//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fifteen 
// Story: When You Wish Upon a Star 
// by Nightshine_Eclipse 
//------------------------------//


"The hardest part about leaving is knowing what you are leaving behind."



The young vampire-bat filly sighed, glancing back at the town she had called home for the last few days. The place where she had made wonderful friends and had a great time. The whole experience was amazing, and she learned a lot. She only wished that she didn't have to leave so soon. Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind. 
"Hey, Princess?" Comet Blaze started.
"Please, call me Luna," the lunar alicorn said, before asking, "Yes?"
"When Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I went to the Castle of the Two Sisters, I saw a star-patterned path on the ground. I decided to follow it. The path led us to a carving on the wall of an eight-sided star. At that point, my friends asked me how I had found my way to the carving. When I told them about the star-patterned, they were confused. They couldn't see it. Do you know why I saw the star-patterned path, but they didn't?" the young vampire-bat filly asked the lunar alicorn princess.
"The star-patterned path was Asteria's way of navigating through the castle. She placed the path a few months before the Night of Alignment, but she wouldn't tell us why," the lunar princess started, "I do have a theory to why you could see the star-patterned path, but your friends could not. But I am afraid, that I cannot tell you my theory, as the answers you seek shall show themselves soon."
"Asteria was the one who raised you and Celestia, wasn't she?" Comet Blaze asked.
"H... How did you know?" Princess Luna asked, looking at the young filly next to her, sadness filling her eyes.
"I... I saw a -vision?- of her in the room behind the carvings of another eight-pointed star, the sun, and the moon. I saw the big alicorn -Asteria- in the room, when Celestia -well, a younger Celestia- came into the room asking if she had seen you, because she couldn't find you. Asteria told her you'd probably be in your room sleeping, since it was only sun-high," Comet Blaze explained.
"That was so long ago..." the lunar princess whispered with a sad face.
"What happened to Asteria?" Comet Blaze asked.
"My sister and I never knew for sure what had happened. The last night we saw her, we watched her body turn to ash. The ashes became the stars that burn so brightly in the sky," Princess Luna explained, softly.
"Was she really a bat pony before she became an alicorn?" the young vampire-bat filly asked.
"Asteria had been born a bat pony, while her sister, my mother, had been born a normal pegasus. When they were little, only one alicorn was ever present in the world. Once their mother became old, and had to pass on the title, her sister -my mother- had gotten that title. It was around that time when Celestia and I had been born. But something happened, and Leto -my mother- had passed on the title to Asteria. Asteria didn't have knowledge of the transformation until the next night. Leto had also disappeared, but that's a whole different story. One that no pony has ever finished," the lunar princess answered.
After the lunar princess finished answering the young vampire-bat filly's question, silence settled between them. The young filly was nervous, thinking about returning to her home with her kind. Where she faced all the bullying and the teasing, being left alone, and the comfort of the silence of her tree besides the stream. Then a question entered the young vampire-bat filly's mind.
"Hey, Pr-, I mean, Luna?" the young vampire-bat filly started, before catching herself. She turned her gaze to the lunar alicorn princess, hoping that the princess had heard her silent words.
"Yes, Comet Blaze?" the lunar alicorn asked in reply only a few moments later.
"Why... Why are you helping me? Why are you doing all these things for me?" the filly asked, turning her gaze away.
"Well, young Comet Blaze, it is my duty to help those in need. I am the ruler in the night, and that is when you were struggling. If you came across one that needed help, would you just leave the one alone?" the princess asked, gently.
"N-no, I wouldn't," the young vampire-bat filly answered, almost silently.
"That is what I did with you. You needed help, and I provided that to you. And as for all the things I do for you, well, the answers are simple. I do all these things, as you so call them, because it is my way of giving you the push you need. There is something, greater than anything you could ever imagine, waiting for you. You just needed a push to get you into the right direction," the lunar alicorn explained. "And soon, you shall get there."









