//------------------------------// // The Moon Rises // Story: The Moon and the Star // by Ashura //------------------------------// Chapter 12 : The Moon Rises Star and Golden were at school, Thunder Wing watching them, wanting to go have fun with Star but she didn't dare, not with Golden around. The bell rang to inform the fillies that the day was over and that it was time to return home. She waved goodbye to Golden as he headed home then went her own way, planing to spend a bit of time outside. She hadn't been to the royal gardens in a while, so Star decide to head for those. Star headed for the gardens, but ever since she had been fillynapped, she couldn't help being nervous when she was alone. She knew she was just being paranoid, but not without good reason. She pushed open the gate leading to the gardens, once past the gate, she headed for the statue of Discord. She looked up at it, and thought back to that night, only a couple of weeks ago. So much had happened in such a short period of time, how could she be expected to deal with all this and not break down completely? Star left the statue of Discord and went to look at the statues of Luna and Celestia, she looked up at the two sisters stone replicas. The resemblance was uncanny, looking at the stone Luna was almost like looking at the alicorn princess herself. She heard a splash come from behind her, she turned around expecting to see somepony dropping a bit in one of the fountains, as they often did. All she saw was the statue representing Winter Wrap Up, she came closer to the statue and then looked down, wondering if a piece of the statue had fallen in the water. What she found however was not what she expected, what she lifted out of the water was nothing more then an ordinary pencil. But how had it gotten there? There was nopony around but her, Star inched closer to the statue, looking for anything that was out of place. After a moment, Star gave up looking for an explanation, stored the soggy pencil in her bag and left. Meanwhile, one of the ponies from the statue turned it's head and watched the young pony leave. Special Agent Apple Strudel breathed out in relief. That was close. he thought. He hopped down from the statue and followed Star out of the Royal Gardens. Star wondered how a pencil had found it's way into the fountain, the only logical explanation she could think of was that a Pegasus had been flying overhead and the pencil had fallen out of their saddlebag. That was the most likely explanation, but it was already late, everypony would have been home for at least half an hour. Star had a nagging feeling that that wasn't what had happened. Star pushed the soggy pencil out of her mind and thought about other things, like looking forward to tonight's Dream Meeting. They would have more wonderful adventures, and you never know what to expect in a dream. Star returned home and went to bed, anxiously waiting to fall asleep. It didn't take long. Star explored her dream while she waited for Luna, she saw cotton candy cushions that looked very comfortable, and delicious. She saw flying sheep with saddles that she could probably ride. The sky was a beautiful blend of orange, pink, and blue. Star saw many other wonderful things. Then she noticed a hole appear in the sky and out flew Luna. “Luna!” shouted out Star, waving so that Luna would notice her. Luna flew down to where Star was waiting. “Hello Star.” said Luna with a smile “How was your day?” “Pretty normal. Got up, went to school, laughed at the fact that Thunder didn't dare come bother me and went home. Oh wait, I also stopped at the Royal Gardens for a minute.” replied the filly “Was Golden with you at the gardens?” asked the princess “No, I went on my own.” stated Star “Were you OK on your own?” asked Luna, her smile decreasing slightly “I'm fine, it's not like there could be anything more that could possibly happen to me. I think too much has happened already.” explained Star “I suppose you're right.” declared Luna “So, what shall we be doing this evening?” “We could watch the end of the sunset on those comfy clouds up there. Or we could do an Ursa Major race. I think I saw a few grazing by the gingerbread tree forest. Or we could wait a while and see what my mind makes up.” proposed Star “I like the first one.” said Luna as she offered her back to the young earth pony. “You're forgetting we're in dream Luna.” said Star Star closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating very hard on something. Suddenly, a pair of wings popped out of Star's back. Luna stepped back in surprise and then relaxed. “They look very nice. I didn't know that a dreaming pony could have enough control from within the dream to influence it.” stated the alicorn “Ever since you came into my dream the first time and made the Ursa go away, I realized that you had influenced my dream. And I wondered, if an exterior force can influence my dreams, shouldn't I be able to? I mean, it is my dream after all.” declared Star “That does actually make some sense, I suppose.” said Luna “So you think of what you wish and it appears?” “Yeah, it's so amazing! Watch this!” exclaimed the young earth pony Star closed her eyes again and concentrated. All of a sudden, a giant cake appeared next to the two ponies. Luna