An elegant voice was trailing out of the window from one of the tallest towers of the castle home to the rulers of Equestria. The singing was not backed by wondrous music but simply the cricket chirps and stillness of the night.
"As a thousand stars glow,
I wish that they could know,
That the moon weaves a path,
That will guide them home.
While the gifted freely sing,
Safe beneath Celestia's wing,
Where do the others go,
Waiting for destiny to ring?
Little ponies softly sleeping,
Do you have a life worth keeping?,
For being so alone,
Must leave you weeping.
Do not let your eyes wet,
When Celestia forgets,
What you mean to this world,
For one day her sun will set."
Luna turned away and stared into her old mirror, forcing a smile that creased into her cheeks. She felt like she was smiling, but the face that stared back at her was cold and frowning, eyes narrowed and swimming with pain. She blinked it away and glanced woefully at the door. She could hear the rush of hoof-steps in the hall as the Royal Guards paced back and forth, some rushing to meet up with Princess Celestia as she raised the sun of the new day.
The younger Princess turned away and walked to her bed and sat down momentarily, sniffing her legs as if to pretend her mind wasn't preoccupied on other thoughts, then stared out of the window at Canterlot unfolding before the castle. The horizon gave birth to a milky glow, then gold washed over the hills and the sun rose into the sky, slowly getting higher and higher, then halted at its peak, smoldering where Celestia had decided to rest it.
A few minutes previously, Luna had taken a less of a dramatic turn to do her duties. She didn't bother with a large parade of rising into the sky and showing off a bit of razzle and dazzle, but she simply slipped outside, did a bit of magic, and that was her done for the day. It wasn't like anyone gathered around to watch the moon disappear in the first place, ponies were sleeping, they didn't even bother to be awake to witness it. But when it came to Celestia rising the sun, everypony seemed to appear from their houses to watch.
Luna arose and placed a hoof on the door to push it open gently, then pressed her face to the gap and took a look around. A pair of guards were standing at the end of the hall. She twitched her tail a little with annoyance, reversing and pulling the door gently to again. She took a wistful glance at the window again, then trotted quietly up to it and pushed on the frame, trying hard not to cause the hinges to whine as the old window shuttered open.
Try not to miss me. She thought sourly, clambering out of the window and skidding clumsily on the sloping roof, then stretching her dark wings and throwing herself into the air, beating steadily. The cold morning air tingled at her skin like ice thorns. With a shake her coat, Luna glided away from the castle, wings carrying her gently with the breeze. Canterlot stretched beneath her, slowly awaking with delicate life. At this hour, nopony would take their gaze from the beautiful dawn to see the princess of the night melting into the clouds and disappearing far away from the castle.
She took herself far across the land, eyes searching through each gap in the clouds until diving down sharply above a forest golden with rich green and yellow leaves. Folding her wings as she leaned back, her hooves thumped the grass and she took a look around at the leaves swaying around her. She took a deep breath of the sweet dewy air, then let out a content sigh.
She'd come here often, it was her quiet forest. But more lay there than to the naked eye of any other pony who was careful not to get too lost in the woods. Luna slipped between the trees, bending her head when branches leaned overhead, and stepped carefully over the wild undergrowth. There was what looked like a camp site up ahead, a scrape of earth between the blades of grass, home to a small firepit and a couple of tents.
The Princess stepped gently into the area, snuffling at the damp firepit, then poking her muzzle into the first tent. No-one was inside. She stepped back out and sighed, then wandered back to where she had come in. The small sign that she had made had fallen over, face down in the dirt. Using her hooves, she raised it back up and tapped it back into the soft ground.
Luna's Academy for Forgotten Ponies.
She closed her eyes and daydreamed of a day she could care for all the lost souls in Equestria. She'd often seen lonely ponies come to this forest. Ponies who weren't famous, or heroes, or anything along those lines. Ponies who were different than the ones that were classed as important, those who were irrelevant in the eyes compared to the Elements of Harmony and other gifted ponies.
