Chapter 20
Common Ground
Sure enough, the next month was intensely unpleasant and trying for Starfall. While he remained in Twilight's old tower, and had once more resumed his lessons with Princess Luna, the tension between them was so high you could feel it just by standing in the same room.
The Princess of the Night once more insisted on formalities when they were together, the casual, friendly atmosphere they had once had completely destroyed. Even the formalities seemed rather pointless, as the only time either of them engaged in conversation was to greet each other at the beginning of each lesson, to farewell each other at the conclusion of the night, or occasionally when Starfall had a question about his studies. During Starfall's teachings on modern society, Princess Luna was totally silent, never once speaking up, and simply working on her studies as best as the silence between them allowed.
The way Luna was deliberately keeping him a distance was painful, but somewhat expected for Starfall. What was really worrying him was the way this attempt to keep him at a distance was not fading as the weeks passed. If this kept up, Starfall knew it was only a matter of time before one of them snapped and said or did something stupid. Once that happened, his lessons, and his time in Canterlot with the Princess of the Night, were over.
A small positive of the whole mess for Starfall was that, despite learning of the incident, Twilight Sparkle continued in her habit of regularly writing him. She seemed to be thinking almost similar lines to Princess Celestia, that both of them had been pretty silly, but neither had done anything unforgivable. She did advise Starfall to keep his head down and not try and force the issue with the Princess, and just focus on his studies and let her work things out at her own pace.
Starfall had taken Twilight's advice and heeded it, having intended to do just that anyway, but as he sat at the bench, one month on, taking notes on his latest observations in the night sky, he was starting to worry that he might need a new approach. As per usual, Princess Luna had done nothing but silently observe him since he had arrived, occasionally heading off to a corner to work on her own things, either her various royal duties, or perhaps catching up on some of her own studies on modern culture.
Despite her silence, Starfall could tell Princess Luna's attitude towards him was not improving. While she continued to grade and mark his work fairly and consistently, her attitude towards him during his lessons was one of disdain, sniffing in displeasure at certain study habits he displayed, and showing almost bored indifference when he took his turn at teaching her, seeming to take greater enthusiasm to her own studies when she was learning directly out of a book.
Still, Starfall knew calling her out on her own poor behaviour was not the way to approach the problem, and so just did his best to put on a mask of indifference and keep working away, though deep inside, every scathing noise and unpleasant look from the Princess of the Night hurt him more than he cared to admit.
While Starfall's crush on Princess Luna no longer bother, her violent rejection making his feeling retreat back to a distant, shadowy corner of his heart, Starfall knew the feelings would never fade entirely. He had seen pieces of the pony beneath the shell of her hard facade and fiery temper, the lonely alicorn who seemed to just want a friend or two in her life. Starfall still wanted to be that friend, as he always had, and with his deeper feelings now locked tightly and securely away, all he could do was hope Princess Luna gave him another chance.
But it was looking more and more like a fool's hope at the moment, as Starfall sighed, getting back up and crossing the study to one of the large telescopes, making some mild adjustments to the focus and zoom of the astronomical device, before placing it against his eye, looking up into the night sky, quickly focusing on a distant source of light.
For the last few nights, Starfall had been studying galaxies, immense clusters of stars sitting at unfathomable distances from their own world, which Starfall had learned was actually just a small speck in the cosmos, surrounded by the stars of a galaxy of it's own. It was, like everything else in astronomy, fascinating stuff, Starfall soaking up the new knowledge he did not have about this particular cosmological phenomenon like a dry sponge in a full bathtub.
Galaxies, while not Starfall's primary astronomical interest, had always fascinated him. His sensitivity to the stars...and their magic...was multiplied a thousand-fold when it came to galaxies. Since they were massive clusters of stars, they appeared to Starfall as magical bonfires compared to the candles of regular stars. The trade-off was that their magic was a bit more unstable, various fields of magic all vying for attention at the same time. Starfall found that galaxies that helped make up constellations in the sky tended to be a bit more focused in their magical application, which lone galaxies not associated with any sign or field in the sky tended to be little more than potent, if unstable, power boosters.
The problem was that Starfall, for all his magical sensitivity, was not a unicorn. Therefore, everything he knew about the magic within the stars was based upon his own observations, and theories he derives from said observations. Princess Luna had, as a result of his knowledge of the royal secret, assured Starfall that he would be learning about the finer points of the how the cosmic magic worked and behaved, but not for a long time. And now that they were on bad terms, Starfall was starting to suspect that she might not end up teaching him about it after all, and attempt to preserve what little was left of the secret that he did not know.
But even as Starfall shook his head to clear his thoughts and refocused on the galaxy he was studying, making a few observations he would have to note down, his vision through the telescope was suddenly overcome by a white haze, as if his eyes had just suddenly developed cataracts over the space of a few seconds.
