The Night's Light

by Keeper of time RD

Chapter 2: To Soften the Heart

Luna sat on a low cloud, gazing at the small cottage on the hill right in front of her. Beautiful humming came from within the humble abode. The door swung open and a yellow pegasus practically danced out of the cottage, surrounded by birds and squirrels, then promptly froze in her tracks.

“P-P-Princess L-Luna? H-How long have you b-been there?” the pegasus asked so quietly that she was barely heard, as she curled up and hid herself as best she could in her pink mane and tail.

“Long enough to say that thou has a beautiful singing voice, dear Fluttershy.”

“Th-Thank you. But um… why are you waiting here outside my home? Is there something I can do for you princess?”

“Thou can start by not calling me ‘princess.’ The fact that the day is my sister’s time to rule aside, did thou not notice the absence of my crown? Nay, I did not come here as your ruler, I came as your equal, a mere pony seeking your aid.”

“I’m sorry prin- eep! Luna, I sorry Luna, I didn’t notice your crown was missing,” Fluttershy whispered, somehow lowering her head in shame even more despite already being curled up on the ground.

After a moment of silence, Luna grew tired of waiting for Fluttershy to stop cowering on her own, so she stepped down from the cloud she’d been waiting on. Gently placing her hoof on Fluttershy’s chin, Luna pulled the pegasus up, saying, “Rise child, I said that I came here as thy equal.” With a sigh she added, “Given that we shared a more casual meeting at Cadence’s wedding reception, I would have hoped that thou would be more comfortable in my presence.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just not the type of pony who warms up to new friends quickly. So, um, what was it you wanted my help with?” Fluttershy answered, and though rising to a standing position, was unable to look the princess of the night in the face.

“Ah yes, as thou likely suspects, a lot can change in a thousand years. Long story short, a thousand years ago was a much harsher time. I doubt I need to remind you that it was news to me that only soldiers are accustom to being spoken to with a ‘command presence’ voice these days.”

Fluttershy answered with a squeak and shacking her head ‘no’.

With a nod, Luna continued, “I have found that a thousand years of relative peace has changed ponykind, made them… softer. Thus I find my old ways are often seen as… rigid or harsh compared to the ways ponies prefer to interact these days. So I come to you, after all who better to learn a softer, kinder way of doing things from, then a pony who’s spirit causes the element of kindness to react to it?”

“I’m-I’m not sure I know how to teach kindness. I mean you just be nice to other ponies, that’s it. It’s not like teaching the songbirds a new song or anything. There aren’t fancy lessons or tricks I can tell you about being kind. Just be nice,” Fluttershy said, looking away.

A laugh escaped Luna’s lips before she responded, “Anything may be over simplified. And for the record I find even that advice is not true. On nightmare night I thought I was being nice by speaking to the citizens of Ponyville with the respect that comes from using the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’, rather then disrespect them by speaking to them as if they were nothing more then a common servant in the castle. Yet we both saw that my idea of ‘nice’ was perceived as harsh yelling.”

“I… I hadn’t even thought about it that way. I’m sorry Luna, if anything this shows that I’m even less qualified to teach anypony what it means to be kind.”

Placing a silver-clad hoof to her chin, Luna pondered the situation for a moment before responding, “If thou can not teach me through lesson, then perhaps there is another way you can teach me. If I were to… how do ponies say it these days? ‘Hang out’ with thee. Then perhaps I might learn by simply watching how you act, and when your actions confuse me, I might ask why you do what you did, and thus learn the subtleties of what passes for ‘kindness’ these days, without a grand lecture.”

“Um… okay… you can stay. If it that’s what you want to do, that is. But you should probably know that the life of an animal caretaker isn’t exactly exciting to watch. Or so Rainbow Dash tells me, and I can’t blamer her, I mean if I didn’t love animals as much as I do, I’d probably think it was boring too,” Fluttershy muttered as if to apologize.

“Huzzah! Shall we begin? I do believe that I interrupted thy morning routine, feel free to continue!” Luna cheered, and consequently startling away all of the animals within approximately twenty yards.

“Umm… yes, I was going to feed all of the outside animals… perhaps you might like to help me?” Fluttershy asked in a low voice, verging on whispering.

“Indeed I shall. How hard can the care of small creatures be?” Luna answered cheerfully, though more quietly then her previous outburst.

