Luna looked at the nervous mare in front of her. Then she looked back at Celestia. “Sister… I told you I do not want a clerk….”
“Actually you said that you weren’t so involved in politics as to need one.” Celestia corrected her. Had she said that? She couldn’t remember her exact wording. “I think that changing the laws of our country counts as being involved. Besides, I’ve been looking over some of the suggested changes, and would like to give my input as well, but instead of changing the time of the meetings so that we can both be there, Moondancer here will take care of informing me of the suggestions you come with, and give my input in the next meeting.” She took a break to smile down at the terrified looking unicorn. “And if you should decide to tell her when you decide to spontaneously teleport down to Ponyville so your guards and I don’t have to worry that you got foalnapped, well I wouldn’t complain.”
“P-p-princess, I-I feel I should have had time to prepare if this is a job i-interview… with one of the Princesses… I would have dressed better. Or at least taken a shower… possibly both….” She folded her ears. She did look quite underprepared to be presented in front of two of Equestria’s princesses, with only an old, frayed, sweater covering her light yellow fur. Her red, purple, and violet mane, which had obviously not been combed in a while, was held out of her eyes with a hair tie, and her glasses seemed to be held together mostly with tape. Luna took a discreet sniff, but apparently not discreet enough since she saw the mare’s eyes widen, then look down at the ground in shame. Honestly it wasn’t too bad. It was clear that she didn’t take a shower recently, but it hadn’t been that long since her last one either.
Other than that, Luna noticed that she had eyebrows much like her dear Jax. Well except in Moondancer’s case it was just fur that was coloured a different colour than her other fur, a red that was a little deeper than the red of her mane, while on Jax it was some of the few places he had hair at all, which was quite curious now that she thought about it. She would have to ask him about it later.
“If my sister is willing to recommend you, Miss Moondancer, then I will look pass your appearance, and focus on the true reason you are here. Your skill.” Luna finally said with authority. Moondancer’s ears quivered slightly as she gulped. Was Luna scaring her? Was she doing something wrong? Was she speaking too loudly?
Luna shook off her insecurities quickly. They would get to that later. First things first. “Let’s take this conversation out of the hallway. Follow me, please.”
Celestia had ambushed her right after Night Court, short as it was, so they were just outside the throne room. She started the semi-long trek back to her own room. Both Moondancer and Celestia followed her.
She stopped a maid on the way. She couldn’t remember her name, but she was fairly certain she was either the owner, or the one who wanted to borrow the book Luna had… acquired. “Excuse me, could you please bring some cake and tea to my room?”
The maid bowed so deeply that her snout nearly touched the marble floor. “I apologize, Princess, but after bits were cut from the tea and cake budget, we can only serve them twice a day. Princess Celestia has already….” She quivered slightly, as if afraid that she was about to be smited for refusing Luna’s request.
Luna rounded on her sister, who merely raised a brow. “Don’t look at me like that, Luna. You were the one who decided to cut this particular budget.”
“So that the orphanage could get the bits! It’s ridiculous that we have a budget dedicated solely to cake and tea in the first place. You have a serious problem, Celestia.”
Celesia smiled sweetly at Luna. “I visit the orphanage once a month, dear sister, and if I deemed it unsatisfactory, it would have either received more bits, or new staff, depending on the reason it had fallen in such a state.” There was an edge to her voice that made Luna take a cautious step back.
She looked back at the maid. “Take the cake and tea from tomorrow’s serving.” She simply told her and watched her scurry away. “But don’t let my sister do the same!” She called after her.
They eventually made it to Luna’s room. She let them in, and Celestia quickly arranged some pillows for them to lay on.
“So, sister.” Luna started. “Why are you recommending Moondancer as my… secretary?”
“She’s hardworking, she likes to research, she has a good memory, she reminds me of Twilight before she made friends, and I think she could use the job.” She quickly answered as if expecting the question. Moondancer was looking down between her hooves, avoiding to look at any of the princesses. “And she happened to be outside the royal archives when I thought about how you could use a secretary.” She added the last part with a devious smile, making Moondancer gape at her with an open mouth, before looking back down. Her right ear twitched nervously now and again.