She'd seen a turquoise mare there once, sitting on a bench that was on one of the paths in the forest, playing a lyre gently and humming to the tune. There was also a unicorn who hid behind a hat and cape, who furiously practiced magic through the daytime hours, then scurried off somewhere into the darker side of the forest when the sun was being lowered.
Each time Luna had spotted ponies alike these, she'd felt connected to them, feeling their loneliness waving off them, whether it be in the form of music or magic. It filled her despair, seeing members of a community supposedly known for its collaboration, the friends, and the morals of being together. But the sheer number of ponies who had no-one but themselves was enough to make Luna's heart ache.
Luna knew she was lonely and even long after the events of Nightmare Moon she felt empty compared to the air of importance that her sister upheld. She possessed just as many powers as the older, but even if she was assured that ponies now loved the night it wasn't the same. The only thing that changed was her realization that the night was only a haven for the lonely. Celestia continued to rule the day, and Luna was outcasted into the shadows again, just a puppet that happened to be lucky enough to have one string tied to the moon.
She let herself crumple to the ground, tucking her legs beneath her and resting her head on the ground, eyes only half open. Her chest felt heavy, like a stone sinking in a river. She took a deep inwards sigh and glanced up at the sky with stinging eyes. Today was quiet with a few gray clouds scattered by the weather team of pegasi.
Suddenly, something small darted across the sky in front of her, whizzing like a comet through a couple of clouds. She sat up with alarm, watching as a flurry of white burst out of a bag tied to the flying object and was tossed into the breeze before the shape disappeared into the trees with a loud crash. Luna leaped onto all fours and galloped in the direction it had disappeared, her mane and tail rippling behind her as she thundered to the rescue.
Dust from the crash had risen all around like a cloud, tickling Luna's throat as she breathed it in. A groan of pain came from somewhere in the debris. A piece of paper struck Luna in the face and she shook it off, seeing more floating past with some hanging out of torn envelopes. She pinned one down with a hoof and noticed it was an ordinary letter with confusion. Letting go, she hurried over to the crash site.
Summoning her deepest voice, she dug her hooves into the ground and staring threateningly at the rising dust. "Who goes thither?"
There was the sound of brief coughing, then silence. The air began to clear slowly with the crinkling sound of the broken leaves and twigs settling. Luna reeled back with surprise to see a pale gray Pegasus lying on the ground in the wake of the dirt that had mounded up around it. The Pegasus twisted painfully onto her hooves, one wing hanging limply at her side. She looked around before freezing with fear when she spotted Luna. One golden eye was staring right at the Princess, the other was pointing up in the air, in the other direction.
"Who are you?" Luna breathed, her royal voice disappearing from her surprise.
A small stutter escaped the gray Pegasus. "I-I'm D-Derpy. Derpy Hooves." she said.
Sympathy stabbed Luna as she looked the poor creature over. She was shaking with fear, her wing looked like it was in pain, and she had scrapes in the fur all along her front legs, let alone the fact that she couldn't even meet Luna eye for eye.
"Come here, little one," Luna said, bending down her strong neck so Derpy could lean on her and helped the Pegasus to her hooves.
She stared down at Derpy, who was still breathing fast-paced, her saddlebags leaning off to one side, the flaps open, and the contents strewn everywhere. Luna glanced around at the flutter of envelopes floating past and getting lodged in the leaves, as well as others strewn through the clouds.
"You're a mail-mare?" Luna said, tipping her head to one side.
"Y-yes," Derpy forced a smile, "But I tripped over my own hooves and then I bumped into someone and when they started laughing I tried to fly away- but I flew right into a cloud and I couldn't see anything, and that's when I started falling."
"That's some bad luck..." The Princess sighed.
"Clumsiness more like." Derpy said, looking down at the ground (or up at the sky, Luna couldn't really tell.)
Both stood there for a long while, catching their breath with Luna letting the friendly pony lean on her for a moment. She smiled at how kind the Pegasus was, who kept asking if it really was alright to lean on her, and it wasn't wasting her time or anything along the lines.
