice once more. “The night we found out her truth, she told us everything.”
“Yeah,” droned a wary Rainbow, “she gave us the backstory, but since then? If she’s workin’ through this, talking to any of us, ya know, her friends? I haven’t heard about it.”
“I guess that’s true…” The light faded from Fluttershy’s eyes as she watched Luna disappear in the distant dark, round some natural rock walling. “I just want to help her. She’s our friend, and I love her dearly.”
“Gals!” Luna’s voice echoed through cave, bouncing off rock and stone alike. She sounded just as surprised as impatient. “I may have lost you, but herein lies the dragon!”
Sunset wrapped up her thoughts as they finally began to trot further in after her. “Long story short, my working theory is she’s still self-flagellating, so to speak. Her perception of time is off, having skipped over so much history. Maybe she believes she hasn’t been punished enough, and is self-isolating because isolation is the strongest form of punishment she truly knows.”
“Then what should we do?” Fluttershy huffed, lagging behind. But upon pouring into a dark and hazy room, she bumped headlong into halting royalty.
“Whoa.” muttered Twilight, her heart in her throat.
At first, none noticed the behemoth right in front of them with a simple glance. All there seemed to be was a mountain unto itself of gleaming gold and glittering gemstones. The massive hoard of obscene wealth greeted them with the expected amoral indifference of riches. But then, it seemed to shift of its own accord. That’s when the realization struck like lightning, sparking between all four minds; the entire top half of the pile was not of coins, but scales.
“Here, before us. This is merely the head.” As Luna pointed, the shape became more apparent. Each closed eye was perhaps half as big as any of their own puny comparative heads. And as their foe stirred, it yawned, revealing briefly two rows of dagger-like teeth, ripe for ripping, and for tearing. However, they quickly disappeared behind a thick veil of black plumes that continued to fill the room.
Twilight and Luna, being the closest, set to hacking and wheezing. Sunset repeated some of her wind magic and cleared the air for them as best she could. Even still, dark trails flowed through the nostrils and teeth alike, flowing out to join the infected clouds the beast made. Sunset asked “What’s next, Luna?”
“Simple.” she answered, wiping away the tears left by smoke. “We wake it and tell it to leave.”
“Normally, I’d be very excited to see a metallic dragon.” coughed Twilight, trying to regain her composure. “They’re very rare.” She looked over it once more, and gulped. “Shall we, girls?”
Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow Dash, shaking. Rainbow turned, and embraced her. “Hey, don’t worry so much. I’ll protect you, no matter what.”
It placated her. For now.
Since they were as ready as they were going to get, cautiously… slowly… Luna stepped forth. With one semi-confident hoof, she prodded the creature’s cheek. The tough hide made a clink, as though she were tapping metal. And the reactionary shake rattled like chains; old golden chains with the wisdom of a supernaturally long lifespan. Even still, it did not awake.
Luna tried again, this time more firmly. The breathing that filled the room with reverberation became ragged for a heart-stopping moment, and one worn out eye sluggishly opened up to view her. It was a stark white color, sparkling like the odd diamond that occasionally dotted the treasure piles, and the pupil immediately shrank before Luna’s light spell. Yet the lid fell once more; the beast still slumbered.
“Oh for the love of--” Rainbow trailed off, starting to make a move to do this herself. But she remembered Fluttershy staying safely under her wing, in spite of her slightly lankier proportions. “Just yell at it or something!”
“HMM!” The grunt was huge, a vocal presence that refused to be contained merely to this practically confined space alone. An avalanche of coin and gem and whatever other gleaming, glittering odd object that could’ve been collected over the centuries fell out from under the rising weight. Razor talons of the perfect proportion for ripping wings off pesky flying ponies slammed into the into the ground beside Luna and Twilight.
“By Celestia!” gasped Twilight, leaping back with a sturdy flex of her wings.
Luna, having rolled out of the way herself, gawked at Twilight. In this one instance, she very nearly forgot the wyrm she stood under. “When did my sister’s name become a saying?”
