Nearly a week later, Lodestar arrived in Princess Luna’s chambers to find her reading a worn tome whose title proclaimed it the Book of the Civilized Ponie.
“Good evening, Lodestar,” said the princess. “Thy suggestion was a wise one. There is much of value in these books that I had forgotten. Observe.” She straightened her posture. “Citizens of Canterlot!” she called, gesturing wildly with the book. “We have graced your festivities with our presence so that you might behold the real princess of the night! A creature of nightmares no longer, but a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!” She paused and looked to Lodestar. “How was that?”
“That’s good,” said Lodestar. “Maybe a bit strong, but the important thing is that it gives you the confidence to get out there and be yourself. That’s the real point of this, Princess Luna.”
Princess Luna nodded. “With confidence or without, these books of thine have taught me how to act confident.” She set the book down. “I notice thou hast been calling me by name, of late. Why is this?”
“Have I?” Lodestar thought for a moment. “I suppose I have. It just seemed natural. You know, I’ve been getting less formal around you for a while. I suppose I called you ‘Your Highness’ when I thought of you as a ruler, but now that I think of you as a friend, it’s ‘Princess Luna’.”
“So thy informality signifies a closer friendship, does it? In that case, pray call me ‘Luna’.”
Lodestar smiled. “I’d be happy to, Luna.”
There was a knock at the door, followed by Princess Celestia’s voice. “Luna, are you in here?”
Luna’s whole body tensed. “We are,” she called back. “Come in.”
The door swung open and Princess Celestia strode in with a warm smile on her face. “I hear you’re going to come to the Nightmare Night celebration next week.”
“We are considering it, ‘tis true, although it is not certain. What of it?”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
Lodestar didn’t miss the flicker of surprise that passed over Luna’s face. “Truly?”
“Of course. I’m glad to see you coming out of your shell, sister. In fact, if you’re feeling adventurous, I have an idea.”
“What is it?” asked Luna.
“I assume you’ve picked Nightmare Night, of all nights, because you want to get rid of these silly rumors about you.” When Luna hesitantly nodded, Princess Celestia continued. “If you want to confront ponies’ fears of Nightmare Moon, maybe you should go back to where it all started.”
Luna raised an eyebrow curiously. “Thou art speaking of the old castle in Everfree?”
Princess Celestia chuckled softly. “Not quite that far back. No, I was thinking of Ponyville. If you go there for Nightmare Night, you can show that you have no hard feelings towards the Elements of Harmony.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “Yes! We never did thank Twilight Sparkle and the others for their part in our return. That is an excellent idea.”
“I’m not sure,” said Lodestar. “The Canterlot event is bigger, and it might be best to meet as many ponies as possible. I mean−” She froze as she realized who she was contradicting. “Forgive me, Your Highness, I spoke out of turn,” she said to Princess Celestia.
“Not at all,” said the princess. “It’s a good point, and that’s actually part of the reason I think Ponyville might be a better choice. Ponyville’s celebration is smaller and more intimate, and I think it will be easier for you to fit in there, Luna.”
“Agreed,” said Luna. “There will be other opportunities to attend events in Canterlot. For now, I wish to begin in Ponyville. Come, Lodestar. Let us study the records of this village, that I might be prepared come Nightmare Night.”
“Actually,” said Princess Celestia, “I’d like to borrow your helper for a few minutes.”
“Very well,” said Luna. “I will proceed to the archives.” There was a flash as she teleported away, leaving Lodestar alone with Princess Celestia.
The princess turned to face Lodestar. “You’re still worried about my sister visiting Ponyville.”
“I am, Your Highness,” Lodestar admitted. “It’s an unfamiliar place, so there are more things that could go wrong. I don’t see why this village is special enough to justify this.”
“There’s somepony I’d like her to meet there. Somepony who can teach her a great deal about friendship. I have a feeling they’ll cross paths.”
Lodestar opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of it, but not before the princess noticed her expression.
“Something’s bothering you, Lodestar.”
“It’s nothing, Your Highness.”
“No, that was different. You were worried before, but just now you looked hurt. What is it?”
“It’s silly, Your Highness. It’s just, I thought I was the pony who was teaching Luna about friendship. I thought I was doing fairly well, too.”
