//------------------------------// // Misunderstood Talents // Story: Luna's Misunderstood Night // by Purpleblackkiwi //------------------------------// “Thank you Miss Night.” Luna said her last goodbyes for the night as she used her magic to open the large doors to her room. She glanced behind her to notice the maid walking away, it was a sad sight to see how depleted she looked. The long night of events seemed to expended every drop of energy in her body. The small pony began to stumble as she drew near the end of the hall, the sound of her out-of-sync steps bouncing off the walls. She watched as the pony struggled with the small door, her own hoof too tired to raise. Sweet Night ended up pushing the door with her shoulder instead of her hoof. Luna smiled before walking through her door. The room was left as it was: the bed still in shambles as the maid never re-made it and a peculiar sight of soaked towels in a pile next to the sink across the room. Luna looked back outside the hall to make sure nopony approached her room. Satisfied that she was alone, she walked into the middle of her room. Then came a sight no pony ever saw besides the sisters themselves. A small aura began to originate at the posterior of the alicorn and began to move up the alicorn’s body. The aura looked like distorted light, like disrupted water in a pond or a mirage created in the hot deserts. The strange magic began at a crawling pace but slowly gained speed as it continued further and further and what was left would shock anypony. As the mirage made its way up, what was left of the noticeable signs of a rough night. A special spell created by alicorns for alicorn that was nothing more than a disguise spell, an illusion for anypony that laid their eyes upon the sisters. Luna flapped her wings as the spell faded, the sensation felt like a skin tight suit finally being torn off. She enjoyed the feeling of allowing the spell to fade, it was as if she was taking off a uniform she had been forced to wear. As more of her coat was exposed she could feel the air around her as morning began. The disguise didn’t cover anything drastic: only minor looks were adjusted, such as her pristine coat was now glistening with beads of sweat, and a small stain attained from her meals appeared on her coat. Her wings, previously flawless, now bore misplaced feathers, although the process was normal for any pegasi, the spell still hid ruffled feathers. Luna began to pull and align her own feathers using her mouth, a process known as preening. She would smooth out the oil through her feathers, and align any feather that was slightly bent. As Luna began to finish her preening she let out a giggle as she recalled last nights events. She woke up from her sleep with the knocks on her door, followed by a small voice asking for entry. Luna never understood how her sister could be so happy in the morning, each time she woke up she could have sworn she wanted to crash the nearest satellite in to Equestria. However her own conscience begged her to resume her responsibilities as the ruler of the night. Luna called the maid in and prepared for the lights in the room. Soon, the maid opened the door and turned on the lights. As she rose from her bed, she could almost feel the eyes of the pony watching her, boring holes into her, judging every move she made. Luna’s reimagining of the night was halted by a knock on the door. The knock was so sudden and abrupt Luna barely had any time to react. She began re-casting the spell to once again coat herself with the illusion. What she didn’t expect was the door to suddenly open, making way for her intruder. Luna quickly spun around in an attempt to stop the intruder before he or she saw her. “Halt! I command you to wait outside!” Luna cried out, however all was in vain as the pony continued to open the door. Luna began the spell, but it would take at least another minute or so to fully envelop her. She looked frantically around the room to find a way to cover herself. What her eyes fell upon where the soaking wet towels used last night. The same towels used to clean up a blunder could be used to keep one from happening. Luna quickly grabbed the towels with her magic, flinging the water soaked cloth across the room. Finally she created a strange veil between her and the incoming pony. “Luna I brought some of that wonderful tea along with a good helping of-” The intruding pony stopped dead in her tracks as she realized in the centre of the room was a floating sheet. The white veil was clearly soaking wet and was held up by a light blue aura. The pony quietly walked toward the sheets wondering why Luna had chosen to hold up such a strange choice of object. She currently held in her own magic a tray with a tea set. “Dear sister, Nightmare Night isn’t until fall, but I can see your enthusiasm to dress like a ghost.” Princess Celestia stifled a chuckle as she began to poke fun at her sister’s strange behaviour. “Tia! I didn’t know it was you!” Luna quickly brought the floating sheet down and quickly threw the wet towel back with the others, hoping to pass the awkward situation. “I-I’m sorry dear sister, I was putting up the illusion spell when-” Luna began to explain the courses of events that had caused her to use the towel. “Luna, it’s fine, I just came by to enjoy some tea with you.” Celestia began to levitate the tray to a nearby night stand, gently pouring the hot liquid into one of the cups. She then opened a jar of honey and placed a spoon next to it to allow Luna to mix her own honey. Luna began to scoop spoonfuls of honey into her hot tea, the sweet aroma was a reminder her work was done for the day. She mixed her