I manage to set myself down on the seat just before the whistle blasts, and the train lurches into motion. There’s only a couple of other passengers aboard, so there’s plenty of room. I almost hesitate to look out at the platform, but I want to see them one more time before I go. Two ponies stand back from the edge, one grey stallion and one blue mare.
Dad is crying openly, and Mom is helping him dry his tears. She points at me, Dad looks up and wipes at his face so he can see. They both try to smile and wave, but then Dad breaks down again. I wave back, keeping my emotions under better control than he does. I continue to wave until the train picks up speed, and the station disappears out of view.
With a sigh, I look away, mulling over what I had said to them yesterday. It’s time I left, I had to go. I’m going home to Ponyville. They didn’t understand, of course. I didn’t expect them to. But this place, comfortable as it seems, it isn’t home anymore. I’ve done too much harm here, and I can’t see the faces of my neighbors without seeing the damage I’ve caused. I tried to tell them I wasn’t running away, but I’m not so sure if that’s not what I’m doing. At least I’m planning on staying in touch.
I set my saddlebag on the seat next to me and recheck the contents, for maybe the tenth time. Alongside some scrolls of some sketches or ideas I’ve got are quills and a few other supplies, I’ve got one of Dad’s little model ships, the quilt Mom made for me while I was here, and the box containing the enchanted orrery for Twilight.
I smile a bit to myself and turn to watch the trees flash past. It’ll be good to see Twilight and Fluttershy and the others again, even if Pinkie does grate on my nerves. They have some way of seeping into my heart in ways I hadn’t expected. It’s only been two weeks, but I kept finding myself looking for them just around each corner. Especially Fluttershy and Twilight. Seeing their smiles for real will brighten my day considerably.
I’m so caught up in my thoughts that it takes me a few hours to realize there was something I hadn’t done before I left.
“I forgot to get Dad’s pancake recipe!”
Equinox stands before his nemesis, unbroken. He locks his jaw into a determined scowl and glares, adjusting his beret, so he feels more intimidating. It’s been months since he last faced this threat, and the time has come to face the fear. There has to be a way past the weaknesses, to break through some vulnerability. His every attempt has met with failure and defeat no matter how much he pries.
“Finally going to fix it?”
“Gah!” So heavily focused is he that he doesn’t notice when Stardust steps up beside him. Equinox’s tools clatter to the floor. “Didn’t I tell you not to startle me?! Give an old pony a heart attack, why don’t you.”
“You aren’t that fragile.” Stardust rolls his eyes and then turns them on the antique cabinet, the same one that collapsed on top of Equinox the day the two ponies met. “I was beginning to wonder when you would get around to repairing it.”
“This blasted thing is giving me fits.” Equinox nearly kicks at the furniture in frustration. “I need to get that broken leg off before I can replace it, but the wood just won’t give. I can’t even figure out how the thing is made.”
“I can take a look, but I doubt I’ll be much help. My experience with woodcraft is pretty limited.”
“Take a look, might as well see what you’ve got.” Equinox waves dismissively at the cabinet while he retrieves his tools from the floor.
Stardust steps forward and lifts the offending furniture from the floor without much effort. Again Equinox scowls in envy at the younger Unicorn’s strength. The cabinet, an old Somnambulan design with a mirror on each door, rotates overhead as Stardust eyes it closely. Equinox wasn’t able to find any seams in the construction, and He doubts Stardust will do any better.
“Well, I can see why you couldn’t figure it out.” Or maybe not, Equinox frowns as Stardust taps on the base. “I’m pretty sure whoever made this used magic to essentially grow it as a single piece. Although, I can’t see how they got the mirrors in.”
“Bah, I hate when that happens.” Then older Unicorn frowns and rubs at his head. “I’ve had a few like this before. Nopony wants to buy them when they aren’t in pristine shape.” He lets out a long, annoyed sigh. “Well, might as well fix what I can. Maybe I can offload it for cheap.”
Instead of setting the cabinet down, Stardust continues to reorient it in the air and scrutinize it. Without warning, he uprights it, and a flurry of little star-like lights burst from the wood. Equinox yelps and backs away before they stop moving and stabilize around it.
“Ah, I see.” Stardust now stalks around the scattered lights, looking as if he were reading a book. “It was enchanted.”
“Was? How can you tell?”
“See here.” He points with one of his fancy glass wingtips at the core of the broken leg. There’s a hollow space running up the length of the split, which Equinox hadn’t noticed, resembling an octagonal tube. “It reminded me of a conduit, and from there, I could trace the flow of power through the material. If I’m right, an overload at some point in the past damaged the structural integrity, and the passage of time did the rest.”
“So, what did it do?”
“If you were hoping for something interesting, you’ll be disappointed. I think it was dust repellent. Useful, but hardly special.”
