2 - Luna's Prologue: Culture Shock
“Oh, Luna! I’m so happy to see you again!” my older sister cheered as she hugged me tightly.
I was the only one that could make it through her hugs without feeling pain… for the most part.
“I’m happy to be back, sister,” I said as I hugged Celestia back, although… something didn’t feel right.
Why was Celestia so much taller than me?
I mean, she always was taller than me, but the last time I saw her, she was a head taller than me, and now she was two heads taller than me.
“Um… Celestia?” I asked. “Why are you so tall?”
“It’s not that I’m tall, Luna,” she answered, “It’s that you’re so short.” She lit up her horn and conjured up a mirror for me. When I took hold of it with my magic and looked at my reflection, I was shocked at what I saw.
I put my hands to my face and felt my light blue fur, and my eyes widened when I saw my hands in front of my face. I then ran my fingers through my mane, which was a slightly different shade of blue and was much shorter than it used to be. On top of that, it didn’t have the abundance of stars or the ever-flowing movement it usually had.
“I look like my filly self!” I thought out loud.
“If I had to make a guess as to why, it’s probably because your magic is really weak right now.”
“I guess that makes sense, considering what I’ve just been through. As I am now, I probably only have the strength of an average unicorn.”
“I’m sure your strength will return in time, little sister,” Celestia told me, giggling when she said the word “little” and earning a cross look from me. “Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Well, first things first. We need to get ready.”
“Ready? For what?” I asked in confusion.
“What do you think? The Princess of the Night has returned to Equestria, and this calls for a celebration! We’re going to have a nice little parade in Ponyville later in the afternoon. Nothing too big.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that the parade is in the afternoon, because I’m not in the best of attire.”
I peered into the mirror again and made a disgusted face at the rags that were adorning my body. I was in major need of a dress change.
Hopefully I still had some of my dresses from my teenage years.
My wings were still quite weak, so my sister opted to teleport the both of us to her bedroom in her castle in Canterlot, which, according to her, was now the capital city of Equestria.
“So this is where you live now?” I asked.
“It’s where we live now, sister,” she replied. “I even saved a bedroom for you in case you ever returned.”
“Thanks. So, do I have any clothes?”
“Well... no, but since you’re the same size you were when you were a teenager, you can wear your old clothes while you’re in this state. We’ll go shopping for some more clothes that’ll fit you once you get back to your adult form.”
I looked out of the window and down at all the ponies and… whatever those hairless primates were. “No offense, Tia, but I’ve only been back for ten minutes, and I can already tell that the clothes I have are a little dated.”
“I suppose that’s true. I’ll get some better clothes for your current self to wear after the parade, then. For now, I’ll show you to your room. Your old clothes are in the wardrobe to the right of your bed, so just pick whatever dress you want to wear. Like I said, it’s nothing too big.”
“Okay,” I said as Celestia led me out of her bedroom and towards mine.
“Oh, and what was with calling me Tia a minute ago?”
“I figured I’d give you a new nickname,” I smiled as I looked up at my big sister. “However, there’s something I must ask you.”
“What is it, Luna?”
“When I looked out the window, I saw these strange creatures amongst the ponies. I’ve never seen them before and they are quite… peculiar.”
“Oh, yes!” Tia answered with a sudden tone of excitement. “I forgot to tell you. About fifteen years ago, I finished one of Star Swirl’s mirror portals and-”
“Is that what you two were always doing? I thought that you were just doing more studying, as if you didn’t do that enough already.”
She rolled her eyes and continued. “Anyway, I was able to go to another world populated by these beings. They’re called humans, and they’ve contributed so much to Equus’s society!”
“I did see quite a lot of unfamiliar contraptions on the streets…” I said.
“Yes, our world has changed in the thousand years you’ve been gone, but I’m sure you’ll be able to adjust just fine.” Tia said as we reached my new bedroom. “Go ahead and pick an outfit, Luna. I’ll come to get you when it’s time to go, but that won’t be for a few hours, so you can take the opportunity to explore the castle if you want.”
“Maybe,” I answered as I walked into my room. “I guess I will see you later, then?”
“Of course,” my sister smiled as she left. “Don’t get lost, now!”
I chuckled as I watched her walk down the hallway. Celestia has been quite ecstatic since I retuned. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think that I’d be missed… all things considering. When I saw her for the first time in a thousand years, I was terrified of what she would say, what she would do. With that in mind, I did the first thing that came to mind, which was to apologize. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be mad at me at all. If anything, she looked like she was the happiest she had ever been.
I felt a sense of relief in that.
