…
Though I walk alone in the depths of uncertainty and fear,
I look up to the sky and feel at ease, for I know that she is there watching over me.
She looks upon me with knowing kindness and silent strength.
So I continue on, one step at a time.
Guided by the light of the moon.
...
Nights in Equestria have changed over the past thousand years.
This was what Princess Luna thought as she gently guided the moon across the sky for it to rest from the Canterlot Royal Garden. Gone were the times when the setting of her sister's sun meant the end of the day. Gone were the days when the rising of the moon meant that ponies everywhere were to sleep and dream until the next day. Gone were the days when the dark skies only belonged to creatures of the night, both great and small. True, some still adhere to the rules of old, but the goddess of the night was well aware that there was more activity everywhere even on the passing of midnight.
Luna could not resist the urge to giggle when she recalled what happened during Nightmare Night, the glitters of tiny stars in her mane and tail sparkled from the action. That was the first time she had gone out in public without Princess Celestia at her side since she was freed from the curse of the Nightmare, to say that it had not gone as she expected was an understatement.
There she was, descending from the heavens on her personal chariot with the light of her moon behind her! An open display to all in Ponyville that, yes, Princess Luna is back and is here to stay! She had looked on in silent approval and excitement when she saw her subjects kneel before her as she walked among them. She took time to look at each and every one of the ponies there before she greeted them and made her intentions known using the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. Her voice was carried throughout Ponyville and was heard by one and all...and that was when one and all proceeded to panic beyond all reason. It was only when she knew the reasons behind the celebrations did she realize why they reacted the way they did...all except Star Swirl the Bearded, better known as Twilight Sparkle...her sister's student.
What followed was a determined effort by Luna to be known and accepted by the citizens of Ponyville beyond her previous tenure as Nightmare Moon. In the end, in no small part thanks to Twilight Sparkle, Luna was finally accepted by her little ponies. That was not the first time she had come to Ponyville since her return, but it marked the moment when she was accepted for who she really was.
"And it marked the night when young Pipsqueak declared me as his favorite princess." Luna muttered to herself with a smile. Indeed, it had been over a thousand years since a pony openly declared that they favored Luna over Celestia of their own volition.
Although, being the goddess of the night did have its disadvantages. Luna suppressed a grumble when she recalled the fact that she had actually SLEPT THROUGH the return and subsequent re-sealing of Discord. It was a close battle between the Master of Chaos and the Elements of Harmony, but Twilight and her friends eventually managed to pull through thanks to their friendship. Luna sighed when she recalled the headache that Discord once caused her and Celestia. The princess of the moon then grimaced when she remembered that Discord even had the gall to try to flirt with the two goddesses. The act was only eclipsed by the annoyance that Celestia actually looked like she was flattered by the oaf's advances.
"Pony for your thoughts?" Speak of the pony, and she shall come. Luna cleared her throat and turned to see her sister approach her with a warm smile.
"It is nothing, Tia. We…I was simply reflecting on recent days gone past." The pony of the night replied with a shake of her head.
"Indeed, it has been quite lively in the palace since you have decided to start moving around more openly." Celestia remarked with a mirthful giggle.
"I have yet to forgive you for not telling me that we no longer use the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice." Luna flatly stated as she gave her sister a stare of equal flatness.
"You were the one who wanted to meet our subjects with your own efforts, were you not? There was no way I could say no to you when you had such an adorable expression then." Celestia countered with another warm smile. Luna simply sighed and let the matter drop, she knew better than fight a losing verbal battle against her sister. The pony of the sun noticed her silence and trotted to Luna's side before nuzzling her.
"I'm sorry for that, Luna. It has simply been too long since we were able to interact like that. I had dreamt of the day when we can finally come together as sisters once more for the past thousand years." Celestia apologized and felt her heart go warmer when she felt her sister nuzzle back. The elder alicorn blinked a few times when her sister abruptly broke contact and gave her a levelled glare and a pout…Celestia had to physically repress the urge to embrace her sister right there.
"And you thought it a good idea to start with the pranks?" Luna accused and Celestia could not help but give a friendly shrug of her wings.
"It's not my fault. I thought that my little sister can't be this cute. I can't be held liable for the effects of your cuteness." Celestia answered, to which her sister flushed and turned away. Celestia approached her again before nudging her toward the castle.
