Light of the Moon

by Aligon

Chapter 6: Dramatics of the Night

A white pegasus trotted up to them as they each grabbed a sandwich from the table. The pegasus was a stallion and wore a brown tuxedo. A grey pegasus stallion followed him, wearing a scowl. The white stallion bowed to Twilight and Luna then nodded at Scarlet. The other just rolled his eyes.

"Princess Twilight, it's a honor to meet you, I am Shocky Cloud. This is my son Sparky Boom. Oh and please excuse my son, he's not good with manners."

Twilight smiled at the stallion and offered a small triangle sandwich. He took it in his hoof and laughed. Sparky wandered off and joined a group of wonderbolts currently flying around the sky above. Luna pulled Twilight over to the bow of the great ship.

"Twilight Sparkle, you know the constellations in our night, but do you know their stories?"

"Stories? Aren't they images from your mind placed onto the sky?"

"To control the night you must know the stories. It has always been that way. The stories will prepare you if one would escape."

"Escape? Is the night a prison?"

Luna chuckled at the thought.

"For only those who have done horrible deeds. But the great ponies take place among them as well. They stand watch over all the sleeping souls. My mother is there."

She pointed to the moon. Twilight stared at her like that is not possible. Luna smiled and started telling her the stories passed down from the generations. They were left alone for a good two hours, but royals can only be alone so long.

"Excuse me, princess?"

The royal pair turned to a earth mare bowing. She looked very scared, but who wouldn't when in the presence of two powerful rulers. Luna, being the older princess, nodded at the mare to stand.

"It seems that I have forgotten my duties. Night Court began an hour ago."

"Maybe we can ask for a private room and you can do court there?"

"Let's hurry Twilight Sparkle, I wish to get back to the lesson."

Scarlet was happy to let them use a room, she gave them the captain's quarters in spite of the captain's complaints. Scarlet thought that having two princesses preform royal duties on her ship should be spread. She wrote a small note and gave it to a pegasus who flew quickly to the city.

Meanwhile, Luna and Twilight sat down and listened to the yellow mare wanting to speak to Luna. Twilight had a quill and parchment ready for notes, much to Luna's amusement. She nodded to the mare and she began her talk.

"Princess Luna, my name is Strawberry Fields. I run my father's orphanage and I am requesting some funding to build a playground and have a music program for the children."

"And where is your orphanage?"

"A little ways away from Dodge Junction. Between it and Apple Loosa. We really need the bits so the fillies and foals can play safe. Being that close to the Badlands and all."

Luna nodded. Twilight remembered all the trouble three little fillies cause when not watched carefully. She observed them until Strawberry time was up and she had to leave. Luna sighed after the mare left, this was the second Night Court she had since she was back and she was not in practice.

"Twilight Sparkle, seeing as I am still teaching you, you are going to speak to the next pony."

"What? But I haven't read anything yet about court. I don't have any experience."

"Just try."

The next pony to come in was a grey pegasus with a pair of goggles hanging from his neck. Luna nodded to Twilight as he bowed to them. Twilight looked at the stallion and nodded.

"Princess, I am Storm Front from the Canterlot weather team. My friend is retiring and we request the use of magic clouds in our rainy day to remember him." (Storm Front)

"The rules clearly state that they are only to be used for a festival." (Luna)

"But he is the best of the best! He organized our team to keep the weather going and he is one of the Equestrian Knights." (Storm Front)

"Luna, I think we can come to a compromise." (Twilight)

"And that would be?" (Luna)

"We can have a festival celebrating pegasi and have the use of magic clouds decorate the skies." (Twilight)

"All pegasi? We were talking about one a second ago." (Storm Front)

"It is a great idea Twilight Sparkle and the only one that will allow a weather team use magical clouds." (Luna)

The grey stallion grunted, but settled for the festival. They chose that it would be held two days after the pegasus team leader retired. Twilight was proud of herself; finding the answer to a problem. It was her specialty. Storm Front left and about a dozen ponies replaced him through the night.

Luna decided that after the sixteenth pony, Night Court was closed. The royal pair trotted back to the party and were met by a silver-grey unicorn with a cream-colored horn. He bowed deeply to them and smiled.

"Ah, princesses, I thought I'd find you here. Nopony can resist a good party."

"What, pray tell, is thy name?"

"Ivory Tusk, my dear princess. Collector of rare and valuable items. I am also a great supporter of the Zaldia Knights, I wish I had a horn like theirs or their beautiful wings. But I am a day-goer by profession so I support by giving funding to training and research."

"You seem more supportive than anypony to my guard."

"Why can't I? Everypony has the choice of which princess to follow. I chose you, my princess."

To Luna, the stallion seemed very enthusiastic about her kind and her night, but did not do as others have done and change themselves in loyalty. Twilight thought that something was off about him. No pony can love a zaldia that much. Could they?

He stayed with the two night princesses until they finally decided to retreat to the castle. The guard flew with their rulers of the moon and made sure no stray pegasus got near them. Once they landed Luna and Fang flew off to the Noctis Tower. Twilight and Starlight walked to their rooms in the Noctis Wing.

Twilight, who took it upon herself to memorize the song, opened the doors to the wing. Starlight bid her farewell and went to his own room. Twilight undressed, placed her royal accessories on her dresser, then laid down on the silk covered bed.

