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// Shadow Of The Day 
// Story: Lost Without Love 
// by AnnEldest 
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It was always at that certain time of day that the sun shone directly into Princess Luna’s bedroom. The light from the glass balcony doors stretched across the floor, up the sheets of the royal bed, and onto the sleeping form of the lunar princess, filling her with its warmth.
Luna groaned as she opened her eyes. Though restful, her night after arriving back home had been at once busy. It was always a perplexing thing when she dreamed. Ever since she went to sleep after her day was done, her mind was filled with a jumble of confusion, doubt, dilemma, and worry. And yet, no matter how many times she dreamed, she never remembered what it was about. Nor did she ever dare to look at her own dreams, on the rare occasions that she was able to find them. In time, they always faded away into the aether, never to be seen again.
A low sigh drifted from Luna’s lips as she propped herself up on her elbow. To her surprise, her pillow was cold and wet. She touched a hoof to her face and found her eyes were streaked with tears. It was then that she recalled her own dream.
Sickness overtook Luna’s body. A dull, low sickness that sapped all of the energy from her. She hugged her knees and tried to put it all out of her mind. It was so long ago that it all had happened. If only she could move on. If only she had somepony who she could tell about it. But, no. It was her burden to deal with. Hers alone to persevere and resolve in her own way.
Mustering what strength she could, Luna reached over to her nightstand and retrieved her sketchbook. She flipped through the pages, looking over the pictures that she had drawn there over the last year. Partway through, she found the most recent picture that she had drawn. 
Looking at it reminded her of that beautiful song that she loved from her foalhood. The one she shared with Capper on the night of the gala. And then the song that Capper shared with her. His own special song that he let nopony else hear. A smile spread to her face as she laid against the gigantic stuffed panda that she shared her bed with, and she could almost feel Capper’s paw around her shoulders again. Smell his cologne. Feel his fur.
A glare of sunlight from the balcony doors drew Luna from her fantasy. Suddenly aware of the light, she looked at her clock and saw that the time was just before 2 in the afternoon. The low rumble in her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since her date last night and felt the listlessness and lethargy leave her. A quick hop and she was able to force herself out of bed to make that slow hobble over to the bathroom. After only a splash of water on her face and a dab of a towel, she was ready to face what was left of the day.
The trip to the dining room was somehow different that day. Luna saw very little of the usual palace staff. She could hear them going about their work somewhere, but she didn’t actually see any of them on her route. Once she creaked open the door to the dining room, she was surprised by who she saw there.
Sitting at the table was Celestia, eating her favorite buttered pasta with a zesty cheese sauce. As usual, she had a large glass that was filled to the brim with iced tea. Luna quickly opened the door, making it creak loudly, getting her sister’s attention. Luna had to stop herself from laughing at her sister, whose mouth was filled with dangling noodles. Curiously, her gaze that day seemed somehow both amused and puzzled.
“Good morning, Sister Slop,” Luna said with a sly grin.
“Mm?” Celestia answered, before glancing at the noodles in her mouth, then slurping them down. “Morning. Or, afternoon, to be precise.”
Luna hummed a little laugh as she trotted over to her seat across from her sister and rang the service bell.
“It would seem that your schedule has been altered slightly?” Luna asked
“Yes. One of my appointments was canceled today, so I’m going to spend my time off doing something I haven’t done in a long, long time,” Celestia said.
“Gorging yourself on the foods that mother would never let us eat as fillies?” Luna said as if she didn’t know the answer.
“There’s a triple layered banana split being constructed in the kitchen as we speak,” Celestia giggled.
One of the palace wait staff trotted over to Luna’s side.
“Spicy buffalo cauliflower and a side of fried potatoes. And some celery with peanut butter for dessert,” Luna said.
The waiter trotted back off to get the royal order filled.
“Stepping back to our fillyhood too, I see,” Celestia said, recalling her sister’s favorite snack from when they were young.
