“NO!”
Luna yelled out. Her anger poured forth with each step of her hooves. She angrily stomped about her room for he was unable to remain still. Her fury made her blood run hot and fast through her veins putting her into a restless state of being. She kicked a pillow hard and it hit the far wall with barely a sound. All that was accomplished was Luna making herself more angry. Good thing she cast a silencing spell to keep others from hearing her scream.
“No, no, no!” She muttered to herself.
The reason behind her anger was from the night before. It was the same night that Cadence had come to talk to her. They had a nice talk. Luna spoke of her love for Spike, and how they were connected. She could feel it, the connection, between them. It made her smile It also made Cadence smile, seeing the love they shared. That was also when it happened.
Cadence had invited Luna to late lunch. Luna accepted happily and walked with Cadence to the door. However, as Luna neared the center of the room she was overcome with a sudden sense of. . . something. Dread? Fear? Panic? Pain? All of the above? Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Whatever it was Luna new in her heart that it had something to do with Spike. She stopped where she was in the middle of her bedroom, and collapsed. Cadence rushed over to a Luna bordering on tears. A moment of silence passed and then Luna felt something else. A sudden surge of power that quickly flashed and then left just as quickly. It was a familiar energy that she rushed to. Luna rushed only to find the girls standing in the throne room without Spike, but with their eyes filled with tears.
“No!” Luna said as she kicked another pillow, “It can't be! I cannot lose him, not again. It simply cannot happen.”
Luna paced around her bedroom a few times and looked around. IN her anger she had completely wrecked the room. Her bedding was all over the room. Sheets on one side and the comforter on the other with the pillows dotting all the other places in between. She had piles of books out that were now scattered around. An assortment of other papers and miscellaneous items were also loose and contributed to the mess. She saw it, yet she didn't care. Her mind quickly passed over it as her current train of though barred through.
“I promised myself after the last time that I would not get emotional. I am not going be reduced to some depressed mare stuck in bed that can't do her duties. I will keep up on my royal duties, I have to,” Luna stopped and took a good at herself in her standing mirror. She looked about as good as her bedroom did. “I have to. Spike would want that.”
Just then Luna heard something just outside her door. Hooves? A pony? Were they going to come in? She really didn't want to talk to any pony right now. Even her sister, and that was probably the pony on the other side of the door. A thousand years had passed and yet Celestia was still predictable in some ways. Always trying to help. But the sounds stopped at Luna's door. They did not continue, so she decided to simply ignore them. They would go away in time, whoever they were.
Celestia stood outside the doors to Luna's chambers. She stared at the intricate design of the moon and forgot that she had raised her hoof to knock. But she didn't knock. She stood there, in that place and listened for her dear sister. She heard nothing. She didn't move, she didn't knock.
“You too, huh?”
Celestia moved again in what felt like ages. She turned her head to see Twilight standing a few paces away. Celestia moved and started walking with Twilight at her side. “I just don't know what to do Twilight.”
“None of us do. Not even Cadence could help her right now.”
“But I should be able to,” Celestia said, “I am her sister. I have always been there for her, but now- now I am stuck, frozen in place whenever I get close to her door.”
“I know, Celestia. I'm sorry.
“Hasn't this castle seen enough pain and sadness,” Celestia asked, “Why can we not get one moment of peace? Why does this have to happen, and to Luna of all ponies?”
As the pair walked they turned a corner to see Cadence walking toward them. Her head was low and she had a sullen look about her, as did most of the ponies that knew about Spike. She didn't even know they were there until the last moment when she very nearly ran headlong into them.
Cadence lifted her head at the last moment and noticed her fellow princess's. She jerked herself back and up quickly. It was then Celestia and Twilight noticed she held something on her back. She would have dropped it if it weren't for her quick reflexes. Cadence caught it and put it back up safely on her back in between her wings.
“Oh, Cadence,” Twilight said, “Are you on your way to see Luna?”
“Yes, I am. I have something for her,” Cadence stated nodding at the box on her back.
“Cadence, I am afraid that gifts will do my sister no good right now,” Celestia said.
“I know, Tia, I know. But this isn't from me. It's from Spike.”
Immediately both Celestia and Twilight's heads shot up. Due mostly to shock the two were stunned for a moment.
“What do you mean from Spike?” Celestia demanded answers.
