“I didn’t think I was going to see you today.”
“I wasn’t sure I was going to show up.” I place one hoof over my chest as Fluttershy lets me in. “My ribs still ache.”
“Oh dear. Are you sure you’re up for this?” The yellow Pegasus puts a hoof on my shoulder, her eyes locked on mine with some concern.
“I know my limits.” I glance around her small cottage, the place is full of animals. Most of them seem to be hiding from me, including a bear poking his snout around the door frame from the kitchen.
“We’ll go easy for today.” She smiles and nods. Privately I think that’s why Twilight sent me here, knowing Fluttershy wouldn’t push me.
“Where do we begin?”
“I think we’ll go for a walk, I want to make sure the bird’s nests are alright.”
“In the Everfree?”
“Absolutely not.” For the moment in which she shakes her head, her voice is full of determination. “Not in your condition. Besides, that forest takes care of itself.” I consider saying that I’d be up for it regardless, but that would be foolish, prove nothing, and possibly result in further injury. So instead, I simply nod. Fluttershy looks over at the little white rabbit on the sofa. “Coming, Angel?”
The critter’s ears perk up, and he hops over to us, staring up at me. He wrinkles his nose and narrows his small eyes, his distaste for me quite evident. While Fluttershy is gathering her things, the rabbit kicks my hoof and then scurries back to the sofa, glaring menacingly at me from his place on the pillow there.
“I don’t think he likes me.”
“He’s just shy around new ponies.” Somehow, I doubt that. She waves to her pet, and then we head out. From my perspective, we just sort of randomly wander around at the edges of Ponyville, but Fluttershy seems to know exactly where we are going, and we frequently stop while she checks on small bird nests.
When I move too quickly and startle a nesting bird, she reminds me to be gentle, demonstrating what I need to do to avoid frightening them. Even when she corrects me, she is quiet and speaks softly, I’m not sure she can raise her voice in anger at all. A soft smile is never far from her face as she handles the animals.
She’s sweet. It’s easy to work with her. The ache in my chest doesn’t seem so bad around her.
“Oh no, what happened here?” We approach a tree overlooking a creek, whose branches have broken, spilling a nest out onto the cold rocks. Fluttershy lifts the crumbling mess of twigs and twine, it’s empty. “Where are they?” Chirping and peeping above us, I think they sound worried, Fluttershy flaps up to meet the family of birds. “Oh no, one of them is missing!” While she calms them, I glance around, listening carefully. Something whimpers from nearby, wheezing in pain, barely audible over the frantic bird-speak. There, between a heavy fallen branch and a large stone.
“Fluttershy, over here.” I get as far down as I can, looking under the wood. Wedged between the two objects is the missing bird, it can’t seem to move. It blinks at me, terrified. How it managed to get there, I have no idea.
“Try to stay calm, we’ll get you out of there.” She shoves on the branch, which creaks as it bends.
“Wait, stop. The bird is stuck; if you twist the log, it’ll crush it.” Fluttershy stops pushing on the wood, and peers in at the creature.
“Can you use magic to get him out?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can barely teleport myself. Give me a moment to think.” For a few minutes, Fluttershy does her best to calm and reassure the trapped bird while I consider the possible solutions. The problem is that the branch is split down its length, and the bird is stuck at the narrow end of the split. The two halves of the branch are barely held apart by the angle at which it is wedged by the rock. Move the branch or the stone, and the bird is crushed. “We need something to get between the two halves of the log.”
“What do we do?” I don’t have an immediate answer. For a few moments, I look about, finding only small twigs and old rotting branches, none even close to strong enough for our needs. The sun shining down into my eyes through the leaves is distracting. I shade my eyes using one of my magic wings, and the panel of glass gives me an idea.
“I think I can get him out.” Fluttershy moves aside, and I carefully shove the longest of my artificial feathers into the crack along the branch. “Now, pull hard, and my wing will hold it open long enough to get him out.”
“Won’t that hurt?”
“Not really. It’s a fake wing.” Fluttershy hesitates, so I try to give her a reassuring smile. Inwardly, I’m not looking forward to this.
“Alright, here I go.” She grabs hold of the branch and pulls, the crack widens, and I twist my wing further to keep it open. The little bird, quite terrified, struggles to free itself. I strain my focus, trying to keep the wing spell from breaking, I can hear the glass cracking. Fluttershy reaches in past me, cradling the bird with both hooves and lifting it free just in time. The flight panel snaps in two, and the branch comes crashing down. My spell collapses, sending a cold sting up my spine and into the back of my head as my wings disintegrate. “Are you alright?” She somehow directs it towards both the bird and me.
“We’ll live.” The pain starts to fade down an uncomfortable tingle. Fluttershy lifts the bird back onto the tree, leaving it panting in relief and surrounded by its family. The fate of the bird really doesn’t concern me; for the moment, I’m lamenting the loss of my wings. Then I spot the genuine smile on Fluttershy’s face, and the pain was suddenly all worth it.