The answer was a girlish giggle that Celestia hadn’t heard since her sister returned from her banishment to the moon. A sound that she had all but forgotten in those thousand years. And the more that she looked, the more she could see something else had changed in her sister. As if a completely different mare had taken her place on the night of the gala.
“What’s that look?” Luna asked, noticing her sister’s smile
“What look?” Celestia innocently asked.
“That way you’re smiling.”
“Oh, this? I only use this particular smile when I’m happy to see you this way.”
“What?”
“Lulu, you’ve been so different as of late. You trot in here as bubbly as a schoolfilly. You ask for one of your favorite meals for lunch that you haven’t had since we were foals. You dress yourself up for a late night appointment. Why one of the maids even said that you were extra jumpy about being seen drawing in your sketchbook last night.”
“I–I–” Luna hyperventilated as she began sweating profusely, “Can I not be so happy just because?”
“I suppose so,” Celestia conceded. “I was just wondering if you suddenly had a reason to be so happy.”
“I’ve just been in such a good mood lately,” Luna said.
“Mm-hm. I guess there really is nothing more to it.”
“Heh…when is that cauliflower coming?” Luna weakly asked.
She was just about to dismiss herself before her sister spoke.
“Luna,” Celestia began, “I don’t know if this is the right time to ask. But…Did you learn anything about those guests from the gala? The ones who started that fight?”
“Nothing that I can say is important. So far as I can tell, they were a group of noponies who crashed the party,” Luna said.
“I don’t think they were just ‘noponies,’” Celestia said. “I was informed by one of the guards last night that there was an attempted robbery.”
“Goodness! Where?” Luna gasped.
“Just in town, not far from the palace.”
“Was anypony hurt? Did they see who did it?”
“The victim survived. Although she was stabbed.” Celestia paused to allow her sister to take in the information. “And yes. They were seen. A pegasus matching the description of the one who fought with Rainbow Dash was seen fleeing the area.”
Luna silently cursed herself. Capper had told her that they would be no trouble to anypony. And she had believed him.
“I’ll continue my investigation into the matter,” Luna said. A terrible thought suddenly occurred to her. “Do you…blame me for this? For letting them go?”
“Dear Lulu! No. Not for a second. All I mean is that whoever they are, they’re going to be more trouble than we had anticipated. So, the sooner we find them, the better,” Celestia said.
Luna turned over that night in her mind. Now of all times she hesitated to ask Capper about anything that had happened. If there was even a chance to have anything real with him, the last thing she wanted was for him to think she was just using him.
A light turned on in her mind. Somepony else was there who had a close encounter with the strangers. And Luna knew where to find them.
“Excuse me. I just remembered that I’m needed somewhere,” Luna said, abruptly standing up.
“Where?” Celestia asked.
“Somewhere outside the palace.”
“What about your lunch?”
“Have it,” Luna said, quickly making her exit.
Celestia watched her sister leave until the door slammed shut behind her. She was left alone, thinking that she wouldn’t say no to a platter of cauliflower with buffalo sauce.





It had been a long, hard day for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. At least, it had been for two of them. There was Scootaloo, sprawled on the clubhouse floor with her week’s worth of school assignments laid before her. All of which was due the very next day
“Come on, Apple Bloom! I just need one more word on my vocabulary list,” Scootaloo pleaded.
“It’s just one word. Figure it out yerself,” Apple Bloom said.
“Are you serious? The word is ‘hamartia!’ Nopony’s probably said that in a thousand years! How am I supposed to know what it means?”
“How about this? ‘Slacker (slack·​er, slăk′ər) Noun; Scootaloo.”
“I didn’t slack! I was busy with Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo indignantly growled.
“You were playing ninja with her all week, instead of helping us or doing your school work. That’s called procrastinating,” Sweetie Belle said.
“An’ that’s what slackers do,” Apple Bloom authoritatively said.
