“And then I told her that the surprise was one that would blow her mind!”
“Surely thou jest, art thou not?”
“Oh come on Lulu, you know I love jokes just as much as old Storm Crow, but I would never lie about something like this.”
Taking a moment to consider her friend’s position, the Lunar Princess quickly decided that this was not a matter worth arguing over and she would much rather hear the conclusion to her friend’s already humorous story than proceed with some royal fury over the comment. “Very well then, we are to assume her response was one of interest?”
“Well yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a griffin more intrigued by something. You could definitely say that I had her full and complete attention.”
Despite knowing exactly where the story would end up, no doubt in the exact same predicament her other stories often concluded, Luna couldn’t help but feel on the edge of her seat. “We hope that thou were gentle this time…”
“Of course I was! I mean yeah, it’ll take some time before the fur on her tail grows back, but it wasn’t like I tried to blow her up on purpose or anything.” Never one to stay in a flat tone, the red unicorn suddenly began to burst into a fit of laughter over the fond memory she had of playing a significantly funny prank on a griffin ambassador.
Not making any effort to hide the amusement she found in the tale, the Princess of the Night giggled merrily alongside her friend. Despite the reverence she held for tradition and the importance that came with maintaining appearances with foreign dignitaries, Luna was far from one to stop somepony from livening up bland atmosphere of the Canterlot social crowd. However, that didn’t mean that the red unicorn was going to get away unpunished.
“Monty, thou know that we appreciate thy uplifting mood, but we can hardly overlook the fact that thou endangered the life of another. Understand that the punishment we bestow upon thee is one of requirement rather than choice. We hope thou can grasp that the friendship thou dost provide us with is one we would rather die than lose.”
“Lulu, you do remember who you’re talking to, right? This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last where you’re bound by duty to punish me. It’ll take more than some form of extreme time-out to make me not want to be friends with you.” Not a hint of doubt evident in her expression, the red unicorn smiled reassuringly at the alicorn. Coupled with her words, the smile managed to completely erase the fear within Luna’s mind. “That being said,” not expecting the change in tone of her friend, the apprehension within the ruler’s thoughts began to quickly return as doubt slowly clouded the unicorn’s features, “just how extreme of a time-out are we talking about?”
Unable to hold back the relief-charged laughter, the royal alicorn had to hold a hoof to her muzzle in attempt to retain her regality. Sharing in the giggles, Monty hid nothing and fell over in a fit of laughter. This happened more often than not with the two best friends as the unicorn often found it difficult to remain serious in any situation. The unusual mirth that she typically shared with the Lunar Princess in those tense situations existed merely as a charity from the fiery pony’s heart so as to prevent any awkwardness.
Being the introvert of the two, Luna was quick to reign in her humor and return to a semi-serious expression. However funny her friend could make any moment seem, this was one that needed to be seen through with utmost diligence before the fun could be had once more. “Put thy fears to rest dear friend as a time-out will not suffice. No, we have decided that thou shalt relieve Albus of his oversight of the construction of the royal archives and stay at that post until otherwise order by us or our sister.”
An odd silence prevailed between the two mares as the alicorn’s orders sank into the unicorn’s mind. The look on Monty’s face was something that Luna would treasure for all time as no other pony could pull off an expression of mock hurt quite like the fiery unicorn could.
Realizing her to be serious, the red unicorn glared sourly towards her best friend. Though capable of understanding and accepting her fate, the unicorn was in no way happy with the decision. “Lulu, don’t be that way. It was just a silly prank, I mean; even you thought it was funny! There’s got to be something else I can do instead of watching a bunch of stallions build a library, right?”
“Nothing comes to mind at the moment.”
“That’s just not fair! It’s so boring! Do you even know how miserable I’ll be just sitting there like that?”
Pride welling from deep within her heart, Luna smirked in victory as her friend continued to gape in surprise, “Is that not the point?”
Defeated, the unicorn hung her head solemnly so as to allow her friend the joy of victory for a few seconds. It wouldn’t be very generous of her to remind the alicorn of what lay ahead tomorrow…well…at least not yet. She’d let the ruler have her moment.
“Perhaps thou shalt learn something this time?” Enjoying the feeling of riding high over Monty, Luna relaxed heavily as she enjoyed the brisk night air. This had been the first time she had been granted a moment to take it easy for almost a week and it was much desired. The griffons had been less than happy with the amount of social progressions Equestria was making under the guidance of the Council of Magic and they had raised quite the ruckus over their belief that they somehow deserved some prosperity as well.
Luna had never cared for the winged-beasts much, carnivores often left her feeling very weary, which led to Celestia being the pony to lead negotiations. Despite the natural aversion some ponies held towards the griffons, the Sun Princess had high hopes that the two species could become friendly as the pegasus ponies were finding it difficult not to encounter the beasts on a daily basis. Individual opinions weren’t helping either. The Princess of the Night already disliked the griffons for their carnivorous nature and Monty’s pranks had done little to further the peace talks. The whole thing had become quite tasking for the princesses to shoulder without letting personal feelings slip and Luna was just happy that she was finally getting a moment to goof off with her best friend.
Her charity given, the red mare smirked playfully as she silently cleared her throat before striking, “You know, I think I may have actually gotten something out of this whole situation. Pranks are fine and good, but they need to be enjoyed by everypony.” Monty looked up with thankful eyes to her regal friend. She almost blew her cover right there as she noticed how genuinely touched the alicorn seemed by her words. “I can’t thank you enough that you took time out of your busy schedule just to set me right. To think, you’ve got that meeting regarding spice trades tomorrow and yet you still chose to spend time with me. Lulu, you have no idea how much that means to me.”
