//------------------------------// // February // Story: Hiatus // by Vargras //------------------------------// 2/3 I spoke too soon. I completely forgot that Valentine's Day was coming up. I've been absolutely swamped with letters, most of them from stallions but a rare few coming from mares as well - I honestly don't get why everyone is so smitten with me all of a sudden. Celestia seems to get them too around this time of the year, though she usually has better luck than me and ends up with poems or properly written love-letters. Everything I get is- well, let's just say it would make 'Tia blush. It's free tinder for the fire, at least. In other news, myself and Twilight Sparkle both discovered that the six-point star from my dreams is apparently related to her cutie mark. I didn't catch a glimpse of it when I first saw her, but evidently there's a resemblance. We still have no idea what role the prophecy plays in all of it though. It's agonizing to have all these answers and still not know the true meaning behind things. My discovery of the supernova was also posted within 'The Equestrian Astronomy Journal'. I gave partial credit of the discovery to Twilight Sparkle - based upon what my sister has told me, it made her absolutely giddy. I like being able to make my subjects happy, even if I'm stuck within Canterlot for a few more months. Luna set the quill down and returned to her drawing - it was a hobby she had quickly taken up and was rapidly improving in. Numerous sketches were pinned to the wall above and around the desk, some colored and others not. The things around her room, such as Philomena and Selene, had been prime subjects for her artistic endeavors. Celestia had even inadvertently posed for a few, typically too busy reading a book to notice that her younger sister was watching. She knew she would never get into any gallery, of course, but she didn't care - she was drawing for the sake of drawing, and for her own personal enjoyment. Though she appreciated some of the praise she had gotten, she cared little for what others thought about it. After all, she was doing this because she simply wanted to. "Ooh, I like this one! Luna, would you mind if I framed this and put it in my room?" The young Princess yelped and jumped a foot or so into the air, the pencil flying across the room. Not surprisingly, there stood Celestia. Luna shook her head and stared at her elder sister. "I really don't know how you're so quiet, 'Tia. You'd think hooves would be louder." "Oh, you know me." Celestia grinned back. "I have my ways. So can I have this one, little sister?" Luna initially thought she was pointing at a drawing of herself - it wouldn't be a surprising move, given Celestia's status within Equestria. Instead, her elder sister was pointing at a landscape scene she had done just a week prior. It wasn't anything that could possibly be found in Canterlot, and indeed, one wouldn't be able to find it in all of Equestria - Luna had made up the scene within her head, and simply drew it. She carefully pulled the pin from the wall and handed the drawing to Celestia. "There. Is there... anything else you need, 'Tia?" "I did want to ask about the mail you've been getting." "I'd... really rather not discuss it." "Why not?" Celestia peered at her, inching closer. "Afraid that your dear sister might read something that would embarrass you?" "Uh... sure." Luna laughed nervously. Most of the letters she had gotten had been pretty raunchy and certainly weren't anything she wanted to share with the outside world - good thing she burned them quickly. "Let's go with that." "Worry not, little sister." Celestia winked at her and turned for the door, the drawing floating in front of her. "Your secrets are safe with me!" Luna sighed, barely able to contain her enthusiasm. "Great. That's just what I wanted to hear." "You're welcome!" "I was being sarcastic, 'Tia." Celestia briefly stopped to look over her shoulder, flashing a grin at her younger sister before heading out the door. "I know." ----- It had been a while since she had any dreams about the Elements or the prophecy, but here she was, having it again. The dream-version of Twilight Sparkle stood before her, and at her side were the five figures from before - no longer shadows, but not entirely 'whole' either. Luna knew that all of Twilight's closest friends were mares, and roughly knew what they looked like. The result was a little odd, to say the least. The five figures were simply colored mares now - one orange, one yellow, one pink, one white, and one blue. No particularly distinguishing features, just... mares. The thing that was most unnerving about it for Luna was that none of them spoke. They simply stood there and stared. "So uh... I'm just gonna walk around. Since none of you are talking or anything." Luna began to walk away, but never seemed to actually move - she knew she was walking, and a quick look down showed that her legs were indeed moving, but she simply... didn't. Even after breaking into a full gallop and using her wings, she couldn't seem to get away. The Princess accepted her fate, sighing and taking a seat. If she was supposed to just sit here during the dream and stare at the figures, then she would do it. Surprisingly enough, the dream version of Twilight Sparkle would break the silence first. "Do you still seek the answer, young Princess?" Luna looked at the figure and nodded slowly. "Well... yeah, I do." "For the answer you seek, you must look inwards." The figure was practically looming over her at this point, and Luna felt much smaller than she would have liked. "Only then will you gain the knowledge you wish for." "Why do you always have to be so cryptic? Is it really that difficult to just be straight-forward with someone?" The dream version of Twilight Sparkle lashed out at her, speaking with such power that it may as well have been the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Are you really that brash, child? Some things must be learned for yourself! To simply