"I have a camp site near here, why don't we go back there, and you can get cleaned up?" She offered, unable to hide her smile at the idea of sharing her little home with someone else even for a moment.
Derpy nodded gratefully, too tired to speak. She stumbled along at Luna's flank, eyes half closed, tail dragging along the ground. The two mares didn't say much on their way there, apart from the occasional "Don't trip," or "Careful,".
When the campsite was in sight, Luna nuzzled Derpy gently forward, and they both quickened their pace to get to the flat earth and sit down. Neither were brave enough to start conversation. Luna had fetched a bucket of water from a stream nearby to drink and to wash the dirt from Derpy's pelt away, and they both plucked a few dandelions from the grass before Derpy slipped, exhausted, into one of the tents to sleep and dry off.
She's lost. Luna thought, searching for deadwood around the trees that surrounded the clearing to start a fire. She'll probably lose her job as mail-mare... it doesn't look like she's very popular. Luna glanced at the sign behind her, and twitched her muzzle a bit. Would Derpy be offended if she mentioned what this camp was for?
"D-derpy?" She called, sitting up and nervously stomping the end of her tail with a hoof.
The Pegasus' gray face appeared between the folds of the tent entrance, managing to get her eyes a little more aligned, but not quite, on Luna. "Yes?"
Anxiously, Luna looked up, frowning with concern. "Derpy, have you noticed something about me?" She said, never unlocking her gaze from her fellow mare's.
There was a long pause, and Derpy stared at her for a long time, then twisted the ends of her mouth. "Nope."
Luna stared directly at Derpy, hoping the Pegasus would take in her full profile and notice the wings and the horn. The mare had laid down again with her head through the flaps in the tent, her forelegs poking out on the ground. But it wasn't the obvious alicorn features that tipped the hat to her, it was when her eyes drew to the ghostly pattern on either of Luna's flanks- the cutie mark of the moon.
"Princess Luna!" Derpy said suddenly, slipping completely out of the tent and staring up at Luna, blinking her mismatched eyes. "Your majesty, oh my! I'm s-sorry, so very sorry! I should go-"
Luna stomped her hoof, eyes burning. "Please!" she begged, softening when she instantly regretted her harsh tone, "Just... call me Luna."
The hurt in her voice was easy to pick up and she shivered under Derpy's gaze; full of misunderstanding, sympathy, and pity. Luna flinched away,not wanting to feel the flood of emotion passing between them. She sniffed gently, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes.
"Luna."
The small voice rang in her mind, and she opened her eyes, glancing at the Pegasus.
"I lied to you when I told you why I crashed." She said, eyes glowing with fear, as if she expected Luna to strike out at her for doing such a thing to a Princess.
Luna held her breath for a moment, then crouched down to Derpy's height and touched her muzzle to the smaller's forehead. The Pegasus brushed up against her and sat down, staring up at the dark blue alicorn. A gulp passed through her throat, and she shuffled closer to the warmth of the Princess.
"A group of Pegasi were teasing me... saying that it was rude not to look at someone when they were talking..." Her voice began to go very high-pitched, as if she was stifling tears and trying to stop the sob in her throat. "They wouldn't stop, and it was getting too much for me. I flew off and tried to get away as fast as possible, but I couldn't see clearly where I was going, so I crashed in the forest..."
Luna gasped a little, frowning deeply and wishing she could fly right up into Cloudsdale and confront the bullies. It would sure show them for the tall Alicorn to cast her shadow over them and scold them with her echoing royal voice. Though her heart ached to avenge her small friend, even if she burned to do what Celestia never did now was not the time. Derpy sobbed loudly when it got too hard to keep it in near the other and closed her eyes tight, leaning against Luna until the Princess had to press her hooves down so she wouldn't fall over. She stared ahead, a lump in her throat, listening to Derpy's stammering cries, and her warm salty tears soaking through Luna's side.
Derpy rubbed her face gently against Luna, drawing a sharp breath. "I just don't know what went wrong..."