“Nopony’s replacing you, Lodestar. My sister has clearly learned a lot from you, and I’m sure you’ll show her even more in the future. Still, for something as big and important as friendship, it’s good to have more than one teacher, don’t you think? A pony should have more than one friend.”
“I suppose so, Your Highness. I hope this idea of yours works out smoothly.”
“I don’t. Ponies can learn so much from just the right amount of chaos. Anyway, you’d better catch up to Luna before she accidentally frightens some poor scribe.”
Finding Luna proved easy, this time. Lodestar made her way to the palace archives, then followed the trail of ponies speaking in hushed tones and glancing about warily. Soon enough, she spotted Luna watching an extremely nervous clerk search through a shelf full of old parchments.
“Hello, Luna,” she said as she approached. “Did you find what you’re looking for?”
“Not as of yet. This pony hath located some relevant census data, and even now searches for Ponyville’s entry.”
“Oh.” Lodestar moved up alongside the clerk and peered at the shelf. “Can I help you with that?”
“Eheheh! Sure!” The clerk stepped aside with a brittle smile on her face. “Go right ahead, it’s alphabetical by date. I can see you have this well in hoof, so I’ll get out of your way!” Before Lodestar could respond, the pony was hurrying away somewhat more quickly than was proper.
Lodestar frowned. “Hmph. Even if she was in a hurry, she didn’t have to be so… brusque. What did I do to her?”
“I fear the problem lies not with thee, but with myself,” said Luna. “Ever since the incident with the steward, ponies have been avoiding me. I am not surprised she was so eager to leave.”
Lodestar began shuffling through the contents of the shelf. “Well, maybe Ponyville will be different.”
“I thought as much when I agreed to go there. With luck, the rumors will not have spread so far. It will be a welcome change to meet ponies who can look on me without terror. Being feared is better than being ignored, yet still it is far from pleasant.”
“Just be sure not to scare any Ponyvillains, like you did with Radiance. Even if you feel like you have a good reason, you’d end up in the same situation.”
Luna nodded. “I shall try.”
“Oh, here we are.” Lodestar pulled a sheaf of parchments from the shelf. “This looks like that census.”
“Excellent.” Luna snatched the parchments with a quick burst of telekinesis and fanned them out in front of her. “Now to use these to divine this town’s character.”
“Can you really do that with nothing but old reports?”
“I presume so, else why would we have such a thing?”
Lodestar was on her way home when she passed Morning Glory walking swiftly in the opposite direction. Lodestar smiled and waved. Morning Glory gave her a curt nod and passed by without slowing down. Her face was drawn tight and carefully blank.
Lodestar swallowed nervously as she hurried to her door and went inside. She looked around the living room for her brother. There was no sign of him.
She went to his bedroom door and found it closed. She frowned. Sunspot always left his door open. “Sunspot?” She knocked on the door. There was no answer. “I’m coming in.” She threw open the door.
Beyond was a small space, well-lit by a single enormous window, and packed with a comfortable bed, several brightly-colored beanbag chairs, and a small armoire too full to close. Sunspot was curled up on a beanbag chair and staring blankly at Morning Glory’s pink vase, which he held loosely in one hoof.
“Alright,” said Lodestar, “what happened?”
“She left me.” Sunspot’s eyes didn’t leave the vase.
Lodestar waited for Sunspot to go on. When he didn’t, she sank onto one of the bean bag chairs. “Well? You’ve got to give me more than that.”
“She said she’d had fun, but she wanted to move on. That I was taking it too seriously, and she needs more space. Then she just… walked out.”
“Then she’s a short-sighted jerk,” said Lodestar. “How are you feeling?”
“How do you think I’m feeling? I really cared about her. I mean, I’ve spent a while with one pony or another because I wanted to be with somepony, but I was with Morning Glory because I wanted to be with her. I’ve never met anyone with her drive or her energy or her way of making everything the most interesting thing in the world just because she’s interested in it. Now it turns out she just wanted to be with somepony, and I was around at the right time.”
“What you’re saying is, now you’re experiencing a breakup from the other side.”