* * * * * * *

Despite her best efforts, Luna ultimately had to settle for simply giving Fluttershy some space to go about her morning chores alone, as most of the critters refused to come near the alicorn, let alone accept food from her.

“I shall forever revere the circus animal trainers. I had never known that merely approaching the furry little pests was so difficult. How they train them to do tricks, no less, now eludes me,” Luna grumbled under her breath. Now in the market place, the chatter around her drowned out her complaint, just as she intended.

With a particular pep in her steps, Fluttershy returned from the merchant stalls she had been shopping at. “Now that was a wonderful example of kindness!” she said, practically beaming.

“To what does thou refer?” asked the alicorn.

“Oh, the carrot merchant gave me a discount today for no apparent reason. It was so nice of him. You see sometimes random little acts of kindness can really make a pony’s day.”

“I suppose I could see how that advice might be of use, if I ran a store…” Luna said, frowning.

Tilting her head to the side, Fluttershy asked, “What do you mean?”

Bowing her head, Luna explained, “As a princess I am part of government, and government is not a business. It has no money of its own and must collect it through taxes. Finally, given its compulsory nature, taxes are only removed from theft by the fact that subjects may expect the services of judge, general, and diplomat are to be provided in return.”

“Oh, um… I see. But couldn’t you, maybe, temporarily lower the taxes every now and then? Wouldn’t that be like giving a discount?” Fluttershy suggested, lowering herself slightly as she spoke.

“I suppose. However, Celestia has handled the royal budget for over a thousand years. And given how stressed she gets whenever she has to revise it, I’m inclined to let her keep that duty,” Luna answered, flatly at first, but shuttering at the memories of her sister’s anxieties.

As they walked along, Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and asked, “You don’t control any of the budget?”

“Technically I command the budget of the night guard and lunar court. However with nothing more then a change of flags, nothing has changed in the night guard since it was separated from the E.U.P. guard. And I can hazard to guess that thou can imagine how few ponies schedule their trials to be held in the middle of the night. Needless to say the lunar court’s budget need barely exist,” Luna answered, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I hadn’t-” Flutter shy began.

“-Thought of that,” Luna interrupted and finished for the pegasus. “Yes, thou has made it quite clear that the art of rule is not among thy common contemplation.”

Fluttershy blushed slightly and the two continued on with the pegasus’ errands. Just as they were finishing up in the marketplace, the voice of Ponyville’s mayor called out, “Princess Luna! Forgive the lack of a proper welcome! Nopony told me you would be visiting our humble town today.”

With a heavy sigh Luna couldn’t take it anymore, “Thou too mayor? All through the market I have heard the whispers of the title ‘princess’. Does nopony notice the absence of my crown, signifying that I am not here on royal business? So long as my crown is not on my head there is no need for formality with me.”

“A thousand pardons prin… er… Luna. Although you should know that ponies these days are accustom to their local leaders not having any sort of crown. Like myself, as you can see mayors don’t have crowns or anything of the sort. And well… you are rather recognizable even without yours.”

Revelation flashed in Luna’s eyes as she responded, “Ah! So the mystery reveals itself! So the custom of outward symbols of rule is no longer observed. It seems it is I who owes thee an apology, yet another thing I shall have to remember has changed these past thousand years. Forgive my outburst mayor.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize Luna. It was just a simple misunderstanding. So what are you doing here anyway? Is there something I can do for you?”

Luna shook her head as she answered, “No, forgotten symbols aside, as I said, my reasons for being here are entirely my own. There is no need to trouble thyself or thy town over my presence.”

“Oh, okay then. Um, Then have a nice day,” the mayor said, not entirely sure what to make of having a princess in town that was basically asking to be ignored.

Leaving the mayor to her pondering, Luna and Fluttershy left the market.

* * * * * * *

With the day rapidly coming to an end, Fluttershy realized that the princess of the night had spent all day with her, and she had to ask of her guest, “Um, Luna, it’s getting late, shouldn’t you be heading back to Canterlot by now?”

After explaining that she had relieved herself from duty and wasn’t needed anywhere for the foreseeable future, Luna finished by saying, “-So I figured I would simply camp out on a cloud pegasus style wherever I happen to be while I seek understanding of this new age.”

