//------------------------------// // 4 - A Talk // Story: Of Love and Loss // by tom117z //------------------------------// The Morning of the Summer Sun Celebration It was early in the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration, and the moon hung low in the sky, ready for Luna to bid it goodbye for another day. Princess Luna sat behind a giant velvet curtain that had been erected to cover up the very base of the Crystal Palace, where the Crystal Heart sat on its pedestal. Just beyond the curtain a giant platform had been erected where Luna and Twilight would perform their duties and begin the celebration. Since the event was taking place in the Crystal Empire this year something would transpire that had never been seen during the Summer Sun Celebration before. Something that almost everypony in the crowd, minus the Crystal Ponies had never experience. They were going to activate the crystal heart. Cadance stood near the heart, having assured Luna that the goodwill of the ponies attending the celebration plus a push from her own love magic would be more than enough to power the ancient artifact. “Your highness,” Princess Flurry Heart’s crystaller, Sunburst, addressed the moon princess. “Sunburst, is everything ready?” “Yes, I do believe so. The heart is primed and the crowd has gathered. All we need now is Princess Twilight and we are set to go.” “I will collect her, get do final checks and get everypony into their positions.” “Yes at once, your highness.” Sunburst turned to do as he was asked, but a hoof on his shoulder stopped him. “Sunburst… how are you?” Luna asked. “Um, I’m sorry?” Sunburst said in confusion. “We haven’t spoken since the crystalling, and I know you were close to Starlight Glimmer.” Sunbursts face fell and he shuffled around uncomfortably, “I… yes. We were close. It’s cruel, we grew apart for so long and then so soon after getting her back… she’s gone. There was so much we could have done, so much I wanted to tell her…” Sunburst sighed sadly, before looking up at the alicorn, “But it would be selfish to think only of myself at this time, so Princess Luna… how are you? I may have lost a friend, but you lost your sister that day. I can’t even imagine what you must be going through.” “No Sunburst, you can’t. You have my condolences for your loss, now if you will excuse me,” Luna gave Sunburst a respectful nod. She then departed into the palace, looking for Twilight. “She didn’t answer my question,” Sunburst noted to himself. Luna walked through the hallways of the palace at a brisk pace. She first checked the central balcony, but found that Twilight had since moved from the position. When she didn’t find the young princess in her room Luna could only think of one other place Twilight may have meandered off to. Sure enough Luna found Twilight sitting in the royal library, face deep in some ancient tome. Luna walked up behind Twilight, her hoof not exactly silent as they moved across the hard crystal flooring. And yet despite this Twilight didn’t even twitch and ear, or give any other sign that she had registered Luna’s approach. “Twilight?” Luna place a hoof on her shoulder to gain her attention. “GAH!” Twilight screamed as her wing propelled her high into the air, before losing control and slamming into the cold and uncomfortable crystal floor. Luna couldn’t help but titter behind a hoof, “Enjoying some light reading are we, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight picked herself off the floor and glared at her lunar counterpart, “Never… EVER… do that again!” “My apologies, it was not my intention to cause you such a fright. I only wanted to collect you for the celebration.” “Oh…” Twilight’s ears fell, “It’s time, is it?” “It is Twilight, come. We must not keep the sun waiting long.” “Luna, hold on a moment,” Twilight held up a hoof as the older alicorn began to trot towards the door. “Pray do tell Twilight Sparkle, is something the matter?” Luna asked with concern. “I… was visited by Discord earlier,” Twilight confided. Luna could only groan and roll her eyes, “Yes, and what did the trickster want? He didn’t harm you did he?” “No, he didn’t. Believe it or not but he has truly reformed.” Luna was sceptical, “I trust your judgment Twilight, but forgive me for wanting to stay as far away from that particular draconequus.” Twilight chuckled, “He does have that effect on ponies. Wait… have you met other draconequus’?” “A few, a long time ago. However the species mostly keep to themselves, and normally aren’t as powerful or… ‘disturbed’ as Discord. He is a rather big aberration of the species. But enough of that, what did he want?” “Oh right, well that’s the thing. He left.” Luna raised an eyebrow, sitting next to Twilight to hear the whole story, “Left?” “Yes… And he alluded to some worrying things.” “Like what?” “Well he referenced some kind of ‘insular war’ and that I should keep you close, I think he was insinuating that I can only trust you or something. I also got the impression he had some kind of job he had to do, but he wouldn’t go into any details,” Twilight explained. Luna entered deep thought for a moment, tapping her hoof on her chin. In truth, she was just as perplexed as Twilight was. “You should always take what Discord says with a grain of salt, but if what he says is true then it is truly worrying indeed. As for only trusting me, I don’t understand why he would insinuate that. There is Cadance, your brother and friends… you have plenty of individuals who you can trust.” “I know, maybe I’m just interpreting him wrong. Actually I’m almost certainly doing that, he’s always been cryptic.” “It is a trait he and Tia always shared,” Luna noted, “Though Tia to a lesser degree.” Twilight looked away sadly, “I bet Celestia could figure out what he is up to…” Luna smiled sympathetically, and also a little sadly at Twilight. The princess lifted one of her giant blue wings and gently pulled Twilight into a compassionate embrace. Twilight couldn’t help but blush at such close contact, wrapped underneath the large wing like a warm blanket right by a perfect fireplace on a cold hearthswarming eve. “Tia would be proud of you, Twilight. She would be proud of both of us, just as she always has been.” Twilight didn’t answer, instead she pulled herself closer into the embrace, and Luna didn’t seem to protest. They were both completely at ease for the first time in weeks. Eventually however, they had to part. “Now Twilight, we cannot leave the sun below the horizon any longer. We do not want our subject to think night-time eternal has come again,” She joked. Twilight simply nodded and followed Luna out of the library and down towards the where the celebration was to take place. Her thoughts however were not on the celebration, or even the tragic events of three weeks earlier. All she could think about were those precious few moments she had spent with Luna, and how happy she had been. Far away from Equestria, deep in a large array of ancient underground ruins Discord found himself approaching a large chamber, the doors to which had long since rusted off their hinges. As Discord made his way into the chamber, he spied the very thing he was looking for. At the centre was a large obelisk overflowing with red, green and black energies. All the tell-tale signs of dark magic. The obelisk had countless runes etched into its surface, and a foreboding humming sound emanated from the old magical artifact. “Discord…” A mysterious voice whispered, coming from the obelisk and floating around the air in a ghostly manner. “There you are,” Discord smiled.