//------------------------------// // Every Sun Sets // Story: Lullaby for a Princess // by Scourgeous //------------------------------// "Now, focus Luna." She stared up at the sky, dark besides a crisp strip of toast golden along the horizon. Pressing her hooves into the ground, she took a deep breath and blinked her round eyes, her horn glowing gently. Artemis nodded encouragingly, watching her with proud eyes. She gritted her teeth until her jaws hurt, trying furiously to raise the moon, but the sputtering magic from her horn barely changed the scenery. "You'll get there," Her father promised, nuzzling her. She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Celestia rose the sun perfectly first shot, and she was a pegasus before the coronation." He sighed bitterly, stroking a hoof down her neck. "You're still fussing over your sister?" Luna didn't reply, her stomach clenching with anger, and she turned away from him, narrowing her eyes. Fussing? She's the spoilt brat in the family. She's the popular one, she's more loved than mother is, and I know that you know it. She thought sourly, glaring out of the corner of her eye at King Artemis. Her skin crawled whenever he tried to suck up to her with pity and false modesty. "I have better things to do." She hissed, marching away, hips swaying from side to side. She could feel her father's sorrowful gaze burrowing into her back as she retreated from the balcony, but she slipped back inside and into the cool shadows of the castle before she could feel unnerved by it. She made her way steadily through the halls without any need of light, having memorized most of the routes around the palace from her nighttime excapades with Discord and her many ways of getting out of the castle without leaving a thread of hair. Once alone in her room, she pushed her dressing table in front of the door and slumped down onto the bed, wriggling on her back a little before holding her hooves up against her chest and staring up at the posts of the bed. The drapes rustled gently from the draft through the open window. She closed her eyes for a moment and stroked her chest fur for a moment, then stopped, looking up as their was a knock on her door, and a feeble attempt for it to be opened, resulting in a groan from the legs of the dressing table against the ground. "Gosh, Luna, you don't have to be such a sourpuss and block out the whole world you know." Celestia hissed in her whiney castle voice, the one she'd never let her hoard of fans hear her groan on dramatically with. Her dark sister rolled her eyes and turned away from the door, muttering harsh things under her breath. "What do you want with me?" There was a pause, then the sound of hooves shuffling on the spot. "We never hang out anymore Woona-bear." She said softly, pushing a hoof to the handle and pushing it in as far as she could. Luna whipped around to face her, then bucked out her hind legs to strike the door and slam it back shut. "What happened to sourpuss, huh?" She hissed, stomping over to her bed and falling onto it. There was a sob from the hall, and the sound of hooves fleeing from her room. Luna grabbed a pillow in her teeth and chucked it at a wall in frustration, letting out a growling scream. She panted heavily, then slumped down and covered her eyes with her hooves. Woona-bear? More like your worst nightmare. Discord gripped a rose in his teeth, raising one eyebrow at Luna as she complained to him. She leaned against him, a few tears dripping to the ground. He brushed many of the others away, then turned her face towards him and stared at her with concern. "Luna, you must see that all Celestia is growing is harmony. If you want to beat her, you must come back with her opposite. Chaos, hun." She stared at him, eyes watering, a pout on her lips. She shook her head constantly, taking deep ragged breaths. "I can't do that to my father. He's the only one in the castle that cares about me anymore." "I thought you said he lied to you?" Discord's voice suddenly deepened, and a look on his face appeared that Luna had never seen before. She gulped, almost fearing him, even though he had barely moved. His facial features had changed dramatically, and she tensed, as if she thought he was going to hit her or something along the lines. He seemed to notice her discomfort, and the small pupils in his eyes seemed to grow a little, looking a tad bit more regular. She brushed up against him, a crushing feeling in her chest. "I don't know, Discord. I don't want to cause chaos, I'm sorry." She sighed, looking away. He bit his lip, looking a little hurt. "Oh come on. I'll do it for you." "Really?" "This castle will never be the same after I'm done with it." A high pitched scream woke Luna early in the morning. She groaned and rolled over, tired from her late night out on the roof with Discord. She peered warily out from under the sheets, then pulled them back over her head. There was another shriek, and she growled, kicking the blankets away and sliding off the bed, eyes narrowed. As she opened the doors, a flood of guards streamed past, all shouting and crying out like sheep. Luna waited until the last few had hurried off through the halls, then she followed, rubbing her eyes, stretching each of her wings in turn. The screams were coming from Celestia's room, where the white alicorn was sitting upright on her bed, eyes wide with anger and humilation. Her normally silky flowing mane was bunched up and damp, half of it sticking to her bed in a sticky mess. "My hair is cotton candy!" She growled dangerously, baring her teeth and glaring at Luna. "And you think I'm responsible?" She replied dryly, holding back the urge to cackle at her sister's miserable state. King Artemis was standing beside his older daughter's bed, looking concerned and a bit angered. He glanced at Luna, then at Celestia, then at the sticky bed. He sighed, then waved Celestia off the mattress and pulled the messy pillow off and onto the ground, looking dejected. "Celestia, go wash yourself up." He said quietly, the emotion draining from his face. "My hair will probably fall off!" She snarled, eyes wide with anger. "Punish the little rat for doing this to me! I'm going to be bald!" Luna let out a whinny of disgust. "I didn't do this you idiot!" "Please, girls-" Artemis was cut off as Celestia marched up and leaned in Luna's face. "I'm not the idiot! I don't turn mare's hair into candy floss!" "I didn't do it, I already told you!" "Oh please! I beg to differ." "I didn't do anything to your stupid hair!" "What next? Is my body going to be a marshmallow?" "How about I turn you into a frog and-" "GIRLS!" Artemis pushed them aside with a rough hoof, sending both away from each other like two negative sides of a magnet. "Stop bickering like fillies. Celestia, I said clean up. Luna, go to your room." Luna glared at her father with disbelief, then let out a choked hiss and stormed away, halting before the door and staring down at her hooves. She ground her teeth, then let out an angry scream and kicked out her back legs, feeling her hard hooves hit Celestia's face with a crack. She fled from the room before her father could yell anything, and she disappeared down the halls, twisting and turning until she found an open window. Pausing before it, she took a deep breath, then looking over her shoulder, eyes glowing angrily. Her whole body looked slate gray as she glared behind her, hearing hoof steps angrily approaching, the sound of the guards armor charging through the corridor. With a glower, she turned and flew out of the window and out into the dawn, the sun glittering and turning her fur to silver. As the guards burst into the room they were met with nothing but empty space and a curtain flapping around a gaping window, and an echoing cackle from somewhere up high on the ceiling of the castle. The laugh of a draconequus.