“Ponies!” rasped the creature in profound irritation. Black smoke billowed forth with every syllable. “Come to steal of my hoard, have you?”
“W-we would never, mister dragon!” Twilight sailed into the air to meet the creature eye to eye. This, however, did not seem to appease.
“Mister dragon!?” The creature’s hatred for Twilight manifested in another bout of suffocation.
“Twilight!” Sunset dashed across the stony floor, just managing to catch Twilight as she fell out of the air. The two of them looked up in horror as the beast scraped its own scales; the sound was as sickening as the smoke.
“I am a gilded lady dragon. Truly beautiful to behold, in all my glory.” Her claw swiped over Luna’s ducking head, scooping up that orb of light to better show off how shiny she was.
“We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to--”
“And I have a name. Golden Galahad, shatterer of lances!” To mark her introduction, Galahad briefly rummaged through a distant portion of her mountain of treasure. She returned to them, producing, oddly enough, a lance. It was hefty weapon, a huge tool of brutal warfare to the ponies; but to her, it was a stick. With wrath and malice upon her face, she motioned to stab at her own heart, whereupon the rusted iron tip loudly clanged, and the lance snapped like a twig. Splinters rained down upon the stones before the alicorns up front. Her point was made.
Luna stepped forth, leaving the others behind, a distinct lack of resound upon her unimpressed face. She cast forth another light orb for herself and the others, looking up into those diamond-white eyes peering through her own smoke trails of darkness. The shadows the two lights made created a very devil-like aspect to Galahad’s dual horns, which curved in and up, though never made contact. “You cannot intimidate me, Galahad.”
“Bravery and stupidity do often go claw in claw.” She narrowed her draconic eyes, a self-satisfied smirk shining through the smoke.
“And now you deign to insult me?” Luna nearly sounded disappointed, rather than offended.
“Pick up on that, did you? Good job.” Galahad threw her huge head back, filling the cave with uproarious laughter. Yet when this dark blue one was the only among them who did not shake, she was almost impressed. Perhaps height was a factor in pony courage.
“Your smoke trails are disrupting our settlement nearby.” explained Luna, mustering up all the calm patience she could manage.
“I care not for your puny equine village. Leave my home.” She showed the ponies which way lie the exit.
“How can you be so callous?” Only now did the anger begin to rise in Luna. And little did she know, her friends all behind her began to show fear just as much of her as the dragon.
“Pitious little girl, I look after my own.” Galahad lowered her head to pony level, giving them full view of her threatening grimace.
Luna snorted and huffed, nearly seeming capable of producing smoke herself. “Do not presume to belittle me so, dragon. I promise, you will not like the result.”
“If you prolong your stay here a moment longer, soft little equine, you shall burn.” A faint light, like fading kindling, glowed in the back of Galahad’s throat. “You may think yourself so high and mighty, but you are of so little import. Your grandiose self-worth is an illusion, one I can burn away like all the rest.”
A single, defiant hoofstep echoed in the chamber. “Tell me, Galahad… do you back your threats?”
“Yes.” she said quietly. This soft utterance was the soft patter of rain before a true, raging storm. Smoke quickly wafted out of the way, her jaw coming unhinged as a great gout of white-hot fire, fit to melt metal, erupted forth. The cone singled out Luna, and Luna alone, yet still all the other ponies had to shield their eyes from the brightness. The very air began to emit steam, further stifling any breathing.
Twilight’s eyes strained, her pupils shrinking. Yet she could not look away. All the world around the cone of fire grew dark by contrast, and Sunset had to hold her back. Her lip quivered in horror, a single word upon it, a name. “Luna…”
When at long last the blast of flames, seemingly eternal, began to fade, Galahad coughed a couple times. With a smug look, she brushed away the smoke to observe her handy work. To her shock, within smouldering black ring glowed a bubble of magic protection, light blue in color. It dissipated, revealing this aggressive pony having worked up quite a sweat, but otherwise unburned.
Luna scoffed, wiping away the streams of sweat under her brow. She untied her pink scarf, and wrung it out, before tossing it aside, laughing more dryly; drier than she’d be for a little while. Her eyes met the shaking gaze that loomed overhead, and she just smiled. “I’ll be honest, heheheh. Part of me was hoping you’d do that.”