laughed out loud. “It's caramel on top of a variety of red fruits.” said Star as she licked her lips. Luna and Star both approached the cake, spoons appearing by their sides, ready to be used. All of a sudden, two arms sprouted out of the cakes sides and picked up the giant plate that it was on, revealing a pair of skinny legs underneath. The cake turned around and ran for the gingerbread tree forest. Luna and Star watched it go, surprise very present on both their faces. “Yeah... Sorry about that. I haven't quite got the hang of it just yet.” apologized Star Luna watched the cake as it approached the forest, saw the Ursa Majors, stopped and ran back towards the two ponies. Luna laughed out loud and soon after Star joined her. They both fell to the floor and kept laughing long after the cake had vanished from the dream and been replaced by a cow with wings and a horn. The cow looked around it and then flew off to join a group of ducks flying in a standard V-formation, the ducks flew in circles seeing as they didn't know which way South was in a dream world. “What's that?” asked Luna, pointing out an object in the sky with her hoof. Star looked to where the princess was pointing. “It looks like a soggy pencil.” said Star, and then she remembered where it came from “Why are you dreaming about a soggy pencil?” wondered the alicorn “It's just something strange that I can't explain that happened at the Royal Gardens. I was looking at the statue of you and Celestia when I heard something fall in the fountain of the Winter Wrap Up statue. When I went to see what had fallen in the water, I found that pencil. I don't know how it got there. The only explanation I could think of was that it fell out of the saddlebags of some Pegasus flying overhead, but I didn't see anypony around.” explained the Earth pony “That is strange.” agreed Luna “Maybe it was a unicorn who mastered the skill of invisibility?” “Is that even possible? Becoming completely invisible?” asked Star “Full invisibility has never been achieved, but maybe somepony figured it out and doesn't want to tell anypony about it.” theorized Luna “But what about the pencil?” asked the filly “Maybe the unicorn in question was recording what invisibility was like.” responded Luna “Maybe...” hesitated Star Luna looked at Star for a moment then burst out laughing. “What is it? What's so funny.” demanded Star “Why are you laughing?” “You didn't really believe any of that did you?” exclaimed Luna “Seriously. Invisible unicorns? There's no spell that can render a pony invisible.” Luna kept laughing and Star smiled at the princess's satisfaction in having tricked her into believing in invisible unicorns. “Maybe you have a better, actually possible, idea?” asked Star innocently Luna stared at Star. “I have several. But they're all mostly ridiculous.” replied Luna “Let's hear them.” said Star Luna spent the next half hour explaining her crazy theories to Star, who laugh harder at every new theory. Eventually, Luna ran out of ideas, so Star stated an idea that had come to her between 'a living pencil that wanted to go for a swim' and 'some creature from another dimension had found a magical portal to Equestria and had thrown a pencil through it to see what would happen'. “Maybe somepony was spying on me!” exclaimed Star, chuckling at the very idea. Luna laughed. “Why would anypony...” Luna started to ask, but then her smile disappeared. There is a reason for somepony spying on Star. She's a changeling, she's potentially dangerous. thought Luna. But who would spy on a filly? It has to be somepony who knows what she is, and the only ponies who know about Star were her, Star, Golden and Celestia. Luna froze as that particular thought crossed her mind. But why would Celestia send somepony to spy on Star? I would understand the first few years, just to be sure, but by now Celestia would be sure that Star isn't a threat to the ponies around her. No...There must be somepony else behind it. Star noticed that Luna was no longer laughing, she turned around to ask if anything was wrong, but the look on the alicorn's face answered her question. “Luna? Is something wrong?” asked the filly “No, everything is fine... Sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment.” answered Luna “OK...” Star stared at the princess, suspicion clearly present on her face. “I'm sorry Star, I have to go. It's time to lower the Moon so that the Sun may rise.” stated Luna “Already?” said Star, disappointed that time had gone by so quickly “Will I see you tomorrow night?” “You know you will.” answered Luna with an encouraging smile. Luna hugged the little pony and then left through a dream portal back to her chamber. Star watched as Luna vanished, worried about how the princess had gone from happy and having fun to how she changed when something was wrong. Star sighed, wishing she could help her in some way. Back in Luna's chambers Luna opened her eyes and was glad to find that she was back. Luna then started thinking about ways she could find out if there was some truth behind Stars crazy spy theory. She could have somepony follow Star around during the day, but that would be no better then what the other pony, or ponies she thought, were doing. I could cast a spell on Star that would search the minds