Star Gazing

by Konseiga

A Royal Favor

In Canterlot, many miles away from Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle, a midnight blue alicorn wretched for the third time in a row, spitting bile and water on the lush green grass of the royal palace garden. A groaning Princess Luna just sat there for a minute, eyes closed, letting the wind blow through her mane and soothe her for a second.

"Lu'?" A sleepy voice called from the pavilion. A haggard-looking Celestia stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. "Are you alright?"

Luna blanched. Had she been that loud in her vomitting? It was not very becoming for a royal figure such as herself. "You should be in bed, sister dearest," Luna's voice was soft, like a nightengale just waking up.

"Why, yes, I suppose I should," Celestia agreed thoughtfully, plodding over to stand next to her sister. "But when I feel like my stomach has just been taken on an economy-class pegasus ride through a hurricane, I tend to worry." Celestia shot a glance at Luna, a light smile gracing her lips. "Especially when I know it was far worse on your end."

Luna unregally stuck her tounge out at her sister. Despite it being the dead of night, Celestia carried a radiance only a goddess of the sun would posses at all times. It made Luna look out of practice. She knew it was a magical glamour, but she felt in awe of it all the same.

Ears flicking, Celestia prodded Luna in the side, draping an elegant white wing over her smaller sibling. "What happened, Lu'?"

Luna shrugged ever so slightly. "It was one of the most awful feelings I've ever had. It was as if all the emotions I felt before my sentence-" Celestia flinched, but Luna continued on. She had forgiven her sister long ago for that "-only, this time all the hatred and anger was aimed at me, instead of coming from me." Luna turned sad eyes on her sister. "I guess I know how you feel now, huh?"

"Come," Celestia said abruptly, but not unkindly. "Let's get you inside and get you some water. We can talk about this again in the morning." Side by side, the regal alicorns walked back inside, both feeling aprehensive about the future.

~*~*~*~*~

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am breaking from our normal correspondence of the lessons of friendship to inform you about some strange happenings last night. I found myself awake for longer than a pony should consider healthy, and despite some cases that I have had in the past, this felt different. It was as if my mind had completely dominated all of my physical urges while still leaving my conscious in the dust behind it. It was...frightening, to say the least.

In addition, as I observed the night sky (it's what I ended up doing while waiting for sleep to come), I noticed several peculiar shadows flitting across the moon and the stars. It was as if entire groups of Luna's handiwork had suddenly vanished, swallowed by some malignant entity.Furthermore, nopony I confided in afterwords had mentioned seeing anything of the sort. While I would ask that you put forth an inquiry to the Royal Astronomy Society, I have a horrible feeling in my gut that they too would be unaware of these occurrences.

I sincerely hope that you don't think any less of me for this, but this isn't the first time that I have been struck by sudden, inexplicable insomnia. It probably isn't any cause for alarm, but...I'm slightly frightened, Princess, and I didn't know who else to turn to.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight set her quill down with a sigh. She couldn't think of a way to make it sound less pleading, but it still seemed too...

Too what? It didn't seem right to Twilight, burdening her mentor with her own worries. But she was on the border of desperation. She needed somepony to talk to.

"Hey Twi'! Breakfast is re- whoa!" Spike ambled into Twilight's bedroom, looking wide-eyed at the mess that had come to dominate the once-tidy room. Crumpled paper, broken quills, empty inkpots, and discarded books littered the floor. Twilight's bed was unkempt. And Spike gasped as he looked at Twilight herself. There were dark rings under her eyes, and her eyes were missing the usual energetic gleam that marked a happy Twilight Sparkle.

"On second thought, breakfast can wait," Spike said firmly, grabbing his mentor pony by the hoof and half-led her, half-drug her to her bed, throwing back the covers.

"Spike...letter...Princess..." Twilight mumbled, eyes fluttering closed, her entire body swaying like a leaf in the breeze.

"Yes, Twilight, I'll take care of it," Spike promised. A small smile graced Twilight's face.

"That's...number...assistant..." Twilight managed to say before collapsing onto her bed. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

"You really need to take better care of yourself," Spike shook his head. "Anyway, let's get this letter sent to the Princess, and then clean up this mess."

~*~*~*~*~

Luna watched carefully as Celestia sipped her coffee, a look of bliss crossing her older sister's face. "Ahh, Hazelnut. A good flavor to have in the morning," she said quietly.

Luna scoffed. "I never understood how you drank that swill, sis."

