//------------------------------// // Lonesome Pony // Story: Bonds of Harmony // by FoxTheFirebird //------------------------------// Chirp, Chirp, Chirp. Chirp, Chirp, Chirp. Crickets chirp into the night, calm and peaceful as a soothing river. FWOOP. FWOOP. A lone figure flew in the star-brimmed night, her wings beating silently yet powerfully. She flew over a small town, and like a silent angel, she glided over houses and businesses, the forest and fields, and the mountains and rivers, looking out for any potential signs of danger or any lone straggler in need of help. The only things that were out and about were a pair of bats, playing tag with each other like a couple of old friends, a dynamic duo becoming one. One. She sighed, although this was in neither happiness nor bitterness. The blue alicorn was lonely; although having the title of the Princess of the Night was indeed an honorable one, Princess Luna also felt it was one of loneliness. For many days and nights now, she had been feeling this way and she did not know why; she felt fine with her title as the Princess of the Night, and she made new friends, especially with Twilight Sparkle, the prodigious student of her sister, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun. The ponies- pegasi, unicorns, and Earth ponies- had come to see Luna as a wonderful leader of the night, quite friendly and fun to hang around with once you got to know her. So why did she still feel so alone? Sighing once more, she flew downwards to one of the larger trees, allowing her wings a break. Once she tucked them in, she laid down flat on the largest tree branch there was, relaxing like a big cat. Her back legs swinging over the branch, she crossed her forelegs, staring into the night sky, surveying her work. The stars glimmered with a flare, a certain fire that burned on endlessly through the night, only to be eclipsed by the large white moon, glowing ever so softly like a firefly. "Hmph. I could do better than this. This is far from my greatest work." The alicorn wished she had something to inspire her once again to paint the sky bright, but she had been feeling like she was running low on ideas…and love. She wanted to find inspiration for her night sky, something that could give her a certain feeling to make the sky glow as she had done in the past, before she became Nightma-...well, before she was away for a thousand years. But more importantly…she wanted to know she was never alone. She laid her head down in between her forelegs, resting her head and closing her eyes to wallow in her self-pity. Crackle. Crackle. Crackle. "Hm?" Luna picked up her head as her ears directed themselves frontward toward the strange noise. She asked herself, "What is that?" Crackle. Crackle. Crackle. She sat up straight, keeping her balance on the branch as she leaned forward to figure out the source of the sound. There did not seem to be any source of activity going on within her sight of the tree. As far as she saw, all was quiet in Ponyville. Nopony was out, the animals were sleeping, and all of the houses and businesses contained nothing but darkness...save one. She saw a bright blue light coming from one of the buildings...it came from a big and hollowed-out tree complete with two balconies, many windows, and quite a few branches...the library? "Twilight Sparkle?" Luna thought to herself. Twilight was someone Luna liked and considered her the very first friend she ever made when she was out to greet the ponyfolk of Ponyville during a memorable Nightmare Night…even if things did slightly get out of hoof on that night. Luna knew that Twilight was a very hard worker and wonderful student of Celestia's, but she had no idea how often Twilight was willing to go to extremes when it came to her studying, especially this late at night. "I might as well greet her while I am here," Luna decided. She did not get a chance to see Twilight often, as her royal duties often kept her occupied during the night and day…well, she did different things during the day, but that was not important. She also figured that Twilight might be able to help ease her sense of loneliness by just talking to her. And so, she stood up, opened up her wings, and dropped off the branch, only to fly upwards again, over to the large tree that was the library and home of Celestia's faithful student. Crackle. Crackle. Crac-ZZZT! "YIPE!" Twilight ducked as the small ball of light she conducted imploded on itself and caused sparks to flutter out. Once the air was clear, the purple unicorn stood up and sighed in frustration. "I just don't understand what it is I'm doing wrong-this spell SHOULD work." After a brief shake of her head, she went back to her glowing spell book, which she was levitating with her horn, to try the spell again. She read over the instructions and proceeded to try again when- KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Huh?" She turned her head around at the door, making herself sure she heard right. "A visitor? At this time of night?" Curious about whom it could be, she put down her book, no longer emitting with light, and walked over to the door, opening it with a hoof, and there was, to her great surprise, Princess Luna. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle," Luna greeted. The alicorn watched her friend's mouth hang agape before she closed it with a genuine smile. "Princess Luna! It has been a while since I've seen you." Luna shyly smiled back. "It is good to see you again, Twilight. Um…may I please come in?" Twilight nodded. "Of course, Princess." She opened the door further, letting Luna walk inside and into the house. Luna walked inside to the main hall of the library, looking at the many, many shelves of books stored upon them, frowning thoughtfully. After she closed the door, Twilight's smile faded as she saw the frown and wondered out loud, "What are you doing here, Princess? Is something wrong?" Luna paused, a sorrowful expression taking over. She turned around and faced Twilight. "I...I...er..." She rubbed one of her forelegs with her hooves, seeming timid and uncomfortable to answer Twilight's question. "I..er...I w-wanted to..to-" A thought came to her, and she stopped rubbing her leg, "-see what you were doing, Twilight Sparkle. I understand you are a remarkable student of Celestia's, but...what are you doing up at this hour at night? Should you not be asleep?" Twilight raised a brow at Luna's timid behavior, but did not comment on it. She knew something was wrong by the way Luna presented herself when she was answering her question, but Twilight knew that whatever was up with Luna, she knew better than to bluntly ask what was wrong. She decided to just roll with it and gradually let Luna express her troubles, making her feel at ease. So she put up an act and gave a small smile as she explained, "Well, I was working on a spell that could potentially create portals to new places in Equestria that we have yet to explore." She levitated the book, flipping pages to show Luna the spell. Luna slightly tilted her head. "Is that so? Why are you working on this particular spell?" Twilight further elaborated, "Well, I was researching StarSwirl the Bearded and his spells for fun while I was on a break from studying, and I discovered something interesting about one of his spells." She could not help but grin widely, like a little filly that tried candy for the first time. Luna cracked a genuine and curious smile. This was one of the reasons why she liked Twilight so much; she was a very studious pony yet she could also be very fun to hang around with. "Oh? What is so interesting about this spell?" Twilight grinned again, happy that Luna was smiling. "Well, if I could learn to create portals with my magic, I could be able to transport to places I had never been before and explore new things. I could be the first pony to create portals and utilize them for all of Equestria!" Twilight giggled excitedly at the thought. Luna hid a giggle herself behind a glass slipper-wearing hoof at Twilight's childlike joy. That would be a great idea in the land of Equestria, especially since there were still so many areas that have yet to be fully explored. But of course, there would be drawbacks too. Luna asked the purple unicorn, "That would be a wonderful idea, Twilight, but do you suppose you CAN utilize these portals?" Twilight ceased her giggle and asked, "What do you mean?" Luna levitated Twilight's book with her own horn. "Well, when I entered into your home, I observed you had difficulty maintaining this spell," She explained as she read the directions for the spell, "What is the trouble you are having?" Twilight frowned as Luna asked that. "Well…that's just it, Princess. I don't know what's wrong. I can't figure out why the spell is not working like I want it to. It's like it takes a certain…something, a certain…inspiration, for it to open-" "An…inspiration?" Luna interrupted, as she stopped reading to glance at Twilight, confused yet attentive. Given what she felt, it was curious to hear that Twilight was at a lack of inspiration as well. Twilight's frowning expression transformed into a combination of puzzlement and apprehension. "Well…yes…it's like…it's like I know what I want to do, but I just can't figure out how to do it, or what I can use to get there." She sat down, feeling at a loss. "I just don't know how to go about it." She wondered if that was what was up with Luna. But why would she be feeling this way? Luna's eyebrows slightly creased. She sat down herself, thinking about Twilight's plight. She decided to look at the book again, reviewing the spell and its contents. Luna looked up at Twilight and asked, "Perhaps you feel like you need some kind of…positive feeling?" Her friend's head swiveled rapidly at the sound of that, feeling epiphany dawning inside her. "Feeling? Yeah…yeah, that's what it is. A positive feeling!" Twilight got up excitedly, feeling fired up to try the spell again, her giddiness washing over her worry for her friend. Luna smiled as well, glad that Twilight understood how she felt, even if Twilight did not know that fact. But for some reason…Luna did not feel satisfied. She still felt uninspired and dejected. But why? As she watched Twilight prepare herself to cast the spell again, Luna decided to soothe her troubled mind again. "Twilight…I wish to help you with this spell." She put the book down on the floor. Twilight stopped herself from lighting up her horn to look at Luna, blinking in surprise. "Really, Princess?" Luna nodded, hiding her pain once more. "Of course. I will aid you in creating the portal. We shall accomplish this together; we will think of something to create it. Perhaps what we need to do is imagine what location we wish to travel to, and think of this area we have thought of in our minds. A place we have always dreamed of visiting," she suggested. Twilight tilted a brow upward. "…Princess…do you…do you think that is what it is? Do you think that will work?" Luna shrugged. "I am not certain it will, but it is indeed worth a try." She charged up her own horn, the tip glowing a bright white. "Are you ready?" Twilight slowly grinned, eager to try this with the Princess of the Night. "Ready, Princess!" Luna gave a small one back, doing whatever she could to get her mind off of her troubles. And so, the two ponies closed their eyes, putting in their efforts to think of a place they always wanted to travel to. They thought long and hard about a secret place they always wanted to visit and cast their horns together, two shining lights glowing in the darkness of the night. Their horns cast forward a small ball of light, emitting blue at first…and then something suddenly happened. The ball grew in size, changing colors at a rapid pace, a spectrum of colors whirling around as the small orb shrunk in size, shrinking and shrinking until it was close to nothingness…but then… It burst open, a mirror of another place and time open to the two ponies... But unknown to the two of them, only one would enter this new place, unaware that a new journey was about to begin.