“Y-You’re just going to park yourself right outside my door again? Like you were this morning?”

“That is the plan, yes,” Luna answered flatly.

A rare hint of sternness appeared in Fluttershy’s eyes as she responded, “I’m sorry Luna, but I can’t let you do that. If you’re going to stay on my property then I insist that you stay as my houseguest. You can use my bed, I’ll just stay on the couch.” Uncertainty returned to the pegasus’ eyes and voice as she added, “If that’s okay with you, that is.”

“With one amendment I shall take thee up on thy offer. I insist that thou retain thy bed, and that I shall make due with the couch.”

With a soft smile Fluttershy agreed to the condition and led the way out into the yard for her evening rounds, tending to the animals.

Once again, Luna found herself sitting in the grass, watching the expert animal caretaker work from afar. At first Luna found it odd to see the gentle pegasus handle meat and fish, as she fed the predatory creatures, but eventually conceded that it was the only way for her to tend to the creatures incapable of eating plants under her care. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, Luna reminded herself that she was here to learn the laws of kindness, not the logistics of animal caretaker.

“Looks like you have an admirer,” Fluttershy said, as she approached Luna.

Luna raised an eyebrow, and traced Fluttershy’s outstretched hoof to a pair of eyes shimmering in the evening moonlight. Gifted with nocturnal sight, even without nocturnal eyes, Luna could see that the eyes belonged to a fox, watching her from the edge of the forest.

Presenting the last fish in her basket, Fluttershy said, “Here, you should give this to him.”

“Hath we not already established animals do not like me?” Luna asked.

“Then just set it on that rock halfway between us and him, and then slowly back away. Giving the gift of food is usually considered a kind thing to do,” Fluttershy insisted.

“Very well,” Luna sighed. Taking the fish in her magic, she walked out to the rock Fluttershy had indicated. Placing the fish on the rock, Luna took note that the fox had already darted behind a tree. Convinced that the effort had already failed, Luna backed away slowly, only to be surprised by the fox peeking back out at the retreating alicorn. When Luna had sit back down beside Fluttershy, the fox ran out to the rock, took the fish and returned to the forest, pausing for a moment to look back at the two ponies sitting beside the cottage.

“See, that wasn’t so hard was it Luna?” Fluttershy said, practically beaming.

“A truly enthralling turn of events,” Luna said without the slightest hint of excitement in her voice.

* * * * * * *

The next few days went much like the first. Luna would watch Fluttershy tend her animals, then Fluttershy would find an excuse to go into town to provide examples of interacting with other ponies kindly, and then it was back to the cottage. And every evening the fox returned, and every evening it grew less wary of Princess Luna as Fluttershy had her give the fox the last fish of the night.

At the moment it was midday and Luna was sitting on the banks of the creek that ran through Fluttershy’s property, watching the pegasus tend to some birds in a nearby tree. As the birds devoured the worms that had been delivered to them, Fluttershy returned to her basket of food and proceeded to bring vegetables to a burrow near the creek.

At that moment a sky-blue pegasus shot by overhead, with a rainbow-colored blur coming off of her prismatic mane and tail. “Flashflood incoming!” Rainbow Dash shouted down, as she darted by. As quickly as she came, the ace weather pony blitzed off, following the creak and repeating the warning to anypony she saw further downstream.

Fluttershy started shooing the animals away from the creak up toward higher ground, like the hill her cottage was on. Luna simply turned her head and ears upstream and listened to the low roar of the inbound waters.

Landing by a small, creak-side hole next to a large tree root, Fluttershy called out for the bunnies inside to come out. But the increasingly monstrous roar of the inbound floodwaters only frightened the critters into backing even deeper into their home.

“No! You’ll drown if you stay in there! Please come out!” Flutteryshy pleaded. Turning to the cottage she called out, “Angel! Come talk some sense into your friends!”

A white rabbit came running, but stopped only a few feet from the cottage, eyes wide with terror. Following the rabbit’s gaze upstream, Fluttershy’s eyes became specks as she too beheld the sight before her. Now roaring like a passing train, a five-foot wall of water crashed around the bend.

Luna took the event as her queue to abandon her spot on the banks of the creak and opening her wings she took flight. Fluttershy’s gaze turned to the large tree root right in front of the burrow, throwing herself down on the rabbit hole, she wrapped her front legs around the root, and opened her wings as to make them like ramps for the incoming wall of water.

