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// Sunrise 
// Story: Nocturnality 
// by Kotushk Fier 
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	My mentor, my crush, and more importantly, the Princess of the Night, seemed disappointed in me. I watched as both Princesses disappeared into the auditorium before I sat down hard. I should have gone with Twilight. I should have fought against Discord. I should have...

I was interrupted from mentally berating myself by a large shadow looming over me, stretching across the ground before me. When I looked up and behind me, I gasped as I saw Princess Luna standing over me. I stood up quickly, turned around, and dropped into a deep bow, bending both forehooves underneath me in a sign of accepting any punishments. 

"Rise, Novalis. Walk with me."

Not wishing to raise any further punishments against myself, I did not hesitate in following her as she turned around and began to walk away. Her regal form was accentuated by the night's shadows, but soon the Sun would be raised and wash the darkness away. 

We walked in silence for about ten minutes before she spoke to me again. We had come very far from the celebration, and were walking alongside the town's nearby forest, which Luna informed me was named the Everfree.

"So you stayed behind, repairing the damage Discord wrought with his emergence. You sent Twilight to help us."

"Yes, your Highness."

"Tell me exactly why you chose to send her and her friends."

So I did, to the best of my ability. I told her about the bond I sensed between them, even in spite of the short time they knew each other. I admitted that I was not strong enough to free all the townsponies by myself, and that I had to teach the other unicorns the spell I had been using. I told her that I had absolute and complete faith in Twilight, and figured I would be of most use making sure everything went perfectly for Celestia on her special day. And finally, I expressed my deep regrets that I could not have been there to help save her in person. I finished recounting the night's details with a deep bow.

Seconds passed as I knelt before her, with naught but a cool morning breeze stirring. After awhile I felt warmth spreading across my body, and looked up. The sun was rising over the mountains, washing everything in the warm and radiant rays of the summer morning. As the rays of sunlight washed over Luna, she began to shrink, and her mane and tail lost their starlit luster. When the sun was fully over the mountain, Luna was about my height, and her mane and tail were now a light, powdery blue. 

"Wha- what happened to you?!"

I fell back on my flank, staring in shock. Luna looked like a normal pony, albeit still sporting both wings and a horn. But she was smaller and... well... cuter. She looked cuddly, instead of imposing. I immediately had to fight the urge to squeal, pick her up, and nuzzle her. 

"Ah, I forgot to show you before. As darkness exists without light, so too does light weaken and diminish the darkness. My sister and I share these qualities. Her Sun restrains my power. The only time it doesn't is when I am angry, like when we fought Discord so long ago."

"But, why?"

"Our father, in his infinite, but ambiguous, wisdom, created each of us from Light and Darkness. We also embody some of their qualities. For example, Celestia is extremely skilled at revealing secrets, raising spirits, spreading happiness, and leading strongly, just as the light reveals hidden obstacles, raises pony morale and happiness, and shining through even the darkest places. I, on the other hoof, possess higher stealth, can keep secrets better, can hide and shield somepony with great ease, and I am more in tune with my prayer orb, since the darkness is everywhere, even under the brightest of lights."

So, she was weakened by her sister's light? That still seemed unfair, and I said so without thinking. She went on to explain that the darkness holds more evils within it, and as such she wages a constant war against dark thoughts. While she was in this form, those thoughts were cleansed from her mind, so her sister's sun actually helped her. She also reassured me against thinking it was a dependency issue. Celestia had no control over it, and Luna had accepted it.

We ended our conversation with her transformation, and I almost forgot about disappointing her. As we were walking back to Celestia's celebration, she picked up on my darkening mood and asked me about it. Figures. I'm going to have to get used to not hiding secrets... oh no... can't hide... buck. She knows. She has got to know. Lunadamnit...