“Huh. And this?” Equinox gestures to the little lights around them.
“Oh, that’s my guess as to how it works. A diagram of the flow of arcane energy moving through the enchantment.” Stardust waves one hoof along the faint lines between the various little points of light as if that explains anything. Equinox looks at the pattern of stars, but it’s nothing he can read. Stardust reaches back as if to pull something from a saddlebag, but he’s not carrying anything. He blinks and glances around. “Do you see my bag anywhere? I’ll show you how the orrery works if we can find it.”
“Bag? What bag?” Stardust doesn’t respond, but sets the cabinet down and starts looking in the various corners of the shop. “You didn’t have any bag when you came in today. What even is an orrery?”
“It’s a gift for the princess to thank her for all her help. I made it with help from Dad.”
“Princess?!” Equinox’s sudden shout startles Stardust, and he blinks rapidly before scowling at something unseen. The magical diagram in the air fizzles out. “You actually know one of the princesses?!”
“Knew.” Stardust’s voice drops nearly to a growl, quite unlike his previous tone, which had been borderline cheerful. “Luna and I… aren’t on speaking terms anymore.” The heckles on Equinox’s neck raise along with his temper.
“You little twit!” Equinox angrily swats Stardust across the back of his head with his beret. “You stupid little mule! You go apologize to her!”
“Hey! What?” Stardust protests, shielding himself with a fake wing. “She was the one at fault!”
“That doesn’t matter! She’s a princess, and more importantly, a lady! If it makes her feel better, you’ll be the one groveling for forgiveness!”
“What are you talking about?! And stop hitting me!”
“Stallions these days.” Equinox scoffs, fitting his beret back on and grumbling under his breath. “Don’t you know anything about how to treat a mare right?”
“You misunderstand our relationship. We were never more than friends and not even close ones.”
“Friends, even! Don’t you understand how lucky you are? I’ve been lucky enough to once rebuild a wardrobe for Princess Celestia, and you’re telling me you’ve been talkative enough with Princess Luna to call her a friend?” Stardust shrinks away from the older Unicorn’s temper. Then he growls, pawing at the floor in irritation.
“Pull your nose out of my business before I burn it off.” Something in the air sets Equinox’s hair on end, and Stardust’s horn shimmers in his neon-blue aura.
“Listen here, lightweight.” Equinox stands as tall as he can, still not enough to actually stare down at the younger Unicorn. Stardust steps back anyway. “You spend all day hanging out with an old coot like me, and you’ll end up just like me. It’s not every day you can get in the good graces of royalty.” Stardust opens his mouth to retort, but Equinox won’t let him get a word in. “Fine, maybe you don’t get along, I don’t know either of you well enough to say, but that’s not why you’ll do it. You’ll do it if only because having a friend in the highest places can be worth its weight in gold bits.”
“How very pragmatic of you.” Stardust’s eyes narrow disapprovingly.
“Stupid pony.” Equinox sighs heavily, and briefly removes his beret to scratch at his head. “Think about it this way. I told you my son up and vanished on me because I couldn’t keep my distaste for his marefriend in check, and it cost me what was left of my family. Whatever your argument is with the princess, you’ll regret it more if you let it fester. If you’ve any idea what’s good for you, you’ll make up with her, even if she’s the one who started it and no matter how you feel about her right now, because that friendship is worth fighting for.” The glare in Stardust’s expression fades, and his gaze drops to the floor. “Maybe that’ll get your head screwed on right.” They stand there in silence while the younger Unicorn considers his words.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. Now, if you’re done riling me up, we’ve got a Somnambulan cabinet to fix.” The sudden shift in topic shocks Stardust, he has to look about as if to take stock of where he is. “Do you think you can fix that enchantment? It’ll be worth more if it works.” He glances over at the cabinet, obviously thinking about how to manage that. He re-materializes the little star-points around the cabinet and examines them, eying both the strange pattern and the furniture.
“Once we’ve got the leg repaired, it should be fairly trivial.”
“Then, let’s get working.”
Despite what Stardust said when last they met, Luna still hopes to see him. Each night she waits, often until long after she should have gone into the dream-world. Each night, she has been disappointed.
It is the same tonight. Luna sits on a lonely cloud just over the edge of Canterlot, watching the city below and hoping she might see some sign of a purple pony with enchanted wings on his way up to join her. Even if they weren’t to speak, just knowing he is alright would be welcome. His condition must only be worsening as the weeks pass.
Other than the whistling of the wind through the towers, the silence is undisturbed. After a time, the moon drifts over the city, and she spots a blotch of darkness on the castle grounds. She almost leaps up to go see who it is, but the shadow moves as she does, and she realizes it is her own.
“Oh, Luna. Are you so lonely you would run to your own shadow?” She sighs and sits back down, still hoping.