Luna nodded. That sounded like something Celestia would do, though it did not mean Moondancer was not right for the job. If Celestia believed she could do it, then she probably could. What it all came down to, then, was Luna’s opinion of the mare. Looking at Moondancer’s flank, she saw a crescent moon cutie mark, surrounded by stars. A good sign.
Before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” She called. In came the maid with a wagon, containing three pieces of cake, a teapot, and three teacups. “Thank you. I shall take care of the rest.” She gave the maid a small smile, to which she nodded meekly and made her way out after a respective bow.
Luna rose and made her way over to the wagon. “Do you want any sugar or milk in your tea, Miss Moondancer?” She looked over at to see the mare lick her lips nervously.
“No, thank you.” She answered barely above a whisper. “And please… just Moondancer.”
“Very well, Moondancer.” She prepared the tea for all of them, then made her way over with it and the cheesecake for her and Moondancer. Celestia narrowed her eyes at Luna, before levitating her own piece of cake over.
Luna settled down on her pillow again, and took a small bite of her cake, enjoying the sweet blueberry flavour that assaulted her mouth. Jax would love this cake. Maybe she should bring him some.
“So… Moondancer. First and foremost I need to know… are you afraid of me?” She asked with a bit of trepidation. She knew that her image was not the best at the moment. Hopefully Jax was right and her book would show everything in a new light.
Moondancer looked up from her hooves at her, with shock and confusion written on her muzzle. “Why would I be afraid of you, Princess?”
Luna cleared her throat uncertainly. “Well… my actions as… Nightmare Moon,” she forced the words through her maw. It was just a name, she reminded herself. “…did not paint me in the best light. Coupled with the fact that parents threatened their foals for the last thousand years by telling them that the Mare in the Moon would eat them if they didn’t behave, most have certain degree of… distrust… towards me.”
Moondancer looked genuinely saddened. She gave Luna a small smile. “I don’t… I mean, I’m not. Afraid of you, that is.” She took a calming breath. “I never understood those threats, even as a foal. If you could come down from the moon, then why would you use the time to hunt down naughty foals in particular? It didn’t make any sense to me… in fact, I often found….” Her eyes widened, and a blush spread on her muzzle. She looked down at her hooves again.
Luna and Celestia exchanged a look, before looking back at Moondancer curiously. They didn’t say anything, just met Moondancers glances with a curious one whenever she looked up.
Moondancer finally laid down and put her hooves over her burning muzzle. “I found that talking to the Mare in the Moon calmed me down, so whenever I was nervous about something and the moon was out I would talk with her, uhm you, about it and feel better… and I’m not crazy! Really!” She ended by looking at them in desperation.
Luna and Celestia exchanged another look before Celestia burst out laughing. “Oh, little pony, if talking to the moon meant you were crazy, both me and Luna would have been qualified as absolutely mad.” She informed Moondancer with mirth in her voice.
Luna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. It was true after all. She smiled down at the confused mare. “It is my beloved moon. Between us, the moon is a better listener than the sun. It always feels like the sun is trying to cheer you up even before you finish your sentence, but the moon… the moon will just listen.” She winked at Moondancer, while it was Celestia’s turn to roll her eyes.
Moondancer sighed in relief, and smiled timidly at them. “Oh, good. My mom… used to call me a lunatic. Said that it wasn’t natural to talk with the Mare in the Moon like that.”
Luna raised a brow and looked at Celestia for an explanation. “Lunatic?”
Celestia suddenly looked saddened and uncomfortable. “A… a cult that surfaced after… after you were banished. The word later became a synonym with… with ‘crazy’.” Her eyes kept looking away from Luna.
The sadness those words brought Luna was so sudden that she never stood a chance at simply shaking it off. Her wings drooped and her ears folded. A cult. As if her actions weren’t bad enough in and of themselves, they had brought forth a cult. “How…” she croaked. “How bad were they?”
Celestia looked away. “…Two ritualistic kills in one night, to… to free the Nightmare from her prison. Ponies were terrified… left offerings outside their door to appease Nightmare Moon, believing she had returned. And so Nightmare Night was created….”