“Wow y--oof!” For the first time in a long time, Galahad stumbled back. The impact was like that of a boulder, colliding against her collarbone. Her claws crashed into the ground, knocking over piles of gold as she regained her balance.
“Aw yeah!” cheered Rainbow Dash. “Time for a brawl!”
“Twilight, wait!” called Sunset. But it was no use, she effortlessly wormed out of her grip, getting caught up in the heat of the moment with the rest.
“No-one torches my friends like that!” she shouted, joining Rainbow in flight. The two of them sailed across the cavern, turning about in unison. Two sets of hind legs slammed Galahad across the jaw. But as she yelped, the two of them became lost in the smog.
Fluttershy watched the ensuing fight unfold before her, shaking. That’s when a painful realization struck. The more this dragon exerted herself, the more smoke came out of her. She called out for the last sensible one of their band, trying to yell above the chaos. “Sunset! Something’s wrong here!”
Sunset dove backward, wrapping the two of them in a ward to protect from an errant blast of flame breath. When the heat cleared, she looked over the trembling yellow pegasus in her hooves. “What was that, Fluttershy?”
“Th-the dragon, Galahad, she’s…”
Thunder rang out, silencing Fluttershy. Twilight had wiped the soot from her face and teamed up with Luna. Their horns became lightning rods, drawing a crossed strike across the dragon’s backside, electrifying her until she screeched. They slowly lost sight of their foe beneath the growing black canopy. Then came a rush of wind.
“Twilight, move!” screamed Luna as she realized what was happening.
“Wha!?” coughed Twilight. But it was too late. From underneath her, golden scales rapidly rose to meet her. As the gilded mass pressed her, pushing upward, she figured out, all too late, that Galahad had flapped her huge wings. And somewhere, between the beast’s haunches, Twilight became squeezed tight, a vice forming from gold and stone alike. As the air escaped her, Twilight thought about the luck that there were at least no stalactites. This small comfort was extremely short lived.
The entirety of her lair quaked as Galahad slammed back to the floor. She leaned to one side, and Twilight slid over her shoulder. She swiped at the oncoming light blue blur, but it slipped between her claws, catching the lavender one out of the air.
“Thanks, Rainbow.” stammered Twilight, disheartened. “Guess I’m not all that useful in a fight.”
“No way.” disagreed Rainbow, smirking. “You did great out there. And I’m definitely not just saying that because you’re a princess.”
Their exchanged smiles faded, clamor still ringing behind them. Luna now faced the dragon alone. She teleported out of the path of another blast of fire, and retaliated with a volley of magic missiles, which chipped off more than a couple scales to be lost amongst all the coin. And when Galahad lashed out with frustrated claws, Luna cast a binding on one, then the other. So instead, Galahad threw herself forth on her hind legs. It was a maneuver so awkward and bad, Luna never saw it coming. And as those teeth began to clamp down around her, all she could manage to think was to ward.
Piles of treasure loosened into tiny avalanches of avarice as the cavern shook once more. Golden Galahad, shatterer of lances, so poised previously had now slammed down upon the ground in a most embarrassing, compromising pose. Her foreclaws were both bound backward, seemingly attached to her hips. So instead, she lied on her chest, chin resting on a nice soft pile of hard metal coin. She huffed and panted, her teeth steadily grinding against a magic protection bubble.
Within the ward spell, Luna gritted her own teeth, pressing her hooves against the bubble, as though that would help. It didn’t, as that’s not how magic works. She knew this, being a centuries-old, well-practiced wizard. But desperation makes fools of us all. Every part of her strained and tensed, determined to not get eaten.
“Hang on, Luna!” called out Rainbow Dash, foolishly letting onto her plan. She set the princess down by the other princess and flew dragonward.
Galahad rolled over, kicking Rainbow with one of her back feet in the process. She squirmed away, back onto her stomach, trying to bite down even harder before Rainbow could recover. Pony was by far not something she ever wanted to include in her diet. But for this insolent little cretin, she’d make an exception. Either her teeth would break or the spell would, but if it was the last thing she did, Galahad was eating this pony.