tea until the honey fully dissolved, giving the tea a darker tint of brown. She then began taking small sips of the hot drink. Celestia in turn began to drink her own cup filled with what she knew was coffee. Coffee was something Luna was still growing accustomed to, the foul smelling liquid created and undeniable strong stench. She had once asked Celestia what the strange drink was, and was offered a sip. The dark brown, almost black drink did not taste well to her pallet. Having trouble keeping the liquid in her mouth, Luna barely managed to drink what she had taken in, what followed was an aftertaste that twisted her face to unimaginable shapes. The two alicorns sat together, slowly sipping at their drinks and enjoying the small precious seconds tick away. “So, Luna? I heard that you have recently devoured a pony.” Celestia gave a slight smile as she spoke to Luna awaiting her reaction. Luna quickly coughed up her drink, accidentally inhaling some of it. Luna quickly put down the cup as she turned her head to cough away from her sister. “Sister! Where in Equestria did you hear that?!” Luna demanded an answer to such an absurd accusation. “Well, a few of my servants have kept their ears open to new…..and strange information.” Celestia attempted to answer the now flustered Luna. Luna groaned as she realized another rumour had spread about her. Even if they stopped the pony who originally spread the rumour that wouldn’t stop others from believing it. “Although I do have to say, when they said you ate another pony I had assumed a different type of consumption.” Celestia gave a chuckle as she remembered the fine misunderstanding between her and the servants. “Sister!” Luna’s face was now painted in a tint of pink and red. The concept of jokes involving coitus were one of the first things she had unfortunately learned while attempting to socialize with local ponies. Celestia small chuckle grew into a full laughter as she watched her sister shift in discomfort. Celestia adored her younger sister, her return caused a large change within the palace. She created multiple accommodation, hired numerous staff, and went so far as to change her own schedule to spend time with her precious younger sister. “So, Luna, what did happen last night?” Celestia finally asked, although she didn’t expect for anything as outlandish as the rumours, though she still wanted to hear her sisters exploits. A small smile broke the previous frown as Luna once again recalled the humorous events. She began to tell Celestia the events of the night. She explained her discontent at the servants waking her up and how she hardly noticed the small mare which was assigned to her. She began to talk about how she heard the sink start, followed by a frequent dripping sound. How she had trouble keeping in her laughter as the poor maid struggled to clean the mess she had caused. The two began to laugh: reminiscing in the memory and the pure enjoyment of the story. “Sweet Night was it? I remember her. She recently came up to me begging for her to keep her job.” Celestia recalled the fear on the poor mares face. “W-why? What reason did she have to fear for her job?” Luna questioned, she wondered how such a sweet mare could ever do anything to fear for her job. Celestia was about to tell Luna that it was because Sweet Night had made eye contact with her, but quickly re-thought her statement. Although the situation was humorous in itself, she didn’t want to give another reason to break the smile on her little sister’s face. “Oh. she happened to drop my cake. It was a shame, but nothing to worry over.” Celestia lied hoping her face wouldn’t betray her. Celestia looked down at her small cup of coffee, the bitter taste was something she had grown accustomed too as the managing the night and day began to take its toll on her. When she saw that her looks had severely deteriorated due to restless nights, that was when she created a spell to keep her appearance up. Of course as the years passed and Celestia grew accustomed to the long days and nights, and after some time she was able to balance both while still getting some sleep. Celestia noticed Luna beginning to yawn a glazed look covering her eyes. “Dear sister I believe it is time for you to go to sleep.” Celestia began insisting Luna go to sleep, levitating the tray and cups away from her. “B-but.” Luna began to protest her sister’s decision. “No buts, both of us have a lot of things to do in the coming summer solstice.” Celestia knew the upcoming preparations would be tiring, and sleep should be taken whenever given. Luna gave a large huff as she realized her protests were in vain. The stubborn look was only temporary, as her face lifted up realizing something. “Will you visit me later Tia?” Luna asked hoping to share a small pastry with her sister later. “Would you like me to bring some snacks next time?” Celstia asked with a smile. Luna nodded her head vigorously, hoping Celestia would bring her favourites. “Okay then, I will return tonight.” Celestia then turned around and left through the double doors, the glow of her magic slowly creaking the doors open and then closing them behind her as she left. Luna walked until she was besides her bed, looking to see if her sister would return. When she was satisfied she would not, Luna began to fall in a trance, her eyes slowly closing as her mind began to drift and wander. Although it wasn’t part of her work, Luna decided to visit Sweet Night in her dreams. When she opened her eyes she saw that she was in a small room and from the looks of the contents of the room it was most likely that of a small filly. Luna decided it was time to walk around to take