After spending some time to pick out a dress for the parade, I decided to take my sister’s suggestion and explore the castle a little. One thing that I immediately observed was that it was a lot nicer than our old castle in the Everfree Forest. While the interior design wasn’t as bold as the old castle, there was a sense of elegance to it that made it seem nicer. Unfortunately, my awe at the castle’s design was interrupted by a loud and annoying voice.
“WHAT IS THIS WRINKLE DOING HERE!?”
I folded my ears back at the sudden assault the voice made on my eardrums, and I followed said voice to its source. As I rounded a corner of the hallway, I saw a white-coated young stallion with a light amber mane and tail berating what appeared to be one of the castle maids.
“I have a date to the Canterlot Theatre in six hours! The least I could ask for is a suit that is pressed THOROUGHLY! Is that too much to ask!?”
“I’m sorry sir,” the poor mare whimpered with a bow. “I didn’t realize that I had missed a spot.”
At that moment, I had decided that enough was enough.
“Do not apologize, young mare,” I spoke up as I approached her and the arrogant colt who then reared his ugly, overdone head towards me.
“And who are you to tell her that?” he asked. Like Celestia, he was taller than me, but only by a few inches. Despite his height advantage, though, I was not intimidated.
“Who are you to yell at her?” I asked back.
He merely scoffed and regarded me with a condescending expression. “I’ll have you know that I am Prince Blueblood, nephew of Princess Celestia. You must be a new maid here if you don’t know that. I asked her to iron my suit and she has done an abysmal job!” He levitated his freshly pressed suit in front of my face to show me the wrinkle, which in actuality was only noticeable if you came within six inches of his shoulder, something that, judging from my first impression of this colt, I assumed didn’t happen often.
I made a stern face and moved the suit from in front of me so that I could see whom I was addressing. “Firstly, I think it looks fine, secondly, I'll have you know that I am NOT a maid. I am Luna, Princess of the Night, sister to Princess Celestia, and therefore, your aunt as well!” I saw his eyes shrink at that declaration, but I continued, gradually raising my voice. “You would do well to think twice before addressing me in such a manner! It seems that Celestia is still too nice, because if it were up to me, I would have you disowned in a heartbeat! Now cease your complaining and take your suit as it was given to you, you ungrateful whelp!”
I used my magic to throw the suit at the colt’s chest, causing him to stumble back a bit. He looked at me with fear as I gave him a deadly glare, and he quickly retreated into his bedchambers, shutting the door behind him.
The maid watched in awe at what I had just done. “T-thank you, princess,” she said with a bow.
“Don’t worry about it. Brutes like him ought to be put in their place,” I grunted. “Is he really of royal blood?”
“Unfortunately…”
I sighed. “I don’t even want to know how that happened. As you were, young mare.”
The maid gave me a curtsey and returned to fulfill her other duties, whatever they were. I continued my trip through the castle and took note of where all the sweets were kept. It had been a long millennium, and I needed to make up for lost time. By the time I had walked around the entirety of the castle, including the labyrinth garden, I returned to my room to prepare for when Celestia would come for me. As I approached my bedroom door, I saw two stallions that were dressed like guards, but rather than the golden armor that Celestia’s soldiers wore, these stallions wore purple and dark blue armor.
“Good day, Princess Luna,” the one on my left greeted when he saw me.
“Good day to you, too, soldier,” I greeted back. “If I may ask, why are you two dressed differently from the other guards?”
“Princess Celestia has split the castle staff so that half of the guards and maids would be under your authority, while the other half would be under hers,” the left guard explained.
“It literally happened just five minutes ago,” the right guard added.
“Wow… that’s rather generous of her,” I said softly, but then I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s a pleasure to have you two, then.”
“Pleasure to serve you, Princess,” they said in unison as I walked into my room.
I let out a heavy sigh as I put on my dress, wondering what this parade would be like. While Tia did say that it was nothing too extravagant, but I was still nervous about seeing all my subjects after a thousand-year absence. Sure, all the ponies that were alive when I became Nightmare Moon have long since passed away, but there were still the ponies that saw me when I appeared at the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville.
I was probably the last mare that they wanted to see.
I shook my head and approached my wall mirror. The garment that I decided on was a dark blue sundress made of a light, breathable material. As I examined myself, my mind began to wander again. Would this dress help me to appear less intimidating to my subjects? And those humans… did they know of the legend of Nightmare Moon? I didn’t remember seeing any of them at Ponyville town hall, but my memory of that event was very vague. The only one that I remembered being there was Twilight Sparkle, as she was the only one that spoke out against me.
Everything else was just a blur to me.
I was shocked out of my thoughts when I heard somepony knock on my door.
