Nyx Takes Charge

by Bronyxy


1 A Royal Romance

“Oh, confound it!” the midnight blue mare swore into the vastness of the night sky, slamming her forehooves down vengefully onto the Royal balcony, “Why dost thou refuse to perform even the most simple of tasks?”
She was going to continue her rant when she heard gentle hoofsteps approaching from behind and held her tongue, lest she offend whomsoever should be seeking her company.

“Hello, Princess Luna” greeted Nyx tentatively, “Is everything alright? You sounded pretty cross.”
“No, everything is fine” she lied, then after a short pause continued, “No, no it is not. We cannot make the special arrangement of stars that we desire. It is as if the very stars themselves are conspiring to thwart us.”
“Wow – did ponies really used to talk like that when you were young?” asked Nyx, fascinated by both the words and the volume they were propelled at.
“Yes, yes it was. At least it was so for Royalty.”

“So what’s got you so wound up, Princess?” she asked innocently.
“We are trying to make a special pattern in the sky comprising both Twilight’s and our Sister’s cutie marks in honour of their engagement. Whilst Twilight’s pattern forms easily, we cannot make our own Sister’s cutie mark appear, even with much concentration.”
Can’t or won’t?” asked Nyx, “You love her too, right?”
Luna grew flustered and turned away, refusing to answer. Nyx followed and stood next to her, leaning gently in to comfort the one pony who was her nearest blood relative.

“It is true” Luna said at last, fresh silver tracks trickling from her eyes and running down her muzzle, “My Sister and I both love Twilight Sparkle. She rescued me from the evil of Nightmare Moon and restored my self-confidence. Without her, I could not have resumed my place as Princess alongside my Sister.”
Nyx listened spellbound to what amounted to a confession, too afraid to make a sound lest it interrupted her mentor. The anger spent, Luna’s voice was barely above a whisper and she had deserted her refuge of olde Canterlot to talk about her feelings in the first person.
“However” she continued, a sob of sadness sticking in her throat, “Celestia has a slick tongue and words have always come easy for her. She made her move whilst I was still working out what to say.”
Luna walked to the balustrade and folded her forelegs on it, then rested her muzzle on them and cried quietly.

Nyx felt awkward, never having seen her mentor so distressed and didn’t know the protocol to be followed. All she saw was a pony with nopony else to turn to and decided to ignore courtly procedures to wrap a wing over her and draw close enough to feel the gentle shudders as Luna cried over a love lost.

She looked up at the night sky and could see a spectacular six point pattern that was unmistakably the cutie mark of her adopted Mom, but this stood alone in its intricate beauty with nothing by its side. Despite her tender years, Nyx could see clearly what was wrong; Luna would have plastered the night sky with hundreds if not thousands of copies of this symbol and been reminded of her love for Twilight with every one, but could not bring herself to add the cutie mark of another, one who would take her away for all eternity.

Nyx had always viewed Luna as omnipotent and remembered the fear she had felt as she stood in judgement over her for her sins as Nightmare Moon. Now, she was the strong one as that same all powerful and ultimately wise pony was crumbling next to her, all for the lack of having been able to express her feelings.

Although Nyx professed openly to love both Royal sisters, she remembered with frightening clarity the way in which Celestia had taken her away from her mother, a crime which although forgiven, would never be forgotten. Luna on the other hoof had absolved her of her sins and as punishment merely ordered that Twilight look after her and bring her up. No, when the chips were down, she would always side with Luna; it wasn’t just that they shared the same blood, they also shared the same sense of right and wrong.

She wanted to say that she understood, but knew that would have sounded patronising from one so much younger and inexperienced, so simply drew herself in closer and felt the gentle sobs of Luna’s heart breaking. Nyx felt the same sadness ripple through her and fought no longer to withhold her own tears as an intricately crafted pattern of stars stood a watchful guard over them.

“Lulu” said the white mare having finished off the last piece of cake and rested her chin on her folded forelegs that formed a triangle on the table, “You roam the dream realm; do you think the ponies of Equestria are ready to see me take a Royal Princess as my bride, or do you think we should postpone the wedding until more enlightened times?”

