"It gets smaller as the night goes on," Luna said.
"Why's that?" Cres asked. "Shouldn't the moon stay that big all night?"
"Once it's directly above us, that's the smallest it gets, which is still rather large tonight. Afterwards, it gets larger again until morning."
"Why does that happen?" Cherry asked.
Luna laughed. "Even I can't answer that entirely," she said. "Some scholars say it's because there's nothing nearby to compare size while it's higher in the sky, but that just sounds crazy to me."
"Can't you control it's size?" Cres asked.
"To an extent, yes. But what you see now is about the largest I can make it." Luna opened the door leading to her study. "Anyways, it's about time to get some rest. We'll all be leaving early tomorrow morning."
Cherry was the first to enter. I followed, Ace right behind me, and Cres taking up last. As we left the study, I noticed Ace was no longer right behind me. He must have lingered back for some reason. I almost didn't notice a flash of light blue from the study. I figured it must be Luna closing off the balcony.
We traveled through the halls of Canterlot Castle to our room in relative silence. When we finally arrived, I noticed Ace still wasn't with us. I looked back down the hall we just came through, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I began to worry a little, so I went back towards Luna's study.
I turned a corner and almost ran right into Ace. Beside him was a midnight blue unicorn with a short light blue mane and tail. Both of them looked pretty somber for some reason.
"Ace," I began, "what's wrong?"
"Ace, are you sure you want to do this?" The unicorn asked.
"Yes, Princess," Ace answered. "Let's get back to the guest room, Pepper. I'll explain everything there." Ace walked down the hall towards said room.
"I'm Stella, by the way," the unicorn said as she passed me to follow Ace. Ace led the way to the room we where we were staying.
"Alright, listen up, everypony!" Ace said after he opened the door and entered the room.
"Who's she?" Cres asked, pointing at Stella.
"I'm Stella," she responded.
"Hi, Stella!" Cres said enthusiastically, waving a hoof.
"Enough of that," Ace interrupted. "There's something I need to say." Ace paused, all eyes on him. He was likely thinking of how to say what he was about to. "You all just came back from witnessing Luna raise the moon for the perihelion," he said after a moment's hesitation. "Not us. We just came back from next week."
"How is that even possible?" Cherry asked before either me or Cres could.
"You remember that excerpt Luna read to us, was it, this morning? About the Epochust?"
"Of course," Cres answered. "We're heading out tomorrow. We just decided that before sunset."
"Actually, we're not," Ace said. "We've already gone."
"But we leave tomorrow," Cres said, sounding just as, if not more, confused as before.
"I know. Cherry left for home before we set out. Luna decided to come with us, and became Stella."
"So that's actually Luna?"
"I was Luna," Stella corrected. "She changed her appearance to what you see here. When we reached the border of Equestria, she shed the disguise, which resulted in me."
"Does that make you Luna's husk? Are you hollow inside?" Cres asked, more excited now than confused. She went up to Stella and proceeded to poke her in the side several times. Stella's face clearly showed disapproval of Cres' actions, and she stopped upon seeing it. Cres smiled nervously and backed away slowly.
"Anyways," Ace continued, "we went to the Temple, where we needed three sacrifices."
"Wait," I said. "If Cherry left and Stella joined, then doesn't that only leave four? How did two of you make it through?"
"We brought a couple Lunar Guards along with us," Ace answered. "One stayed with us, while the other accompanied Luna back to Canterlot. The point is, you all chose to be sacrifices. Well, after Crescent, that is."
"What?" Cres asked.
"None of us blamed you. Nopony could've guessed that pillar was a sacrificial altar. Nighthawk was devastated, though, and he was the second sacrifice.
"The point is, we got through the trials, and opened the temple. We made it to the Epochust. And with it..." he trailed off. He lifted a flowerpot from the table and dropped it. Before it hit the ground, Stella had teleported right in front of me, her hoof outstretched and touching me. I jumped back, scared by her unexpected teleportation. She moved in front of Cres, who didn't appear to be moving at all. Once Stella touched her, she flinched.
"I know you didn't like me poking you, but that was just mean," Cres said.
"It had nothing to do with that," Stella said, moving on to Cherry, who was also motionless. She reacted much the same when Stella touched her.
I realized I never actually heard the flowerpot hit the ground. I looked to where Ace had dropped it, expecting it to be smashed on the ground. Instead, it was in the exact same position as it was just before Stella scared me. It was just... floating there. I would normally assume a unicorn was holding it up, but there was no magic around the object.