The Princess’ mood immediately darkened as she recalled her impending duties, a change met with giggles by the other mare. Tia had decided to take a personal day and left her little sister in charge of royal affairs, something that the Lunar Princess normally didn’t have a problem with. She could handle simple meetings wonderfully, she could run the courts dutifully, and all other normal activities that her sister usually dealt with were nothing too difficult for the younger alicorn. Trade meetings, on the other hoof, were the most agonizing part of the job. They were painfully boring and usually not needed beyond the simple requirement that royalty approve of the trades.
“We thank thou for reminding us of our duties.” Attempting to retain some semblance of regality, Luna breathed slowly as her thoughts ran wild. She was never any good when it came to dealing with the trades. These were affairs of the sun as the dealings never took place during the night. Sure, Celestia had more than earned some time off, but that didn’t mean she could shirk all of her duties. There were simply some things meant to be deal with by one princess and not the other. Knowing how futile it would be to argue with her sibling, Luna decided to use all tools at her disposal to make this as painless as possible for her.
“Dost thou have any ideas for how we might conduct the trades tomorrow?”
A sobering silence penetrated the previously lighthearted air as Luna’s words echoed off into the dark of the night. The distant hum of insects played soundtrack to the scene now taking place. Every few seconds an owl would hoot into the darkened sky from one of the many trees in the Lunar Garden that the two mares were sharing the experience of. However, whatever mirth had been present before was now gone as a cold chill burst through the previously warm foliage.
“Stop,” the word took the Princess by surprise as she hadn’t predicted the sudden change in tone from her friend. Slowly the Princess of the Night opened her mouth to speak only to be silenced by the red mare’s dead tone, “Luna, just stop.”
“Whatever dost thou mean?”
“Is this really how you intend to spend every dream for the rest of your life?” A frightening shiver ran down Luna’s body as Monty spoke her mind. She didn’t want it to go this way, but things rarely went according to plan with the fiery mare. “If it is, then you know how I’d react. You need to dream about something pleasant, Lulu. Don’t bother yourself with these boring memories of spice trades and other stuff like that. You’ve earned the right to be happy in your sleep.”
“Have we, Monty? As we recall, we attempted to bring eternal night to the world out of sheer jealousy and-“
“You were banished for one thousand years and you served your punishment dutifully. You can’t keep doing this to yourself. Sure, you made some mistakes, but you’ve earned the right to have happy dreams.”
Sighing in exasperation, the Lunar Princess looked to her friend and began to tear up as she considered her friend’s demand. Ever since she had been defeated by Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony she had burdened herself with these dreams. They were, in effect, her continued punishment made worse by the constant reminder of the friend she would never see again.
“Lulu, why don’t you talk to Celi? You know she’s worried about you and it isn’t fair to her to keep ignoring the world.”
Aware of where this was headed, the alicorn stomped her hoof heavily as she looked away from the phantom that was a constant in her dreams. “Thou know not about what thou speak.” She couldn’t just talk to her sister about this issue. It simply wasn’t that simple.
“Are you sure about that Lulu? Cause, you know, I’m just figment of your imagination. Granted, I’m a very accurate portrayal of the mare you once knew, there is nothing I know that you don’t know. So, in closing, if there something that I do not know about then that is something you are either not allowing me to know or don’t know yourself.” Despite being merely a representation of the mare portrayed by the image, the true Monty’s personality shined through as though she and Luna were sitting in the Lunar Gardens in real life having this conversation.
“She forgave us, Monty; Tia absolved us of all guilt. How can we…” A tear fell down the alicorn’s muzzle as she considered her words. These observations were not news to her and this was not the first time she had encountered this particular situation in her dreams. However, that didn’t change the truth the words held. Celestia, the very mare that had been slighted by the Lunar Princess’ rebellion, no longer cared about what the younger princess had done. That just didn’t sit right with Luna; it hadn’t since her first night back where the sisters had cried with each other until exhaustion. It was during those tears that the Lunar Princess realized the gravity of her decisions and it was during them that she had decided on her course of actions.
“She loves you, Lulu, she always has. There’s nothing you can do to change that. So why fight it? Why not-“
“BECAUSE WE DO NOT DESERVE HER LOVE!” The echoes of the royal Canterlot voice penetrated into the expanses of the dream. Every ambient noise that had been prodding along unnoticed stopped at once as the Princess’ emotions poured through her yelled words. However, as true as her statement was, the Lunar Princess didn’t want this dream to end on such a sour note. “C-Can,” quickly Luna restrained her emotions so as to use her normal speaking voice with her friend; Monty had never liked the royal Canterlot voice to be used on her. “Can we just hold thou? Please? We have missed thee more than we will ever be comfortable with and we promise to experience more lively dreams on the marrow, but, for now, can we just hold thou like we used to when we weren’t so foalish?”
Though she had requested it as though the world was not hers to control, the dream bent to Luna’s demands as Monty hugged the Princess affectionately to help ease away the pain that the alicorn was feeling.
***
The sounds of a waking Canterlot were accompanied by those of busy birds doing their daily chores for the new morning. Every few moments a colt could be heard announcing the morning’s headline for the Canterlot Courier news and in response the town seemed to usher forth a wave of noise indicating the presence of the busy pony-folk trying to get to whatever fancy breakfast they had planned with whatever friends had planned them.
Though the world was starting its day as it did every morning, two sisters shivered in memory of a world one thousand years in the past. For one sister, the shiver was merely a side-effect of the memory that the times of the past had been happy, a feeling she hoped the time of the future would experience. For the other sister, it was the fact that life had moved on without her and that the world demanded change from an alicorn who desperately yearned for the happier times of the past.