Trials and Tribulations
Chapter Nine: It's about time...
Seth stared at the crumpled heap of the mysterious unicorn, unsure what to do. Thinking about his problem, he determined that doing something was better than doing nothing. With a sigh and a grunt, he picked up the unicorn, amazed at how light it was, and brought it inside the cloud-house.
He placed the unicorn down on Rainbow's cloud-couch (clouch?) and was slightly shocked to find out that the unicorn in question was not a unicorn, for it had wings as well. It was what Twilight called an 'alicorn'. He tried to recall what was special about alicorns, aside from the fact that they could fly and use magic, but to no avail.
Seth tried to recall anything about how to wake somebody up who had fainted, but couldn't remember anything of the sort. Shrugging his shoulders, Seth went back to reading the book about magic. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually hungrily read a book to devour its knowledge. Regardless of when that was, Seth continued reading for another hour or so before he heard the alicorn shifting on the piece of furniture he dubbed 'the clouch'.
Closing his book, Seth sat up and prepared a welcoming speech to his guest. After seeing the alicorn raise its head gingerly and ask, "Where am I?", Seth delivered his speech.
"You floating above the town of Ponyville in a house made of clouds that I have dubbed 'the clouse' which is owned and maintained by a pegasus pony by the name of Rainbow Dash. Is that a sufficient enough explanation?" said Seth with a hint of mockery.
The alicorn jumped when she heard Seth's voice. It sounded strange, like it was both deep and soft at the same time.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" exclaimed the alicorn.
"Shhh! Do you want to wake up Rainbow Dash? She seems the type that would not kindly to somepony interrupting her sleep. As for who I am, turn around."
The alicorn turned her head and partook in the sight of a most curious creature. It had night-dark legs with a startlingly white chest. She could see its eyes, and they shown with a level of great intelligence. "Who--what are you?" asked the alicorn, feeling afraid.
She heard the creature laugh, its chest rising and falling like her fluttering heart. "I am one of the race called humans, but don't fret: I am the only one of my kind in your Equestria. Also, you're welcome for picking you up and bringing you inside after you fainted."
Hearing this, the black alicorn remembered why she had flown to the Ponyville at this hour. She had felt great happiness that someone had appreciated her night, more so than somepony ever had previously.
The creature stood up to its full height, stretching. "I have only one question for you: why in the blazes are you knocking on people's doors at this hour?"
Excuses ran through the alicorn's mind. She didn't want to admit that she had flown here all the way from Canterlot on an impulse of affection.
She made the mistake of staring at the creatures intelligent, blue eyes. Eyes that you couldn't lie to without it knowing. She made her decision to tell the truth quickly after that.
"I-I flew here from Canterlot after hearing somepony think affectionate thoughts about the night I created. I get few enough compliments on it, but I could feel that this one was heartfelt. I guess I made a mistake, if the only pony here is sleeping," said the alicorn with despair in her voice.
The creature was silent for a moment, his tall placating form unmoving. "You are both right and wrong. While it's true that somepony didn't think those thoughts, somebody did. I was the one who so admired the moon and the night. Where I'm from, they were both hidden from me, so afraid we were of the darkness. My name is Seth. Care to tell me yours?"
The alicorn was stricken at how well spoken the creature was. It could obviously learn very quickly if it spoke Equestrian as fluently as it did.
"My name is Princess Luna, sister to Princess Celestia, ruler of the moon and the night. It is a pleasure to meet you, Seth."
Seth was now very glad that he had his manners turned on when he started talking. If this truly was the sister of the ruler of Equestria, he was very happy that he didn't berate her. Going on one knee, he bowed and said, "The pleasure is mine, Princess. I apologize for not recognizing your status earlier, but nopony told me that Princess Celestia had a sister..."Seth debated saying the next line, but said it anyway. "...or that you were so beautiful."
Blushing, Luna said, "Thank you for your kind words. If I may ask, what are you doing in Rainbow Dash's house at this hour?"
Seth shrugged and said, "She offered to let me stay here the night, so here I am. I must admit, I was suspicious at first, but I'm glad that I was invited out of friendship and not out of fear or trickery."
Seth rubbed his stubble in thought. "You said that you created this night. Is that true or exaggeration?"
"Yes, it's true. I've created all of the nights since my return to Equestria, but you are the first that has truly appreciated them. For that, I thank you."
Seth bowed again and said, "It is my pleasure, Princess Luna. If you don't mind me asking, if you control the night and the moon, does that mean that your sister controls the day and the sun?"
Luna nodded.
Seth was incredulous. A pair of ponies powerful enough to position the sun and the moon each day and night. It would take an incredible amount of willpower, if the book he'd been reading was any indication of magical might. If all it takes is willpower, surely I have enough of that, thought Seth as he eyed the book. For crying out loud, I died and was stubborn enough to come back.
"Princess, in your professional opinion, do you believe that non-unicorn ponies and other races are able to use magic on command, or just in times of need?"
Luna smiled bitterly and said, "I know first-hand that non-unicorn ponies can use magic when they need to. As for on command, I don't know. I've been out of touch with everyday ponies for quite some time. And please, call me Luna."
"As you wish, Luna."
Luna stood up to her full height, which was up to Seth's chest. "You wouldn't mind keeping this little, erm, impulse flight between us, would you?" she asked shyly.
Seth grinned. "Of course not, Princess. Before you leave, do you think you could help me out with something? I've been reading the basics on magic and how other species have used it before, and I wanted to try. I was hoping you could make sure I don't blow up or something."
Luna was happy to assist the human in his endeavour after keeping hers a secret. "Of course."
Seth was both adrenaline filled and terrified at the same time. If he could do this, the sky was the limit. Literally.
Closing his eyes and concentrating with all his might, he chanted his wish inside his head repeatedly, believing with all his might that what he was about to attempt was actually possible. He was about to stop and take a break when he felt a throbbing from his chest, like a second heartbeat. It beat much faster than his heart, however, and before Seth could figure out what was happening, the beating increased, his blood pressure spiked, his vision went fuzzy, and he blacked out.
Luna watched the entire episode happen, and knew that if she interfered, he might transfer his magical power towards her by accident. She did interfere when she saw a blossoming light coming from the humans chest. She attempted to put a sleeping spell on him, but her magic was redirected, ironically, into Rainbow Dash who had just been woken up from her sleep by a rainbow-hued light coming from the living room of her house.
Luna had to cover her eyes from the cascade of colours. When the assault stopped, she witnessed an unconscious Seth lying on the floor. She saw that his body was wreathed in a silvery shine, not unlike the one that appears around unicorn horns when they cast magic. Luna walked up to him slowly, cautious of any potential mishaps.
As she was considering flipping him over onto his back, Seth's body flashed white, blinding Luna. When she regained her sight, she saw a metallic silver Earth pony lying where Seth's body was. Luna barely had the time to register what she just saw before the Earth pony slipped through the clouds, unaffected by Twilight's cloud-walking spell any longer. Reacting quickly, Luna dove through the cloud floor and caught up to the pony before it could hit the ground. She gently placed the large pony on her back with magic telekinesis and flew back into the night, making sure the pony didn't slip off her back.
As Luna flew to Canterlot with her burden, she had only one thought: Celestia is going to kill me for this.