//------------------------------// // The sun and the moon // Story: Blooming Days // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// "Well... I must be frank, Sunset. I was not expecting you to be waiting outside my chambers." The Princess of the Night stood outside the door to her quarters, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. Her mane was tied up in a ponytail and she looked like she was about to be going out. "You and me, both, Your Highness," I lifted a hoof in agreeance. After Celestia and I had finished our chat I'd managed to sneak back to my room unnoticed. I really didn't want to see Starlight or Twilight just yet. My insecurities were still at the forefront of my mind and I wanted to get some answers about some things from Luna first. I wasn't sure why, but Celestia's advice to seek out her sister seemed correct. Like it might help me patch things up with the others... and might help me work things out easier... in my own mind. I'd decided to spend the rest of the day alone in my room. I listened to some PON3, read a few magazines, and ate the meals I'd asked a guard to pick up for me from the kitchen. Now, at the midnight hour, I stood in front of Luna with no warning given to the princess of my arrival. "I'm afraid I'm currently on my way out, Sunset," she closed the door to her room, a sympathetic smile on her face. "Oh, r-really?" I deflated noticeably. She's probably going to do something with Twilight. "Was there something you needed?" she asked. "If it's a pressing matter I do not mind-" "It's fine, Princess." I turned away from her, already on my way back to my room. I was more than a little disappointed, but there wasn't much I could do. "It really isn't anything important anyway." "S-Sunset...?" she called out softly, stopping me in my tracks. "Yes, Your Majesty?" I glanced back at her, noticing the kind smile on her face. "Would you perhaps... care to join me for the night?" My heart skipped a beat as I trotted back to her. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "You've never been inside my training domicile, have you, Sunset?" she asked as we walked through the training grounds of her Lunar Guard. The area was positively massive to say the least, and could be used to practice... well, pretty much anything. Weapons lined numerous wooden racks along the wall on one side of the gymnasium. An olympic sized swimming pool was on another side of the room. There were numerous obstacles hanging from the ceiling, obviously used by the thestrals and pegasi to practice difficult flight patterns and the like. Large wooden walls designed to be difficult to scale were littered around the space as well. Training ponyquins stood lifelessly inside circle shaped rings. They were equipped with swords, lances, axes, and other weapons. It was very apparent the Princess of the Night put a lot of stock in her troops being well prepared for any kind of conflict. It was quite a departure from Celestia's own philosophy on how to train her guards. While the training grounds for my mentor's Solar Guard were... acceptable, they were nowhere near this complex. "I haven't, Your Highness," I answered promptly, though my attention was currently on the huge pool. I LOVED swimming and it wasn't something I got to do as often as I'd like. As we trotted by it, heading toward a small unassuming door at the corner of the arena, Princess Luna noticed my longing gaze. "That comes after, Sunset," she grinned as her horn sparkled a dark blue hue. The small door swung open as she stood in front of it, allowing me first entry. "And I promise you, mine is far more impressive than that one." I stepped into the pitch black void within the room, not a single source of light available to help aid with visibility. After a moment, I heard Luna's hoofsteps enter the room behind me, the harmonious melody of her mana drawing closer to me as she closed the door behind herself. "Y-Your Highness?" I whispered cautiously into the dark. For some reason, even the light coming from Luna's horn was drowned out by the thick darkness. There was clearly something out of the ordinary about this room and its contents, but I couldn't put my hoof on what it was. "Fret not, Sunset. I am here." As the light of her horn grew in intensity it gradually became discernable by the naked eye. Along with the increase in mana, so too did her song become louder, soothing my frayed nerves. In seconds, a small orb of crackling moonlight shaking with power sprouted to life directly in front of me. "What... what is this, Princess?" It was a mesmerizing thing, far more beautiful than any spell I'd ever witnessed before. "You may touch it," was all she said in response. I'm not sure how she knew what I wanted, but with her permission I cautiously reached out with a trembling hoof. As soon as I came into contact with it a flash of brilliant light overtook my senses, forcing me to shut my eyes. "W-where am I?" Once I was able to reopen my eyes I quickly took in my surroundings... or lack thereof. I stood alone in an endless white void, no ground, no sky, nothing as far as the eye could see. In the next second, Luna was standing right next to me, a satisfied smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. "No