Palimpsest

by themoontonite


Far Away Trains [Slice of Life]

“So is this all there is?”

“Mhm.”

Luna looked around. The end didn’t even have the dignity, the respect to be featureless. If Luna thought of a field, it was a field. If Luna felt the autumn breeze, her mane billowed just the same. If Luna looked up, only to have her vision of the waning sunlight eclipse behind the blur of a moving train, then so did the sky still burn.

Luna chose to think about the train.

“Where do you think those ponies are headed?”

Celestia followed the train as it roared onwards, vanishing behind a hill. Luna waited for a reply. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

“To a warm hearth and loving community, one can hope.” Luna’s eyes drifted over the mountainside. She drank in the waning light from the candles in the windowsills, a thousand wooden fireflies scattered across the deepening green of the pines.

“One can almost be certain, little sister.” Celestia was standing beside her, a brick fireplace wrapped in white velvet. Luna sank into her side.

“Has it always been like this?” Luna could peel up the skyline if she wanted to. She could open all of this up.

“Almost always, technically. Do you remember when we were young?”

“Yes.” Luna thought about the night. “Barely.”

“I was a unicorn once, I think.” Celestia looked down at her. Luna remembered the day. “For just a second.”

“Does anypony else know?”

“Just her.” Celestia pointed at Twilight with a careful hoof. She was sitting out on the other end of the train platform.

“Who’s she waiting for?”

“A friend, like always.” The train slowed to a stop, and an orange earth pony came near-tumbling out of the doors. A white unicorn tottered out after her. “Oh! There they are.”

Twilight embraced Applejack and Rarity, ushering them off of the platform. Luna thought about their dreams. “How much does Twilight know?”

“All of it. Far more than she’s ever going to see herself.” Celestia’s ears had plastered themselves against her neck as her gaze sat and studied the grass.

“It doesn’t feel fair, does it? Her. Us.” Luna spat out ash and for a moment, the flames flickered. Luna could think of a fire. “Does it have to be like this?”

“What else could it be?” Celestia seemed to taste no ash.

“Different.” Luna knitted her brow and looked into the end as deep as she could. “I think we could make it different.”

“Are you sure you want to try?” Celestia’s voice was just as sisterly, just as reserved as it needed to be.

“Yes.” Luna focused, imagining a beginning. The last beginning they would ever need. “What else is there to do?”