Blinking, Starfall grimaced when the white haze blurring his view of the galaxy only seemed to grow more prominent, taking his eye off the telescope to look at it with the naked eye, puzzled when his vision seemed perfectly fine. He wiped his eyes, before putting his eye back to the telescope, finding the haze not only persisting, but was now so bad the galaxy he had been observing was completely obscured behind it, no longer even marginally visible.
But when he stepped back to take a look once more with the naked eye, he spotted something a little off...something was there, in front of the galaxy he was studying, that had not been there before. Or at the very least, he had not noticed it before. Frowning in puzzled curiosity at this unexpected apparition, he put his eye back to the telescope, but this time fiddled with the zoom, pulling his focus back a little so he could get the bigger picture.
When he finally saw what was blocking his observations of the distant galaxy, he vaguely felt his lower jaw drop away from it's upper half, briefly fiddling with the focus of the telescope to confirm what he was seeing was real, and not some strange result of a focusing mistake...or even his own imagination.
But after double-checking his instruments, his eyes, and even his mental state several times over, he realised he was no seeing things. There was simply no mistaking the shining, elongated tear-drop shape in his view as he crawled slowly through the heavens in front of his very eyes. He was staring at a comet...an incredibly rare sight in the Equestrian sky.
Starfall had heard stories of various comets ponies had spotted throughout the ages and generations. There were accepted as an exceedingly rare, but real cosmological event, though most ponies were considered lucky if they ever saw one in their lifetime. What was not widely accepted was their purpose in the night sky.
Some believed several routine sightings across multiple generations, due to their rather precise pattern and similar behaviour and paths across the sky, were actually the same comet making multiple, routine visits in the night sky. Others believed it was mere coincidence, and that every comet sighting was of a different comet each time.
There was also debate surrounding the very nature of the comets themselves. Some believed they were creations of magic and energy, physical manifestations of the ethereal force, and that they held immense magical power. Others still believed they were physical beings of unknown make-up, flung through the reaches of space by unknown forces, their majestic glow and long, mesmerising trails simply the product of the extreme speeds at which they travelled.
Starfall had no true theories of his own surrounding the mysterious celestial bodies, though as he gazed at the comet, he got the distinct impression that, much like the stars, this comet held some kind of magical potential...though due to the strange nature of it, and the fact that it was undoubtedly different from a star, meant his ability to read the magical signature by instinct alone was not as fine-tuned as he was used to.
Despite this potentially frustrating shortcoming, Starfall did not care in the slightest, still mesmerised by the once-in-a-lifetime sighting. Once he finally regained his senses...and once more confirmed that yes, the comet did indeed exist...he pulled away from the telescope, turning to Princess Luna, who was still perusing the book she had opened up earlier, the tome surrounded in a sky blue glow...her magical signature, as it hovered in front of her.
For a moment, Starfall wondered if it would be wise to speak up to the Princess of the Night, considering how tense things were between them. In the end, though, he shook the doubt off. This was something neither of them could afford to miss. "Uhh, Princess?" he called tentatively, having to resist the urge to take a wary step back as the Princess lowered her book, giving him a pointed stare, clearly not pleased at the interruption.
Starfall gathered his wits back up, though, and pressed on, gesturing with a wing towards the telescope. "I, uhh...I found something interesting. I really think you should see this," he explained, unable to hide the amazement in his voice, the sheer awe at what he had seen simply too powerful.
Princess Luna responded by simply raising an eyebrow at him, her expression seeming like she was trying to appear disinterested in anything he had to say, but failing miserably as her curiosity got the better of her, clearly wanting to see what Starfall found that was so fascinating. Sighing, she marked her place in the book she was reading, before setting in down and getting to her hooves, though she still looked irritated at the interruption. "Very well, Starfall," she relented, though her voice was sharp and short. "We shall see what has captured thy interest. This had better not be a waste of our time, however," she added, the barest hint of a threat to her tone, making Starfall shiver slightly, swallowing nervously.
Still, he stepped aside as the Princess approached the telescope, allowing her to view what he had seen, having left the telescope's calibration exactly as it had been...as long as the comet had not moved too far in the last minute is should still be within view. "If you can't see anything significant, just zoom out a bit and it should be there again," Starfall suggested, earning another glare from the Princess, though he did not get the same urge to run away this time. The Princess of the Night had been this way for the past month, and Starfall was finally getting used to it.
His advice was unneeded in the end, however. Princess Luna's eye was only at the telescope for a few seconds before she pulled back, eyes wide. "Thy eyes discovered this?" she asked, clearly stunned. All sense of hostility was gone, replaced by complete fascination, making it clear that, even in her thousand-year lifespan, this was a rare sight to behold.