hesitation whatsoever, Sunset?" she giggled. "I'm not certain if I should be angry with you or flattered by your trust." "You are Celestia's sister, Your Highness," I smiled. "I trust you with my life," I declared confidently. Well, with my life, at least. She laughed exuberantly, clearly pleased by my remark. "Such unearned kindness!" she smiled in appreciation once her laughter had died down. "In light of that, I shall overlook that other comment." Other... comment? Her horn began to shine vividly once again. "You now stand within my training grounds, Sunset Shimmer." She suddenly looked so proud her expression was bordering on smug. As she swept a hoof through the air I felt a tiny bit bad for the mare. "Er... it's... uhm... it's amazing?" A grade school filly could've seen through the artificial smile that came to my face. "Your disbelief is wholly warranted, Sunset. Tis not ready just yet." She spun around flicking her horn through the air with an otherworldly grace. In the blink of an eye the two of us were standing in a dense forest... This place is... familiar. I knew the trees. I knew the lake that was only a couple of meters away. I knew the blinding sun hanging high in the sky whose rays were peeking through the canopy, but... there was something... off about them all. Something... unsettling. "Impressive, is it not?" she turned back towards me, another satisfied smirk on her face. "Did you... did you teleport us outside?" I asked even though I knew that would make no sense. I hadn't felt her use a spell on me, and besides, what would be the point in coming all the way to her grounds only to move us outside to the forest? "I did not," she shook her head. "I'm certain you've noticed it. You're quite clever." "...Why's it so... quiet?" The forest outside of Canterlot was teeming with life. Birds, critters, and insects were all inhabitants of the woods, and they were always noisy. Right now though, wherever we were currently at, if a pin were dropped in the vicinity, I'd be able to hear the impact. "Wonderful! So you have figured it out!" Luna casted another spell, carrying the two of us into the sky. As I got a better view of the area, I could see Canterlot and the castle in the distance. Much further away, I could make out the small town of Ponyville. "I prefer there be no living creatures around when I decide to... cut loose," she explained as our ascension finally halted about a mile into the sky. "I... don't really understand, Your Highness." All I'd been able to gather was that there wasn't anything alive here, nothing more. "This is a dimension of my own creation, Sunset. A mirror of reality, if you will." Her explanation was... confusing to say the least. "A... mirror?" I glanced back down at the ground, the crowns of the trees swaying gently in the wind. "Perhaps reflection is a better term..." she pondered for a moment. "I call it a 'Reality Marble'." She's... created... her own reality? It didn't sound plausible, much less possible, but I'd learned long ago not to doubt her or Celestia. "That's... how is that possible, Your Highness?" I was more curious as to how she'd managed to do such a thing. Is magic that powerful? Is her magic that powerful? "A life spanning... as many years as mine grants many... interesting opportunities, Sunset." "That's... not really an answer, Your Highness." I didn't want to press her, but my desire for knowledge outweighed my reverence at the moment. "I suppose that is true," she chuckled, her sudden mirth cute. "Pair thousands of years of study and experimentation with a limitless amount of mana." Limit... less? "Does your strength truly never end?" Even asking such a question felt foolish. It's not possible... is it? "To be frank, I'm not certain," she shrugged. "What I can say with confidence is that I do not recall the last time I felt a want for more," she laughed. "Regardless, this is where I can do things like this without worry." I was instantly surrounded by a navy blue barrier composed of her mana as a torrent of air blasted outward from the dark alicorn. Thank goodness she shielded me... If she hadn't, I would've been swept away by the sheer force of her mana. As the heights of her true power was allowed to run free, her horn shifted from a raging inferno of energy to a pulsing pillar of lightning. The blue electricity curled and twisted around her body like barbed wire, never stopping its motion as her wings flared outward, shooting even more power in all directions. Each and every cloud in the sky instantly dissipated from the shockwave that had come from the alicorn. H-how... The princess appeared to be completely at peace, the content smile on her face growing as her power continued to flow from her. She closed her eyes, seemingly to concentrate as the dark blue lightning began to arc this way and that away from her body. Chaos ensued once she'd reopened her eyes. Both glowed bright white, looking much like copies of her moon. The smile was gone, an expression of rage coming to her face. Her magic exploded, somehow its peak nowhere near being reached. The blast sent the orb of protection I was inside of sailing away from her. As I finally came to a stop several miles away, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was