Luna had an open goal to shoot at; all she had to say was “no”, but instead she could not submit to guile and answered truthfully that whilst most ponies would be accepting of such a match, corners of conservatism remained and although she would command majority approval, it would not be unanimous.
”So …” summarised Celestia, “That would be a yes then?”
“That is not quite what I said, Sister, “In my opinion there would still be a risk, but we are currently heading towards times of greater understanding rather than away from them” she confirmed, “Since you have conferred immortality upon her, then perhaps expediency is not the highest priority?”

“You say that ponies are now more accepting of loving relationships between two mares? Perhaps Royal patronage of such an institution may serve as encouragement to others?” proposed Celestia.
“Maybe. Either that or sow the seeds of division with you as its target.”
“We have faced rebellion before” confirmed Celestia, “But never over something as trivial as one’s choice of life partner.”
“It is nonetheless an highly emotive subject amongst those with deeply conservative convictions” cautioned Luna.
“You counsel delay then?”
“I can only report what I have witnessed, Sister.”

Celestia stopped for a moment and appeared to drift deep in thought.
“Whenever the day comes, Lulu, I want you to be a part of it; I don’t want you relegated to the sidelines on such a happy occasion. Whilst I believe the role of officiating the ceremony should go to Cadence as Princess of Love, I should like you to give me away to Twilight, you know, standing in for our dear father. Would you do that for me?”

Another piece of Luna’s heart froze and then shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Was it not bad enough simply to lose the mare of her dreams without having to be put into a position of responsibility to ensure that somepony else can have that pleasure? She baulked, the words sticking at a big lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat. She tried to take a gentle breath, but this failed to ease her discomfort, and with her sister’s expectant eyes staring at her, awaiting a response, she nodded and found this freed up her voice just enough to squeeze out, “Thank you, Sister.”
“Are you alright, Lulu?” asked her sister, concerned.
“Just overcome by your generosity, Tia” she lied.
“Oh thank you!” cheered Celestia, clapping her forehooves together with a bright smile on her face.

With Celestia’s scheduled Royal engagements beginning to press, both Princesses rose from the table and Celestia nuzzled her sister, saying softly, “Thank you, Lulu. You really are the best sister and best friend anypony could have.”
As her sister departed to address her responsibilities, Luna left the dining hall to head for her apartments, maintaining her regal dignity and poise. It was only when she had closed the door and knew she was alone that her composure broke and she threw herself onto her bed, clutching at the bedding and allowing the pent up cries of anguish to be released. She would not be sleeping well today.

Come their evening meal, Luna met with her sister for their usual transfer of the watch, but all Celestia wanted to do was talk about her plans for the wedding, oblivious to the hurt she was causing. Luna listened patiently and provided honest comment when it was requested, but only felt her heart shrivelling as the one-sided conversation dragged on. She wanted her sister to talk about something else, anything else, but she was so clearly infatuated, Luna just didn’t have the heart to shut her down.

By the time Celestia’s ramblings had drawn to a close, Luna felt as tired as if she had been fighting a magic duel, and lost; she was exhausted and emotionally drained, but maintained her calm outward appearance. They nuzzled affectionately and went their separate ways, Luna walking out onto the Royal balcony to paint the night sky.

“Hello Princess” greeted a friendly young voice she instantly recognised, “How has it been today?”
“Nothing I cannot handle” she replied sadly.
Nyx looked up at the stars and tilted her head to one side, then back again.
“May I be open with you?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes, yes of course you may” Luna replied.
“The stars don’t seem so bright tonight, or is it me?”
“You are the only one who would notice” sighed Luna dejectedly.
“Well, that’s not quite true” came another familiar voice that made Luna gasp as she spun around to face the pony who had spoken.
“Twilight! What are you doing here?” she spluttered.
“Oh, I had noticed a few changes in the night sky recently and felt I owed you a visit” she said, moving towards Luna and raising her head for a nuzzle.
“How … how much did you see?” asked Luna nervously.
“Enough.”