“Yeah, and don’t think that makes this any easier,” said Sunspot. “Even if I wanted to go back to the way things were before I met her, I can’t. I’m not about to do this to anyone else. Not again, anyway.” He sighed. “Sweet Sisters, why didn’t anypony tell me it hurt this much?”
“So where do you go from here?”
“I don’t know. Where do you go when the only pony you’ve ever fallen in love with walks away without looking back?”
Lodestar reached over and smacked him lightly upside the head. “No sulking."
“Hey, come on! I’ve earned this!”
“Not that much, you haven’t. If that line were in one of your shows, you’d tell me nopony talks like that.”
“Okay, fine. But seriously, I don’t know. Morning Glory made me feel like… well, I actually didn’t know you could feel that good. Now she’s gone. I want to feel that way again, but you can’t just go out and find a pony that great.”
“Why not? You did once.”
“Yeah, I guess. It’s not easy, though.” Sunspot leaned back and let himself sink into the chair. “This whole thing stinks.”
“Well, at least you got a free vase out of it.”
“Really, Lodestar.”
“I’m serious. It’s a nice vase.”
“Come on! This isn’t funny.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“I am not!” Sunspot managed to swallow a laugh. “I can’t believe you.”
“You’re smiling!”
Sunspot levitated a bean bag chair and flung it at Lodestar. “Let me sulk in peace, already!”
The sun was setting when Lodestar followed Luna onto the balcony outside the princess’s chambers. Beyond the black marble railing, the mountainside tumbled downwards to meet the hilly countryside. Lodestar could barely make out the lights of Ponyville in the distance. The two of them stood silently for several minutes before Luna spoke. “I would thank thee for arriving early this evening.”
“Not at all. I wasn’t about to let you leave tonight without at least seeing you off. Are you sure you don’t want me to go to Ponyville with you?”
“Indeed. It is best if I learn to do this myself without relying overmuch on any one pony.”
“That’s your sister talking.”
Luna shrugged. “Mayhaps, but she is wiser in these matters than I. Her advice doth seem sound, in any case.”
“If you say so.”
“A moment,” said Luna. “It is time.”
Luna closed her eyes in concentration, and her horn began to glow. It was faint at first, but quickly brightened until Lodestar had to look away. The sky grew darker, and the sun slipped below the horizon. Stars winked into existence, first singly, then in small groups, then quicker than the eye could follow, until they stretched across the sky. Finally, the moon floated gently over the horizon to shine across Equestria.
The glow from Luna’s horn abruptly vanished. The princess was breathing heavily, but she was smiling. “It is done. Nightmare Night has begun.”
“That was incredible! I can’t believe I never saw you do that before.”
“Thou art the first save my sister to witness that since my return.”
Lodestar peered off into the darkness outside the palace. “I think I see your carriage coming. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I am able,” said Luna. “In my studies, I also rediscovered the Royal Canterlot Voice. It seems I popularized this style before my exile, although I do not remenber doing so. I am now prepared to use it to its full effect once again.”
Lodestar shrugged. “I can’t say I’ve heard of it, but anything that helps you break the ice is bound to be a good idea.”
Two pegasi arrived outside the balcony, pulling the royal carriage. They maneuvered the carriage to the edge of the railing and hovered in place. “Your Highness,” said one of them. “We’re prepared to escort you to Ponyville whenever you’re ready.”
Lodestar paused. “I’ve never seen royal guards dressed like that before.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said the pegasus. “It’s for the festivities, ma’am. Princess Celestia’s orders, ma’am.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “My sister’s sense of humor is unsubtle as always.” She flapped her wings once, propelling herself upward and landing easily on the balcony’s railing.
“You’re sure you’re ready?” asked Lodestar.
“No,” said Luna, “but that is rather the point, is it not?”
“I suppose. I’ll be waiting to hear all about it when you get back.”
“Do not worry, Lodestar. Thou hast prepared me for this as well as anypony can. If nothing else, I will learn a great deal this night.”
“I know. And I’m glad you’re taking this step. Now go on, show those villagers that they’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”
Luna smiled. “I believe I shall.” She stepped lightly into the carriage. “Let us be off.”
The royal guards surged forward, shooting away from the balcony with the carriage in tow. Lodestar watched them go until Luna was out of sight.