Luna breathes the cold night air in, standing atop a cloud not far from Canterlot. The stars tonight are clear and bright, mirroring her mood. Last night, once she finally went to her duty, she was unable to find Twilight Sparkle’s nightmares. Hopefully, this means the Princess of friendship has fully recovered. Without the monster of ash to trouble her, the evening had passed quickly and without serious incident.
Hoping today would be the same, she has delayed her entry to the dream-world a little longer than usual. If asked, she would say she wanted to take a good look at the landscape from above. This is true enough, but not entirely accurate. Despite what Stardust said yesterday, she is still hoping he will show. As of yet, she has not been surprised to see the other clouds empty.
As the minutes slip by, she takes a seat, watching not the sky but the city below. There isn’t much to see, in all honesty. The lights are almost all extinguished, aside from a few nightlights barely visible from afar. In the streets, she can see no movement, save perhaps for the occasional cat skulking about looking for an easy meal.
The thought of a predator in the dark worries her, reminding her again of Twilight’s monster. From her place on the cloud, she momentarily enters the dream-world, just in case. Her quick survey reveals nothing particularly frightening. In fact, tonight seems to be unusually peaceful, nothing more severe than a Pegasus stuck up on a cliff. She pauses for a moment on her patrol to witness a mare and stallion dance at what appears to be a joyful wedding before returning to reality.
Luna blinks when she looks down, seeing nothing but open sky below her. Her cloud had nearly dispersed while she was mentally elsewhere.
“Perhaps that was not a good idea.” Before the cloud can completely disappear, she leaps off to find a new perch. She watches it entirely disintegrate, mentally reprimanding herself for not considering the possible consequences. When she looks for a new place to sit, she finds that one of the remaining clouds below her is already occupied.
Stardust has returned, balancing a silver object on one hoof. From afar, she cannot see what it is. Her wings cut through the wind silently as she descends towards him. Only once she has drawn nearer can she see it is skull-like, a mask. Possibly the object he had last night before he fell.
“Good evening.” Stardust startles and glances up as she glides down to his level, the silver mask slipping off his hoof. Luna catches it with magic before it falls through the cloud. Now she can also see how he got up to this height in the first place. A pair of clearly magical black wings rest upon his sides, structured like panes of glass. They could be part of his coat, but she doubts it. “I didn’t think I was going to see you today.” Neon-blue eyes defocus for an instant.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to show up.” He grimaces slightly and places one hoof over his chest. “My ribs still ache.”
“You are injured?” Luna lands nearby and inspects him as carefully as she can, he doesn’t appear to be hurt as far as she can tell. He blinks rapidly, his eyes sweeping across the horizon without recognition.
“I’m… unhurt.” His confused state seems to pass. “That was just déjà vu, I guess.” He takes the mask from Luna’s aura, holding it with both front hooves as he looks into its empty eyes.
“Is that what you dropped last night?” He nods sharply. “I’m pleased you were able to recover it.”
“It only took me all day to find it. I was just resting a bit before going home.” Luna frowns; he had just said he wasn’t sure if he was going to show up. Curious. Maybe he had planned to go right home and remembered her request?
“It must mean quite a lot for you to spend all day searching for it.”
“That much is true, I think.” His feelings towards this mask must be complicated.
“I’ve never seen a mask quite like it. Do you mind if I ask what it is?”
“It’s…” Now it is his turn to hesitate, obviously considering the responses he could give. “A gift, a curse, a reminder, and possibly so much more.”
“That is a complex, albeit utterly useless answer.”
“Ha! That’s fair.” Nevertheless, he does not elaborate.
“May I take a closer look at it?”
“Any reason why?”
“Is pure curiosity satisfactory?” Also because she’s still trying to find some sort of center to the conversation. He shrugs and then passes it to her.
She takes it with her hooves, the mask appears to be made from silver, but it’s lighter than she thought it would be. Intricate lightning bolt filigree crosses the face and around the eyes and jawline. Some of the bolts even stretch off the back and might resemble a crown of sorts if you could see them through the wearer’s mane. There’s a hole for a Unicorn horn, two more bolts intertwine around the empty space where the horn would be. On a whim, she slips it over her own face.
“Wait! That’s not…” But it’s already settled in place. Stardust stares at her for a moment, struck silent in surprise.
“How do I look?” The mask doesn’t really fit her, it’s a bit too tight to be comfortable. The lightning bolts around the hole scrape against her own horn irritably.
“Interesting… It must only work on me.”
“What do you mean?” The discomfort of wearing the mask reaches her limit, and she removes it. It was clearly designed for a smaller pony.