Then a most surprising thing happened, to everyone in the cave, most of all the pony who did it. Fluttershy flew up, and landed on Galahad’s snout. The added weight didn’t make Luna feel any better, but she said nothing. And, with her legs absolutely shuddering, Fluttershy meekly glowered over the dragon. “Y-y-you! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!”
“I eg ya aroh.” was all Galahad could manage, with her mouth full.
“B-beg all you want, but I won’t…” Fluttershy trailed off, gulping, struggling to maintain a furrowed brow. “I won’t pardon this behavior.”
“She ahack ee hirsh!” Her gibberish sounded more taken aback than upset.
“‘Tis a lie!” complained Luna before doubling her focus on the protection spell.
“I don’t care who attacked whom first.” Fluttershy took a deep, deep breath, trying desperately to not let her legs give out underneath her. She was becoming all too aware of how easily Galahad could simply not entertain this farce, and bat her away like a bug. Or worse. “Y-you’re so… awful!”
“Ow ho?” Galahad squinted.
“What!?” Whatever fear Fluttershy still held, it began to melt with a genuine offense at such feigned ignorance. “Wha, what do you mean ‘How so?’ You think that just because you’re bigger than us you can just push us around. How would you feel if other, bigger dragons did that to you, huh?”
Galahad spat out the giant ball of magic, which rolled and bounced across the stony floor before popping like a bubble. Luna dizzily sprawled across a tiny pile of the gold their fight had toppled. She lost concentration on all her spells. Then, Galahad rose, her claws finally unbound. Gently, softly, she urged Fluttershy into her overturned claw. She still held her up high, though, such that they may speak on relatively equal footing. Or height, in this case. “And just why do you think I ended up here, pink-haired pony?”
Fluttershy sat back and crossed her hooves. “Explain.”
“I was pushed around by bigger dragons. The smoke from my body blot out the sun, so I was exiled!” Anger flashed in those beautiful eyes of her, which set her to coughing and hacking. She held Fluttershy aloft, though, keeping her out of the resulting smoke.
“And how did that make you feel?” Fluttershy latched onto one claw, trying to stay in place as Galahad sputtered.
Here, Galahad paused for a long while after regaining composure. Now, it was she who struggled to maintain eye contact. “Erm. Well.”
“Pretty terrible, right?” Fluttershy sat back as her platform steadied, throwing that irksome pink hair out of her face to properly stare down this bratty dragon. “Now you’re taking out your frustrations on us, instead of dealing with your emotions in a healthy, constructive way. And here I thought old dragons were supposed to be so wise and mature. You ought to be ashamed.”
Lying uncomfortably across her treasure pile, much like Galahad was when they arrived, Luna thought. She knew quite well all of that was meant for the dragon, and not for her. Yet somehow, every accusation clung to her own skin like dozens of crawling bugs.
“I-I can’t help it.” pleaded Galahad, clutching at her chest. “I didn't choose to get sick. And I’ve been isolated so long, it’s not my fault!”
“I don’t need your excuses.” chided Fluttershy, too caught up in her fury to compartmentalize the fact that a dragon was now cowering beneath her scalding gaze. “You’re still responsible for your own actions, Galahad.”
Luna placed a hoof over her own chest in much the same way Galahad did with her claw. Deep within, her heart began to ache. Exile. Isolation. Lashing out. “We’re one and the same, you and I.”
Two sets of eyes turned about, one enormously bigger than the other. One of the light orbs, previously sent flying, floated back into view. Their joined curiosity shimmered like gems, topaz and diamond. Together, two voices sounded in unison, loud and soft, but alike in tone: “What?”
“I too was exiled, and isolated for a long time.” The next part, Luna struggled to admit to. Her head veered away, an uncomfortable grimace spreading across her face. Blue locks of fading power fell across her ashamed face.
“Was there…” inquired Fluttershy, taking the lead for Galahad, “anything else?”