“Luna, are you dressed?” a voice said from outside. “Our carriage-car is here.”
“Carriage-what?” I thought to myself. “Uh… yes. I’m ready. Just one moment.” I quickly levitated a hairbrush over to me and fixed my mane, which I hadn’t brushed since I had retuned. With my mane now in a presentable state, I briskly walked towards the door and opened it to see Celestia waiting for me. I noticed the bright yellow dress that she was wearing and was surprised at how casual it looked. Even with the sundress that I was wearing, it still leaned towards the formal side.
“I didn’t overdo it, did I?” I asked.
“Of course not, sister,” Tia answered with a smile as she ran her hand through my short mane. “You look just fine.”
“If you say so,” I sighed as I exited my room and shut the door behind me. When Tia and I left the castle, I saw a peculiar looking carriage waiting for us. For one, there weren’t any stallions out front to pull it. Instead there was a strange sound coming from the front of the carriage.
Was this some new form of magic?
“Um… Tia?”
My sister merely chuckled. “I’ll explain inside.”
I gave her a skeptical look and entered the carriage after she went in. When I entered, I felt a blast of cool air hit me, a pleasant contrast to the summer heat outside.
I always preferred the winter months.
“So anyway,” Celestia said, “you know how I said that the humans have contributed a lot to Equus’s society?”
I nodded.
“Well, while our world is proficient in magic, theirs excels in technology. Their vehicles are operated using advanced machinery, so we don’t need ponies to pull our carriages anymore. We adapted our carriages to accommodate this technology.”
“And these machines are producing this cool air, too?” I asked.
“Yeah! It’s called ‘air conditioning’!” Celestia answered excitedly. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“Quite, but it’s funny how you’ve had this technology for fifteen years, yet your enthusiasm exceeds mine.”
“Oh, whatever,” Tia scoffed, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at that, something that she immediately noticed. “Finally, a smile.”
The carriage-car began to drive off, and I saw that we were headed for the edge of the mountain. “Wait a moment. If there are no pegasi to draw this carriage... how are we supposed to fly!?”
Celestia once again found amusement at my unfamiliarity with the times. “I had all the royal carriages infused with a special magic that allows them to fly, which you’re about to experience firsthand,” she explained.
As much as I wanted to trust my sister, I still hung on for dear life. Alicorns may have longer lifespans than normal ponies, but we're far from being immortal.
Or impervious to broken bones.
Celestia, on the other hand, merely buckled herself with a belt that was attached to her seat. She seemed to know what to do, so I did the same as her and hoped for the best.
When our ride veered off the mountainside, I sucked in my gut and held my breath, expecting to feel gravity pulling the carriage and us down to the ground below. Instead, it felt like we were still on the road. I looked out the window and saw that our carriage-car was moving through the air with a magical aura beneath it, and I let out a heavy sigh. The next thing I heard was a sudden fit of laughter coming from Celestia, and I turned to give her a deadly glare.
“It’s not funny,” I grumbled.
“I’m sorry, Lulu,” she said, in-between laughs, “but you should’ve seen the look on your face when we drove off the mountain! It got all puffy and everything!”
“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your little laugh,” I muttered. “And don’t call me Lulu, either! I thought you’d be over that by now.”
“Well, I don’t find it fair that you can call me Tia and I can’t call you Lulu.”
I pouted and blew a stray strand of my mane out of my face.
After about twenty minutes, I saw a small little village come into view. “Sister, is that-”
“Ponyville? Yes,” she answered.
“I’ve never heard of this place before.”
“That’s because it was founded while you were away. It hasn’t even been a good hundred years yet.”
“Hmm…”
“Something on your mind?”
“Well, it’s just that I’m a little nervous.”
“About?”
“What will the citizens think of me? They saw me when I was at the Summer Sun Celebration, so they must be terrified of me.”
Celestia gave me a look of pity and pulled me close to her side. “Don’t worry Luna. Once you returned, I had Twilight Sparkle spread the news around the town that you’ve been reverted to your old self. Besides, the citizens of Ponyville are quite the festive bunch. They have a celebration for just about everything, so I’m sure they’ll be happy to be the ones to welcome you back to Equestria.”
I looked up at her. “Are you sure?”
She smiled down at me. “I’m positive.”
“Okay,” I said as she let go of me and the carriage landed right at the town entrance. As we came out, we saw Twilight Sparkle along with an older mare with a tan coat and a silver mane and tail. They both bowed to us as we approached them, only for Tia to simply chuckle at them.
“That won’t be necessary, Twilight, Mayor Mare,” she told them.