"Now rest. You've had a long night and deserve a good morning's sleep." Celestia stated, going back to her 'Big Sister' mode.
"I know, I simply wished that I didn't have the sleeping habits of a Vampire." Luna commented offhandedly, causing her sister to tilt her head to the side in confusion.
"Vampire?" Celestia voiced her confusion.
"It is a creature of the night that sucks the blood of other ponies. I read about it once in a book in the library…written by someone called Stoker, I think. Good morning, Tia." Luna provided before walking toward the castle.
"Good morning to you, Luna." She heard her sister call out to her. Luna walked through the still silent halls of the castle, enjoying the subtle cool of the pre-morning. Most ponies were still asleep and so it was relatively quiet aside from the occasional Royal Guard patrols.
"Hm?" Luna turned around when she thought she heard something.
May be my imagination? I guess I needed sleep more than I expected. Luna thought with a shake of her head before heading to her private chambers. She closed the door and felt a strange tug in her mind. Was there really something there? Calling out to her?
"I will need to investigate this…" Luna resolutely stated before her resolve was interrupted by a yawn.
"…After I wake up later…" The princess of the moon nodded to herself with her plan of action before walking to her bed. She didn't even bother to take off her tiara and simply plopped onto her bed in a mass of several shades of purple.
Odd…I seem more tired than I thought...Was the last thing the alicorn thought before dozing off to sleep.
…
"I beg of you…"
Huh?
"My slave who lives somewhere in the universe!"
Who is it that calls out? Who is this slave you call out to?
"Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit!"
This…this is magic. But whose and for what purpose?
"I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!"
…
Louise had to shield her eyes from the resulting explosion from her attempt at a summoning spell. The magnitude of the blast was like nothing she had ever done before. She automatically wondered if this was yet another one of her failed spells…or worse, it succeeded and her familiar-to-be was caught in said explosion.
"Ha! As expected of Louise the Zero!" Louise grimaced when she heard the first of what she expected to be many jeers and taunts from her classmates. Professor Colbert was trying to calm the other students down on top of trying his best to comfort her. The balding man's words fell on deaf ears though as Louise and her classmates ignored him for different reasons. The other second year students of Tristain's Magic Academy continued to make fun of Louise but the short girl did not pay them any mind. Instead, she merely kept her gaze on the cloud of smoke and dust that was her summoning spell. It had failed…she knew, believed, that it had failed….
So why was it that she felt like there was something there?
As if to answer her question, the cloud of smoke and dust blasted outward because of a strong gust of wind that came from within. Louise didn't even register her professor's attempt to shield her because she was too busy trying to comprehend what she was looking at. There, in the very spot where she cast her spell, was the most beautiful mare she had ever seen.
Its coat was deep purple and it had large teal eyes that reminded her of the moon. Not only that, she was wearing some sort of black necklace that had the symbol of a white crescent moon in the middle of it. Its flank had a black coat, black as the night sky, and also had the white crescent moon symbol on it. Its hooves were greyish purple but somehow sparkled as if they were encrusted with diamonds. Its flowing wavy mane and tail was translucent purple which complemented well with its coat, it even had a black tiara, for Brimir's sake! But beyond all those things, Louise could only shake her head when she noticed that it had a horn of a unicorn and wings like a Pegasus. Her shock was the only thing keeping her from bouncing off the walls with glee.
Luna was also in a state of shock, though for a completely different reason. She did not know where she was but it was clearly already in the afternoon. The sudden time lapse was not her real concern though, it was those…creatures that were all around her. She was clearly in a castle and in a place where magic was abundant but she had never seen these things before in Equestria. They were no ponies. Instead, they reminded her of those monkeys that inhabit the forest for some reason. The one in front of her was rather small, even while walking on its hind legs. The creature's wavy pink hair reminded her of one of Twilight Sparkles friends, Fluttershy. It was wearing a white shirt with a black mantle on top of it, which was secured by a brooch that had a pentagram engraved on it. It also had a short skirt black stockings and brown boots. She scanned around and found the other creatures wearing similar attire and were each accompanied with an assortment of other creatures. Wherever she ended up in, the ones inhabiting it were clearly intelligent and seemed to have ties to magic as well. Luna nodded to herself that if this was first contact with a brand new civilization beyond Equestria's borders, then it is her duty as princess to give the best first impression that will make her sister and all of Equestria proud. Luna steeled herself and approached the pink haired one with her head held up high before opening her mouth to greet them.