"...The ability to manipulate time," Ace finished. He looked as if he was ready to drop dead at any second.
There was a strange sensation going around the timeless room. The room was suddenly filled with a white haze. It began to swirl around and converge in on a central point. A flash of light, and the mist had materialized into the form of an old alicorn. The alicorn's body was glowing white. His mane was flowing on an invisible wind, similar to Luna's. He appeared as if he were a ghost, as it was possible to see through him.
"Tu prodidit fiduciam," the alicorn said slowly. His voice was very deep. "Ut vitae nunc foris versantes."
"What's he saying, Stella?" Ace asked.
"We're all gonna die," she responded, half in shock.
"Dissentio," a female voice said. There was a swirl of blue magic, which materialized into Luna. "Haec mannis erit incolumis."
"Non intercedere, virgo," the mysterious alicorn said. "Nisi fata velis impertiri."
"Principem ac Nocte, illos esse, liberabitur."
"Tunc, loco illorum, peribit." The alicorn somehow seemed much more serious than before. Luna, however, seemed surprised at what the alicorn had just said.
"Non facere quod!" Luna yelled frantically. "Ego praeesset nocti, et sic dominabitur Epochust!"
"Ego Dominus Nocte. Virtus melior tua." This appeared to set off something within Luna.
"Pater...?" She quietly asked.
The alicorn, however, was unfazed. "Si te filiis tuis parcetur."
"Ego volo, pater," Luna said after a moments consideration.
"Luna, no!" Stella cried. "Don't do it!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't let anything happen to you," she responded. "Even if that means giving my life to protect you." Once I figured out what was about to happen, it was too late. The alicorn dispersed into white magic. Luna closed her eyes as the magic enveloped her. "Farewell," she said before the magic again dispersed, this time bringing her with it. The flowerpot crashed to the floor.
"Stella," Ace began slowly, "what just happened?"
"She just gave her life to protect us," she replied.
"That's what I was afraid of," Ace said. "This is my fault."
"Don't blame yourself, Ace. There's no way you could have known that would happen."
"Can't you just roll time back to before that happened?" Cherry asked.
"I wish I could, but that happened outside of time," Ace said. "Turning time back now would be a one-way ticket to an alternate reality in which Luna doesn't exist at all."
If Luna's dead, then it would probably be for the better if she never existed. That way, Ace wouldn't be held responsible for her death. Even if he felt guilty enough to tell somepony, they would never believe he killed somepony who didn't exist. "So it's a choice of living in a time when we're responsible for the death of a princess, or living in a time where she doesn't exist?" I asked. I immediately regretted saying it, as I realized how horrible an idea the latter actually was.
"I don't think she's dead," Stella said. That was reassuring, but it made me feel even worse for thinking of abandoning this reality.
"What makes you say that?" Ace asked. "We just watched her die."
"She's immortal. The only way she could possibly give her life for something is if she's being held captive somewhere forever."
"The statues..." Ace thought aloud. "Those must be previous ponies who gave away the secret. That's why they all looked horrified. We need to go and save Luna!"
"We can't just walk right into the temple, though," Stella added. "Remember the trials?"
"Right." Ace thought for a moment. "After the last sacrifice, you flew straight to the temple's entrance from the first trial. Maybe we can bypass the trials entirely."
"But the entrance was sealed. It only opened after the three sacrifices were already dead."
"Would it be possible to break through the door?" Cherry suggested.
"That's an idea," Stella said, "but what if it doesn't work? What then?"
"Then we go through the trials. Capture several changelings and use them as the sacrifices."
"I suppose that could work. But what if--"
"We'll figure it out along the way," Ace interrupted. "We'll never get anywhere if we only look at possible failures."
"Okay," Stella said, defeated. "Should we get ready now?"
"I think we should prepare tonight, and set out in the morning. For now, can you teleport us all to Ponyville?"
"Not all of us. One of us would have to stay back."
"Alright, you stay back and round up all of the retiring guards. Tell them that Luna's missing, but try not to alert the entire Royal or Lunar Guard. We'll meet up in the morning at the start of the road to Whinniesburg, just outside Canterlot."
Stella nodded in agreement. She took a stance, ready to cast a powerful spell. Her horn began to glow with a blue aura. With a blue flash, the room disappeared. A few seconds later, the blue faded. While we were indeed in Ponyville, we were at the same altitude as Canterlot, well above the town. I instinctively unfolded my wings and began flapping them, just to avoid falling. Ace appeared to do the same thing.
