//------------------------------// // Secret // Story: My Role To The Princess // by The Sleepless Beholder //------------------------------// “Sorry if it’s a bit simple, I wasn’t expecting you to come all the way from Canterlot,” mom apologizes, holding back her excitement from seeing me again after years. Has it really been so long? “Don’t worry, I like it.” It was a simple dark-red cape and a bright red demon tail and horns, but it was more than what I expected to get when coming unannounced. “How have you been? I know that having the heroes of Equestria living in town has made life a lot more interesting.” And dangerous. “Oh, nothing I can't handle,” she assures me with a smile that lets a little bit of her nervousness slip out. “However, I need a new filing system for the town’s records. Could you maybe help me with that tomorrow?” A small chuckle escapes my lips. “You can just ask me to stay a few more days.” Mom immediately recoils. “Oh, I would never do that! I know that you’ve very important matters to attend back in Canterlot.”  I turn around to see her, doing my best to be calming.“The princess says that the most important matter is always family. She’ll understand if I stay for a little longer.” Mom struggles to decide if she should keep denying our extended company or be happy that she gets to keep me for a while, so I help her decide with a hug. She immediately hugs me back, a bit too strongly, but I don’t mind. “I just missed you a lot,” she says, tightening the hug.  “I know. I’ll try to come more often,” I promise. “And hopefully when I'm not in the middle of a vision.”  After a few more seconds, we let go of each other and walk out of the house, finding the Nightmare Night celebration in full effect. Seeing everyone in costume, laughing and playing games had me smiling instantly. A few memories of past Nightmare Night's moving to the front of my mind as mom talks. "This year we have throwing spiders, bobbing-for-apples, music, and Zecora agreed to tell the children the story of Nightmare Moon at the statue. She's very excited about it now that ponies aren't scared of her." "I wish I could say the same of Luna."  "Oh! And we got your favorite; pumpkin catapult!" Mom shouts excitedly, but then backs it up a bit. "Of course, you were a filly back then so if you-" "I still enjoy it, mom," I say with a chuckle that makes her smile.  "I'm happy to hear it. I'm sure this'll be the best Nightmare Night!" "Not exactly…" I think to myself. "It probably would've been if I hadn't lied. But this needs to happen… speaking of." "Don't you dare Rainbow!" I shout, and the blue pegasus in a Shadowbolt costume freezes right before she could kick the stormcloud above our heads. “Awww, how did you know?!” Rainbow protests, sulking at her ruined prank. “Deal with the devil,” I say with a wink, moving the red rubber tail behind me. “Whatever, there’s more ponies to prank.”  I watch the pegasus fly away, and I notice Pinkie Pie walking around with some fillies, going through the houses and asking for candy. The child part of me wants to join them, maybe steal a few candies for myself to remember how they taste. I remember loving Pearl's candies the most. It's sad that he left like that. Speaking of, I wonder if Greenhooves is around here somewhere. Maybe staying up late is too much for him, but I should be able to see him again in the morning. “I should go make the announcement, would you like to join me?” mom asks with a hopeful glint in her eyes. “I… I think I prefer looking from the crowd,” I lie, and luckily mom seems to buy it. “Of course, do as you wish,” she gives me a not very quick hug before departing to the stage, and once I’m alone, I let out a long sigh. “I’ve to give Celestia more credit for keeping it together every time.”  “I hope she forgives me for doing this to her sister.” “I hope Luna forgives me.” “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived,” Luna announces to my mother, offering her hoof to her, but she’s too scared to react. Luna’s understandably confused. She thinks her arrival to Ponyville was announced. That my mother and others were told about the old traditions. But I never delivered that message. The princess of the night turns to me, the seeds of suspicion already planted in her mind. She offers me her hoof, but I just pretend to cower in fear. “What is the matter with you?” she questions, a hint of betrayal underlining her words. “I’m sorry. Please. Just play along. Everything will work out at the end.” I beg inside my head. “Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell,” Luna announces before walking away, her hopes for a new Nightmare Night momentarily crushed. “I hope you can help her,” I whisper as I watch Twilight Sparkle going after Luna. “What should we do?” Mom asks, taking me by surprise. “I know Luna isn’t Nightmare Moon anymore, but she seems...” “She’s just a bit intense.” I manage to maintain the words inside my head, as hard as it is. I really really don’t give Celestia enough credit. “I don’t know. I’ll send word to Celestia, maybe she knows what’s going on.” Mom looks at me with an expression of doubt I never thought I would see on her. She’s… scared. The same kind of scared Celestia shows with the visions. “Okay… if you think that’s best.” I only manage to nod as a response, and then just… run away. I think I get it now, princess. Everything turned out as predicted. Nightmare Night was saved, Luna was accepted by the community of Ponyville, and Sparkle learned a friendship lesson. Everyone won at the end. That did little to quell the anger of the blue alicorn in front of me. “So, Vision-thing chose me this time,” Luna said, the irritation dripping from her voice betraying the calm expression she was trying to maintain. “Not exactly," I say, looking for the best words to explain the situation. "This thing doesn't... choose." Luna slowly raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "It's also following instructions, just like us, the difference is that it had only one vision, of a future very far from now. Everything it does is to make sure that vision becomes reality." "And I would assume Sparkle's lessons are the key to this future?" "Yes. She was at the center of it." I pause, remembering the image of her older self, looking just like Celestia. “Along with her friends.” Luna didn’t seem convinced, and I don’t blame her. "How are you sure of this? Did it show you this vision too?" "Yes. It didn't show me everything, just enough to almost convince me to help." "Almost?" I nod. "Even if it said that it just made sure things happened, I still suspected that it had some influence. So, I decided to test it." Luna's eyes became fierce. "That's why you didn't mention to your mother of my arrival?" "...Yes. I wanted to see if things would really play out on their own.” I still had to lie, but things got resolved by Sparkle without any interference. “I'm sorry for ruining your first impression." Luna looked like she was about to discharge all her anger on me at any moment, but after a few seconds of tense silence, she closed her eyes with a growl. "If it was really meant to happen, I guess I can take the hit for a better future." And here comes the hardest part of the night. "About that… There's one more thing I wanted to do to confirm my theory. To make sure that these incidents would happen even without its influence." Luna’s eye twitches, her patience was clearly running thin by now. "Can I be aware of it this time?" "It's just a question I need you to answer honestly." I slowly raise my head, looking her in the eyes. "Luna… did you create a Tantabus?"