no worse for wear, but I was shaken, the experience of careening through the sky with no control a little terrifying. I heard a loud crack, as if an earthquake was rumbling through the planet below. Looking down, I came to understand why I'd heard such a deafening sound. Luna's magic, the uncontrolled lightning, had reached the planet. The lashes of lightning were whipping back and forth wildly, tearing through anything they came into contact with with no issues whatsoever. The fissures being created by Luna's unrestrained power were so deeply ingrained into the planet, I could not see to the bottom of them. I returned my attention back to the air and Princess Luna herself only to find the largest sphere of magic I'd ever encountered in my life. It slowly morphed into a swirling pillar, the top extending endlessly into space and the bottom ramming into the planet below. With one final exertion of mana, Luna's spell, whose sole purpose seemed to be to bring about Armageddon, concluded. It burrowed deeper and deeper into the planet before the globe could no longer withstand the assault. It was torn asunder in a stunning explosion of moonlight. They were only there for a second, the two separate masses of earth, until a second even larger explosion ensued. This second one was so bright even closing my eyes didn't help. I was forced to turn away by the blinding luminescence of the blast. When I was able to see clearly again, I realized I was no longer within Luna's protective barrier. N-n... no way... The planet was... gone. There was not a trace of it left despite my best efforts to find one. I continued my search as I floated through space along with the stars, Celestia's sun, and Luna's moon. A supremely satisfied Princess of the Night floated in front of me, looking as if she'd just finished eating the most delectable meal she'd ever had. "But... but gravity. And physics and... H-how!?" I was inches away from hysteria. "Gods that feels divine," she sighed with pleasure as she willed herself my way. The serenity flowing off of her was giving her an aura similar to that of her older sister's. "All minor inconveniences, Sunset. If I will it here, anything will cease." I was utterly speechless, the unreal display of raw power obliterating everything I thought I understood about our world. Celestia is just as powerful as Luna, if not moreso. If the two of them ever get bored of us... I didn't want to think about something horrifying like that possibilty. "R-remind me never to piss you off, Your Highness," I said once I was able to find my shaking voice. In spite of my slight recovery, I still gaped at her and the endless space where the planet had been only moments ago. "Never fear, Sunset. I am the very personification of self-control..." she looked around herself, scratching behind her head as a blush came to her cheeks. "As long as I am able to do things like this from time to time." "It's a good thing you found a proper outlet," I remarked, still not completely recovered from witnessing the destruction of an entire planet. "T'was a beneficial discovery. I am still uncertain as to how my sister works off her stress," her horn began to glow again. "Cake," I replied earnestly, causing her horn to fizzle out instantly. "Truly?" she looked a little more than stunned by that revelation. "I'm quite aware of my sister's... inclination for those particular baked goods, but..." "No, you really don't understand, Your Highness," I shook my head. "Like LOTS of cake." I'd personally seen her down multiple wedding sized confectioneries in a single sitting. Sure, it had happened over the span of a couple of hours while we were watching a film together, but still. It was impressive nonetheless. Honestly, I wasn't sure which was more hard to believe, my mentor's ability to eat so much cake without gaining any weight or Luna's destructive capabilities. "Curious... tis the truth. She must keep such a poor habit hidden from me," she stroked her chin, a grin coming to her face. "Tis probably for the best. I'd never let her hear the end of it had I found out in any other way." "So... you'll keep it quiet?" Although Celestia had never explicitly asked me to keep her love a secret, I still always felt like it was something I should keep to myself. I had placed my trust in Luna, telling her such a thing about her sister in an attempt to create a better relationship with the princess. The dark alicorn lifted her hoof to her lips, dragging it across them slowly with a smile and a wink. "Thanks, Your Highness," I smiled back, a lot more relieved than I should've been. Thank goodness. "Of course, dear," she said sweetly before looking below herself. "Now then, it seems as if I've been hogging all the fun for myself." "Your Majesty?" I wasn't really sure what she was getting at, but as soon as her horn ignited and we were flashed back into the forest I stared at her in confusion. "My dearest tends to enjoy using trees just like these to... stretch her magical muscles. I'd like to see the limits of your abilities, Sunset." She placed a hoof against the trunk of one of the oaks. My... limits? "Go ahead, dear," she patted the trunk with her hoof with a few hard thunks. "Have at it!"