---

Starlight sat on the cold floor and stared at his reflection in the mirror. His scruffy mane fell over his eyes and his fangs shined in the light.

"I should of asked her for a dance. Midnight was right, I'm a huge dork when it comes to this stuff. She's a pony princess and I'm just a zaldia bat. Not even Princess Luna, whose mother created us for her, would be with a zaldia hoof."

He sighed and held his head in his hooves. Even Luna wouldn't date a zaldia, any of them! Rumors go around that a stallion in Baltimare won her heart. Others say it was a long lost love from the Crystal Empire. Some say it's both. But what is a lowly bat to do about the mare he loved.

He looked up at the mirror.

"You're pathetic. Even Night Tale has more confidence. Tomorrow I will ask her about having a nice stroll or a plain dinner."

He saluted his reflection and trotted off to bed. Little did either pony know a certain cloud of mist was watching them. It slipped under Twilight's door and hovered above the sleeping princess. Then entered her dream land.

---

The dream land was a wide open space filled with colors and had a row of doors everywhere. It was so chaotic looking you would think Discord lived there. Twilight stood in the world and stared at each piece, her mind taking in all that she was seeing.

Luna materialized behind her, startling the young princess. She smiled and looked all around her.

"Twilight Sparkle, this is the dream world where we enter dreams of ponies and help them. You need practice with doing this before you can even raise the moon or move thy stars."

"Practice? How am I supposed to practice anything here?"

"These doors are the gateways to dreams. Each one I have recently labeled so we may know which one to enter before we get impaled."

"Which door do I- Hey!"

Luna had disappeared and a door stood where she was. Twilight looked at the label, 'Starlight'. She lifted her hoof and opened the door. The light blinded her a little, but once she was able to see she saw a park below like the Canterlot park.

She trotted around it until she spotted Starlight who was with a dream version of herself. The dream Twilight was laughing at him. Did he say something funny? Did he do something strange? The dream Twilight walked past the real Twilight, who blasted it into purple smoke. It was just a dream.

Twilight walked up to Starlight who was holding his head in his hooves. She sighed causing him to snap his head upward.

"Back to laugh again?"

"At what? You didn't say anything to me."

"Then you must be my good side. The other one just left."

"Well are you going to tell me what you told her?"

"Might as well, you are just my dream. And you are supposed to be the outcome I wanted."

He stood up and shook his head then sat on the bench behind him. Twilight sat down next to him thinking this was going to be strange. She was right. After they sat down, Starlight looked into her eyes and held her hooves.

"Princess, Twilight, I....I have been,,,,been thinking and I wanted to ask you........well if you wanted to go on a.......on a....."

"Are you asking me out?"

"I guess."

Twilight stared at him, the dream version laughed at him. He expects her to be the brighter side for reality. From what he's been through he deserves it.

"Starlight, tomorrow at eight I want you to meet me at Minnie's Munchies. Trust me I'm not a dream."

He stared at her in confusion and was about to speak when she blinked out of his mind. Starlight looked around to find her, but it was useless. Until he spotted her up on a cloud and flew after her. Luna smiled as the two sat together on the small cloud.

---

Twilight woke up to a zaldia fang standing over her with yellow eyes. He looked strangely familiar. Then he smiled a toothy grin, showing all his teeth. It was frightening to look at. She sat up in her bed and the zaldia smiled even bigger.

"Who are you? What do you what?"

"I am Sandmane, guardian of sleep. And I couldn't but notice you were not sleeping. So I had to check on you. You know a zaldia is better off at night. A day-goer like yourself is not allowing us to be nocturnal."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Princess Luna uses a spell to give her a full night's sleep in a one hour nap. Or you can make other changes."

"Other changes? You mean......Wait, Discord?"

"Oh you're no fun!"

The zaldia turned white and Discord, lord of chaos, appeared.

"Twilight you are not much fun anymore. Even when we are about the same."

"We are not the same. You are a draconequus, I'm a pony."

"Yes, but what are you going to do about that guard of yours, he seemed pretty upset when he was staring in his mirror."

"Upset? I already know why, I think. So go back home."

"Suit yourself."

With a flash and a pop the draconequus disappeared leaving a parchment on the ground. Twilight picked it up and read it.

'The spell for the sleep hour is here, but if you want to go a different root, a changing spell is here. Don't worry, I can't even affect a spell made by the first zaldia.'

Twilight, now fully awake, opened and read the spells. The sleep hour seemed very simple, but the changing spell caught her attention. It changes the pony it's cast on into a zaldia. She stared at the spell knowing fully it may be a trick, but she thought of all the guard she had to keep up just to watch her.

She trotted out into the hall and entered Starlight room. She placed her horn on his head and gave him the sleep hour. Then she went to the library and read the spells over and over again. She had an hour before he woke up and had to come up with a decision.

Twilight raised her horn as it glowed its purple and cast the spell.

Comments

[Deltabeta6]

Never seen the usage of the term zaldia for the night breed before. Even so this is an interesting story and I hope to see more of it. Anyway...

Romance with a social pariah, night breed alicorn, and one hell of a setup to one hell of a story...

I LIKE!

[Aligon]

To Omegalancer4

Thank you very much. Also your name is awesome!