of the ponies around and inform me if somepony around was spying on Star. But that would mean that the spell would force it's way into ponies minds and with no respect for their secrets. That would be wrong. It seems the only choice left to me is to follow Star around and try to find any sign of somepony spying on Star. I shall follow Star around tomorrow, and then I shall see... Having come to a decision, Luna went to Celestia to wake her, wondering if her sister could be involved somehow. “'Tia? It is time.” informed Luna “I am coming.” replied the sun princess Celestia came out of her chamber and together they set and raised the moon and sun. Once they had finished, Luna looked at Celestia, still wondering what was going on. The next day, Star got up and performed her usual morning routine. She did not know, however that she was being closely watched by not one, but two ponies. Luna followed Star to school, making sure to stay out of sight, she mustn't alert the potential spy to her presence. And she didn't want Star to know about this either. Luna spent the day searching for anything that was not as it should have been while Star was in class. She did not have any luck throughout the day, Luna was starting to believe that she was wrong about the spying pony and that maybe the pencil was nothing more then an inexplicable mystery. And that was when she noticed it, the fountain that had been built in the town's square, it was suppose to represent all the different kind of ponies living together peacefully: Earth, Unicorn and Pegasi. But the statue was different then Luna remembered it. It had always had three ponies standing side by side, now there were four. Earth, Unicorn, Pegasi and Alicorn. The alicorn had definitely never been represented in the statue before, Luna was almost convinced that she was correct. She got the final proof that she needed when she saw the stone alicorn stretch one of it's legs. I suppose it is hard to stand still all day without moving. But that was you're mistake, now I know where you've been hiding. thought Luna. She swooped down, snatched the fake alicorn statue and flew off to the highest tower in the castle. The stone alicorn was no longer immobile, it was thrashing it's legs, trying to get free. “By all means, please keep trying to free yourself, but if you fall it will not be my fault!” shouted Luna over the wind, she didn't know if the pony had heard her or not but it soon stopped thrashing, it must have realized what she had said for itself. Once they had reached the roof, Luna dropped the spy and cast a spell making sure it couldn't run away. The pony was squirming attempting to move, Luna folded her wings and landed right in front of it. The spy stopped trying to escape and just looked at her. Luna removed the grey mask to see who was hiding beneath it. “Apple Strudel?” said Luna, surprised “Princess Luna.” replied Apple Strudel politely “What are you doing?" asked Luna "Why are you spying on Star? How much do you know? Who are you reporting to?” “I am afraid I am not at liberty to say.” stated Apple Strudel Luna's whole expression changed in an instant, before she had talked to Apple Strudel in a civilized manner. But know, she wouldn't bother, he was spying on Star for who knows what reason. Apple Strudel looked up at Luna and was frightened. “You will tell me what you were doing.” ordered Luna Apple Strudel started to sweat, he had been ordered to deny everything. “I wasn't spying on her, I was just making sure nothing bad happened to her.” answered the spy “That's my job now, if you have been keeping watch as you claim, then you would know that I would never let anything happen to Star. You aren't needed, so why are you still here?” asked Luna Apple Strudel stayed silent, panic showing in his eyes. Luna stared into them and noticed the fear that was there. “I think you're lying to me, which gives me no choice but to enter your mind and seize the information I want. Unless you wish to save me the trouble and just tell me?” said the moon princess “You can't do that!” shouted Apple Strudel Luna looked at the pony and grinned. “You know what's funny about being a spy and living in a spy world? You don't exist in the real world, and the rules of the real world can't be applied to ponies that don't live in it.” explained Luna Apple Strudel's face became as white as the clouds above. “You may be able to, but you wouldn't, would you.” rebuked the pony spy Luna's grin disappeared. “You're right I wouldn't...” started Luna Apple grinned, success all over his face. “...But unluckily for you, I'm not myself when the ponies I care about are being spied on.” finished Luna Apple Strudel looked deep into Luna's eyes, and he saw no hesitation about forcing her way into his mind, and there was another secret that if she found out about, might just bring this kingdom crashing to the ground. Apple Strudel sighed. “Very well, I shall tell you.” started the special agent “I was recruited by Princess Celestia to keep an eye on the changeling, the story she had told you about the baby changeling and baby pony was a lie. She has no idea where the changeling came from, she asked me to make report after a month of observation and tell her whether it posed a threat. So far I see nothing