As the night drew on, the lunar alicorn and vampire-bat filly flew on towards the setting sun. The young vampire-bat filly let her mind wander away from her, thinking about her journey to Ponyville, her adventure while she was there, and all the ponies, and creatures, she got to meet. She let out a soft sigh. She hadn't even been gone for more than a few hours, and still she was already hoping to turn around and go back to Ponyville. Sadly, she knew that wasn't an option. She knew she had to return to the others.
"Comet Blaze, I know you didn't want to leave Ponyville and your friends, but think about this. Aren't you curious to why you needed to collect those five items?" the lunar princess asked.
"I.... I guess," the young filly replied, her mind wandering, "It would be interesting to see what is so special about these five items."
"And the only way to find out is..." the princess dragged on, giving the young filly next to her a knowing look.
Comet Blaze sighed, "The only was to find out is to return home."
"Exactly," the lunar princess confirmed, feeling pleased with herself. "Come on, it's getting close to dawn, and thankfully we are almost there."
The lunar alicorn princess spread her wings further and started gliding along the wind. Comet Blaze watched, and tried to copy. She, thankfully, succeeded in gliding along the wind, like the princess, with only a few stumbles. She smiled, quite pleased with herself. She wasn't the best at flying, being as she could only fly at night, but she still tried her best and loved every minute of it. 
As the moon started to shake, the princess and the filly decided it was time to start the journey on foot. But the lunar princess decided to show the little filly something first. 
"Comet Blaze, I want to show you something. I think you'll find this interesting," the lunar princess said, a look of curiosity in her gaze.
The lunar alicorn princess' horn began to glow a translucent light blue. As the princess' horn glowed, the young filly's gaze went to the moon. Before, the moon was shaking, like it was anxious and wanted to get out of the sky. It almost seemed as though the moon was shy, and didn't want to be there when all the ponies would be getting out of bed. Now, the moon was truly descending, lowering out of any ponies vision. She put her gaze back to the lunar alicorn, her eyes big with amazement. She actually got to watch the princess lower the moon! 
She turned her gaze back to the sky when she realized something else was happening. The sun was rising! The sky turned from the dark navy blue color of the night to a pink, orange-ish color as the sun rose. It was a beautiful sight. One she barely saw, as she slept through the rising of the sun. Comet Blaze loved to watch the sun set, and the moon rise. Those were breath-taking sights. The sunrise was another beautiful sight. As she watched, she never wanted to stop. 
The lunar princess chuckled at the little filly's amazement. She was glad to know that at least some pony can still appreciate the changing of day and night, and night and day. 
"Come on, Comet Blaze, we better start walking. It would be best to get you home before the sun reaches its highest peak," the lunar princess announced as she started walking down the trail.
"Okay!" Comet Blaze replied, bounding after the lunar alicorn.
The two continued down the path, allowing a peaceful silence to settle between them. It was now past dawn, so many creatures were starting to wake up. Birds were chirping and singing as the light wind carried the sound. Smaller animals, like the squirrels and rabbits, were out looking for food and getting some warmth from the sun. Comet Blaze loved watching the animals, almost as much as she loved watching the stars in the night.
The path continued on, bringing the alicorn and filly closer to the bat ponies' town. As they got closer, Comet Blaze began to recognize where they were. During the beginning of her journey, before the lunar princess helped her get to Ponyville, she had traveled down the path that leads from the edge of town to where ever the trail ends. 
"Comet Blaze, from here you must return home on your own. It is time that I return to Canterlot. Good luck, dear one, I believe we will meet again soon," the lunar alicorn princess announced, saying farewell, before letting her wings lift her off the ground and take off towards Canterlot.
"Goodbye, Luna," Comet Blaze whispered as she turned her head and started walking.
Alone again, the little filly thought. Alone again.
Comet Blaze continued down the trail, trying to push away the loneliness. She had gotten so used to having Luna with her on the travel, that it was lonely and weird not having the lunar alicorn with her. The little vampire-bat filly just kept wishing and hoping that she would reach the town soon, she didn't want to be alone.
Soon, up ahead, she saw it. It was the town! It was her home! Excitement was building up inside, and she couldn't hold back anymore. She took off sprinting. She just wanted to be back, to be with more ponies. She just didn't want to be alone. Pushing her legs to move faster, she soon came to the entrance and raced through. All the bat ponies who had been outside in the town looked at her with surprise and wonder. Then she heard some pony yell.
"She's back!"

I was back...