What time is it? Am I late for work? Is the cake really a lie?
My thoughts are all over the place as I wake up. The only light I’m greeted to is not by the morning sun, but the light radiating off the chandelier on the ceiling. My half-awake brain is wondering why the sun isn’t out yet.
What happened? The last thing I remember is…
I sit up right, only to fall back down on my back. The action causes the small blanket on my bed to fly up into the air and fall on top of my face. I guess that I don’t have much strength as a foal. Taking that to account, it’s also safe to assume that I wasn’t dreaming about yesterday either. If it even was yesterday.
I sit back up, successfully this time, and take a look at my surrounding to confirm. It’s still the same nursery. The room still has the same grey stone walls. The curtains cover the window, blocking the view to the outside.
I don’t want to be here any longer, so I attempt to teleport again. Since I have no idea where I am, I decide to take little teleportation jumps. Closing my eyes and letting my thoughts focus on the path to the destination I wait for the familiar sensation of moving through space, but nothing happens.
Drat. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I liked it better when I was turned into a small colt. At least I could still fly then.
My ear twitched to the sound of the door opening. I quickly cover myself under the blanket. But the feeling of the air on my rear tells me that I didn't do a good job at doing that. I then pick up the sound of giggling. They grew closer and closer. The giggling is not made by a single individual, but by at least 4 others.
“Aw, look at him. He thinks he is hiding from us.” again the same sort of speech pattern. I peak from under the blanket and see six maids.
One is pink with a gold-colored mane. She has blue eyes with two long eyelashes on each eye. Her mane was curly. The second one is light green with a red mane. She has yellow eyes with small freckles across her face, and her mane had a headscarf holding it in place. The third one is dark blue with an ash-colored mane. Her eyes are red, sort of reminding me of Vinyl’s eyes, and her mane is completely straight, not a single curl. The fourth maid is pale yellow with a pink mane. Her eyes are blue like the first one, but a bit lighter. Her mane is tied up in a ball. The last two appear to be twins, they both are white with purple manes. They both have green eyes if it weren’t for the mane mirroring each other they would have been impossible to tell apart.
They are all unicorns dressed in the same uniform. They’re looking at me as if I’m some adorable kitten. Wait, I think that is the case.
"I believed the rumors to be false, but here the little one is.” The third maid spoke to the rest.
“So did I.” The first one said.
“We did not. We knew. We could sense an unfamiliar presence.” The twins spoke in sync.
“So who will have the honor of caring for this one? Miss. Star Bright had difficulty staying awake.” The second one asked.
They began to argue amongst themselves. One saying that they had more experience, but another argued that they were older and more responsible. The twins looked at the amusement of the others bickering.
“None of you four as far as I am able to see.” Another voice spoke behind all of them.
She was another unicorn, white coat, blue mane, and with green eyes, but her uniform was different from the others. This probably meant she was the head maid. What stood out the most was that she was a lot taller than the others, but still looked a tad shorter than Luna. She looked like she could be the mother of the twins. She had a stern face.
“I have been given orders by the princess to retrieve the foal.” She pushes the other maids, besides the twins, aside.
The maids pout in their disappointment. Even the twins shift their gaze to the ground. They all turn to leave. Leaving me and the head maid alone. When she sees the last one leave she quickly closes the door and locks it. She then turns her attention back to me. In an instant, her expression softens. It was like night and day. It really creeped me out.
“How are you, little one, faring?” Her tone changed into a motherly one. “You are quite fortunate that our princess found you. Of course, it would have been better if it was Celestia who found you.”
What’s wrong with Luna?
Even though she could not answer my question, I still waited for an answer. Now that I think about it I actually do that a lot.
“But enough of that, a princess is still a princess after all. Princess Luna wishes to see you. As strange as that may be, asking a mere foal to be presented to her, an order is an order.”
She lifts me out of the crib and places me in an old-looking stroller, but I guess it would be considered a modern stroller in this situation. We head out of the room and down a wide hallway.
Instantly the entire place looks very different compared to the castle at Canterlot in the present. The walls show more of their stone structure. The walls at present Canterlot are cleanly white. Then we pass by a guard, but this guard looks different. This guard’s armor is dark blue like the night sky, but something else seems off about him. Wait, is this even Canterlot?
We then enter what seems like the main hallway to the throne room. I then grow uneasy for some reason, I grow cold and shiver in response. I look all around at my surroundings, looking for a route to escape. I attempt to stand on all four, but flop over onto my face.
Okay, that didn’t work. Sitting back to my original position I accept the inevitable. I look up the windows and notice the light coming through them. The light is a light blue hue. Then my vision lines up with the window that I can see the moon.
Why is the moon up? Shouldn’t the sun be out instead?
We suddenly come to a stop. In front of us are stairs leading up to a second level. There are two guards of the same variant as the one before. They look at the head maid for a moment and then nod in approval. The stroller is lifted off the ground, just high enough so that I could be easily transported up the stairs.
We proceed up the stairs and at the top, there are a pair of thrones. Behind them are two different banners, one with the moon and the other with the sun, but only one of them is occupied.
There sits Luna, but her eyes are closed. As we get closer it becomes obvious to why she has them closed. It's not because she’s tired, no, it’s of disappointment and sadness. She also looks hurt, but not from physical pain. So, why then? Then we come to a halt a few feet away from the steps of the thrones. This breaks Luna from her trance.
“Your Majesty. I have brought the colt you had requested. Star Bright was not able to fulfill your request herself, so I came in her stead.” The head maid bows before Luna.
