There Will Always Be Light

by Semaj

Part VI "A Nice Night To Die"

Part VI

"A nice night to die"

That night I paced the floor of my room until I could feel myself making a rut in the flooring. I tried not to think about Starry. I told myself everything would be alright, but no matter how hard I tried I could not believe it.

Finally after hours of waiting, there was another knock at the door.

"GO AWAY!" I shouted, smothering myself with a pillow.

"Luna, it is okay; open the door," called the smooth voice of my sister.

Every muscle froze. She had not even tried talking to me since Cloudsdale. "What do you want?" I mumbled, moving over to the door at a snail’s trot.

"I know what Is going on, and I am sorry," she replied, her voice quivering.

"I do not care. I do not want to speak to you.”

"Then you do not have to speak to me. Listen to me."

There was a long pause as I pondered what to do. I was one step away from the edge, and at the time Celestia was only pushing me closer.

"Okay," I muttered as I pressed my face against the door.

"I know what you're going through right now. I have gotten attached to many of my own students, and whenever they got in trouble, I felt like it was my fault."

My ears perked up and my eyes opened wide. Is she trying to comfort me?

"But you listen to me right now; this is by no means your fault! Do not blame yourself... Please." Celestia's voice had swung from boisterous and commanding to small and raspy. "I do not want you to have to go through what I did."

For a split second, I heard what sounded like crying.

"Thank you," I said, unable to think of any other words.

"And I know you do not want to let me in," continued Celestia, still whimpering. "But I want to let you know that I plan on staying here with you until Starry comes home safely."

"No, you do not have to do that for me! I cannot let you sit there for such a long time!"

"Then do not let me sit here... Talk to me."

"Okay... What is it you want to speak about?" I asked.

"Anything, as long as it takes your mind off things," replied Celestia.

I did not know what was an appropriate topic, so I decided to start talking about the past. As the conversation went on, I could feel my anxiety melt away. Hours passed, and the focus of the conversation changed many times.

We talked about places we have been, ponies we have met. After a while, I even felt comfortable talking about Starry.

The two of us continued like that until morning came, playfully exchanging stories through the door. It was almost like we were fillies again, whispering to each other late into the night, far past our bedtimes.

After we had run out of things to talk about and I became more comfortable, I decided to open the door. It was only a crack, but it was plenty enough for me to lock eyes with a worn-out Celestia.

"Hey," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head.

"Hey," replied Celestia, a warm yet tired smile on her face.

I looked down at my hooves, trying to avoid direct eye contact. "Would you like to come inside?"

"I would love to,” said Celestia, her smile growing wider.

I creaked the door open more and stepped aside, letting Celestia into my room and back into my life.

"Wow, I am quite tired,” said Celestia with a great yawn. "I hope you do not mind if I rest a bit..." Celestia flopped down onto my bed and closed her eyes.

"No, I do not mind at all," I said, laying down next to her. I looked at my sister's porcelain face, and an odd mixture of emotions filled my brain. What am I doing? How could I have let things go so wrong?

***

What’s going on? I thought as I was jolted awake by the sound of nearby shouting. "Celestia, is that you?" I called out. I lifted my head from my pillow, and I looked around. My sister was nowhere to be seen. Typical.

I do not know exactly how long I had been sleeping, but as I got up I noticed that the sun was just hovering over the horizon. I whipped my head around; there were the noises again. This time, they were right outside my door. I trotted over to see what it was, but before I had even turned the handle, the door swung open.

It was Starry.

His eyes were wide, and he was breathing hard. But he looked no more worse for wear than last time I saw him. "STARRY!" I cried, embracing my son. However, he did not move. "Son... Are you feeling alright?" I asked, waving a hoof in front of his disbondant face.

"He's fine, just a bit shaken up," called an unfamiliar voice.

I turned expecting to see Midnight, but instead I met eyes with a brown furred guard I had never met. "Wait… Where is Midnight?"

"Don't worry; he's alive!" assured the unicorn.

"Yes but where IS he?!" I asked, my voice quivering.

"He's being taken care of..."

"Taken care of? What do you mean? What happened!?"

"It's nothing major! I'm sure he'll be okay!"

I gave the guard a piercing glare and invaded his face. "What happened?" I growled.