Cadence got a little nervous telling them this. She had hoped to do this without anypony else knowing. She didn't want to explain what Spike had said to her. She didn't want to be the pony ponies blamed, and she knew that is what would happen.
“A while ago me and Spike talked,” Cadence said with a sigh, “He gave me this and told me to give it to Luna if anything ever happened to him. I never thought anything would, or else I would have tried to stop him. I am so sorry.”
Twilight's wing came around to console Cadence. It wrapped around her as Twilight moved to stand next to her. Cadence's eyes would have watered, but she was done crying. She had shed enough tears already.
“It's okay, Cadence,” Twilight said, “You know how Spike got. There was no stopping him.”
“I know, but-”
“But nothing, Cadence,” Celestia said, “You have nothing to apologize for, but if you don't deliver that to Luna you will. Now go, and do as Spike wanted.”
Twilight and Celestia moved past Cadence and left her to go on by herself. She walked the rest of the way to Luna's chambers in silence. She turned down the hall that lead to her doors and was surprised by the silence. Celestia had mentioned this silence before but now she was hearing it for herself, or not hearing it. Nothing at all. It was like walking down the path to meet the Reaper himself. There was a silence that filled the hall. It was heavy and oppressive, the kind of silence that only comes from loss. Cadence had only felt this one time, when Shining Armor was infected by the Madness and it was nothing like this. This was so much. . . more. When she finally came upon Luna's door she found herself in the same place as Celestia. Her hoof raised to knock, but her whole body frozen in place.
Cadence stood there with her hoof barely an inch from from the door. She was ready to knock, she had to knock. She knew she had to. She had something for Luna. It was from Spike. She needed to give it to her. But she didn't want to intrude on Luna, and that silence. It put her on edge. In this time of emotions and loss silence made it all unnerving and that was all that was coming from Luna's bedroom. So Cadence decided to face the silence.
Cadence didn't knock on the door and decided to just open it instead. She gently nudged the door open just a little. Just enough to see inside of the room, but it wasn't enough. The whole room was dark. Not even a single light was on. No candles were lit, she had the curtains drawn so that even the light of the moon and the stars would not shine in.
Cadence nudged the door open a bit farther. The light from the hall shone in through the cracked door. Cadence saw in that one strip of light the mess of the room. Bedding had been thrown all over. The sheets were in part of the room and the comforter was in front of her now. Several boos were strewn about the room looking like they were all tossed without care.
“Luna?”
Cadence called out to her in the darkness. She was already worried for her and this silence was doing nothing to alleviate that worry. It was only making it worse. Cadence waited for a response, any response. A shuffling of sheets, a ruffle of pillows, a sniffle from crying, anything. She waited and listened for any sign of Luna, but she heard nothing in response. Cadence sighed heavily and opened the door. More light shone in, but all she saw was more of the same thing. She walked over to an overturned table and lifted it back up to all four legs. She sat down and placed the box on the table.
“Luna, I am so sorry for you. I know it means next to nothing, but I kinda know what its like. The one I love was taken by the Madness, too. I cried for days. If Spike wasn't there, I would not have him back. Because that is just the kind of dragon he was. Kind, generous, selfless. He was good.”
Cadence stared at the box for a moment longer. She thought about what lay inside of it. She only saw it once when Spike showed it to her, and now she was doing what Spike asked her too. She was giving it to Luna.
“Luna, I have something here for you. A gift, but it isn't from me. I know you don't need any gifts. This is actually from Spike. He gave it to me a short while ago and told me to give it to you-”
Cadence stopped talking just then. She thought about the words she was speaking, and how many of them she wanted to say. Did she really want to say all of it? Should she? Even as the Princess of Love she was still clueless about this.
“Spike told me to give this to you,” Cadence quickly got out, “If anything was to happen to him. I swear, Luna I had no idea this was going to happen.”
Cadence got up to leave. Her head hung low as she left. She moved through the door and slowly closed it with her magic. As the last sliver of light was slowly getting smaller and fading away Cadence whispered one last thing to Luna. “I'm sorry.”
Luna waited a moment longer until all sound of hooves were long gone. She stepped out her shadowed place and approached the table. On it sat a small box. The box was a plain box from the Crystal Empire that could be purchased a dozen places. The ribbon tied around the box was the same. It was definitely from Spike. He never cared much for the big and extravagant things, and he knew Luna didn't either.