Luna rolled over, curling somewhat, a pitiful figure. Her hair fell limp around her shoulders. Through her clasped hooves, she spoke again, but no-one heard. When prodded, she removed the hooves, looking up into those big, curious dragon eyes. She repeated herself: “And to my shame and dishonor, I have also lashed out at others, much like you have here today, Galahad. You and I? We are more alike than you could ever know.”
Golden Galahad sat silent, all watching on in bated breath. Or perhaps the still, smoke-filled air was the true culprit for their held breath. After a moment’s ponder, Galahad began to flap her mighty wings, ushering out as much of her smoke as she could. All the ponies breathed easier.
Fluttershy remained still and silent as her hair flowed up around and above her. Galahad set her down beside the others, before returning her attention to Luna. With draconic attention finally elsewhere, Fluttershy asked of the others in a hush “C-can somepony please carry me? I can’t feel my legs.”
“Are you for real?” Rainbow tried not to laugh.
“Yes. I can’t move, please help me…” she whined.
“You faced down a dragon.” pointed out Twilight in awe, leaning on Sunset for support.
“You scolded a dragon.” corrected Dash as she gave up her shoulder to her.
“It was astonishing.” beamed Sunset.
“It was crazy!” jolted Fluttershy. “Why did I do that, that was such a bad ideaaaaaa.”
Meanwhile, Galahad had scooped up Luna in her cupped claws. A small shower of coins slipped through her digits as she brought this dark and mysterious pony closer. “Let us be enemies no longer.” she told her, trying to speak softly as she could. It was difficult, given her size. “I want to know your story, blue p… Luna. The other one called you that, yes?”
“That is my name, yes.” Luna stood, dusting herself off and wiping yet more sweat from her brow. With her energy and mood alike both drained, her hair drooped and lost all light. She sighed, but gave Galahad a weak smile. “Very well. But you tell me yours next.”
“Agreed.”
Much to her chagrin, Luna spoke at length about her past. She told the dragon about being a princess who envied her sister. Then came her attempt to usurp her, and make their subjects love her just the same as the bigger, brighter one. And, just like it always did, this story ended with a long, dark, cold exile in the moon. That, she explained, was the isolation that made her short-tempered, snapping more easily, becoming more aggressive at times when her fuse was lit. It was why she’d hoped to fight a dragon.
Galahad’s turn came, and she wove a tale of being a mighty champion among dragons since long, long ago. Would-be dragon slayers rode through the Dragonlands with lances all. And each polearm shattered against her hardened hide. But within this last decade, she’d become sick, and grew sicker with each passing year, until the smoke billowed out of her every moment of her long, painful days. Younger dragons, so short of gratitude for the lanceless lives she’d given them, complained of not being able to sunbathe. And dragon lord Torch, the one she thought she might rely upon, he cared not. Though he too was old, older than her even, he still insisted he had no need for sickly, weak, pathetic dragons.
“Galahad.” Luna gently stroked one of the dragon’s claws. “Thank you for… well, thank you.”
“Fret not, Luna. I understand.” She brought Luna in close, still holding her in cupped claws, gently like one might hold a delicate newborn pet. With parted dragon lips, she softly pecked Luna on the cheek. “It is customary, that if one survives a fight in a dragon’s lair, they are owed a piece of their treasure. Instead, as a show of our newfound kinship, I will find a new lair. I never cared if I blocked the sunlight back home, but I won’t subject your settlement to that.”
The smile Luna had shared with Galahad ran off to hide away. “Surely there must be another way. A way that doesn’t involve you endlessly searching this world for a home.”
“Maybe there is a way.” chimed in Sunset, loping up to them with Twilight. “This one here organized the archives so well, I bet it wouldn’t take an hour to find something. Then I bet we could put together a cure.”
“You’d really do that for me? After everything I’ve done?”
Here, Sunset turned to Twilight. “Princess Twilight. Does anything feel like it’s broken to you?”
“Now that you mention it, no?” She hopped off Sunset’s supportive shoulder, extending every extremity to note how unscathed they all were. “I guess when she squeezed me against the cavern ceiling, she just winded me.”