Luna curled up on her pillow, curling her tail and wings around her to block off the world, while she breathed deeply. She wished Jax was there to hug her… but he wasn’t. She… she could prevail over this. T’was in the past. There was nothing she could hope to attain now… the past was in the past. It could be worse.
It was barely working.
Sounds of movement met her ears, and Celestia soon put her wing over her withers. “Luna… I made sure to root them out. They are no more, I promise.”
“Yes… of course. I am fine… I am fine.” She took a couple of breaths, gathering all of her strength. With a colossal show of will, she pulled herself together, carefully storing the sadness away for later. A technique she had used too much in the past, letting the sadness hob up without dealing with it. She would make sure not to make the same mistake again.
She straightened herself up, and when she looked up again, Moondancer had her hoof raised towards her as if wondering whether she should touch her or not, with an expression of pure worry and regret on her muzzle. “I’m sorry….”
Luna somehow managed to smile down at the mare, small as it was. “There is nothing for you to apologize for. You couldn’t have known.”
Moondancer lowered her hoof, then changed the weight from one hoof to another, looking as if she was debating something with herself. “Thank you… for being there for me….” She finally said. “I know you probably couldn’t hear me, but talking with you on those nights helped me a lot while growing up… actually when the Mare in the Moon disappeared from the moon’s surface, I felt like I had lost yet another friend….” She frowned down at the floor. Then her eyes widened. “I mean, I’m glad you were freed-“
Luna took firm step forward and swept Moondancer into a hug, the type Jax loved with both her hooves and wings embracing the mare.
“Maybe… you can come to think of it less as losing a friend, and more as gaining one that can actually hear and answer you.” She gently reassured the young mare that had just made Luna feel a little warmer.
“I-I- But Princess, I’m just… I’m just me.” Moondancer answered, frozen in the embrace. “I… I’m not….” She trailed off.
“Worthy? Special? But you are, Moondancer. You just admitted to talking with me while I was on the moon, despite your own mother calling you crazy.” She let go of Moondancer, who looked rather self-conscious. “I think that qualifies as worthy. One last question before I take you on as my cl… secretary. Seeing how my sister practically ambushed you and dragged you here, I have to ask. Do you even want the job?”
“Well….” She bit her lip, looked at Luna briefly, then looked back down at her hooves. “Yes. Right now I’m living by selling a lot of articles each month… and I do like the research involved but….” She was silent for a long while, sometimes peeking up to look at Luna. Both Luna and Celestia waited patiently for her to continue. “I-if I’m honest with myself… I’m a bit unsatisfied with how things turned out for me.” She finally admitted, as if it was hard for her to get the words out. “I don’t have any friends, and each day I tell myself that I’m fine with that, that friendship only leads to being hurt, and that I should just focus on my research… that I wouldn’t have time for friends anyway… but a part of me is just so unsatisfied!” She got of the pillow and started pacing. It seemed like this was something she needed to tell somepony. “Every day is the same, I wake up, go to the library, research until it closes, then go home and write on some article, all the while ignoring all the ponies around me that aren’t alone… ignoring how much it hurts to be alone… and I’m just so tired of it. But if I get this job, then maybe I will have some time to make friends… even though I’m not sure how… maybe I’ll try to reconnect with some old ones…. And maybe if Twilight Sparkle comes to the castle I can finally talk with her about how she just left without saying goodbye… without ever talking with me again….” She looked up at Luna with sad eyes, before looking down at her hooves with a frown. “…You probably wouldn’t understand.”
“I think you will find that I understand better than you might think,” she answered gently, raising Moondancer’s head so she could look into her eyes, “and if you want to talk with Twilight, I can take you with me when I go to Ponyville in the morning.”
Moondancer’s eyes widened. “I… but what would I even say to her?”
“I think…” Celestia spoke up from beside them, “that you should tell her how she made you feel when she left.” She smiled gently at the wide-eyed mare. “Now, I think my sister is willing to accept you as her secretary…” Celestia looked over to Luna who nodded with a smile. She liked Moondancer so far. “So I will have my secretary, Raven, teach you the basics before the meeting… was it tomorrow night?”