Starfall nodded, risking moving closer to get another look at the comet with the naked eye. It was incredibly distant at this time, making it very hard to see, but he could somehow spot it, a small, almost invisible point of light right next to the galaxy he was supposed to be studying, having by now moved away from the star cluster. There was not much to see without the telescope, making Starfall hurry over to another, less powerful telescope than the one Princess Luna had pressed her eye back to, eager to see more of it.
As he calibrated the second telescope, Princess Luna continued, obviously excited by this. "It has been over a thousand years since we have seen one of these!" she babbled, sounding suddenly much younger than her thousand years, like a young foal going on about a new toy she had gotten as a present, or something to that effect. "We were going to have thou study about them from books, but this discovery presents us with a wonderful opportunity!"
Starfall nodded, putting his eye back to the telescope, having now found the comet, simply gazing at it in wonder. "You're telling me! Most ponies don't even get the chance to see one, let alone have the equipment with them to study one when it does come along!"
Princess Luna nodded. "It is indeed a very rare privilege," she murmured. "Even in our time we only saw the one before this. And during our...exile..." here she paused, her voice shaking ever so slightly, the barest hint of shame creeping into it, before she shook it off and ploughed on. "We never had the tools to study them. We've always wanted to have the honour of viewing one of these wonders once again."
Starfall paused for a moment, looking over at the Princess of the Night, who was still engrossed in studying the comet. There is was again...that side of the Princess nopony ever got to see. The real Princess, the socially distant, lonely pony with a dark past who tried to put on a brave face for the world, but who seemed to just want a friend who accepted her for all that she was.
He decided the Princess would rather such a thing was not brought up, though, and so kept on with his fascination of the comet. "You're not the only one, Luna," he replied, not realising he had reverted to his old, informal way of speaking to the Princess. "Ever since I first heard about them, when I just a tiny colt, I wished I could see one for myself. I knew I never would, but I never stopped wishing. And now I have the chance...and they're beautiful."
Princess Luna gave an idle nod beside him. "That they are, Starfall. They always have been beautiful. A rare treasure of the night sky, and something that we have always been enthralled by." The Princess never took her head away from the telescope, obviously truly fascinated by what she was witnessing. "The night sky has always held a special place in our heart, but these shooting stars, these...comets...have always been what we have loved the most about the skies of the night."
Starfall, having gotten his fill of the comet for now, was now staring at Princess Luna in stunned silence. This side of her, the one that adored and enjoyed her duty to watch over the night, both down here in Equestria, and up there in the skies above their heads, was a new piece in the puzzle of the Princess of the Night that Starfall had not seen before now. It was one thing about her that Starfall had remained mystified about, even when they were tentative friends. He had never known her interests, her hobbies. And now he knew...one of her core interests was the same as his; both of them had an insatiable fascination with the night sky, and all it's secrets and mysteries.
It seemed that Princess Luna had also chosen this moment to realise that, for the past few minutes, the hostility that had been festering between them had disappeared. She pulled away from the telescope for a moment, looking at the pegasus rather awkwardly. She had obviously remembered the incident which had pushed them apart, and was trying to figure out how to respond to this sudden episode of civil, friendly behaviour.
Starfall, too, was left feeling kind of awkward, and a little wary. While the moment had been good while it lasted, he was worried about how the Princess would act now. Would she see and say something nasty to make up for the friendliness, or would she simply let it go and move on? Her hostility towards him ever since his crush had come to light had been very strong, so Starfall understood that she was not going to resume friendly relations with him again. Repairing the rift between the two of them was going to be a much longer struggle.
Eventually, though, Princess Luna grew tired of the increasing awkward silence, broken only by the slight noise when Starfall shuffled his hooves nervously. She looked him over for a moment, before fixating on something around his head, sniffing. "Thy mane has become far too wild. Does thou ever cut it?" she complained, though there was a slight sense of insincerity to her tone, as if she was forcing it.
Starfall could only snort in amusement, having to stop himself from outright laughing as he patted at his mane a little self-consciously. Of all the things she had picked to complain about, the Princess of the Night had picked his mane. Starfall had to concede that she had a point, his mane had grown out so far now it had extended below his shoulders. It really was overdue for a cut, and while Starfall did like his mane and tail rather long, both had gotten rather excessive...even his tail had grown out to a ridiculous length, the tip of it actually dragging along the ground nowadays.
But even as Starfall gave her a sheepish smile, he saw Luna shake her head, before returning to her telescope, Starfall watching her for a few moment, before resuming his own comet-gazing. It was not much, but Starfall could sense the hostile tension between the two of them had eased considerably. He was not sure how things were going to work between them from now on. But maybe...just maybe...there was a chance that, with a bit more time and effort, their old friendship could be repaired.