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Family Crisis4,012 words
Family Lesson2,530 words
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Starry Night2,267 words
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Starry Night

Princess Luna walked down the castle's corridors, her shift at court finally over. She couldn't believe the amount of work she had to do in the middle of the night. So many things had changed during her... extended leave that sometimes she wished she could go back to that simpler life. For one thing, back then the night court would only receive a few ponies and often none at all. It had allowed her a lot of time for herself. It was mostly a formality, a required protocol, and she used to think Celestia put it in place only to please her. But tonight she received over a hundred requests in a wide range of topics. In Luna's absence, Celestia had simply delegated the night court to some bureaucrats with orders not to wake her up unless it was something very important that couldn't wait for the sunrise. Now the bureaucrats had all left the place for the Princess of the Night, and she still wasn't sure if that had been such a good idea.

Now she fully understood why Celestia prevented her from having a public life for almost a year. It was the time it took her to force all that new knowledge into Luna's brain and be sure she was as ready as possible. She still had so much to learn and had no doubt it would take her a few more years to be fully up to date. For now, she was forced to accept the help of a few counselors appointed by her sister. They were guiding her in cases that were beyond her knowledge. In some aspect, she didn't remember learning so much in such a short time.

The fact that Equestria had now well over a hundred times the population didn't help, even while considering the extra layers of bureaucracy between the people and the court. The Princess had been stunned when she learned that some cities, such as Las Pegasus, were more active at night then in day time and that no city past a certain size was ever fully asleep. Time zones were another new problem. Back then, Equestria was small enough, centered on the capital, that there was no need for different time zones. But now, when Celestia finished her day of work, millions of ponies were still having two or three hours of work ahead of them in the most remote parts of the country.

And that was without taking into account the communication with other countries. A trade dispute could happen at any time and considering the distance with Canterlot, was most likely to occur in the middle of the night. The fact that Equestria hadn't seen a war in centuries was an obvious benefit, but it also meant endless shades of gray in the communication with other leaders. Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time could doom commercial contracts, which would cost the country's commerce millions of bits, which in return could mean hundred or thousand ponies losing their jobs. What she said or did never had such wide impact on the lives of so many.

Luna had been stunned to learn how important her night had become to so many ponies. She even received numerous requests to bless future couples. Who would have thought that some ponies would ever wish to be married under the sign of the night? Maybe she should send a gift to the two stallions that asked her to marry them a year ago.

Luna reached the door to the study she used for her lessons with Azure. She was late, but her student knew the court could last longer than expected. She took a deep breath; today was the day. It had been over a month since the assassin had come for Azure, a month since her mood changed. Luna wasn't blind, she had noticed right away that the filly was not looking at her anymore and had lost some of her enthusiasm in learning. She had hoped that it was only a phase and that the filly would regain her joy on her own. But it didn't happen and was only getting worse. Tonight, she would ask her what was troubling her.

Princess Luna had never been a social pony and she never pretended to be one. This inquiry would tread on a zone she was far from being comfortable with. However, she felt asking questions at this point was required. Something was wrong and she had to find a way to fix it.

Entering the room, Luna looked around, unable to find the blue filly. The Princess walked around in silence; even if she was used to staying up at night, Azure would sometimes fall asleep. She finally found the filly sitting on the balcony, staring at the night sky.

"They are pretty, aren't they?" she asked her while sitting down beside her small student.

"Yeah," Azure answered with the same detached tone she had for the last month.

Luna swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Azure... What's wrong?"

There, that should do it.

"Nothing," she replied while looking away.

Ponyfeathers!

"Come on! You know you can tell me what's on your mind!" the Princess pushed forwards.

The filly jumped to her feet and faced her in a defensive posture. "What am I to you? A bet with Princess Celestia? Are you trying to prove that you're as good as her? That you can have a student, a pet of your own?" Azure yelled in a single breath.

Luna recoiled, surprised by the display of emotion. The filly was almost in tears, what had she done to alienate her? She tried to remember the past month but couldn't find anything. The only important event was Twilight's fight against Blueblood. It couldn't have affected the filly like that! And how was Luna related to any of those events?

"Of course not! I care about you!" she argued back.

"Lies!" Azure yelled as she tried to run away, but Luna's magic caught the filly before she could take a second step.

Luna frowned and levitated the young pony so she could face her. "Pray tell, what makes you say that?"

Azure was trying to break free without much success. Under other circumstances, the filly running in mid-air could have been funny, but right now it was no laughing matter. Something was wrong and Luna didn't like it one bit. "I've been here for almost eight months and I know nothing of you! Nothing!" Azure answered loudly. "I don't know your birthday, your favorite meal or even your hobbies! I know more about the guards outside your quarters then you!" Tears were flowing down from filly's eyes as she was struggling against the magical field. The Princess's eyes widened as she finally understood.