"GREETINGS STRANGE CREATURES! WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA, GODDESS OF THE MOON AND CO-RULER OF THE LAND OF EQUESTRIA! TAKE US TO YOUR LEADER!" Luna proudly stated in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. It may have gone out of style after a thousand years on Equestria, but she could still use it when meeting intelligent creatures from a completely different place. She looked back at the pink haired one and saw that it had been sent back a few feet and was lying on her back with a look of nausea and confusion. Luna finally realized that she may have done that too close to the poor thing.
"WE APOLOGIZE LITTLE ONE! WE DID NOT REALIZE THAT YOUR DIMINUTIVE STATURE COULD NOT PREPARE YOU FOR OUR GREETING USING THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!" Luna explained with a royal looked around and saw that the other creatures were staring at her with what seemed like shocked expressions. Luna was starting to lose her confidence at the lack of any other reactions from the creatures. Did she do too much? Did she try to impose on them as she did on Ponyville back during Nightmare Night? She was starting to wish that Celestia was there when she noticed the pink one finally stand up. Luna looked at her and saw that she had something of a scowl on her face. The pink one suddenly stomped toward her in some sort of aggressive display before stopping right in front of her.
Louise couldn't comprehend why the mare she summoned could talk…but there was one thing she wanted to know first.
"Why did you yell at me?" The third daughter of Duke Valliere yelled at the princess of the moon.
"WE DID NOT YELL AT YOU, DIMINUTIVE ONE! WE ARE MERELY EXPRESSING OUR GREETING TO YOUR STRANGE SPECIES USING THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE! IT WAS TRADITION TO SPEAK LIKE THIS TO OUR SUBJECTS IN THE PAST SO WE THOUGHT IT PRUDENT TO USE IT HERE TO SHOW YOU THE GREATNESS OF OUR CULTURE'S TRADITIONS!" Luna explained in length, but Louise didn't seem to learn the first time as she was once again blasted back by the force of Luna's traditional use of logic.
"Umm…excuse me, if I may…miss…" Professor Colbert approached the purple mare with as little hostility as he could manage. He had dealt with magical creatures before, but nothing quite like what his student had just summoned. If this mare was a princess and a goddess as it claims, then the matter needed to be dealt with careful—
"LUNA! PRINCESS LUNA OF CANTERLOT! CO-RULER OF EQUESTRIA AND THE GODDESS OF THE MOON! SPEAKUP! YOU NEED NOT FEAR US!" Luna spoke out, the force of her voice making Professor Colbert lean backwards but the man managed to keep his balance.
"Yes…umm…Princess Luna…wouldn't you please lower your voice a bit? We can understand you just fine with this much volume." Colbert requested and pointed out while speaking to her. Luna looked around her and saw that everyone else was covering their ears save for a blue haired one that was wearing glasses. That one seemed to simply be deep in concentration as she read her book.
"HOW ABOUT NOW?" Luna asked, drawing from the lessons she had with Twilight Sparkle.
"Just a bit more, your Highness." Colbert requested and the princess nodded in response. She closed her eyes and took a breath before speaking once more.
"And now?" She asked. Luna had to admit, once she starts speaking in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, it was very difficult to get her volume down to normal speaking levels on her own without someone to tell her that it was soft enough.
"Much better, thank you princess." Colbert said approvingly with a smile and a bow. Luna nodded in return but noticed that the pink one who yelled at her was back.
"Is there something you need of us, little one?" Luna was able to ask before the girl pointed a small stick in front of her and muttered a few words. After which, she suddenly brought her face up to Luna and gave her a small kiss.
"While we appreciate the gesture of friendship. We…I…cannot say that I am familiar with this type of greeting." Luna stated in irony that she had yet to realize. A few moments after she was kissed by the pink one, she felt heat coming from her left hoof. She looked down upon it and saw that there were magic runes being engraved on it. It did not hurt, but Luna was curious as to what it is and why she felt like there was magic passing through her. It was strange, she should be feeling angry at what this girl had done to her but…she wasn't.
"What did you do to me little one?" Luna could not help but ask. The girl took a deep breath and gave her a smile that radiated confidence, relief, joy, and excitement.
"I am Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere. From now on, you will be my familiar."
…