//------------------------------// // Nine/ Diskus // Story: A Moonlit Balcony // by aquilerafroot //------------------------------// Luna stared out the window. Just one more minute and I’ll get up. Everything seemed so peaceful, and everything outside looked the same as it had back when her stupidity hadn’t messed up her relationship with the two ponies she cared about most. In fact, she could almost delude herself that she hadn’t – there wasn’t really any need to move yet, right? She lifted her head, before letting it fall back onto the pillow. Five more minutes won’t hurt. There was a knock on her door, causing her to groan in irritation. Of course Celestia has to come and spoil things. I’m not late yet, and I don’t plan to be! The knocking persisted and grew slightly louder when she didn’t respond. “Luna?” Luna groaned again, smacking her face into the pillow. She could just pretend she’d already left… “Luna? Your chariot’s already here! You don’t want to be late, do you?” Luna sighed; she should’ve known better than to think that Celestia had not made sure she hadn’t left before coming to her room. She pulled herself up before trotting to the door and pulling it open grudgingly. As expected her sister stood there, a hint of worry in her eyes. But then Celestia’s face lit up, and Luna realized that she had risen to the bait yet again; there was no way back now that she had opened the door. “Please, Celestia, I don’t need you to remind me.” Luna tried to keep her voice even, feeling annoyed at herself. It was just absurd how easily she had been fooled into getting out of bed. Luna, you are unbelievable. When will you ever learn? Celestia smiled at her, reminding Luna of an excited filly. “I had to, seeing as you are definitely going to be late if you take any longer.” “Well, yes, I -” Luna bit her lip. It was true, she had stalled far longer than she should have, but there was still one way she could get there in half the time she’d have to take by chariot. “I just thought I could fly there, after all it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to stretch my wings…” To her surprise her sister seemed to eat the excuse up. “Oh, that’s wonderful, Luna!” exclaimed Celestia, beaming at her. “Just be careful, won’t you?” “Of course I will, sister,” Luna nodded, backing into her room. She had no choice but to leave – she knew that Celestia would not rest until she was sure Luna had headed out. And that’s what you should have done. Delaying it isn’t going to help! Trotting onto the balcony, she looked out into the distance and gulped once before spreading her wings. It’s just a leap. You can do it. The wind was cold and unforgiving, piercing its way into Luna’s coat down to her bones. It tore at her throat, and her heart pounded as she pushed her muscles to their limits even though they were already burning. Her breaths were quick and shallow now, and as she looked down Equestria was small below her. Throwing her hooves before her she lunged at a cloud, pumping her wings and swerving, pushing the cloud as she did so. Gravity was pulling her down now and she folded her wings, keeping the cloud beneath her hooves as she fell until the whooshing air tore it into shreds. She snapped her wings open and pulled up from her dive, small white puffs of destroyed cloud whipping past her and vanishing as if they had never existed. She huffed out a breath. Her wings were almost numb, and she felt cold. All the body heat that she had generated from her exertion had gone, leeched away by the atmosphere. It was stupid, she knew, and now she was in some difficulties; from her current height she couldn’t even have made out Ponyville if not for the Everfree Forest. A simple spell could have solved everything, but as it was she didn’t allow herself to use magic – if she used a warming spell it would just give her reason to keep stalling her meeting with Twilight. She had made this choice herself and she would go on with it until the end. You can land or you can freeze, Luna, suit yourself. She gulped and looked down, her teeth chattering. How could she have let herself become so cold? Her windpipes were deathly dry and every breath she took only let the icy blades cut deeper into her. And if you weren’t so cold, might you have stayed up here, circling for eternity? She closed her eyes. Luna, just move! Every moment that she fretted increased the tearing, already unbearable pain of the cold air in her. Taking one last stinging breath she snapped her wings back and let herself fall. More wind rushed up to meet her, but at least she was rapidly approaching ground level now she had a destination. But even as her physical discomfort lessened as the atmosphere grew more charitable, so grew her feeling of dread. It was illogical, she knew, and useless to keep delaying when she wanted to go to Ponyville so badly. She wanted to see Twilight, but she couldn’t bring herself to face Twilight. Before leaving Canterlot she had tried reasoning it out, but the more she’d thought on it the less sense it had made. For now she forced herself to focus on her alarming rate of descent towards Ponyville, and convincing herself that she could move her wings once more to control gravity’s hold on her. But her wings felt frozen, frozen on the outside, burnt in the inside, and she gritted her teeth as she wrenched them open. You’re here now. I hope that makes you happy. Reluctance kept her in the air, until she gently landed on a cloud. Foalish, Luna. And what now? Are you going to hide on this cloud until it’s too late? She