Slowly her shadow crawls across the city as the moon rises, and she watches it until the duty she has been avoiding nags at her. Remembering the cloud that had dispersed under her before, she stands and stretches before winging back to the palace balcony. One last glance around the courtyard is all she allows before going to work.
Even once in the realm of dreams, she moves listlessly, meandering from one dream to the next. In one, she watches Twilight happily organize a library. In another, a seafoam-green stallion surfs a tremendous wave with a joyful shout. Few ponies tonight fear, aside from a Unicorn stallion who, for some reason, flees from an army of old cabinets. Luna dips inside and turns the furniture away with an idle wave of one hoof. The stallion, an older fellow with a grey coat so dark it’s nearly black, salutes her with an old-fashioned beret just before she pops back out.
The night passes thus, without much fanfare or danger. For her, it seems to last longer than usual, but the dreams begin to thin, and eventually, she can feel the rising sun warming her face.
She blinks as she pulls herself back to reality and finds Celestia at her side. The other Alicorn gives her a smile.
“Good morning, Luna.” Celestia sounds decidedly warm, as she usually does.
“Hello, sister.” Luna imagines she must sound as cold as the night sky, and she has no doubt Celestia heard her discomfort. Luna barely has enough time to turn before Celestia stops her with a wing over her shoulder.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Luna glances back, meeting her sister’s concerned eyes.
“Not today.” Slowly, tiredly, Luna steps away and heads towards her room. “But… thank you for asking.” Celestia nods after a moment but does not press the issue. As she slips through the awakening palace, Luna considers what she might have said. Much of it would have related to Stardust, although she hasn’t spoken with him recently, she doesn’t want to betray his secret as of yet.
Her bed beckons and she sets aside her worries aside along with her regalia to allow her mind to rest.
Luna dreams. Two purple orbs dance, spinning close and yet far apart. Swaying and swinging, almost touching at times, they swirl through a forest without trees. They pause briefly at a gate before joining a third, which shifts between black and white. Each, in turn, vibrates, speaking in time and rhyme. The pulsing one floats away, or she floats away with the other two. They slip back towards a giant crystalline tree, and then in a green flash, they swerve away high up a mountainside.
The two blots of color land in a grand hall, joining now a blazing white sphere and it’s shadow. They converse wildly in pulses and flashes of motion and light for a moment. Suddenly, clearly, Luna hears a voice.
“Ash and sorrow are coming, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.” It burns with hate and laughs long and hard.
Luna blinks blearily, trying to understand the colors above her while something pounds loudly in her ears. A field of light purple dotted with pale blue stars, it’s only the drapes above her bed. The beating drum is only her heart in her ears.
She yawns and leans up to stretch her wings. What time is it, how long did she sleep? Her heart still drumming, she wills open the curtains. Bright sunlight blasts at her dark-adjusted eyes. Whatever time it is, it’s far too early for her to be up. With the dream still lingering in her mind, she knows she won’t be able to rest. What had it meant, or did it mean nothing at all?
It takes a not-insignificant effort for her to pry herself out of bed anyway. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s gone without much sleep, and it probably won’t be the last.
Later, as she passes one of the windows, she spies a disturbance outside. One of the palace guards has waylaid a pony just outside the palace doors. She wouldn’t pay it much mind, but something prickles at her. The pony the guard has intercepted is faintly familiar. She stops to look again, it’s an older stallion. His coat is very dark grey, and he’s wearing an old-fashioned beret over his short white mane. Where has she seen that before? Curious, she heads outside.
The guardpegasus is trying to turn the pony away, but the elder one is stubbornly refusing to move. She quickly wracks her brain looking for the guard’s name as she approaches.
“Stand down, Picket.” Her command draws both their attention and the guard snaps to order with a quick salute. “Is something the matter?”
“Princess Luna! This old pony refuses to leave the palace grounds.” Luna listens to the guard, but her focus is on the Unicorn in front of her. He pulls off his beret in deference and holds it in front of him, cowed somewhat by her presence. “He says he needed to speak with you, and I’ve tried to explain he needs to apply for an audience like everypony else.” She nods towards him but keeps her attention on the elder.
“I beg your pardon, my lady, but it’s important.” The awe is apparent in his voice, but it’s obvious he’s agitated as well. He awkwardly bows when he stops talking, stumbling over what he thinks is the proper ceremony for meeting with her.
“Very well, then.” Luna holds up a hoof to stop the guard from trying to chase him away again. “I am here now, you may speak.”
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure what to do. I need your help finding somepony. He hasn’t been in to work in a couple of days, and I’m starting to get worried.”
“A missing pony? You should go directly to the police.”
“Picket, allow him to finish.” Luna chastises the guard with a glance. “Why do you think I could help?”