“It’s enchanted.” A dozen possibilities flash through Luna’s mind, none of them pleasant. She hurls the mask back at Stardust, who snatches it out of the air before it can tumble past him. “I should have warned you.”
“Obviously!” For a moment, her anger snaps to the surface.
“I didn’t think you would put it on! Besides… I’m pretty sure it’s broken. The spells forged into it were far too complex for the creator to manage properly. In his arrogance, he thought he knew what he was doing.” Something slips into his voice that sounds like loathing, or disappointment, or both. “Last night, I was trying to… undo the damage. I suspect, given what happened, that all I’ve done is ruin it further.” He shakes his head, running a hoof along the lightning filigree around the hole for a Unicorn horn. “It was given to me, not particularly long ago.”
“A gift from a friend?” Her earlier anger subsides.
“Not as such. I do not wish to go into details, it is quite personal.”
“I understand.” Luna nods. He pries his gaze off the mask to look at her, and she allows herself to be judged.
“I suspect you do.” He gives her the same respectful bow he did last night. The mask had been the center of their conversation, and Luna searches for a new topic as the silence drags on.
“So, why did you appear tonight?” It takes him longer to respond than she would have thought for such a simple question.
“You could say I was talked into it. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I was talked out of not coming here.”
“I fail to see the difference.”
“It depends on how you think about it.” He shakes his head again. His eyes wander away from Canterlot, and they linger in the direction of Ponyville. “I was trying to follow some advice I got from a… a pony I used to know.” His voice drops along with his gaze.
“I sense discomfort. I apologize for stepping on a sore subject.”
“If you feel the need to apologize every time you bring up a subject I find uncomfortable, I think you’ll find yourself unable to do anything else.”
“Do you prefer silence then? If you wish to be left alone, I will leave.” Luna stands, opening her wings.
“Wait, that is not what I meant.” He sighs and rubs at his forehead. “It’s just… life has been harder than usual recently.”
“I am going to guess you don’t want to speak of that either. So I will not press the issue.”
“That would be appreciated.” Neon-blue eyes focus on her as she seats herself again. “What about you? What brings you out here tonight?”
“As I have said now three times, I was simply curious.”
“Why do I doubt that?”
“Yet, it is the truth.” He shrugs at her assertion in place of a real response. “To be perfectly honest.” She almost hesitates. “I don’t have many ponies to speak with. My position doesn’t give me many opportunities to make friends. It is perhaps my only regret.”
“Now that I don’t believe. What of Nightmare Moon? You do not regret that?” She shudders slightly when he uses the name she once bore.
“My greatest failing. I allowed my jealousy and my anger and my loneliness to overcome me.” Up towards the moon she looks, remembering her thousand years held prisoner there. “For my crime, I was punished. Sometimes I wish to go back and change things, this is true. But no, I accept what I did and who I’ve become because of it, and who my sister has become in my thousand years of absence. I still atone for what I did, I suspect I will do so for the rest of my life. There is a difference there, between regret and atonement.”
“Yes.” His eyes fall back to the mask. “I suppose there is.” His voice drops to a whisper once again, so low she almost cannot hear him. “What would I give to have that kind of willpower?” It is clear the question was not directed to her, and so she pretends she didn’t hear it. His voice returns to its earlier volume for what he says next. “What of me? Do you consider me a friend?”
“I have not yet made that determination. I still know little of you, and you are quite reluctant to speak of it.” Another pony might be insulted by her answer. But this one listens quietly, obviously considering what she’s said. He nods, accepting her conclusion and her honesty without complaint.
“I suppose it might be nice; to have even one pony to talk to…”
“I may be isolated, but I am not quite that lonely.” She can’t stop a little of her annoyance from seeping into her voice.
“I meant for me.” He stands, opening his glass wings as he does, his mask held by his side via magic. Little sparkling points of light dot the underside of each feather panel, a little bit of beauty hidden beneath the black. “Goodnight, Princess Luna. I think we’ll meet again.” He nods deeply once more and then drops through the cloud. He turns as he falls, letting the wind catch him as he angles towards Canterlot. She watches him descend into the city until he vanishes between the buildings, heading towards a tower not all that distant from the palace.
For a while longer Luna sits out in the open, watching the moon above and considering the conversation. From what she can tell, he is not like most ponies. Undoubtedly his isolation stems from his blank flank, and the history one without one must have. It was a conscious decision on her part not to bring up that topic. As for his last question, she still hasn’t decided.
Then a dream of her own she had some days ago comes back to her mind. The details are long forgotten, yet a single image remains. A lone hoof reaching out towards another pony. She never did figure out if it was her or not.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter.” She stands, and then reaches up towards the moon, mimicking the dream. “Maybe we could both use the company.” A new image comes to mind, of another dark-furred limb taking the first, and both ponies helping the other to stand. “These midnight skies don’t have to be quite so empty.”