sighed, moving her ‘chariot’ slowly towards the tree house. Edging her lift carefully to one of the balconies, she slid off and crouched low on it. She didn’t worry too much about being seen by passersby – there didn’t appear to be many ponies around and the leaves of the tree provided her with a reasonable amount of cover. She inched forward and peered in through the glass. It was the same room she remembered, and Luna felt a pang in her chest at that. Twilight lived here… and what Luna wouldn’t give to be inside as well, in a different context. So far she couldn’t see anypony inside, but she could hear voices. She strained to listen, recognising the faint sound of Twilight’s voice even muffled as it was. “- and on top of that Luna’s going to be here soon!” Twilight’s distress would have made Luna concerned regardless of what she was saying, but at that exclamation she felt her heart stop. She doesn’t want me here at all, does she. She already regretted her decision to eavesdrop, but pushed her concern aside as another voice, which she recognized to be Spike’s, joined in. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” “Oh no, what if she sees this? She’s going to be here at any moment!” Twilight’s voice grew louder and Luna ducked down in guilt, heat creeping uncomfortably up her neck as Twilight walked into the room that Luna was looking into. Despite desperately wanting to understand what they were talking about, she realized that hiding up on the balcony just wasn’t safe anymore. If she spots you it’s only going to make everything you’ve already done even worse! She moved backwards until she was near the lip of the balcony – all the while hoping that Twilight hadn’t seen her – before leaping off and landing in the snow, her body tense. Taking a deep breath, she trotted to the main door and raised her hoof to knock. Twilight froze at the sound of a rap against the door. “Spike, did you hear that?” she whispered. She looked frantically back into the adjacent room, where the baby dragon stood clutching a thick volume. “Huh?” Spike tottered over to her. “What did you say?” Twilight almost facehoofed. “Just hide it, okay?” She trotted to the door, feeling herself shaking with nerves. Oh, I hope I haven’t taken too long! She pulled the door open with her magic. It had only been a few days since she last laid eyes on the Princess, but it seemed to her like ages. How many times had she thought about Luna after that last meeting? All of that seemed insignificant now that Luna was really standing before her. She struggled for words, but her mind chose that moment to fail her, and instead she bit her lip, self-conscious of how idiotic she must look standing there with her mouth open. “H-hi, Luna,” she finally managed to utter, and her voice sounding like a croak even to herself. She just couldn’t bring herself to meet Luna’s eyes! What also complicated things was that she couldn’t stop thinking about how she needed to act like they were just friends. “Hello, Twilight.” Luna smiled, though her voice was subdued. “Oh um, please come in!” Twilight wanted to smack herself on the head. As if the staring wasn’t enough, she hadn’t even invited Luna in yet. Calm down, Twilight. Whatever you do, just don’t mess it up again! Luna nodded and stepped inside, while Twilight racked her brains for something else to say. She was being too quiet, and Luna probably thought Twilight was purposefully ignoring her. “What would you like to do today?” She didn’t like the way her voice squeaked, or how clumsy her movements were. Everything was about to go wrong… “I am not sure.” Luna sounded lacklustre, bored even. But why did her voice still sound like blue velvet – Cut it out, Twilight! “Um, maybe…” Think of something, think of something, I can’t believe I didn’t plan this out in enough detail! She knew it was absurd to think she could predict what Luna would do down to the word, but she still felt so vulnerable and unprepared. “Maybe take a walk, like last time?” Luna just looked at her, eyes wide with what Twilight was sure was horror. Oh no, what did I say? She frantically reviewed the conversation in her head and had to fight the urge to cower with her forelegs over her head when it clicked. Why did I have to bring up ‘last time’?! She looked up timidly at Luna, and it seemed to her that Luna’s expression softened a little before she spoke again. “Yes, that sounds good.” “Well, if you want to go to the field-” She fell silent as Luna started talking at the same time. “I was thinking we could drop by Rarity’s at some point… I would like to apologize to her.” “Oh, oh right, of course!” Twilight chuckled nervously. “I’d forgotten about that.” She trotted to the door, glancing back at Luna before stepping out into the snow. At least I don’t have to worry about Luna seeing that mess of a book anymore, what was Spike thinking? The weather outside was mostly the same as the last time, but this time Twilight felt the chill more profoundly. They had walked closer together ‘last time’… she was at a loss to explain why she had even noticed that, but nonetheless she was sure that on average they had been standing closer to each other before, even leaning against each other at times. It’s better than nothing, she tried to tell herself, but if Luna was avoiding touching her because she wanted some personal space, then Twilight wasn’t going to crowd her; that wasn’t something friends did, anyway. She looked over at Luna a few times, but could only bring herself to smile awkwardly before looking away. Her mind was a blank, and