“Oh, right, I’m very sorry. He told me you two had some kind of argument and weren’t talking, but I was hoping you knew where Stardust was.” A shock rides up her spine, but she manages to hide her surprise well enough that neither the guard nor the old pony notices. “He wasn’t doing so well before he disappeared, kept losing track of where he was or what was going on. I checked his house earlier, but the door was locked, and no one answered.”
“I see.” Stardust’s condition must have deteriorated even further. “No, I do not know where Stardust is.” The old Unicorn sighs, his eyes dropping to the stone. “However, I will have him searched for. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. If you tell me your name, I will keep you informed.”
“Gah, where are my manners?” He startles, and bows stiffly again. “Equinox, your majesty. I own Astral Antiquities and Restorations.” Luna nods towards him, her mind already turning towards where to look first. He pauses, unsure what to do or say, before mumbling to himself to get out of her way and heading back into the city. He’s barely left before Luna glares at the guard beside her.
“Picket, you’re to come with me.” Despite startling him, the guard knows better than to question an order with that severe a tone to it. She launches into the air, followed closely by the guard, and immediately angles out over towards Stardust’s tower. Any questions she had about Stardust’s privacy and wish to be left alone fly from her mind.
The curtains on his windows are drawn shut, and as Equinox had said, the front door is locked. Picket has barely landed beside her before she teleports them both just inside. The guard stumbles, not used to be moved like that, but gathers his footing quickly.
“Search the upper floor.” Luna’s magic yanks open all the curtains, letting in the midday sun. Picket nods, darting for the stairs as Luna inspects the lower level. The place is nearly unchanged from when she was last here, hardly even lived in. However, in the kitchen, Stardust has been brewing potions of some kind, his ingredients are arrayed neatly by a small mixing pot.
Luna inspects his work, trying to determine what he was making. The pot contains only a few shriveled leaves and an unidentifiable residue, which seems to be several days old. Either he hasn’t cleaned it up, or he hasn’t been back since he finished his concoction. She tries not to think about what could have gone wrong.
She inspects his arrayed ingredients; the first few are tea leaves, honey, a tiny box containing a small amount of finely powdered amethyst, a small bottle of lavender oil, all of which would be useful in preparing a sleeping potion. His sleep must still be troubled to go through the effort of making these himself. That said, the gunk in the mixing pot doesn’t look like any sleeping spell she knows.
Next to that… sunflower seeds and phosphorus powder? A box of little pellets labeled as nitrogen tabs? What could he possibly be making that would need that? The last couple of bottles are labeled as ground mushroom and… bat guano? That sounds like plant fertilizer for growth magic. What could he possibly need these for?
Picket returns from the second floor as she turns away, shaking his head. Something nearby rasps and gurgles unevenly, sounding like nothing natural. Both she and Picket turn towards the source of the sound. Something lays in the sleeping nook, covered by a quilt. Picket, the closer of the two, steps over to investigate and draws back the cover.
“Sweet Celestia!” He gasps and stumbles from the bedside, gagging and visibly struggling not to vomit. She approaches, now more concerned than ever.
It’s Stardust, although he is clearly in some kind of pain, twitching and jerking in small motions. His eyes are clamped shut, and he doesn’t seem to have heard them approach.
Luna can’t stop a gasp when she sees what’s wrong with him and understands precisely why Picket would be so nauseous. Squirming out of Stardust’s mouth is a thick green vine. With each haggard breath he takes, the blood-red leaves billow up like balloons before deflating and wilting at each exhale. For an instant, she can’t look at him either and spots the cup on the nightstand when she looks away, with the same strange residue as the mixing bowl.
Her heart nearly jumps to her throat, realizing now what happened. Mixing two magical potions can be tricky at the best of times when one has full command of their faculties. He must have suffered another event while he was working and created this… poison.
“Picket, get the doctor.” She has to control her own breathing to keep from retching. Picket needs little encouragement to get quickly away from poor Stardust, and he’s gone within seconds. Luna fears to touch the vine or the pony it infects, terrified she might only make it worse.
Neon-blue eyes flicker open, bloodshot, and clearly having trouble focusing. Weakly he tries to reach up to her; it’s not clear if he can even recognize her. Painfully, he tries to say something, barely even a single word, but it’s little more than a gurgle. The vine twitches and coils about his throat, sending Stardust into jerking fits for a moment. He rasps in a deep breath, red leaves inflating like inflamed boils. Luna grimaces, it must be excruciating.
“Don’t be afraid, my friend, I’m here.” Still worried about touching him or the plant, Luna sets one hoof at his side. With a strength granted by fear and uncertainty, the purple pony grips on to her forelimb. His eyes latch on to her, unfocused and unrecognizing, pleading. “Help is coming, try not to panic.” There’s nothing more Luna can do but stand there by his side. “Stay with me, Stardust. Don’t give up hope.”
Somehow, for some inexplicable reason past all the agony, she feels as though he tries to laugh.