Won’t be necessary? What was she going on about? She never had a problem with ponies bowing to us before. Since when was she so modest?
“Sorry,” the young unicorn said sheepishly with a blush on her face.
“It is an honor for Ponyville to host the parade celebrating the return of Princess Luna,” said the mayor.
“The honor is all ours. It’s only fitting, seeing that the Summer Sun Celebration was supposed to be held here.” Tia replied, earning another confused look from me. I’ve never seen her be so informal with our subjects before.
“The carriage that will carry you through town is right this way,” the mayor continued.
“I’ll let you lead the way then,” Tia answered.
From that moment, and even throughout the parade, my mind was stuck on how Celestia was addressing the citizens, even when a nice pair of young pegasus fillies placed a rather lovely wreath of roses around my neck.
Tia was so friendly to all the ponies and humans, and she treated them like they were her family. Prior to my banishment, the ponies of Equestria saw the two of us in a completely different light. We lived apart from the common ponies and they revered us as though we were their superiors, their goddesses, even, despite the fact that we were far from that. In retrospect, we were treated more like queens rather than princesses, and because of that, neither of us took the time to really interact with our subjects, but now my sister was so close to them, and while she was still revered, it was more out of admiration than intimidation.
“Come, Luna,” Celestia said as our carriage finished its drive through the town. “There are some people I want you to meet.”
“Some… people?” I asked, unfamiliar with this new term. I followed her through the town and saw three humans, two males, and one female, waiting for us.
“Celestia!” the female said. “So good to see you!”
“Good to see you too, Maria,” my sister replied as they both hugged each other, and then she looked at the older male. “How are you, Hector?”
“A little dizzy from going through the portal, but I’m doing well otherwise,” he answered as he gave Tia a hug, as well.
“And how’s my little Marcus, doing? Come give your Auntie Celeste a hug!” she cooed at the young human male. I may not have known how humans aged, but this one looked like he was little too old to be spoken to like that. I could feel the embarrassment emanating from him.
Wait… Auntie Celeste!?
“Come on, I’m fifteen years old,” he complained. “When are you gonna stop with the Auntie Celeste stuff?”
“Never, so you’d better get used to it. Now come and give me a hug!”
The young human sighed with annoyance, but he then smiled and hugged his… Auntie Celeste.
Seriously, what!?
“Okay, you three. I’d like to introduce you to my little sister, Luna. Don’t let her size fool you, she’s actually just a few years younger than me.”
“Really?” Maria asked in disbelief. “But she looks so young! You could pass for her mother!”
Celestia jokingly huffed at her. “Are you saying that I’m getting old, Maria?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. You’re right, too. As she is now, she looks younger than Marcus.”
I looked at the young human upon hearing that notion, and he did, in fact, look older than I did. He was even taller than me by half a head.
“Hi,” he said to me, and I blinked in surprise. I wasn’t prepared to actually talk to anyone while I was here, so I was thrown off a little when he addressed me.
I cleared my throat and looked back at him. “Hello,” I said back.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Tia said to the older humans.
“Well, it helped that you told the people at the portal station that we were to be here on ‘royal business’.” Maria stated with a matter-of-fact tone.
“You’re welcome,” my sister smirked.
Celestia and (who I assumed were) Marcus’s parents continued to talk away as I uncomfortably stood beside her as Marcus stood beside his father, the two of us appearing to have been kicked out of the conversation. Every so often, I would glance at Marcus, but then look away when he looked back at me. I would also see him glance at me out of the corner of my eye, only for him to look away when I looked back at him.
It was… quite the awkward moment, and the fact that Tia and Marcus’s parents were talking for what seemed like hours didn’t help, either.
When they finished, Celestia and I parted ways with the humans, and she looked over at her young student in the distance, conversing with her friends.
“I’m going to talk to Twilight for a moment. Wanna come with me?”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll just wait in the carriage.”
Tia gave me a sad look. “Okay, then. If that’s what you want,” she told me as she walked off, and I made my way back to the carriage car. As I walked, I thought about all I had witnessed since I returned. Looking back on it now, I had taken in a lot in the few hours since I came back, specifically regarding how much society had changed.
Especially with these humans.
As I thought about all I had experienced, I wondered what other changes were in store for me…
I supposed that I’d just have to wait and see.
It’s been two years since my return, and I was on my way out of my bedroom. Celestia called all the castle staff and me to the throne room, where she was supposed to make some kind of announcement. She never told me anything regarding this announcement, and I wondered what it was about.
As I walked out of my bedchambers, I stopped by my mirror and looked at myself. My appearance had returned to normal after being stuck in my teenage body for two months, and I made sure that my much longer mane wasn’t unkempt before I left the room. As I made my way to the throne room, I heard several squeaks along with the soft pattering of little paws.
