A short time after after tucking Snowdrop in for bed, Luna sat in her room, illuminated only by the light of the moon. Lying on her desk was the ancient book she had recovered a few nights prior. While it had a vast collection of ancient spells and incantations, none of them even came close to what she needed.
“Oh, father… did you not consider that a pony might need this?”
Still, she pressed on, seeking the spell which would be be able to help her.
“Princess, you are required for the night court.”
Luna lifted her head and glared at the guard who had come to her.
“Why should we be present for that? Nopony ever wishes to ask us for guidance. They only ever go to our sister.”
“Be that as it may, you are required to hold night court,” the guard said. “It is tradition. And you know how seriously your sister takes these matters.”
Luna huffed, but did not say anything.
“We shall be there shortly.”
As the guard nodded and walked away, Luna groaned. She then looked down towards the book.
“I’m sorry, Snowdrop.”
With the exception of a pair of guards and Luna, the throne room was empty. If the sun had been shining, there would have been ponies pouring in, impatient to make themselves heard. But since nopony was awake during the night, nopony ever showed up.
Luna poked idly at a strand of her mane in an attempt to entertain herself. Ultimately, all she could do was remind herself of how much time she was losing; time she could spend protecting the dreams of her subjects, creating beauty in the night sky, or finding the spell she so desperately needed.
Oh, why am I still here?! Nopony ever bothers to come to me!
“Princess Luna?”
The dark blue alicorn looked away from her mane, noticing a trio of ponies approaching her. One was a yellow earth pony mare with a pink mane, another a dark blue pegasus stallion with a light blue mane, and finally, a violet unicorn mare with a silver and blue mane. As far as Luna could tell, all three of them were commoners.
Luna was surprised to see them, though not particularly hopeful; ponies occasionally came to the night court, though it was invariably either to protest a verdict set down by Celestia, or to complain about the night. However, as the three ponies marched towards her, she noticed something different about them; they were looking at her not with fear, anger, or even indifference. Instead, they were looking upon her with adoration.
“Princess Luna!” the stallion said, stopping at the steps to the throne. “It is such an honor to meet you at last!”
Luna’s ears perked up. Nopony had ever told her that they’d been honored to meet her.
“Thou art… honored to meet us?”
“Your majesty, we have always held you in much higher regard than your sister,” said the stallion. “My name is Night Wing, and these are my associates, Posey and Twilight Lulamoon.”
He pointed his hoof at the earth pony mare, and then at the unicorn. Both mares bowed respectfully, before Twilight began to speak.
“Permission to speak freely, your majesty.”
“Permission granted,” Luna said, still surprised that these ponies had come to her.
“When I was a little filly, I had some terrible nightmares,” said Twilight. “I would be unable to sleep at night due to my nightmares, and I would be unable to stay awake in the day. My parents tried to help me, but there was little they could do for me.”
“Nightmares?” Luna asked. “Dost thou mean…”
“Yes, princess. One night, you came into my dreams and dispelled the nightmare. You then helped me realize that it was a projection of my own fear, and that I needed to overcome that on my own. If you hadn’t done so, I might never have gotten my cutie mark.”
The mare pointed towards her flank, which was adorned with a crescent moon surrounded by six-pointed stars. Seeing it, as well as hearing her story, gave Luna the smallest amount of pride.
“There’s more,” said Night Wing. “When I was young, I loved to watch the stars. I know that not many ponies stay up at night, but… there was always something comforting about the stars. And the moon is beautiful as well. It has always been an inspiration to me.”
“And the night is very important for everypony,” said Posey. “After all, the day is very loud and bright. It can be very disorienting sometimes. The night is peaceful and quiet, and even though some ponies don’t like the darkness, I think it has a unique sort of beauty to it.”
Luna tried to keep her neutral royal expression. However, the fact that there were three ponies standing before her who had come to appreciate the night like she’d always wanted was making it very hard for her to do so. Slowly, she allowed herself to smile.
“We… are honored that you think so,” she said finally. “But why have you not come sooner?”
“We were never quite sure what to think, your highness,” said Twilight. “I had only experienced your company in my dream, so I did not know if you were really there, or if it had been a dream. And we always believed that you would believe us to be beneath you. After all, we are not nobles or foreign dignitaries, or any sort of pony that could merit your attention.”
Luna sighed internally. She didn’t like how disconnected she and her sister were from the common ponies. She had often made suggestions to alleviate the problem, but Celestia always refused to take any action.
“But then we found out that you had adopted a filly.”
Luna’s eyes widened.
“We were amazed to find out that you had adopted a filly, especially one with her… problem,” explained Night Wing. “But for a time, some of us believed that you would eventually tire of her, and would abandon her. And yet you have continued to raise her with love and kindness.”
“We always admired you, but we always thought of you as a mighty ruler who was unapproachable by the common pony,” said Posey. “But seeing you raise your daughter with such devotion, even in spite of the problems she faces, made us realize that you were still a pony, regardless of how powerful you are.”
No longer bothering to hide her joy, Luna slowly rose off her throne and began to approach the three ponies.
“My little ponies… I have spent my entire life being overshadowed by my sister. No matter how hard I tried, my attempts were always met with cold indifference. On the rare occasion that ponies have spoken to me, they have always treated me as a being so high above them that they fear to speak openly, for fear of offending me. I am grateful that you should come to me to express your admiration so openly.”
The three ponies smiled excitedly before Night Wing began to speak once more.
“We are not the only ones, your highness. There are many others. We come here in representation of our organization.”
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“Organization?”
“That is correct,” said Night Wing. “We call ourselves the New Lunar Society. We admire the night and all its gifts. However, because of this, other ponies see us as outsiders. Many even believe us to be a danger to other ponies.”
Luna frowned. Ponies were being considered a threat simply because they preferred the night?
“And this is why we came to you, Princess. We wish for everypony to admire the night as much as we do. However, as you must surely be aware, ponies tend to be rather fearful of the night, and so they do not give us a chance to show them its real beauty and majesty.”
“And so you wish for my endorsement?” asked Luna.
“We would be honored, your majesty.”
Luna considered what the ponies before her were saying. If it was true that there were ponies who loved her nights, then wasn't it her duty to help them? And even if it wasn't the simple fact that they appreciated her should be more than enough reason for her to assist them in any way possible?
Finally, she made her choice.
“How can I help?”
The three ponies grinned.
“Well,” said Twilight, “we are attempting to build a town of our own. One where visitors can come to learn about the wonders of the night. However, we lack materials, bits, horsepower, and a place where we can build.”
“And you wish for me to provide you with the resources that you need?”
“Well, if you want to,” said Posey. “Really, it's more like we need somepony to serve as our representative so we can collect what we need. And... we thought having our own princess would improve our chances.”
Our own princess.
The words rung in Luna's mind. Her older sister had always been everypony's princess. But not anymore.
“Please,” she said, a smile forming on her lips. “Continue.”