But Luna isn’t paying any attention to the head maid. Instead, she’s looking straight at me. I find it a bit creepy as she locks eyes with me. I want to look away from her as she might find out that I’m actually a grown stallion trapped in a foal’s body. But at the same time, I’m curious how different this Luna is from the one in the present.
As I look into her eyes and despite being almost 1000 years apart, their eyes are only shown to be a few years apart. I guess Luna didn’t age at all when she was banished. How is it that I can recall how Luna’s eyes look like? But I can’t remember the way back to my house without making 20 wrong turns.
“Princess?” The head maid speaks up, breaking both of our trances.
“Oh, Of course, Apologies. Thee may speak.” Luna said focusing her attention on the head maid.
“The colt. Is it not better if he is sent to an orphanage? You have no need to take the colt as your own just for finding him. I am sure he will grow up to have a normal commoner life.”
Wait. What? Do you just want to dump me at an orphanage?
I know what happens at an orphanage. I’ve seen movies, read novels about what happens in them. Even the news shows that bad stuff happens. Bullying from older kids, neglect from the staff, and songs popping up every five minutes. Oh! Would you look at that, I actually remembered something about my past. Too bad it doesn't help.
“Enough, I hath said I would care for the colt.” Luna interrupted the maid.
You said it! Wait… Did I just agree with you?
I was surprised at myself for even wanting to go with Luna. But if I go with her, I would surely be messing with the timeline. She would have two sons. But wait, if I look like him, Lunar Night, and I’m in the past.
Oh… Oh no.
“Of course, Princess. But we should inform your sister, Princess Celestia.”
“Nay,” Luna answered harshly. Causing the maid to flinch a bit.
“Might I ask why?” A new voice entered the conversation.
From the shadows appeared a white alicorn with a rainbow mane. How nopony noticed her impressed me.
“Sister…” Luna ‘greeted’ her sister.
“Luna, We know that this is thy court, but this is something I has't to concur with,” Celestia said to Luna.
“Why does it matter to thee? Thee did not need mine own consent for thou's.” Luna shot back.
While I did not understand what they were saying exactly, I could tell by the tone of their voice was that Luna was not happy with Celestia. Why does this world have to speak like a Shakespeare play? I’m pretty sure no one actually spoke like that in the past.
“Thou art too young.”
This made Luna raise her voice at her sister. “Thee adopted at mine own age!!!”
“T’s true, but I did not know what I was doing. Aristocracy grew too proud of his status.” She looked at me, before looking back at Luna. “I do not wish for thee to same the same mistake.”
“We shall not.”
"Please, Sister. Thee shall has't another chance."
"Nay. We wish for it now."
“ENOUGH!!!” Celestia yelled in a voice that almost half of Equestria could hear. She struck the floor with her front hooves with great force that it shook the castle.
All of a sudden I’m overcome with fear. I try to hold it back but my body gives in and before I know it I’m crying again. I can’t stop myself from crying. It’s just like it was when I was hungry. Despite having the mentality of a grown man, or stallion, the child in me will win.
“Behold what thee has done!” Luna barked at Celestia. Luna got off her throne started making her way towards me and for some reason I wanted her to. It was like I already acknowledged her as my mother.
But Celestia blocked her. Both sisters stared at each other. Luna opened her mouth to protest, but couldn’t say anything. She turned around and left the throne room. Celestia went after her but found herself held in place. A blue aura surrounded her hooves.
When they finally disappeared she stood there for a few more seconds before sighing. She looked back at me. I was still crying. My cry was the only sound in the entire room. She looked up above me to the head maid.
“Thou will take that foal back to the nursery. In the morning that colt shall be sent to the orphanage”, She ordered the maid.
I felt the crib turn around and head back to where I was before. Not only was I afraid, but I was also saddened too. For what reason, I have no idea. All I know is that I’ll be in the orphanage in the morning. That is if I’m awake in the morning.
When we make it back to the nursery, I’m placed back into the crib. The head maid makes no talk with me. She leaves as soon as I’m placed into the crib. The door closes behind her and I’m left in the dark. At this time I’ve calmed down.
Once more I try to teleport. But no matter how much I concentrate, my surroundings don’t change. I limp forward in defeat. I land with a soft thud. Closing my eyes I really hope that this is all some bucked up nightmare and I’ll wake up back home. With Octavia at my side and then Vinyl barging into the room with that speaker of her’s.
But that doesn’t happen as I wake up again. Still dark out. Then a familiar feeling in my stomach comes up again.
The castle hears my cries again.
In another part of the castle, Luna has locked herself in her chambers. She doesn’t let anypony in for any reason, not even her own guards or sister. They couldn’t anyway, she had placed a spell that prevented anypony from teleporting in.
Her sister was outside asking to be let in so that they could talk it out. But Luna did not want to comply.
“How can I not be ready?” Luna scoffs. “We shall prove it,” she told herself
Luna had thought about just taking the child by force, but then she would have bigger problems with Celestia. Perhaps even with the law. After all, she was not above the law. Such an act would stain not only her reputation but her sister's as well. She would not betray her sister. Not unless she had a reason to.
Then something caught her attention. The sound of the foal crying in the nursery. How much she wanted to just go to him, but her sister was still waiting outside her door.
She then shifted her gaze at the corner of her chambers. There, stood a crib, it had night theme to it. It had the moon and stars on it. The little figures hanging at the top were little night guards too, modeled after her actual guards.
“I shall not give up, Lunar”
'Lunar. Yes. That shall be his name.' Luna thought to herself