For Cres and Cherry, however, the same could not be said. They didn't have wings, so they just fell. Ace was able to catch Cherry. I was at least able to soften Cres' landing. Ace put Cherry down and landed next to her. We were somewhere in Sweet Apple Acres, judging by the apple trees everywhere.
"So, what do you want us to do, Ace?" Cres asked.
"I want all three of you to stay here and let us deal with this," Ace replied.
"We want to help!" I said.
"And I don't want you to get involved," Ace threw back. "I've been through these trials. They're not something you should have to go through."
"What about you? We're not gonna let you do this alone," Cherry added.
"It's my fault Luna was taken in the first place. Besides, I won't be alone. I'll have Stella and at least three Royal and Lunar Guards, as well as a few other ponies that I know can help."
"And what makes you think we won't be any help?" I asked.
"Because you weren't much help last time. Crescent didn't do much at all, and was the first to die. You weren't much help until the last trial, when it was just the two of us. Even then, you still died at the end. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find several ponies." He flew away, leaving Cherry, Cres, and myself lost among a sea of trees.
"Why aren't you going after him, Pepper?" Cherry asked.
"Because I respect his decision," I answered. "If he doesn't want us involved, that's fine."
"Don't you want to help save Luna?"
"I do, but I think Ace is right. We probably wouldn't be very helpful."
"Can't you at least tail him to see who he's taking with him?" Cres added.
"That is a good idea. I'll do that." I took off to the sky. I flew in the general direction of town. Unless Ace intended to recruit one of the Apples, that's where he likely was. I flew around town for a while, but I couldn't find him anywhere. The other two had managed to get out of the farm, so I landed next to them.
"Who's he bringing?" Cres asked.
"I couldn't find him," I replied.
"Well, we'll find out who he took soon enough," Cherry added.
"Yeah, but by then it's too late to say goodbye," Cres said.
***
I was barely able to get to sleep last night. I couldn't stop thinking that Ace was about to leave for good, and I'd never see him again. I woke up before sunrise, and decided to stay up since I probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep before the sun actually did come up.
I stepped outside, the cool, early morning air helping clear my mind. I looked at the moon on the horizon. It was just as large as when Luna had lifted it last night, though it was a different experience seeing it from Ponyville rather than Luna's balcony. I saw the silhouette of somepony fly across the moon. Once they weren't against the moon, I could make out a brown coat.
It had to be Ace. He said he would meet Stella at sunrise, so it would make sense for him to move out before then. Something else I noticed was that he was flying alone. He said he was going to bring a few more ponies from Ponyville with him. He must be going to meet them. I took off after him.
He landed near two other pegasi; a blue one and a pink one. Ace turned around, about to take off, when I landed in front of him.
"I told you no," he said harshly. "You're not coming with us."
"I understand," I replied. "I just wanted to know who you were taking with you."
"Really?" His tone seemed to cool down. "I'm just bringing these two along." He motioned to the two other pegasi; Thunder and Zephyr.
"Only pegasi? Wouldn't that put you at a disadvantage?" I asked.
"Yes, actually. But these are the only ponies I trust will do what they can. Besides, Stella's a unicorn, as is one of the ponies I asked her to find, Blaze. That should at least help to balance things out."
"So why these two, and not me?" I asked, careful not to make Ace angry again.
"Well, you're not very strong physically, you're not a great flyer, and you're certainly not good with magic." While true, it still hurt to hear, especially from Ace. With little left to say, I wrapped my hooves around Ace.
"Come back safe," I said. I moved on to Thunder. "All of you," I added as I embraced him too. I finally hugged Zephyr goodbye.
"Don't worry about us," Thunder said. "We'll be fine."
"We'll bring the Princess back, you'll see," Zephyr added.
"Goodbye, Pepper. We'll see each other again soon. I'll make sure of it."
Ace took off. Thunder and Zephyr were right behind him. They flew straight towards the moon, leaving their silhouettes against the perihelion. I watched them until they disappeared, leaving the ground below me covered in tears. I didn't doubt what they said, but I couldn't help but think that I'd never see them again.
I watched the moon as it set. For a moment, I could swear I saw Luna. It was as if she was letting me know that everything was going to be alright, and that she was watching over her saviors. I silently prayed that she was. I got up and began to walk away. By now the moon was halfway below the horizon, and the sun was rising.
The End...?