Eternal Nightmare

by Jgame

Chapter Nine

Star eagerly trotted along with me to Canterlot Castle as I escorted her to a wide open area in Canterlot Gardens.

“This is my favourite place in all of Canterlot,” I told Star.

“Why?” she asked.

I pointed up to the star filled night sky. “'tis just far enough away from the city that thou canst see most of the night sky with the naked eye, and... take a sniff, and find out for thyself.”

Star took an exaggerated sniff of air. “Wow! That smells really good! Kinda like my mom's perfume.”

“The scent comes from flowers called Gardenia's. My sister insisted on having some planted hither, and over time I grew to like them more than my sister did,” I chuckled.

Two guards entered our stretch of the garden. One was an average build with an excellent poker face, with a snow white mane that marked him a member of Celestia's guard. The other also had the same mane, but she was an inch shorter and a petite build, and her eyes marked a certain curiosity, as if the scenery around her was utterly fascinating, although she had likely done the route at least twice by now.

Both of them came to a sudden halt. The first guard's eyes widened, and the other one broke out in a massive grin.

Star followed my gaze over to them and then squealed with happiness. “Idle! And Cheer!”

Idle widened his eyes in surprise but didn't move.

Cheer evidently had no such qualms as she trotted over with a massive grin on her face.

“Permission to temporarily halt my patrol?” Idle asked.

“Granted,” I said.

Idle finally smiled and joined Cheer in greeting an excited Star.

“I'm surprised to see you here!” Cheer said.

“Do you know these two?” I asked Star.

“Yep!” Star said, “this is my big bro, Idle Hooves! And this is Infectious Cheer! She's really nice once you get to know her!”

“Star, why exactly are you with Princess Luna at this time of night? You're not in trouble or anything, but it's not quite an everyday occurrence...” Idle Hooves trailed off.

“She wanted help with her school project. Seeing that I had no urgent matters to spend my time on, I decided to help,” I explained.

Idle Hooves small smile grew ear to ear.

“And just the other day you were saying how hard it was to get information for the project,” Infectious Happiness teased Star, affectionately ruffling her mane.

After a few minutes of polite chat, the children, Star and Shine, and I went inside my room.

“So, what did thou needst to know?” I asked Star when they were gone.

“Well, did ponies really eat exactly like we do now?” Star asked.

“Ponies back then did eat the same essentials, such as hay or oats, but no extras, such as sweets,” I explained.

“So... no cupcakes?” Star asked in shock.

“No cupcakes,” I confirmed.

“Wow. Cheer wouldn't wanna live back then. She loves cupcakes. They still ate hay, right? So I think Idle would be fine. His favourite food is hay. He always eats-” Shine said before spreading her hoofs apart to the size of her face, “-this much at dinner.”

I spread my hooves to indicate a size that was less than half then Shine had shown me.

“This is how much an ordinary pony one thousand years ago would have on his or her plate,” I said.

Star's eyes went wide.

“Mom tells us we need to eat lots to grow,” Star said, “so how did ponies back then grow?”

“They didn't,” I stated flatly.

Star rewarded me with a look of absolute confusion.

Hunger is a foreign concept to her,I reminded myself.

“Everypony didn't have as much to eat as they did back then, so ponies grew slower than they do today,” I explained.

“Oh, okay,” Star said.

I continued to answer her questions, and explaining certain concepts to her further like famine and food shortages when she didn't understand me in my first attempt to explain.

I tried to simplify and soften the harshness of life back then. She was still a young child, and still innocent. She would be able to fully understand starvation when she grew older.

“Can I ask you a question about you this time?” Shine said hesitantly.

Simply by her tone I knew it was going to be a question that she knew I may not like. I was tempted to refuse.

“It... depends on thy question,” I said. There. No promises, but I would still hear what she has to say.

“In the paintings, you looked so much bigger and scarier. But now you seem so nice now. Why?” Star asked.

A polite cough from my older sister saved me from answering.

“Save that question for a moment,” I said quickly, “hello, sister.”

“I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think it's past time for you to raise the Moon,” my sister said warmly.

Star's eyes gleamed. “Can I watch?”

I hesitated. One one hoof, she look genuinely interested. On the other, I hadn't remastered raising the Moon. Failing in front of a child would no doubt make me seem like a complete fool.

“I suppose while you're here,” I said nonchalantly.

My eyes shut in focus, and raised the Moon with surprising ease. For the first time since my return to Equestria, raising the Moon was easy and uplifting.

“Wow!” Shine said excitedly.

“And, while I'd preferst to spend more time with thou, I think that thee should begin to embark to thy home,” I said gently.

“But,” Star protested, “you didn't answer my question.”

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, my little pony, but we're very-” my sister began to say.

“I hath time to answer,” I said. “Art thou familiar with the tale of the Mare In The Moon?”

“Yeah,” Star said, “there was a good pony and another good pony who became bad.”

“I am the one who 'became bad', as you put it. I began to look different when I became good again. There may be one day where I may turn bad again.”

“Don't worry, Luna!” Star said eagerly, “Idle and Cheer will make sure you won't go bad again!”

“Mayhaps,” I said to humour the child. “And now that I've answered your question-” I turned to face Idle Hooves and Infectious Cheer, who were passing by on patrol again, pretending not to pay the conversation any attention, “-Idle Hooves, Infectious Cheer, take Star home.”

“Yes, Princess,” Infectious Cheer said.

“But... who's going to guard the garden if we go?” Idle Hooves asked.

“I think the garden can be left unchecked for a few minutes,” my sister chuckled, “your shift should be nearly done, if I recall.”

After they had left, I faced my sister.

“There... is something that happened when I attempted to raise the Moon,” I admitted.

“What was that?” my sister asked.

“It...” I trailed off, searching for the right description, “was much easier than before.”

“Your powers are coming back to you,” my sister said.

“No,” I said, “it was as if my magic had been artificially enhanced.”

My sister thought about that, and then slowly grinned. “I think I know what happened. Did you enjoy your time with the little filly?”

“Yes, I did. Why?”

“I think, that in that small shared moment, friendship helped your magic grow beyond what it had been before.”

I snorted. “I only spent a minuscule amount of time with her. Hardly enough to aid me magically.”

“Having her there meant a lot to you, didn't it?”

“Yes. What is thy point?”

“When a pony, even alicorns like you or me, truly realizes the value of friendship, the magical power gained by it increases by massive amounts,” my sister explained. It was all information I already knew, but I listened anyways.

“But...” my sister continued, “sometimes it only takes a few short hours for the power of friendship to manifest itself in a skilled magic user, as Twilight Sparkle has no doubt proven to you.”

I thought back to Twilight Sparkle activating the Elements against me, or rather, Night Mare Moon.

The way her eyes sparkled when she heard the reassuring voices of her friends. Was that what caused her to truly appreciate her friends, generating enough magical power for the Elements to not only function, but renew themselves wholly? That was more magical power than any ordinary unicorn could even dream of achieving. The thought of mere friendship giving her an edge seemed utterly ludicrous.

Unsure, I simply said, “mayhaps you art correct, big sister.”