I turned around and looked at the little critter that was following me and squatted down to take a closer look at it. “Oh, I’m sorry, Tiberius. I didn’t know that you wanted to come along.” I reached out my arm, and the little opossum scurried up its length and took refuge in my mane.
What? Don’t judge me. I give him regular baths.
“Comfy?” I asked my pet, who gave a squeak of confirmation before I continued my walk.
Once I made it to the throne room, I sat beside Celestia as she stood up and addressed me and the staff.
"I have an important announcement for all of you. As of today, there is a new addition to the royal family. I've recently adopted a close friend of mine, Marcus Cortez, as my nephew, and he will be moving into the castle within the next few days."
My eyes widened in shock at what I just heard. Why wasn’t I told about this before?
"As my nephew, I expect each and every one of you to treat him like a member of the royal family. I want Marcus to feel welcome when he gets here."
"Yes Princess," the staff members said.
Tia smiled and nodded her head. "You're all dismissed."
When everypony else left and Tia and I were alone, I took the opportunity to voice my concerns.
"Sister, why wasn't I informed of this beforehand?" I asked asked.
"Surprise!" She said enthusiastically as she hugged me, but I was still really confused.
"I don't get it. I've never met this Marcus."
"Of course you have! Remember two years ago when we celebrated your return?"
"With all the ponies and people you introduced me to that day, you expect me to remember one of the people I saw the least since then?"
"Regardless, I think you two will get along really well."
I rolled my eyes. "If you say so, Tia."
Several days later, I was in the castle library catching up on my reading, with Tiberius accompanying me again.
“Oh, so it’s ‘turn up’? I thought the expression was ‘steer up’. That makes a lot more sense.”
Tibbles looked at me incredulously and shook his head.
“Quiet, you!” I said defensively. “I’m trying as hard as I can to understand these modern expressions!”
Just then, I heard the library doors open and felt Tiberius climb into my mane, and I saw Celestia and a young human standing in the doorway. That must have been Marcus.
“Hello, little sister,” she said as they both approached me.
I looked at the two of them and stood up, looking at the boy with a confused look. He looked back at me, looking even more confused than I was. He was particularly eyeing my mane and my figure.
If it weren’t for how different I looked since I last saw him, I would’ve assumed that he was checking me out.
“Marcus, this is Luna,” she told him as she gestured to me. “I’m sure you two remember each other.”
“Barely,” Marcus and I answered in unison.
“I guess you two wouldn’t remember each other that well,” said Tia, and then she looked at Marcus. “Anywho, since I’m your aunt now, I guess that makes Luna here your aunt, too!”
I raised a questioning finger at that notion. “Uhhh…”
“She’ll need a nickname like mine that you can call her by… How about Auntie Lulu?”
I furrowed my brow at my older sister. “How about no.” I then looked at Marcus. “Just call me Luna, okay?” I told him.
“Sure,” he accepted.
“Come on, Marcus,” said Celestia. “There’s more that I want to show you.”
“Alright, Auntie,” he answered as she led him out of the library. “I guess I’ll see you around, Luna,” he told me before he left, and I nodded my head in response.
Tiberius squeaked and poked his head out of my mane, and we both looked at each other.
“Well, Tibbles, I guess things are gonna be changing around here.”
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Not bad.
I like. Luna is believable, and don't worry about them sometimes being long. I like that.
Where as good as this, long is no problem at all. Honey Pot will be interesting, can't wait to see what's going on in her head.
I have a feeling Honey Pot's is going to be in song. And kinky. With her saying 'You're playing tough to get... I'm gonna MAKE YOU MINE!' frequently.
Damn good job, sir.I look forward to your future work.
~Lucky
Sorry to be that guy but...
Good job regardless of that little slip up.
This was a nice chapter, but there is something that bothers me.
I think that a couple of words such as "know" and "I" are missing.
4842237 Dammit!
4842196 Just fixed it.
I LIKE IT
4842268 alright.
4842237 Yay we're those guys together!
I approve XD Luna is best pony. Oh, and I love how you described her in every way. Very convincing.
Still think him and Luna should of gotten together.
Good chapter.
At last we get a look at goes on in Honey Pot's mind.
I don't mind prologues of this length, gives it more depth and gives us more awesomeness to read
4842688 That is going to be a scary place to be thrusted into.
i really wonder what honey pots thought will be i can't wait for the next update
Keep up the good work.
Don't worry about Luna's chapter being a bit long.
You can never have too much Luna!!