//------------------------------//
// Between Sun and Moon 
// Story: Luna's Librarian, Twilight's Moon 
// by TheLastBrunnenG 
//------------------------------//

Once upon a time there was a little pony who had no one to play with. She was very lonely, so she went to her window and saw something glowing overhead.

“What is your name?” said the little pony.

“I am called Sun,” it said, “and I am very happy to see you!”

“Sun,” she said, “will you play with me?”

“Of course I will play with you!” said the Sun. “I have many friends among the animals and birds and flowers and trees. They would like to play with you too. Come, meet me when I am high overhead, and we will all play together.”

So the little pony waited until the Sun was high overhead and went outside to play. But the Sun was very bright and very hot. The bright light hurt the little pony’s eyes and the heat made her very uncomfortable.

“I am sorry, Sun,” she said, “but I cannot play with you.”

The pony became very sad and went back inside.

Later she went back to her window. The Sun was gone but there was something new in its place.

“What is your name?” said the little pony.

“I am called Moon,” it said, “and I am so glad to see you!”

“Moon,” she said, “will you play with me?”

“Of course I will play with you!” said the Moon. “I have many friends among the stars. They would like to play with you too. Come, meet me when I am high overhead, and we will all play together.”

So the little pony waited until the Moon was high overhead and went outside to play. The little pony and the Moon and the stars played hide and seek and chase-your-tail and peek-a-boo.

The next night the little pony went outside to play again. The Moon was there but it looked a little smaller. Still they played and laughed and had great fun.

But each night the Moon grew smaller and smaller. One night the Moon disappeared and the little pony was very sad. She thought the Moon did not like her any more.

A few nights later the Moon came back. It was very small but it was there! The little pony ran outside and jumped for joy.

“Moon,” she said, “I thought you were gone. Do you still like me?”

“Yes!” said the Moon. “I like you very much. I get smaller and smaller sometimes. Then I have to go away for a few days – just like you have to sleep each night. But then I get bigger and bigger. When I am here, I will always play with you.”

The little pony was very happy to have her friend Moon back. But she was also a little bit worried. She could not play with the Sun, and her friend Moon sometimes had to go away.

“Moon,” she said, “I get very lonely when you go away. I wish I could play with you and with Sun.”

The Moon thought and thought and said, “There is another friend of ours you should meet. Come outside when Sun and I are both low in the sky and we will introduce you.”

So the little pony waited until the Sun and Moon were both low in the sky and went outside. Sun and Moon were there, and there was something new too! The sky was painted with beautiful colors. The land and the clouds were all glowing.

“Little pony,” said Moon and Sun, “this is our friend. Her name is Twilight.”

The little pony was very happy! The light was bright and she saw everything clearly. But it did not hurt her eyes like the Sun. The stars and their friends were there too. But even when Moon had to go away and rest, Twilight was still there waiting for her.

“Twilight,” said the little pony, “will you play with me?”

“Of course I will play with you!” said Twilight. “I will always be here for you. I love you, my little pony, and I will never leave you.”

The little pony had never been so happy! And she was never lonely again.

~~~~~

“She is beautiful when she sleeps, Tia,” murmured Luna as she gently stroked a pink-striped lavender mane, “perhaps even moreso than when awake.”

From a half-open doorway a grinning Celestia whispered, “Isn’t Twilight a little old for bedtime stories, Luna? Is that why you tell her this same story every night, but only after she’s already asleep?”

“The story is not for her,” Luna said as she nodded and smiled softly, “the story is for me.”