be given the answer gives you nothing in return!" With that, Luna bolted awake, her face dripping with sweat and her body shaking all over - it was much worse than it normally was, and had even managed to be worse than the first time she had the dream. At that point, she knew better than to try and rush it again. If the dreams said she would have to wait, then so be it. She would be lucky to get back to sleep at this point. Good thing her luck held out. ----- This was it - Valentine's Day. The only thing Luna could think of that could possibly be worse than this were Prince Blueblood's birthday parties, and his ego certainly didn't help things. She had been absolutely bombarded with letters, and had even had a few stallions and mares approach her in-person to try and win her over - they all failed spectacularly, of course. "I hate this holiday so much." "Come now, Luna - it's not so bad." Celestia was reading through some mail of her own, giggling as she read one and tossed it aside. "I don't see why they try poetry if they're no good at it. Besides, I thought you'd like the attention?" Luna stared at her sister, an eyebrow raised. "Like the attention? 'Tia, I tend to spend my time in the library or observatory, usually by myself. And I wouldn't mind the attention if it weren't so... crude. I swear, the next pony that tries to hit on me in-person is getting kicked. Or... or magicked." "Magicked, dear sister? Are you making up words now?" "Maybe." The young Princess huffed as she opened another letter, quickly tossing it into the fireplace. "Why do I never get mail that says 'Great job, Princess Luna'? Or 'You make such beautiful nights, Princess Luna'? It's always some stupid love letter." Celestia perused another letter and discarded it. "Some ponies don't know you exist. The only ones that do are the folks in Ponyville, and the ponies within Canterlot." Luna growled as she opened yet another love letter, crumbling it up and throwing it into the fire. "Confound these letters! They drive me to drink!" "Don't drink, little sister. 'Tis a bad habit." The elder sister finished up the last of her mail and looked over at Luna's pile, snickering as she did - even after all the mail Luna had disposed of, the pile didn't seem to shrink at all. "You know you don't have to read all of them, right? You could probably just throw all of them away." "No. No matter how much I hate it, it's my royal duty to see what the citizens of Equestria wish to say to-" A particularly steamy letter caused the young Princess to blush, and she hastily ripped it to shreds. "Forget what I said. Burn all of it." "I knew you'd come around eventually." ----- 2/22 I'm still not sure how I managed to survive Valentine's Day. I almost had an aneurysm, just from the sheer amount of ponies hitting on me. At the very least, all the burnt letters managed to feed the fireplace for a good week or so - not bad, if I do say so myself. I'm also beginning to hate my dreams. Everything has to be a riddle, and nothing is ever a straight-forward answer. All I've got to go by now is 'Time will give you the answer you seek' and to 'Look inwards'. I don't know what that second one is even supposed to mean! Looking inwards could mean any number of things - at this rate, I'll be lucky to have this dream nonsense solved before the next century rolls around. Luna set the quill down and rubbed her eyes. It was already starting to get late, and her sister had invited her to a concert earlier - something about a pony named Octavia? It wasn't as if she even knew who that was, nor was she in much of a mood to go anyways. She simply wanted to be alone, and she knew the perfect place where she could go for some peace and solitude. She quietly left her room and made her way towards the observatory - most of the castle was quiet, seeing as the majority of the ponies there had gone to the concert. It was simply her and the guards, but they weren't much company either. Always stoic and silent, and never really up for games of any sort. Luna nudged the door of the observatory open and made her way inside, much of it deserted save for a guard or two. They stood at attention as she walked past, though it was likely just subconscious reactions rather than any actual attentiveness. The young Princess took a seat in front of the telescope, opened up her journal, and began to gaze about the night sky. "Your Majesty? May I ask something?" Luna pulled away from the telescope and glanced over her shoulder at the guardsman, a young stallion. "If you're here to ask me out on a date, you should know by now that the answer will always be 'No'." "Er... no, your Majesty." The guardsman glanced about nervously. "I was wondering if you could... you know... tell me more about the stars and stuff?" "I told you, the answer is- wait, really? Why?" She stared at him, not sure whether to believe him or not. "Well, I never was that good at science and stuff in school, but I always liked it. Guard duty in the observatory is awful boring anyways." "You... you want me to teach you about astronomy?" The stallion nodded slowly. "...have a seat, then." A smile slowly broke the neutral expression that was characteristic of the royal guards, and he took a seat beside the Princess. What surprised her even further was when he managed to produce a notepad and pencil of his own - he hadn't been joking about wanting to learn after all. "First thing's first, guardsman - when viewing the night sky, you must always get your bearings first, otherwise you'll never know what or where you're even looking. The two easiest ways to do this are to find the north star, and to find the moon. The moon is easy enough to find, but the north star is a little trickier. Let me show you how to find it." Sure, it wasn't exactly ideal - but in an odd sort of way, Luna enjoyed this much more than any concert she could have possibly attended. Some of the socialites within Canterlot may have scoffed at such a thing, but Luna? She needed the stars, and nothing more.