“Thou art kidding, right?” Luna said, despite her words being drowned out by the roar of the flashflood.

A blue glow formed around Luna’s horn as she charged it with magic, ready to grab Fluttershy as soon as the floodwaters pulled her away. Much to Luna’s surprise, the floodwaters failed to pry the yellow pegasus away from her anchor. Ramping off of Fluttershy’s wings, the water only forced her body down all the harder, sealing the rabbit hole all the tighter.

Tilting her head to the side, Luna watched the yellow and pink figure through the waters. Then shaking her thoughts from her mind, Luna tossed aside the role of observer. “Enough!” she shouted as she re-purposed the magics held in her horn. The soft blue light of Luna’s magic shot down into the water, pushing the water aside, and becoming a diamond shaped wall around Fluttershy.

Gratefully gasping for air, Fluttershy coughed and wheezed as she lay on the once more dry ground, until Luna landed beside her and lifted the pegasus into the air with her magic. With Fluttershy out of the way, Luna looked into the rabbit hole and proceeded to pull the bunnies out with her magic as well. With every other living thing in the sanctuary held in her magic, Luna returned to the air, carrying the others, and allowing the field of magic keeping the water at bay to collapse.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, once she’d been set down beside her cottage.

“Explain thyself, thy actions confound me. What did thou hope to accomplish?” Luna asked, flatly.

“I was trying to save these bunnies,” Fluttershy answered, as her voice became uncertain.

Luna shook her head. “’Trying’ implies that there was a chance for success. Look for thyself, flashflood or not these floodwaters will take minutes to recede. There is no way that thou could have held thy breath for that long. And once thou passed out, thy would have been washed away leaving the bunnies as doomed as if thou hadn’t tried to throw thy life away.”

“I-I’m sorry, to have troubled you Luna. It-it just seemed like the right thing to do. Usually Rainbow Dash is around to protect me from myself when I let my kindness get the better of me like that,” answered Fluttershy, bowing her head to the ground.

Luna softened the stern gaze she’d had a moment ago. “Truly she was, she gave thou more then enough warning to clear the flood plane. It is not her fault, nor yours, that these spineless bunnies lacked the courage to save their own skins.”

Looking away, Fluttershy spoke so softly that her response couldn’t be heard above the nearby floodwaters. Although it looked enough like another apology that Luna didn’t bother to ask for it to be repeated.

* * * * * * *

As dusk settled in, neither Luna nor Fluttershy had spoken to each other since the flashflood. Luna sat quietly, staring into space, when she finally noticed the fox sitting beside her. “I am sorry little one, but Fluttershy has your fish.”

The fox looked the princess of the night in the eyes and nodded, giving a slight fox-like bark as if to say ‘I know’ before returning it’s gaze back to the stars.

“Looks like you’ve made a friend,” Fluttershy said, as she presented her feed basket to Luna.

Without bothering to raise a fuss, Luna levitated the last fish out of the basket and gave it to the fox. Taking the gift in its mouth, the fox raised one of its paws and placed it on its own chest, then the fox extended that paw out and pressed it softly on Luna’s side.

Looking to Fluttershy, Luna asked, “What, may I ask, did that gesture mean?”

“The literal translation would be, ‘I acknowledge you.’ But he’s basically asking to be your pet.”

“Is that so?” Luna asked, looking back down at the fox. The fox nodded. “Very well then,” Luna responded, standing up and beginning to walk away.

“Wait, aren’t you coming in for dinner?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, if this one thinks me kind enough to give me a chance at being his master, then I think I hath learned enough from you. And perhaps because I hath seen enough to understand that, though your ways are far kinder then mine, they are just as out of sync with the ways of the world as mine. Truly I think it is time I seek another point of view to learn from.”

The fox followed as Luna walked away, though Luna’s thoughts remained on the pegasus. An innocent heart such as yours would never have survived to adulthood a thousand years ago. I pray that the shadows of the world can be kept far enough from you that thou never has to learn why. Your kindness, dear child, is something I could never hope to mimic.

Comments

[Dragon of Shadows]

An innocent heart such as yours would never have survived to adulthood a thousand years ago. I pray that the shadows of the world can be kept far enough from you that thou never has to learn why.

i like that