“You guys suck,” Scootaloo groaned, turning back to her paper. “I mean, really. When will knowing what any of these words mean do me any good? Especially ‘hamartia?’”
The sounds of flapping wings rapidly approached, and the clop of hooves sounded on their deck.
“Sounds like we got us a customer,” Apple Bloom said.
“I’ll get it,” Sweetie declared as she ran to receive the guest.
Instead, she received a bump on her head when she ran headlong into the guest’s shins.
“Your exuberance is appreciated. But, perhaps you could dial it back a little bit?” said the guest.
“Princess Luna!?” Apple Bloom said.
“Indeed it is,” Luna said. “I’m sorry to intrude like this. Applejack told me that you three would be here at this time of day.”
“Best place to hang out in all of Ponyville,” Scootaloo proudly proclaimed. “Ooh! Princess, you’ve been around, like, a thousand years. What does ‘hamartia’ mean?”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle rolled their eyes.
“It’s a fatal flaw. Usually used in a literary sense to describe something that leads to a protagonist’s downfall in a tragic drama,” Luna said.
Scootaloo stared blankly. “...I’ll just write ‘a hero’s bad accident.’”
“Anyhoo,” Apple Bloom interjected, “What brings ya here to our clubhouse? ‘Sides helpin’ Scootaloo cheat at her homework.”
“I’ll ask for a royal pardon,” Scootaloo said.
Luna ignored the fillies’ bickering and ducked her head to step inside.
“I actually need to ask you all something rather important,” she said.
“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and her friends gathered before Luna.
“I wanted to ask you about what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala.”
All three fillies squirmed uncomfortably and averted their gaze.
“I know it was a terrible thing that happened there, but it’s important that you tell me what you remember. Even what may seem insignificant,” Luna gently urged them.
“Sorry, Princess. I told ya everything I knew on that night. They just asked us why we were there without an adult, an’ Rainbow Dash started arguin’ with ‘em,” Apple Bloom said.
“But, what did they do exactly to make Rainbow Dash so aggravated?” Luna asked.
Sweetie Belle’s ears folded at the memory before Scootaloo answered.
“It was that creepy griffin that was with them,” she snapped. “He was watching us like a hawk, staring all weird at everypony else there. Dash just didn’t like the way he was looking at us and asked him what his problem was. That’s when that uppity pegasus bitch got in her face.”
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle chided.
“There’s no other way to say it. That mare was a total bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!”
“That’s about when she pushed Rainbow Dash?” Luna said.
“Yeah!”
“I see,” Luna said, taking a moment to think. “Is there anything that any of them said?”
“I don’t think so. Then again, I didn’t hear much,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Wait a sec’,” Apple Bloom said, getting everypony’s attention, “There was somethin’ they said that seemed weird.”
“What was it?” Luna asked.
“That pegasus said she had a little sibling…or maybe it was her cousin…Whatever it was, she said they went to Celestia’s school.”
“Did she really?” Luna said, trying not to sound as excited as she felt. Now, she had no need to confront Capper.
“It was her sister,” Sweetie Belle said.
“What?” Luna asked.
“She said it was her little sister. She’s going to the kindergarten at the castle.”
“You said that you didn’t hear much,” Scootaloo said.
“Well, I heard that. I remember because I thought it was really weird for a pony who looked like she beat up foals for lunch money to have a sister at a royal school,” Sweetie retorted.
“Was there anything else?” Luna asked.
“That’s all I got,” Apple Bloom said.
“Same,” Sweetie followed.
“And I was still away with Rainbow Dash when this all happened,” Scootaloo finished.
“If any of us remembers somethin’ we’ll have Spike send ya a letter,” Apple Bloom said.
“I would appreciate that. Thank you all so much for your help,” Luna said.
She turned around to leave but was stopped by one last question.
“Is it okay to ask why you want to know? Did something bad happen?” Scootaloo asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Luna replied.
She spread her wings and flew off from the deck, leaving three confused fillies behind her.