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Sunrise padded along beside Luna, trying to make her talk. Despite her efforts, the Princess wouldn't say more than a few words of 'I'm fine' or gently comforting Crimsonleaf over his mother's passing. The dragonness was trying to get Luna to admit what happened, but she knew that the Alicorn was far too proud.
Luna watched her hooves as she walked on, in the midst of the group. Discord had been right. It was to much to admit.
She felt a new batch of tears rising in her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. Her sister was dead, and that was permitted, but after those had dried... she shuddered at what everypony would think if they knew. Discord wouldn't reveal himself until the playing field had been cleared and he had a surefire victory. Luna thought she saw him moving through the trees, but he vanished again before anypony else saw him. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to steer her mind back to before any of this happened.
"Tia! Tia, Discord's back!" She leaped into his paws, hugging the draconequus until she lost her grip and fell back on the ground. Celestia, so much younger, watched him through a swirl of pink mane. Discord returned the stare, smiling slightly. Celestia blushed and looked away.
Luna had never thought anything of it. They were still young, none of them could properly use their magic or wings, and nothing seemed to be happening. Of course, the presence of two powerful deities in the castle nearby enhanced the feeling of warmth. As Celestia stood quietly nearby, Discord and Luna romped, running about the gardens in young euphoria. There was one time when Luna tripped and Discord fell on her, but that was all, they got up, shook themselves off, and continued running.
Butterflies and cotton candy.
That was all that mattered.
Luna sighed, walking around the ponies - her subjects, she remembered - and entered the small hut, lying down beside a surprised Squishy and falling asleep.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Sunrise muttered, front paws on the outside wall as she looked through the window. "It must have been...you know... terrible..."
Tigerjay looked at the ground between his talons. "No matter what happens, I think Equestria is in for some pretty deep sh*t now. Oh, sorry." He glanced up at the young dragonness, who was glaring at him for the strong language. "Slip of the tongue. Anyway, now not only do we have giant dragon-bird made of absense running amok, we also have the Element of Chaos preparing. I'd say the word was appropriate."
"I know." The dragon landed back on all fours, tilting her head up to look at the sky. "I'm glad Luna was strong enough to raise the sun for today, despite all of this. Who's going to teach Crimsonleaf?"
"Has anyone thought of the fact that now, wherever he is, the last stallion of the pure-blood Apples is lying in the cold, trembling as his last breaths -"
"Don't even say that!" Sunrise growled. "Don't say ANYthing like that! We've lost our Queen and King, and Luna is the new Queen! Think of how Crimsonleaf must feel!"
Tigerjay cast his eyes down at the ground again. "Sunrise, how does a Queen choose a King?"
"You know that."
"Yes, I do."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Sunrise..."
Her pupils shrank as she realized what Tigerjay had already figured out. "You mean..."
He nodded, looking out towards the remnants of Ponyville. "Yes. Discord is our new King."
Luna slowly opened her eyes, suddenly looking into the face of an aged mare. The new Queen reeled backwards, preparing an offense spell and opening her wings.
The mare shook her head slowly, her long horn cracked along one edge. Magickless. Luna relaxed. She could easily take this old horse. The mare smiled as Luna shut her wings and tilted her head.
"Who are you?"
The mare contemplated this, her faded pink mane hanging in thin knots around her neck. "Who do you think I am?"
Luna was shocked by this reply. It almost sounded familiar, something she had heard before, somewhere. She shook off the odd feeling and raised her head. "I am Queen Luna of Equestria, also known as the Moon Goddess."
"And the daughter of Corona, Maker of the Sun and Earth, and Altitudo, Maker of the Moon and Seas. Sister to Queen Celestia, who in turn was the mother of Prince Crimsonleaf, who will take the throne when you pass away. Am I correct?"
The suspicion in Luna's voice faded, replaced by curiousity. "Who are you?" She repeated.
The mare sighed. "It does not matter."
"It matters to me!"
The white horse lifted her ears at this, and shifted her hooves so she stood taller, regal in her physical power. Slowly, a pair of hidden wings opened, delicate feathers torn and broken with age.
"It does not matter because I am no longer alive. But my bloodline is proud and powerful." She paused, a small smile playing over her muzzle as Luna's mouth gaped in awe. "We call ourselves Queens of Equestria, I believe."
Discord lay on a large cloud, twirling a strand of fluff through one talon in boredom. He sighed, looking down at the camp below.
"Silly, silly ponies." He whispered, breaths turning to steam in the cold wind. "You are fine now, but winter is in the air. What will you do when the snows fall and coat everything you love in a blanket of silence?" He pasued, half expecting a response from somewhere below him. When nothing happened, he continued. "The first seeds have been planted. And as you mortals know, a few seeds can grow an entire crop." The cloud dropped from his claws as he rested his chin on one fist. "Sometimes faster than you think."
With those final words, his talons slipped past each other and he vanished in a flash of white light.
Scootaloo braced herself against the wintery wind. She was lucky that there were no prickly shards of ice in the clouds, but the tips of her wings were becoming numb. Attempting to move another cloud, it just moved around her hooves and recollected around them. Snorting in anger, she kicked it before gliding down to the ground.
There were a few Pegasus fillies around when she landed, all trying to fly. Scootaloo smiled, but she shook her head. "It's worse up there than it is down here, I'm afriad. We don't need any of you falling from the sky today."
As she walked back to the hut to warm up by the fire, she could hear the fillies muttering about how cool it would be to fly. Don't worry, little ones, she thought. I felt the same way. You'll be skyborne soon enough.