“Yes.” Luna answered. “I do not have the energy to deal with them tonight.”
Moondancer smiled brightly, looking a bit dazed.
“Right. After that I would advise you to get some sleep, if you want to follow my sister to Ponyville. She leaves at sunrise, if I’m not mistaken.” Luna nodded, as they all rose.
“I am certain you will do well as my secretary, Moondancer.” Luna told her new secretary with a smile.
“T-thank you, Princess.” She bowed low. “I-I will do my best. Thank you for giving me this chance.”
Luna withheld a sigh. Maybe friendship with Moondancer was not at close as she had hoped. Still, Moondancer was not afraid of her, which was a step in the right direction.
“You are quite welcome. Now go rest. I will see you again at moondown.”
***
The rest of the night passed agonizingly slow, making Luna wonder if postponing the meeting till the next night was a wise choice. She would be up all night and all day, after all, and in this particular meeting Celestia would state her opinion through Moondancer as well, probably causing a revision of laws they had already gone through… which would start a whole new discussion. It was already going painfully slow as it was, with the lawyers discussing every aspect of the old law, spending hours and hours on it, before agreeing on something. It was rather excruciating.
Luna decided to rest most of the night away, between reading her ‘borrowed’ book. It was a fairly boring night, to say the least.
When the time finally came, she packed the neatly organized papers that would become her book, and some bits. Then she made her way to the kitchen to take a piece of the cheesecake for Jax. Then she finally made her way to the balcony where she and her sister performed their duties.
“Good morning sister.” Celestia greeted her.
“Good morning, your highness.” Moondancer bowed from her place beside Celestia, looking a bit tired, but otherwise clean, with a mane and tail that looked thoroughly combed. Her sweater also looked new.
“And good morning to the both of you.” Luna answered with a barely contained smile.
After lowering the moon and raising the sun, Luna and Moondancer started making their way to the chariot that would take them to Ponyville. Luna could teleport herself, but the more ponies she tried to teleport, the harder it became. There was no need to exhaust herself, even if she could do it.
“Uhm… Princess?” She heard Moondancer’s voice behind her. Luna turned around to face her. Moondancer had stopped and was looking at her in confusion.
“Yes?”
“Aren’t we… going to the train station? I mean, the train isn’t coming for another hour but….”
It was Luna’s turn to look confused. “The train?”
“Yeah… uhm, you know, it’s a sort of big wagon that’s pulled by a coal-fuelled engine? Raven said that a secretary needs to be one step ahead, so I went ahead and bought two tickets for the first train today….”
Luna finally understood. “Ah. I know what a train is, Moondancer. I was going to take the royal chariot, I use it so rarely as it is, and it would have allowed me more time with Jax, but I guess I will go inform them that their service will not be needed. I hope they will not be too disappointed.”
Moondancer’s eyes widened. “Oh… OH!” She facehooved. “Of course, royal chariot! I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t have any time to research any of this, I just assumed….” She looked up with a desperate smile. “We don’t have to use the train, I’ll just pay the royal treasury back with my own bits, and we can forget this whole thing… right?”
“Nonsense. You went through the trouble to acquire train tickets for us, and we are going to use them. Now come.” While it would seem that she would get to Ponyville at an agonizingly slow rate, Luna could not make herself throw away the tickets Moondancer had bought with the best of intentions. She was new to being a secretary, so it was expected that she would make a couple of mistakes, and Luna was going to be patient with her.
Moondancer looked like she had found out her mother had died. Her ears, head, almost everything was drooping as she took heavy steps. Luna could imagine that it must be hard for her to make a mistake this early on the job, but she would get over it, and learn from it. If she did not, then she would be ill-suited for the job, and it was unlikely Celestia made that kind of mistake. She had a good eye for ponies, after all.
They moved out to the castle aircraft docks, with small hot air balloons and giant dirigibles both were waiting to be flown. In a part for itself, the royal chariots were stationed, which is where Luna led them. “Night Guard, Shadow Wing.” She greeted the two guards already fastened at the front of the chariot, ready to take off. “There has been a change of plans. I will depart with the next train to Ponyville instead.”