Luna looked crestfallen. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but I have failed you, both of you” she sobbed.
“Hey, there’s no need for that” reassured Twilight, “I’ve seen you perform some pretty amazing artwork before and I’m sure you will be able to achieve whatever it is you want to, given time.”
Luna covered her muzzle, too ashamed to show herself and turned away.
“Whatever is the matter?” asked Twilight, taken aback by her response, “We’re friends, and if there’s anything I know about, it’s friendship magic.”
“I cannot tell you” she whispered.

“Princess” whispered Nyx, moving in to comfort her, “Do you think now might be a good time to be honest with my Mom?”
“How can I?” she wailed, “She would never forgive me, and my Sister would be distraught!”
“And you aren’t?” asked Nyx, “You’ve got to get this into the open.”
“I cannot! My Sister has set her heart and it would be wrong for me to interfere!”
“Set her heart on what?” asked Twilight gently.

As Luna turned her head to look at two of her closest and dearest friends, they could both plainly see the silver tracks of fresh tears on her muzzle.
“I want to be alone! Do not follow me – please!” and at this, Luna sprang into the air and beat her wings hard, leaving the Princess of Friendship and her adopted daughter staring at each other open mouthed.

“Nyx, tell me everything you know" demanded Twilight, "What exactly is going on here?”
The black alicorn looked up reluctantly at her Mom, not knowing what to say.
“It’s kinda personal …”
“That isn’t the point! Princess Luna is terribly unhappy and I’m the Princess of Friendship, so I should be the one to go sort things out. Look, I don’t want to labour the point, but remember how badly she reacted a thousand years ago – we don’t want her feeling so upset that she does anything like that again.”
“Yes, but …”
“Nyx, this isn’t the time for games!” glowered Twilight, looming large over her daughter.
“Promise you won’t be mad …”
“Nyx, please!” said Twilight doing her best to put on a calm face.
“It’s to do with you.”

Twilight froze.

What had she done that Nyx knew about, but nopony had told her? She felt a pit opening up in her stomach, a horrible yawning feeling like she was at the centre of something and she was the last to know.
“I’m sorry” Twilight apologised softly, laying down so as to appear less threatening, “I overreacted. Now let’s talk about this, can we?”

An uneasy silence fell between them and Twilight waited as patiently as she could, seeing Nyx trying to phrase the right way to start. The fact that she was taking so long just heightened her fears as to what it could possibly be. Her mind floated around all manner of things she could have done wrong, but the thought she clung to most was the possibility that she had forgotten to return one of Luna’s special books, which she recognised, was pretty serious.

“Um, Mom…” Nyx started carefully, “You know how Princess Celestia likes you …?”
Twilight nodded. She remembered clearly Celestia proposing to her; it was one of the happiest moments in her life.
“Well …” continued Nyx slowly, “There may be another who wants to be your special somepony …”
Twilight nodded again. She was Princess of Friendship and was used to getting plenty of offers on Hearts and Hooves day, so this wasn’t news. She smiled sweetly as Nyx just looked increasingly awkward.

“You don’t get it do you?” Nyx blurted in frustration.
“Don’t get what?” she answered, perplexed.
“Princess Luna is in love with you too!”

Twilight froze, her eyes growing wide.

“Oh, no, no, no!” she fretted, “This can’t be! You must be mistaken! You’re too young, you can’t understand …” Then the realisation hit her.
“Oh no …” she groaned, burying her muzzle in her crossed forelegs.
“Sorry, Mom” said Nyx apologetically, “You mean you didn’t know?”
Twilight didn’t answer, but just groaned louder and then began to cry.

Nyx moved up close to her and extended her wing, remembering that she had done the same to comfort Luna only the night before. Tonight was worse even than the heart wrenching spectacle of watching Princess Luna implode; this was the one pony who had always unquestioningly been there for her, the only one who had stood against the crowd to bring her failing body back to receive life-saving medical attention after the battle to reclaim Ponyville from the monsters of the Everfree.

This was her Mom and she was not going to desert her now.