Celestia smiled a knowing smile. "I guess it's a bit of an aqcuired taste."

Luna still huffed and stomped the ground. "Well, you won't find me drinki-hck!" she coughed mid sentance due to the green puff of smoke that had just materialized right in front of her nose.

"Oh! Luna, are you alright?" Try as she might, Celestia could not keep the amusement out of her voice as her younger sister glared at her, a poof of green clinging stubbornly to her nose.

"Splendid," Luna retorted. If Celestia registered the sarcasm, she let it roll of, instead levitating over the scroll that had appeared with the smoke.

"Oh, wonderful!" Celestia's smile widened into genuine delight. "It's from Twilight!"

Twilight? Luna wondered idly. Then, with a flash of rainbows and a whole lot of unearthly screaming, Luna remembered. A purple unicorn with a golden tiara, glowing white eyes and a cute strip of pink down the center of her mane. Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic. Luna scratched at the ground nervously. She remembered the pure power that had flowed from the unicorn. Twilight and her friends might chalk the power up to the Elements help, but Luna knew that Twilight had enough raw power to rival both herself and Celestia.

And then Luna was struck with a more pleasant memory. Her first Nightmare Night back in Equestria had gotten off to a rough start, but Twilight Sparkle had somehow turned the entire thing around.

"Let's see what insightful observations she has for me this time," Celestia purred, breaking the seal on the scroll and unfurling it. As Celestia's face fell, though, Luna could tell it was anything but good news.

"Sis?" Luna said after a few minutes. Celestia had read and re-read and re-re-read the scroll, and only just now set it down. "What is it?"

Quietly, Celestia read Twilight's letter aloud. Luna merely looked puzzled. Sure, it wasn't a happy letter, but certainly it was no cause for alarm, right?

"Sis, I don't understand. Why are you acting the way you are?" Celestia merely looked at her sister.

"In all the years that Twilight has been my student, she has never once gotten sick," Celestia murmured. "She has never once had an injury last for longer than a few minutes, and she certainly has never developed insomnia."

"Okay...so the mare takes good care of herself. Why is this cause for alarm again?" Luna didn't mean to sound calloused, but she was trying to understand.

"Don't you see, Luna?" Celestia said quietly. "Her magic is strong enough that it literally burns away all illness. It keeps her mind focused. It keeps her healthy. Heals every single injury."

"Okay..."

"So, what could possibly make her ill enough to hallucinate?" Celestia's voice rose in a crescendo, accompanied by an undertone of panic. "Her handwriting is the choppiest it has ever been. She's hallucinating. She's sleep deprived, but not by choice."

Luna's eyes began to widen. "So, you're saying..."

Celestia closed her eyes and whispered, "I think something is feeding off of my student's magic."

Luna shuddered. If something was feeding off of the magic within Twilight Sparkle, then it had a vast amount of food.

"Luna," Celestia's whisper almost went past her ears.

"Yes, Celestia?"

"I need to ask you a favor."

Luna frowned. It wasn't an order? Or an official request?

"I would be forever in your debt if you went to Ponyville for me to check on Twilight," Celestia continued, "And I think it would do you some good, as well."

"Do me good?" Luna raised her eyebrow daintily.

"Yes. I do seem to recall that you two became quick friends over Nightmare Night."

"I would be glad to, sister," Luna said, straightening up. "It's not like I can do much around here anyway." Celestia merely nodded. Despite Luna's return, she had still not taken up the mantle of raising the moon and painting the sky with stars each night. Despite Celestia's protests, she just felt she was not ready.

"Thank you, Lu'," Celestia said quietly. Then, rising up to her feet, she brightened visably. "I'm sure she will get much better under your care." And, that said, Celestia trotted off. Luna smiled thinly. Well, she WAS always better suited to this royalty business than I was, she thought.

"Alright, Ponyville," Luna muttered under your breath, "Prepare for another visit by your matriarch of the nighttime."

Comments

[Joseph Raszagal]

The plot thickens. Good thing Twi has Spike there to take care of her when strange entities may or may not be siphoning off her magic power .

[KatnissEverdeenTheMareOnFire]

[sunset_lightning]

I prefer chapters like this rather than large ones

[DarkSnowGaming]

2441548
Glad I'm not the only one, I have other things to do after all, I wouldn't want to sit around for hours reading over 10,000 words per chapter, although I would probably do it anyway even if the chapter were separated into 1,000 words each, but I still enjoy the smaller chapters than the larger ones.