“When she could have easily crushed you, my-my-my.” Sunset seemed very smug.
The big beast of gold became like a punished puppy all over again, bizarrely ashamed at her own lack of brutality. “Oh. Um. Well…”
“Then curing you would be the most equitable solution for all parties involved.” said Sunset resolutely. “Plus, trust me, we ponies have a soft spot for showing kindness to those who’ve been mistreated. Isn’t that right, Luna?”
Luna blinked. She timidly admitted: “I suppose that is true. B-but can today stop being about me? Just for a little bit?”
Sunset chuckled. “Okay, okay, sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
“At any rate,” sheepishly continued Twilight, “if we head back to Canterlot right away, Sunset and I can probably have something ready by tomorrow.”
Galahad began to give her a good starting point, to aid her search. “If it helps at all, the affliction that accosts me is known amongst dragon kind as B--”
“Burning Charcoal Syndrome?”
As Galahad was setting Luna back down, she paused to gawk at Twilight. “Why, yes. How did you know that?”
Twilight tried to laugh it off, seemingly trying to abashedly hide behind Sunset. Sunset wasn’t allowing it. “I-I’ve, erm, read a lot about dragons. BCS: affects specifically dragons with flame breaths. Old myth says eating coal could be a cause, though I don’t know if I buy that.”
“Hmph. It cannot be this, then, for I maintain a healthy diet of metal ores.” Galahad’s head turned high, mightily proud.
Fluttershy exchanged a surprised look with Rainbow. Dash asked: “Yo, what? You eat metal?”
“I didn’t know that,” chimed Fluttershy, beaming, “that is so neat.”
“Yes.” confirmed Twilight, somewhat matter-of-factly. Her tone also implied that, although she knew this already, the knowledge still fascinated her greatly. “Dragons of all kinds eat various sorts of minerals and such! Favored snacks among them tend to be gemstones.”
Galahad snorted, unimpressed. “Gemstones are fine. The odd diamond now and again is good for my eyes.” She started to look like she might well salivate. “But what I really love is gold ore. The refined metal is nice too, but the ore… delicious.”
Twilight got a look on her face that practically screamed out that she was going to write that down later on.
“Well,” announced Luna, “I suppose this is goodbye for now. Farewell Golden Galahad, shatterer of lances.”
Something about a face covered in hard, metallic scales, suddenly seeming so soft and disheartened, it was difficult to believe. She waved a claw to get the smoke out of her huge, sad eyes. “You’ll… come back, won’t you?”
“Of course I will.” smiled Luna. “And you should come visit me too.”
Galahad bit her lip; it made a nervous scraping noise. “Hold on.” She went to dig through her shifted treasure piles. Her tail swished to and fro in her desperation to find it. Finally, at long last, she produced before Luna a gold chain pendant. “Wear this, and think of me.”
Luna’s hoof slipped the necklace off Galahad’s claw. The pendant held a sparkling white gem in a familiar shape: a crescent moon. “Why, it’s incredible.”
“When I saw your markings, it made me think of that old trinket. Now, I’d like you to have it.”
Looking past, Luna saw her discarded scarf. She brought it over with her horn, showing it to her new friend. With a tilt of her head, the pink cloth wrapped itself tight around Galahad’s littlest claw. “Then, in the interest of friendship, I’d like you to wear this, and think of me also.”
Galahad simply beamed. In all likelihood, no pony here today had seen a creature so frightening look so happy. Unless of course they looked back over to where Luna was standing.
Five well-worn, downright trodden ponies found themselves resting on the precipice of a caven, overlooking open afternoon skies as the sun began to wane. Smoke steadily billowed outward over their heads, darkening the view. But there was a certain serenity to the neutralizing tone the graying body generated. Regardless, the lot of them breathed remarkably easier.
One decided to lean inward, then the other. Eventually, the tallest among them found four ponies nestled in under her wings. They sat in peace for quite some time. Maybe ten minutes passed them idly by, maybe even thirty. They didn’t care, or perhaps even couldn’t. Fighting a dragon is, after all, quite exhausting.