in the contents of the dream. She found a window in the room and looked out to get a bearing of where she was. Outside the window wasn’t more houses, but a vast field of empty hills. It was clearly night time as the small stars along with her beautiful moon filled the dark sky. Taking a closer look, it still held the silhouette of Nightmare Moon. Although a painful sight, it wasn’t what Luna came for. She began to look around the house she was put in. The walls where nothing more than wooden beams with plaster filling in the gaps in between. On the windowsill was a small potted plant, a simple sunflower filled the dirt within the pot. As Luna began to look around she suddenly heard a large clatter, like furniture being dropped. Wondering what it was she began to look out of the room into a hallway looking in the direction of the noise. What she saw though was a small filly running towards her, in a panic, Luna leapt out of the way of the filly as she ran into her room. Perhaps the small filly had dropped dishes and was running away in fear? Luna had no idea what had just happened, all she saw was the small filly crying into her pillow. Luna decided to head in the opposite direction of the way the filly ran, hoping to find some answers. She happened upon a dining room, a stallion was putting up a chair the furniture that had obviously fallen. “Oh Sweet Night.” The stallion spoke; it was obvious that the small filly was Sweet Night, even with the uncanny resemblance. It was then a mare walked into the room her hair in a mess and her eyes looked as if she had not found sleep in weeks. It was also obvious this was the mother of Sweet Night as they seemed like spitting images of each other. “What happened dear?” The mare spoke through a weak voice. “I told her she has to start helping taking care of her younger sister.” The mare only gave a wince “I’m guessing she didn’t like the decision very much.” The stallion shook his head in agreement. “I know it’s not her cutie mark, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. This farm has been our live sake.” It was then that Luna noticed the cutie mark of the stallion, it wasn’t a gardening tool, nor anything to do with agriculture in general. On his flank was something that looked like a lute, or a guitar as she was told. “A musician?” Luna thought to herself. Luna decided it was time to check on Sweet Night, as she walked away she could barely hear talk of the solar solstice festival coming. She began to think of the family Sweet Night grew up with, it had seemed like they were caring parents only with tough situations. Luna walked into the room of Sweet Night to find that she ceased crying; instead, she was looking out her window, looking into the night sky. Sweet Night, even after realizing her dream, she still couldn’t pursue her talent to her heart’s content. Although Celestia created programs to help fillies just like this, some ponies never found those programs or other events made it impossible for them to use their special talent. Luna watched as Sweet Night gazed into the night sky, watching her head scan the entire sky and get lost within the stars. All of a sudden a tinge of guilt began to grow in the pit of Luna’s stomach. When she had thought to enter Sweet Night’s dream she expected to learn what she thought of her, not private matters of her past. Luna stood behind the small filly, wondering whether or not to disturb the her. If she did then, Sweet Night would remember her when she woke up, Luna raised a hoof, about to tap the little filly on her shoulder. Until the fear of what she would say occurred to her. Once she remembered that Luna snuck into her dream, then surely it wouldn’t reflect well on her. Would she be disgusted that she would use her magic to pry into her life? As Luna pondered on her decision she began to hear a faint hoof steps, what confused her was that she could hear hoof steps on both wood flooring and on marble tile. Luna quickly realized someone was approaching her in the dream and in real life. Luna quickly broke from her trance to await the coming pony. As the door opened, Celestia followed through, poking her head in to look for her dear sister. “Y-yes Tia.” Luna stumbled as she quickly waved off the trance she was slowly emerging from. “Oh nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that you’ll be a special guest this Summer Sun celebration.” Celestia said through the small crack in the door. “Yes sister I know.” Luna voice came out a lot harsher than she had intended to. She quickly raised her hoof to her mouth as she realized what her intentions had sounded. Perhaps the sight of Nightmare Moon in the dream had hit an old nerve within her. A noticeable look of disappointment and concern appeared on the pearing head of Celestia. Luna quietly placed her hoof back on the ground. “I’m sorry dear sister; yes I look forward to the celebration,” Celestia once again left Luna to herself, the quiet room once again left vacant to its one pony. Luna reached for sheet as she began to climb onto her bed. Perhaps today was a lot more than she expected. As she placed hoof after hoof, Luna began to fall into a comfortable position lying flat on her bed. She laid her head against her cool pillow before her thoughts began to emerge. Thoughts that kept standing between her and a comfortable sleep. Words that repeated worries and stress to her repeatedly, words of regret that reminded her every second of what she wished was different. The Summer Sun Celebration was as celebration to many including her sister, however to her it was anniversary of her mistakes. The day 1000 years ago she betrayed everything she knew.