Luna gently lowered the young pony to the ground. To her surprise she didn't try to run away, but she backed off a few steps. The Princess turned around and looked at the sky, wondering what to say. "It's... it's not... easy to explain," she finally managed after taking a deep breath.

"What?" Azure asked cautious, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.

Luna took a pause; the discussion would be much harder than she anticipated. Of all the topics of discussion, this was most likely the last she wished to talk about. She wondered if Celestia had the same problem while she was away... on the Moon. She did have a lot of time to think about this problem with the centuries of her life, but she never really found an easy way to deal with it. Maybe her sister found a solution to that problem? She could always ask her later, but right now she had to deal with Azure and there was no postponing this discussion.

"You see... I'm... old," the Princess cringed. Unlike her sister, Luna never managed to be comfortable with her age. She knew deep down it was silly to be unable to accept an aspect of herself that she had no control over, but she couldn't help it.

"I know," Azure replied. "Everypony knows that!"

Luna pouted, understanding the discussion didn't start too well. The last thing she needed was to be reminded about her age. "In... centuries, I had many friends. But... time is... time..."

Curses! Claiming eternal night was easier than this!

"My friends all passed away," she finally managed to say flatly. "It's just... natural. It's how things work." She looked at her hooves. "When a friend leaves, it's... painful. A lot. A part of you... goes with them." Luna looked up. Azure was staring at her, giving her a confused look. "The pain never leaves you, it just stays there," she said while pointing at her heart. "It's unconscious really, but we, me and Celestia... we built protection... shields around our hearts."

"You don't want to make friends anymore because we all die anyway?" Azure asked back, still on the defensive.

"No, it's..." Luna sighed loudly; it would have been easier to teach her how ponies were made. The Princess wondered if Azure wasn't too young for this kind of talk. Life and death wasn't a topic for young fillies. "It's a wall, as we make new friends and lose them, the wall simply get thicker. To a point where... making new a friend, a real friend, becomes very hard. We keep to ourself, in a way... to protect our feelings." She sighed again. "We don't choose this privacy. But after so long... after so... many..."

The Princess remembered numerous ponies she knew in the centuries of her life; friends, husbands, lovers, companions or even guards that she got to know. She personally knew thousands. Her heart ached as her eyes became wet. It had been a long time since she thought of them. She always remembered them, but she rarely took the time to actively think about them. The pain was still there, even after a thousand years sealed on the Moon. "I don't regret knowing all of them, but we... I know how it ends. How it always ends. With time, it just gets harder to make new friends... because we know. You could imagine that with experience, making new friends is easier, but... it's not true."

"I... I didn't know," Azure said sad that she misjudged the Princess.

"Me and Celestia, we don't keep secrets because we like to be mysterious. We are simply protecting our hearts. It's not a choice, it's instinctive, we don't really choose... to... not talk," she explained. She lowered her head to the filly's level. "At first, yes, I was trying to prove a point to my sister. However, I came to care about you. We do care a lot, even if it's not easy to see... or even if it's done in a different way from other ponies."

"I'm sorry!" the filly claimed. "I didn't mean what I said!"

Luna shook her head. "Don't be. It's me who should be apologizing. I should have told you a while ago, but... I've never been very good with talking to other ponies. And climbing over that wall requires lot of efforts from both sides. I guess... I guess I'm out of practice in climbing it."

Azure jumped forwards and hugged her. Once the surprise passed, Luna returned the hug. "What do you want to know about me?" the Princess asked softly.

"Anything that matters to you!" she replied her eyes full of stars.

Luna smiled. Clever filly.

She thought a moment of what she could talk about; she needed a story that mattered to her, but also one that could be of interest to Azure.

"Once upon a time," she started. "I think stories start like that, right?" Azure nodded back. "Good. One upon a time, when Discord was ruling over these lands, when chaos was everywhere... It was a very, very long time ago! We didn't even have a calendar back then. Two very young fillies, two sisters... As young as you, actually! They were living in a cave, shielded from the ambient chaos. Their parents had created that spell to protect them, but it was weakening. But their parents were... gone. The fillies had promised that when the spell would run out, they would go seek the Elder, the first dragon... He would protect them until the day they would be ready to face the world, if they could reach him! The journey wasn't easy..."

The two ponies stayed on the balcony, bathed in the stars' light. There was no formula solved, no diagram drawn, no teaching and no studying that night. It became a sort of personal custom between them as each week one night would be dedicated to simply talking about what mattered to them.

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