The guards exchanged a look, then started unfastening themselves. “I hope you don’t mind that we escort you, Princess? We were hoping to do our job for once.” Night Guard asked seriously.
Luna laughed softly. “Of course you can escort us to Ponyville, but once there I would like some time alone with Jax. Besides, your job is more than just following me around, dear Night Guard.”
“Yes, but standing in the hallway all night pales in comparison.” The shadow of a smile graced his muzzle. Night Guard had been one of the first to join her once she officially remade her guard. He was old, experienced, and loyal to a fault.
“Let us move out then.” She smiled at him.
The trek to the station was not particularly long, but the looks Luna received from some of the locals made it feel that way. Some of them did only look in curiosity, and bowed down quickly, but others cleared out as quickly as their legs allowed them. That they still feared her caused her heart to throb in pain and regret.
“Who’s Jax?” Moondancer suddenly asked from beside her. Luna looked at her in surprise.
“You do not know who Jax is? I thought the rumours about him had spread until they were common knowledge, especially after we appeared in ‘the Canterlot Informant.’
“Oh… I sort of stopped caring for the newspapers after Twilight appeared on it all the time. It made me… bitter… to see her with her new friends. The name does sound familiar though, so I might have heard it in passing.”
“Hmm….” Luna hummed thoughtfully. How did one describe Jax? “Well… Jax is the one and only human in Equestria. He is from a different dimension, and was the only one brought over by the rift that was formed after the fight with Tirek.” Luna searched her memory for relevant information, before she realized the term ‘human’ most likely did not mean anything to Moondancer. “As for how he looks, you will have to wait until I introduce him to you, as he is hard to describe. But worry not about his tall stature, for he is the sweetest and funniest human you will ever meet.” Luna smiled at the memory of Jax describing himself as ‘the awesomest human in all of Equestria.’ “He always tries to make those close to him smile, with puns and jokes alike. His smile lights up any room, his roaring laughter makes you want to join in, and you feel better just by being near him. Especially when he does something really nice for you, like trick your sister into spending the whole day with you because you told him you wanted to talk more with her….” She let the warmth from the memory spread through her body before continuing. “And his hugs! His hugs really are the best, makes you feel all happy and warm, and you never want to let go, especially when he strokes you gent-“
“Uhm Princess? Maybe a little… too descriptive.” Moondancer said with a visible blush, which Luna mirrored when she realized how lost in describing Jax she had become.
She coughed in a vain attempt to disperse the awkwardness. “Right. Anyway, he has recently been almost possessed by Sombra, so it is my duty as both a former possessed individual, and his marefriend, to be there for him. That is why-“
She stopped and looked behind her when she realized she had lost both her secretary and her guards. They were staring at her a few steps behind with big eyes.
“King Sombra?” Moondancer asked.
“Marefriend?” She caught the whisper from Shadow Wing.
“Yes. Now come. The train station is not far. Oh, one last thing, Moondancer. Do not, under any circumstances, use magic on him, no matter how small or easy the spell. His body reacts strangely to it, and it could cause some serious harm.”
“Oh… Uhm, alright. I’m… looking forward to meeting him.” Moondancer gave an unconvincing smile.
Luna sighed. She was sure it would be alright. Moondancer was a good pony, after all.
***
Luna looked around the interior of the train. There was a cheaper, ‘public’ half, where seats of three faced seats of three, and then there was the more expensive half with private compartments.
Luna made a bee line for the private compartments, because she was certain Moondancer had reserved a compartment for them at least, when she heard a timid “Uhmm… Princess?” from behind her.
She froze mid-step. Surely she would not have to… oh, who was she kidding, her secretary had gotten tickets for the public half of the train for them, which would not have bothered her so much if it did not give plenty of ponies to look at her in fear. She sighed.
“For future reference, Moondancer, I prefer the private compartments unless I state otherwise.” She could not quite keep her disappointment out of her voice, hard as she tried.