whenever she tried to say something the words would just die halfway down her throat. “Lun-” she finally forced herself to say, but Luna was again saying something too – “Twi-” Twilight clamped her mouth shut and waited for Luna to continue, but something akin to fear flashed over the alicorn’s features. “Y-you first,” Luna muttered. “No, it’s all right, you first…” She trailed off, and it seemed their words had been snatched away by the wind, as easily as it could blow snowflakes away. Twilight waited for Luna to speak, but after a few seconds realized that Luna was probably doing the same. It would be too awkward to bring it up again, so Twilight decided to drop attempts at conversation and continued on in silence, every second feeling like several minutes. The silence stretched on and on until they finally reached the Carousel Boutique. At least she still had the presence of mind to be able to open the door, Luna following her inside. Sure enough, the fashionista was there, and about to chirp her signature ‘Boutique greeting’ before she recognized her visitors. It was almost a relief to be able to talk again, since Rarity was bound to break the ice, but the relief was short-lived as she remembered that she hadn’t told Rarity about everything that had happened since they last talked. To her horror, Rarity’s eyes lit up as if there were stars shining in them. “Twilight, Princess! You two-” Oh, no… Twilight desperately shook her head at Rarity, trying not to be too noticeable but all the while hoping that Rarity would get the hint without Luna noticing. Rarity froze mid-sentence, narrowing her eyes in confusion. Twilight could only give the other unicorn another warning glance, fully aware that Luna was sure to pick up on their body language if they kept this up. Rarity looked away. “As I was saying, welcome. It’s so nice to see you two again!” Luna scuffed a hoof on the ground. “I…” She looked at Twilight, who gave her a little nod. Luckily Rarity seemed to have gotten her hint, so the least she could do was to help Luna apologize, if that was what she wanted. Luna gave her a small smile, seemingly reassured, and continued, “I just wanted to apologize, Rarity, for running off like that, last time.” “Oh, it’s no problem at all, don’t worry about it,” Rarity replied kindly. Twilight looked at her, and Rarity met her eyes with what was clearly a ‘you had better explain yourself later, Twilight Sparkle’ look. Twilight gulped. It would be better to proceed with some caution, she reminded herself. “So, ah, what do the two of you have planned for today?” Rarity tilted her head. “Well actually, I was just trying to come up with something,” Twilight said quickly, but soon regretted it – it sounded like she hadn’t cared enough about the meeting to plan ahead. Rarity thought for a few moments. “Perhaps you could try a friendly game?” Twilight nodded and turned to Luna, only to find that Luna was already looking at her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, but Luna moved her gaze away before addressing Rarity. “What do you have in mind?” “Is there anything you’d like to try in particular?” Rarity asked, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel both relieved and useless at the same time; Rarity was basically coming up with all the ideas for her. “Well, not really…” Twilight felt deeply ashamed of herself – when she had went to Canterlot Luna had always planned out what they could do, but all she could suggest was walking around and visiting her friends when they were in Ponyville, which was a far cry from the special things that Luna had showed her. “Well then, what about Diskus?” Rarity trotted up to Twilight. “Have you heard of it?” “Yeah, I have.” Twilight turned to Luna. “Do you know it, Luna?” Luna thought for a moment. “No, I do not think so.” Oh, it hasn’t been around for very long, that’s why. Well, less than a thousand years, anyway. I’ll have to show her the rules, as well as refresh myself on them. “Give me just one moment!” Twilight lit her horn, summoning her magic and casting a familiar spell while concentrating on her destination. With a magenta flash she disappeared, then popped up back into being in the library. Games, games… With practiced ease she made her way to the ‘Hobbies’ section and floated out each of the books to inspect their contents. A few books later she’d located one that had an introduction to and rules for a few games played with magic. She teleported back into the Boutique, flipping through pages as she sat down. Both Luna and Rarity were looking at her agape, but she didn’t pay them too much attention, trying to find the chapter she was looking for as quickly as she could. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat, looking from the book to the other two. “The rules are as follows: two ponies make three to six magic disks and have to keep them in plain sight between three to eight meters in the air at all times; no physical contact with or directly using spells on the other pony, and no making illusions of one’s own disks or one’s opponent’s.” “The objective is to touch all the other pony’s disks with one’s own magic, at which point you win and the game is over. Players can attempt to dodge their opponent’s spells by moving the disks or by countering the spells.” Twilight looked at Luna and Rarity expectantly, and they nodded confirmation of their understanding. “Would you like to play it?” Twilight asked Luna. “It sounds good.” Luna smiled and Twilight felt relieved. At least Luna seemed happy with the idea, and that made her feel better about the whole thing. “All right Rarity, we’ll be going then. Thanks for the help!” Twilight got up and grinned at Rarity gratefully. Luna got up as well, and Twilight used the delay to flip through the rules again. A small line of words caught her eye, and her ears flattened. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this! “Oh, it says here that we can’t play without a referee…” She looked at Luna helplessly. “It’s all right darling, I can be your referee.” Rarity put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Um, really? It’s okay if you want to finish your work first, Rarity.” Twilight looked at her friends uncertainly. “No, it is no trouble at all, and I do not have any urgent orders for the day,” Rarity replied, dragging Twilight along to the door. Luna bit her lip as she looked at the two ponies trotting beside her. At least Twilight is willing to stay friends with me. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. But that was a lie, wasn’t it? Luna knitted her eyebrows. There’s no way to do it though - I cannot ever be the friend she wants. She’s always so happy whenever she mentions her friends, I wonder if she feels the same when she talks to others about me. When they reached the flat, open field they planned to use as a playing ground Luna risked a peek at Twilight. Her friend was frowning, staring at something across the snow, but when she caught Luna’s gaze she quickly looked away again, following Rarity’s lead to the center of the field. Twilight was just looking into the distance, that’s all. Don’t worry your head off, Luna! Luna nodded to herself and pulled away from her thoughts; Rarity was talking, but it seemed she’d already missed a part of what the unicorn had said. “- I’m sure you two will have a lot of fun!” “Luna, are you ready?” Twilight asked. “Um, do you need to hear the rules again?” Luna shook her head. “Oh, it’s fine, I think I’ll remember them.” Twilight gave her another smile before lighting up her horn, five magenta disks materializing in the air. Luna frowned as she conjured up her own disks. I wonder how she’s going to try to tag my disks. It should be easy enough to counter her spells and attack her disks as well. If what Celestia told me is correct Twilight uses a lot of power in her spells, so with some simple maneuvering I should be able to beat her easily. From what she knew, Twilight had gone through many challenges and was without doubt one of the most – if not the most – powerful unicorn in Equestria. She was still sure she had more experience in the use of offensive and defensive magic, but she was genuinely curious as to what spells Twilight would choose to use. She remembered some tidbits Celestia had told her about Twilight before Nightmare Night, before all of the misunderstandings that evening had taken place. Sister once mentioned how Twilight teleported onto a royal banquet table when she was a filly because she used too much power… from the other side of the Castle. Luna permitted herself a small smirk before nodding at Twilight and Rarity. “All right then,” Rarity raised a hoof, “ready… set… go!” It seemed pretty straightforward to Luna; what she would do was simply send five simultaneous beams of magic at Twilight’s disks while moving all of her own, and watching out for Twilight’s magic. She lit her horn, targeting Twilight’s magic constructs. She had not expected her spells to meet Twilight’s deflecting spells, but she dipped into her vast store of magical energy to give them the power to pierce any unicorn’s magic with ease. At the same time, Twilight’s own offensive beams were closing on her disks, so Luna conjured a thin shield of magic in front of each to block Twilight’s assault… only to be left in shock when they passed through her thin but magically formidable defences. And all ten disks disappeared, in that split second. After a few moments of silence, Rarity spoke. “Ah, I believe you are… tied?” Luna eventually realised that her mouth had been hanging open for a considerable period of time, and hastily closed it. “That was fun!” Twilight giggled and looked up at Luna. “Ah, yes, it was.” Luna made herself smile back. Very well, I underestimated her power, but that’s not going to happen a second time! “That went faster than I’d imagined!” Twilight chuckled. “Let’s do it again!” “Of course.” Luna nodded to Rarity, conjuring five disks into the air again. “Ready… set… go!” Rarity flourished a hoof. This time Luna used stronger beams, willing them to zigzag before homing in on Twilight’s disks. Twilight sent out her own beams, while animating her disks to dodge Luna’s magic; two of Luna’s beams missed and another was blocked by Twilight’s counter spell, meaning only one of them managed to pierce a magenta disk. She sent out more beams, brows furrowed. Her focus on targeting Twilight’s disks cost her two of her own, Luna noticing the attacks only a moment before Twilight struck them with her attacks. Twilight then attacked with multiple beams, forcing Luna to deflect them and only giving her enough time to shatter one of Twilight’s shielding spells, leaving Twilight with two disks remaining. Luna quickly followed with strong beams that sizzled as they ripped through the air, but to her surprise Twilight did the same! Luna tried to retaliate, but her shield spells were shattered just as her own spells met Twilight’s in a firework display of sparks. None of the disks remained. “Well, that took about five seconds longer than the first time,” said Twilight, a big grin on her face. Luna raised an eyebrow.