“Spike, what could this possibly be?” Luna asked, but there was no pony there to answer her but herself. “You should know that no gift could ever make me move on. No gift could ever make my grief and my anger subside. So what, Spike, could this possibly be? What is you think that will make me feel better in a time like this?!”
Luna's rising anger caused her to tear into the box much more violently than she originally intended to. With just one swipe of her hooves the ribbon was gone and the top part of the box was cleaved off. Luna breathed heavily as her anger simmered, and then she looked down. And she saw the flower. That flower that Spike had worked so hard to create just for Luna. That flower with the long stem and big pedals. That gorgeous flower the color of the deepest blue nighttime skies matched with an almost ethereal white and with also a tinge of purple that he added later. Luna stared at this flower in a state of awe. She slowly lifted the flower and the pot it was in out of the box. She very carefully placed it down on the table. She was just about to toss the box aside when she saw one last thing in the box. A small glimmer of something at the bottom. She reached inside to reveal a letter with her name written elegantly across the front. Spike must have written this.
Luna
If you're reading this than I have failed. I failed to stop the Madness and whatever is controlling it. More than that, I failed you. I made you a promise once. I promised to come back to you and I wanted more than anything else in this world to keep that promise. But I honestly don't know if I am able to. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you would never have let me leave if I had told you. I asked Cadence to give you this with a flower.
I call it Luna's Grace. A flower I made just for you. I reminds me of everything I love about you. I poured my heart and soul into it. It was easy, because all I had to do was think of you and you never leave my thoughts. I know that wherever I am, as long as you have this you will have a part of me with you there. I know it is not the same as having me there, but I hope that this will help you.
Luna, if you are reading this I'm sorry, but always remember how felt about you. I love you Luna. From the ground I walk on to the stars above, I love you. As the stars are my witness, I love you and I will never stop loving you. My only regret is that I cannot tell you in person. Whenever you look at the flower just remember the love we shared and I will never be far away.
Love, Spike
~~~
“I can't imagine what Luna's going through,” Rarity said, “She thought she lost Spike once before already. Now she may very well have lost him for good.”
“That's not true, Rarity,” Twilight said, “Somehow, we will get Spike back. I just don't know how yet.”
“Yeah, Twilight, you keep figuring that out,” Rainbow Dash blurted out, “It's not like this is an ancient evil from a time that ponies don't even realize existed because it was so long ago. Oh, wait. It is!”
“You're sarcasm ain't helping, Dash,” Applejack stated as she pulled Dash back down to the floor.
“I feel bad for Princess Luna,” Fluttershy said, “She really loves Spike, and now she isn't able to be with him. And right as me and Discord are coming out. I was hoping we could go out on double dates and have fun doing couples stuff together.”
“That does sound like a wonderful idea, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “I wish I could provide any insight into this Madness fiasco, but even my power does little to actually effect it. Mostly I just annoy it. Now, the only I thing I care about is protecting Fluttershy.”
“That's all well and good, Discord, but what about everypony else,” Twilight asked, “Not just us, but all of Equestria. What about them? The Madness is slowly swallowing everything, all of Equestria. It might get pretty lonely if you and Fluttershy are the only ones left.”
“It won't come to that, Twilight,” Celestia said, “I understand Discord's feelings for Fluttershy. I also understand your feeling of hope, Twilight, and share it. Somehow, Spike will come back to us.”
“Once again, I will ask it,” Dash groaned, “HOW?! How are we going to get Spike back when he was the only one who could even touch the Madness without being affected?”
“I will bring him back.”
All talking stopped after those words and all eyes turned to see Luna standing there. She had collected herself quite well. Her mane was back to normal and even had an extra shine to it. Her coat was smooth and clean. And her eyes, they were not filled with the anger and the grief they had all expected to see. Instead, they were filled with a determination and intensity they had only before seen in Spike himself. The one thing that was new about her, was the flower she wore in her mane, just above her left ear.
“Luna, what do you mean?” Cadence asked.
“I mean just what I stated,” Luna replied, “I will go and bring Spike back.”
“But, how?” Twilight asked.
“I guess I'll just have to use a touch of grace,” Luna said, “But one way or another I will be getting Spike back.”