that could show it as a threat.” explained Apple Strudel “But why did she not let me know? I can understand why telling Star would be a bad idea, but why hide it from me? We are suppose to tell each other everything, otherwise how can we trust each other enough to rule together?” spouted Luna “I do not know why your sister would hide this from you, but I can certainly think of a few good reasons.” answered the pony “Will you share them with me?” begged Luna Apple stared into Luna's eyes again, and some more then determination this time, he saw hurt. He sighed again. “One possible explanation would be that Celestia thought you might tell Star if you knew...” started to explain Apple “I might not have, she couldn't have known.” interrupted Luna “But I can understand. And the second reason?” “You probably would not have approved.” finished the agent “I certainly would not have!” said Luna “That is all I know.” ended Apple Strudel “Are you sure?” asked Luna “Absolutely sure?” Apple stared at Luna without blinking, determined to keep the last secret a secret. “Yes.” “I'm trusting you Apple Strudel, even though I probably shouldn't.” said Luna as she got ready to go talk to Celestia “I am aware.” he said. “Princess?” “Yes?” she replied “I am thinking off leaving the spy world behind once this is all over, I am tired of lying. So I was wondering, will you allow me to remain your chef in the castle?” asked the former spy Luna stared hard at the spy and wonderful cook. “Make me an Apple Fritter and I'll think about it.” replied the alicorn. Apple smiled and waved as she flew off. Hoping that this would not end with a fight between the two alicorns, such a battle could rip apart the kingdom and destroy this peace that was made possible by defeating Discord. Meanwhile, back at the castle Celestia was reading a report from the scouts that had been left in the Crystal Empire just in case it should return. So far, the land is just as empty as it was when Luna defeated Sombra. Celestia looked out the window, lost deep in her thoughts, when she noticed Luna was flying towards her window. Something was wrong, Luna usually took the stairs if she wanted to talk, this was probably going to be very bad. Celestia prepared herself for a very heated argument. She took a deep breath and then breathed out slowly. She heard the window break, Luna didn't even bother to open it, this was really bad. Celestia turned to face Luna, Luna looked furious, more then she had ever been before. “Good evening, Luna.” said Celestia Luna didn't return the pleasantry. She just stared at her sister, anger stopping her from being able to transform her thoughts into words. “I gather from your destructive entrance that you have somehow learnt the truth.” continued Celestia Luna finally found her voice. “Of course I know the truth! How did you guess? Was it the look on my face? THE FACT THAT I DESTROYED YOUR WINDOW? CAUSING BROKEN GLASS TO GO EVERYWHERE? OR IS IT THE FACT THAT I'M SHOUTING AT YOU?” screamed Luna “All three of them.” answered Celestia “OK THEN! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THE SPY!?” continued the Moon Princess “I did not tell you about sending somepony to spy on you because I thought that you would not appreciate being spied on.”answered Celestia “You... You sent somepony to spy on Star and me!” said Luna in disbelief “I thought you knew. Isn't that why you're angry?” asked Celestia “I was angry about you spying on Star. I'M FURIOUS NOW!!” shouted Luna Celestia felt the beginning of something she hadn't felt since they went to face Discord: Fear. “HOW COULD YOU CELESTIA? I'M YOUR SISTER! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING! OTHERWISE, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO RULE THIS KINGDOM PROPERLY?!” yelled Luna Celestia was at a loss for words, she didn't know how to deal with this. She had never seen Luna so angry and upset. Celestia was staring at Luna, but she was seeing a stranger. There was fury in her eyes, and she was breathing deeply, overwhelmed by having shouted so much, so loudly. At that moment, the Moon came out from behind a particularly big cloud, it's light shining through the broken window and illuminating Luna. Luna squinted, the Moonlight was brighter then she had ever seen it. Before she could think about the strange new moonlight, she felt something within her awaken. She did not know what it was, but she heard a voice within her head utter: “My time has finally come, I will rule ALL of Equestria. And nopony will be able to stop me!” Luna only had time to speak one word before the strange force took over her mind. “Run...” Celestia watched in horror as Luna closed her eyes and went through a terrifying transformation. Some sort of magical energy, that seemed to be coming from the Moon, surrounded Luna.Luna seemed to grow bigger before Celestia's very eyes, her mane and tail became darker, all the stars extinguished. Armour similar to Luna's appeared on the alicorn that now held itself before Celestia. When Luna finally opened her eyes, her usual eyes were gone. Her pupils were now slits and her irises were no longer their usual shade of blue but an eerie turquoise color. The new alicorn opened her mouth and spoke. “Good evening, Celestia. I am Nightmare Moon.”