Taking a Walk
By: Flammenwerfer
The progression of events was so much faster than she could have ever imagined: One moment, darkness ruled over her very being and nopony could even hope to measure a response powerful enough to conceivably stop her maniac quest for eternal night; The next, she was powerless and full of an emotion most foreign to her: remorse. In the blink of an eye and a flash of magic, a vile quest for total domination was brought to a grinding halt. In the wake of the events, Princess Luna, the revered—and in many ponies’ opinions, infamous—ruler of the Night had returned to what seemed to be a very welcoming Equestria; another concept alien to the out-of-touch diarch: forgiveness.
The magic of the Elements of Harmony, though she was grateful for their work, was not kind to her in the slightest with respect to her physical form. Princess Luna was reverted to the equivalent of an adolescent mare. Though, with the accompanying weakness and fatigue, she might as well have been a filly. After hours worth of celebration of her return, personal repentance and assurances from her sister, Princess Celestia, and an official re-coronation, the newly reinstated Night Princess was returned to the castle and she passed out for the entire remainder of the day, night, and the following day until the onset of twilight, when she began stirring.
Princess Celestia ensured food, water, and other forms of nourishment had been left right at her bedside should she inevitably awaken from her much needed slumber. As well, a cadre of Guards and other Night Staff had been commissioned to be on standby, ready to be at her bedside should she need anything due to her weakened state. While the gesture was most appreciated, Princess Luna was not fond of being waited on as if she was in an elderly-care home… her pride refused to allow it, so she had resigned to not use the aid unless absolutely necessary.
The bundled-up Princess’s eyes began to flutter open, finally revealing her teal-blues to the night of Equestria, one that she had not born witness to for exactly a millennium. Just the right amount of light from her moon above filtered in, ensuring darkness did not completely pervade her surroundings yet allowing her to adjust her eyes properly to her environment. With her eyes half-lidded, Luna’s thoughts finally began coming to life.
Comfortable sleep… a priceless commodity and one which I have missed thoroughly. Akin to death, sans the commitment.
The countless sheets, blankets, and comforters that shielded the weakened Lunar Alicorn from the cold were most inviting… gently urging her back towards peaceful slumber. However, a gurgling from her stomach prevented such an action from taking place.
Hunger. We meet once more…
Reluctantly and with minor difficulty, Luna shifted to her her left side, where a large spread on a cart had been left for her eating desires. Having adjusted more to the room’s light as well as becoming more aware of her surroundings, she decided to sit up and peer upon what was laid before her: fresh greens of assorted varieties, more fruits and vegetables than she could remember, four large pitchers of water and a couple different juices of different colors. Her magic was still in a process of recharging, so use of it even for menial tasks such as levitation were completely out of the question. So, sitting on her haunches, Luna started nudging random items with her muzzle onto a single plate for her to nosh… though ‘gorge’ would be a much more apt term once the Lunar Princess began inhaling her food; partially out of her body crying out for nutrients, but mostly due to the fact that the quicker she satiated her stomach, the quicker she could get back to sleep.
Three plates and four cups of water and juice later, Luna was finally, comfortably full. After stifling a belch, she turned over onto her right side again and bundled back up… but quickly found that sleep was much less forthcoming this time around. The singular minutes turned into thirty, which turned into an hour, and her eyes refused to stay shut.
This is most unprecedented. And unwelcome.
She laid there with her eyes wide open, though obviously miffed at the developments at hoof. As much as she would have liked to return to her own dreamland, it appeared that fate had other plans for her. While she was more than willing to lay in the same position until she eventually did fall asleep (however long that would take), her body was quick to point out that every position she laid in was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. With a sigh of defeat, she finally conceded.
Very well.
With some strain, she sat back up on her haunches and looked to the floor by the right side of her bed. She could have sworn that the distance to the floor had doubled since she fell asleep. Nevertheless, with a little bit of contortion and energy, she fell to her hooves.
“Ach!” she grimaced in pain and undue pressure, remembering the hard way that muscle atrophy did not have the most pleasant ways of reminding her of its existence. Shakily, though, she managed to stand completely straight, though her joints would fight her every step. Nevertheless, she moved to her window which opened up out to her balcony, quite a noticeable limp in her steps.
I am a… damn invalid. Ow…
Nudging her door open and limping out onto her balcony, fresh, night air hit her muzzle. The feeling was welcomed and she closed her eyes while taking in a deep breath. Looking out over the land… her lands, she spied a few lights still remaining in the distant Ponyville, undoubtedly from those performing the final preparations for bedtime. However, what really drew her attention was that there were much brighter lights coming from Canterlot proper, but the angling of her balcony did not allow her to see more than a few streets. The luminosity, even from a distance, was intense enough that it piqued her interest.
At this time of night? Most curious.
It appeared, at least to her, that something grand was happening in Canterlot and she felt compelled, as Ruler of the Night, to investigate such matters. While it was midnight, it was certainly by no means early. A thousand years prior, ponies still had to worry about beasts from the much more unkempt Everfree Forest and Whitetail Woods stalking at night. Both natural landmarks existed and were quite healthy, so surely little was different? As well, relations with the Griffon Kingdom were not the most amicable at the time.
It is my onus. Let us take a walk.
Limping back inside, the first order of business was to search for her cloak. While it was not terribly cold outside, the lack of muscle on Luna’s recovering form allowed what little chill existed to affect her much more substantially. After a brief search, her brown, if oversized, overcoat hung on a coathanger right next to the entrance of the bathroom. It was a bit higher up on the rack than expected, and since getting on her hind legs and use of her wings were out of the question of her physical capabilities, she resolved to merely yank it onto the floor and rummage into it until the holes lined up properly. After an ordeal that took much longer than necessary for obvious reasons, Luna was finally dressed in her cloak.