“Y-yes of course, Princess. I just… uhm… I’m sorry.” She did sound sorry, sorry enough to make Luna feel a little bad for her.
Luna looked around. Luckily there were not that many ponies, but those that were looked around uncertainly.
“It is fine. Let us find a seat.” She moved forward again, this time looking for someplace they could sit mostly in private without having to worry.
“Princess Luna?” A familiar voice inquired. Looking over, Luna spotted a mint-green unicorn looking over at them. She had a lyre cutie mark, and Luna quickly identified her as the cheerful mare that sometimes spoke with both Jax and herself during her stay in Ponyville. She smiled back at her.
“Ah, Miss Heartstrings. Good to see you.“
The unicorn bowed, a proper bow out of nothing but a wish to show their respect, which made Luna feel better. “Likewise, your maj-“
“Lyra?” Moondancer asked in disbelief from behind Luna, tilting to the side to see. Luna took a step to the side so they could see each other.
“Moondancer?” Lyra squinted at the mare, before a giant smile broke through. “Moondancer!” She jumped at the mare, pulling her into a tight hug. “We haven’t heard from you in forever! If we didn’t see your articles in ‘Magic Monthly’ and ‘Questions of the Ages’ so often we would have thought you died!”
Luna chuckled. She was not sure what was going on, but it would seem Moondancer was not as alone as she thought she was. “Are you here alone, Miss Heartstrings?”
“Wha?” Lyra looked back from examining Moondancer, who looked unsure of herself. “Oh, yeah. Hey, if you don’t have any seats, you can come sit with me.”
Luna internally cheered. That was exactly what she wanted to achieve. Outwards she remained calm, giving a graceful smile. “Thank you, we would be happy to accept your offer.” They all settled down on the seats, Lyra sitting in a rather peculiar position, the same position Jax sat in. Luna decided not to comment on it. Her guards positioned themselves so they could keep their eye on everypony, but close enough to interfere if it was necessary.
“What brings you to the train this early, or for some of us, late?” Luna asked curiously.
“Oh, I was spending a long weekend in Canterlot, you know, to visit my parents, and possibly my friends, turned out my friends were all busy though. Anyway, my parents can be a bit… well you know how parents are. When you live home they want you to move out, when you move out and visit they never want you to leave. Anyway, I missed the last train yesterday, but I told Bon Bon I would help her in the shop today, so I pulled myself up early.” She smiled brightly at them. “What about you, your highness? Going back to Ponyville to visit Jax? Why are you taking Moondancer with you?”
“Yes, I am. Moondancer became my secretary last night-“
Luna was interrupted by Lyra’s gasp. “Really?! That’s great! Then which excuse are you going to use to not come out with us, Moondancer?”
They both looked at Moondancer, who scraped at the seats with her hoof. “Actually… the reason I agreed to become Princess Luna’s secretary was so that I could have some time to make friends… so I would love to go out with you girls.”
Lyra’s gasp almost rivaled Pinkie Pie’s. “Really?!” She looked ready to jump at Moondancer again.
“Uhm… yeah. Well, it’s going to have to be really early or late, since I’m going to be working at night, but yes. I’m… actually surprised you still want to be friends with me, after I… after last time you came by….”
“Oh, pfff,” Lyra dismissed the statement with a wave of her hoof “who hasn’t had a door slammed into their face by their old classmate. I’m just happy you finally decided to come out of your house. I mean, other places than the library. You didn’t get tired of studying, by chance?” She smiled teasingly at Moondancer.
“Of course not. Who could get tired of studying?” Luna could not tell whether she was kidding or not. She did not sound like she was. “I just… need to make a living that leaves me more free time. I don’t get very many bits per article, so I needed to write and study a lot to make sure I could pay the rent.”
“Yeah, they really should pay more for those things. All that ‘for the sharing of knowledge’ is really going to bite them in their flank when you stop writing articles for them.”
“Well it’s not like I was making big studies or anything, I was just looking at what was already out there....”
And so the train slowly started moving to Ponyville, while Luna thought of a way to bring the conversation over to something she could participate in.