“You know,” remarked Dash, seemingly waking up from a nap, “I can’t believe Fluttershy saved your hide again, Luna. Better make sure you bring her along on every adventure.”
“I don’t think I ever want to go on another adventure as long as I live!” protested Fluttershy. Then she put her hoof to her chin, pondering. Turning to Luna, she told her: “I suppose if it kept you safe, though.”
After the chuckling subsided, Sunset rose, bringing Twilight up with her. “Today has been a delight. A rollercoaster. But a delight.”
“Heh…” said Luna, her eyes veering around her. “What’s a rollercoaster?”
“Why don’t I show you sometime?” teased Twilight with a wink. She turned to Sunset, still quite giddy. “Shall we then? We have lots of work to do.”
“Wait, Twilight.” Luna stood up and Rainbow nearly fell over behind her due to her urgent retreat. “There’s something I really need to say.”
Twilight glanced back at Sunset, who nodded, congenial as always. “What is it, Luna?”
“I am so,” stammered Luna, drawing in close, “so, so sorry.”
“...”
“You’ve been nothing but kind to me. But I’ve snapped at you. My temper’s been horrid, and I’ve taken it out on those around me. Fluttershy can attest.”
“It hasn’t been that bad.” mewled Fluttershy, not wanting to condemn her.
“Luna almost hit her with a book she threw when she got upset.” said Rainbow quite flatly, a nonplussed look on her face.
“R-right.” continued Luna, her head drooping, weighed down by the shame of it all. “And you’ve been on the receiving end a couple times now, a-and that’s simply wrong of me, and… I’m so sorry, Twilight.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight told her, leaning her head in under that sad face, “really. You’ve got a lot of stuff going on.”
Luna shook her head, withdrawing from her. She didn’t want to be this close. “Don’t give me an out. It’s like Fluttershy said earlier: regardless of my problems, I’m still responsible for my own actions.”
Twilight gaped for a moment, not sure of what to say in reply. When nothing came to mind, she thought back to her old standby. She moved to hug her, but to her disappointment, Luna kept her at bay, shuffling further back, looming in the shadow of the cave.
“No, please.” Luna gazed into those sad, confused eyes, trying to put this into words. “You… I mean, I haven’t earned a hug here, today.”
Her lavender hoof defiantly landed forth, venturing unto the edge of darkness which enshrouded Luna. “What if I want to hug you?”
With a breath, Luna’s hair began to softly glow, breaking through the ebon air around her. A smile creased her cheeks. “Then you’re more than welcome to when I become a better friend.”
“Okay.” Agreed Twilight. “Okay. Fair enough.” She found that smile simply infectious, though, and began to smirk back. “We’ll just have to hang out more.”
“It’s a plan.”
Before the princesses made to leave, Sunset turned back. “Luna, I know today hasn’t been what you’d wanted. But somehow, I think it’s been more helpful to you that it wasn’t.”
The lines of Luna’s eyes suddenly felt very heavy. She felt the pendant dangling from her neck, and knew she was right. “Thank you, Sunset.” Without a second thought, she knelt before them, quietly addressing them. “Until next time, princesses.”
Off into the air they sailed. When they were some distance away, there came a flash of magic, and they blinked out of sight. No doubt they’d be reappearing in the air above Canterlot Castle half a second later; their home.
Luna let out a long sigh. Partly, she was content. Yet some part of her still felt so wistful deep down. “Alright, girls. Stay close to me. We’re going home too.”
There came a blue flash of light, and then there were no ponies sitting in the cavernous hole in the side of the smoking mountain top. And the lonely dragon who’d been watching them leave from afar turned about, returning to her hoard. She pushed around the gold to recreate her massive pile, lying across it anew, hoping perchance to fall back to sleep. For dreams were an escape from the black clouds which she had to live with and drove her away from her home; even if they turned into nightmares involving other dragons tearing off her beautiful golden scales until nothing of her remained.
However, when Galahad dozed this time, she instead dreamed happily of the day she’d get to see her new friend once again.