Perfect.
Before leaning down to let the hood fall over her head, Princess Luna noticed that her mane, a light blue and distinctly lacking its ethereal nature due to an absence of magic, was wholly unkempt. She moved to find her tiara to at least straighten it out, but quickly realized that other than stationed guards and castle staff, nopony would be up. Quite frankly, with her strength better spent elsewhere, her willingness to care waned.
My attire shall not be necessary.
Luna moved to her door and carefully opened it with her hoof, peeking out to check her surroundings. Immediately, two Lunar Guards reacted to the door opening. They moved to speak but Princess Luna merely held up a shaky hoof, silencing their protests. She was quick to give them both a nod of assurance, that she would be just fine, so they could return to their posts. They would remain and wait for her to return… they quickly got the message. Throwing the hoodie over her head, the Princess closed and stumbled out of her door, relying on the leverage of the stone wall for a mere moment before continuing down the Lunar Quadrant.
I will need to explore this new castle in the near future… but tonight is not this night.
Nevertheless, she took time to admire what adorned the much more modernly built walls and corridors with what light was let in through the glass windows. Tapestries of coats-of-arms she did not recognize, portraits of indubitably important figureheads in recent to not so recent Equestrian history, as well as marble busts of random ponies.
So much history to catch up on. So many walls to explore and learn… Surely I need to relearn the whole nation.
Luna continued to trot with some residual pain in her joints, though it was masked by her own thoughts on what she was seeing, as well as the long road ahead of her she had to tread. Alone with her thoughts save the occasional stationed guard, insecurities began to return with the figurative tide: she was a thousand years behind, how could she hope to acclimate and catch up? What of those who still feared her a tyrant? What of the new laws? Her nation’s borders? International relations? It all seemed so overwhelming, even for a mare as powerful as she.
Well, not now at least.
What never left her thoughts, though, was her original mission: what was going on in Canterlot? Naturally, she could not simply leave the castle and venture out, so she would need a much better vantage point. That was when she came to a stairway leading into the Lunar Observatory, which would have been her best bet. Looking up at the beginning of the spiral staircase, Luna knew that the smart thing to do would be to go back to her room, but something called to her. She needed to see what lay outside. With a trepidatious first step in what would be an agonizingly long and probably painful journey upward, Princess Luna hefted herself up. Her atrophied muscles and joints screamed at her to stop as they were finally getting the exercise that was necessary, but not wholly ready for. Step by step, the cloaked alicorn concentrated, reminding her of what her goal was through the pain, though of course, she was in little rush: the night had not even reached its apex.
I shall… stop here for now. Gahh.
Unsure of how far she actually got, she steadied herself against the wall of the staircase, leaning her form on it and breathing heavily while her aching muscles rested themselves if only for a short time. Fancying another look upward, she started anew, walking one step at a time. As sore as she was, she did have to admit that she was feeling quite well. The fresh air did wonders for her lungs and this little journey would surely quell her insomnia at its end.
Most laborious walk I have ever taken!
After what felt like an hour to her, she stopped yet again for a few minutes. Little beads of sweat matted her coat on her face but nevertheless, she was undeterred. Mustering her reserves, Luna pushed onward until finally, the stone steps met an equally-planed wooden floor. What technology stood in the observatory was of little concern to the Lunar Princess as her point of interest was straight in front: the observation balcony. Limping her way across the room for the final steps, she was greeted by a sight that she certainly did not expect.
Wait… there is nothing of interest. Then why a large volume of lights?
She expected a festival of some sort, but she knew of no holiday that fell on this particular day, and the ceremony for her return was the day prior. Why, then, did it seem that nopony was fast asleep? She leaned against the archway, letting the fresher air filter through her lungs as she pondered this phenomenon, yet no answer seemed to be immediately foreseeable. But… maybe that was just it. There simply was no reason for the city lights! But that would mean…
Nightlife…?
What seemed like a completely foreign concept to her slowly began to have merit. Her reason for betraying her country and sister in being corrupted into the Nightmare was one of uselessness: she felt unappreciated during her rule of the night. It was true that in her time, all the ponies slept during her reign save for extraordinarily special occasions. Yet, here was Canterlot, the capital of her great nation, seemingly refusing to sleep. That, is when it truly made sense to her:
They are enjoying… basking in the night! In my night!
Once the revelation was made and she accepted what could not be anything but the truth into her heart, a gleeful, genuine smile etched itself on her face. At the same time, her legs finally gave out, forcing her to, indifferently, slide down the archway into a much more comfortable sitting position. She had absolutely no energy to return to her chambers and quite honestly, she could care less. She wished only to see how long these lights lasted, how long her ponies truly enjoyed her realm. Luna felt a slight dampness on her face and quickly realized it was not sweat that she prodded with her hoof. Turning back towards the beautiful spectacle of a lit-up Canterlot before her, what seemed to be a generic and common sight for any pony of the modern era was a great wonder of the world for Luna… who had no qualms with spilling more gentle tears of pure happiness and joy while she chuckled to herself jubilantly.
She knew her energy would not last, though. Ironically, her dreamland called to her… her energy expenditures slowly catching up with her as her body calmed down. The inevitable was upon her, and she took little issue of falling asleep to the sentimental sight before her. Before Luna could completely leave the waking realm, she stirred for just a moment longer to feel a presence behind her; a warm, comforting presence, which was affirmed when she felt another soft coat press into her, and an alabaster-white wing wrap around her cloaked form.
“Welcome back, Lulu,” Princess Celestia cooed happily into her sleepy sister’s ear. Luna’s grin planted itself firmly, if painfully, on her face and she herself had a few words before she finally lost the battle to sleep:
“It is most wondrous to be home.”