"He was trying to do the right thing, but then it happened. He got stabbed by one of those monsters... The soldier he was trying to save morphed into some kind of beast and rammed him with its horn. It was pretty deep, but we were able to patch him up.”

"Where is he now?"

"In the infirmary on the first floor."

"Alright, thank you. Come, Starry," I said as I tried to pull my son away. Starry did not budge. "Come on, precious, it is time to go!”

"All those ponies..." whispered Starry, a blank expression frozen on his face.

"Excuse me?"

"I could have saved them," mumbled Starry, a bit louder than before.

The brown guard sighed a heavy sigh. "The poor boy's been like this since we left. In shock, I reckon. It took me all my strength just to get him here, even with magic."

"It is okay, honey; whatever happened, it was not your fault," I cooed, stroking Starry's mane.

"You're wrong!" snapped Starry, swatting my hoof away. "You weren't there!"

My mouth hung open before I found my composure. "You are right. I was not there, and I apologize for that. But I do know one thing; you are the kindest pony I have EVER had the pleasure of meeting. I know if that if anypony needed help, you would do everything in your power to do so."

"That's nice of you to say, but it doesn't change what happened." Starry looked at me, his face broken. "I had to watch those...things suck the life out of my comrades. They locked us all up in King Orion's palace and started taking us out one by one. I was so scared, I didn't even try to fight back!"

"Starry, you cannot blame yourself for being scared—”

"But that wasn't even the worst part," moaned Starry, cutting me off. "The only reason I got out alive was because I ran away! I abandoned everypony and slipped out when none of them were looking."

"Do not let it bring you down; even good ponies can fail under pressure," I lay a hoof on his shoulder. " You are safe, and that is all that matters."

"I guess..." Starry mumbled, still staring at the floor.

"Come, let us visit Midnight; I am certain he would love some company right about now."

"Alright," Starry grumbled.

***

"Midnight?" said the nurse, pulling back the curtain that covered the captain's hospital bed. "The Princess and her student are here to see you."

"Really?" called Midnight in a thin, raspy voice. "Don't keep them waiting; let them in!"

"Yes, of course." The nurse closed the curtain and turned toward Starry and I. "He's still in a lot of pain right now, so try not to strain him, okay?" she whispered.

"I will try,” I replied. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

"No problem," she said, smiling wide. "He's a very nice stallion. He cares about you very much."

"Really?” I asked.

"Oh yes. You two are all he ever talks about. 'Where's the Princess?' or 'I want to see Starry.' It's really very sweet." She chirped closing her clear-sky-eyes in delight. "I wish I had a stallion like that!"

"What?” I said, taken aback. "No, no, no!Our relationship is strictly platonic!"

"I know, Princess; I'm just messing with you."

"Come on, guys! Get in here!" shouted Midnight from inside his room.

"Oh! That's my cue to leave!" cried the nurse, bolting out the door.

Starry and I then stepped inside Midnight's little cubicle and pulled back the curtain.

"Hey, it's you two!" chimed Midnight. "I've been waiting forever to see you!" He tried to sit up but instead groaned and lay back down.

"Don't hurt yourself!" cried Starry.

"It's okay, kiddo; it ain't that bad," assured Midnight, trying to look like a boulder. Unfortunately he ended up more of a mud puddle.

"It is not okay; look at you!" I cried, moving over to Midnight. "And is that... Blood!?" I looked down at Midnight's chest and tapped a large red section of bandage wrapped around his stomach.

"Yeah, that monster got me good didn't it? I should be fine." Midnightlooked over at Starry and smiled. "So how are you doing, buddy?"

"I've been better," he admitted.

After an awkward pause that felt like forever, Midnight spoke again, this time in a voice cold as a winter night. "Son, let me tell you something.”

"What is it?"

"I'm getting old, and with this injury I'm not sure how well I'm going to be able to do my job anymore. So I've been thinking; I might be needing a replacement some time soon."

"What are you talking about? I'm sure you'll be able to do your job just fine!" insisted Starry.

"Maybe.The truth is, I'm a bit tired of it. I've been doing it for a long time now, and this has finally given me an excuse to retire. The question is though, who will take my place? It's not a new question. No, I've been thinking about this one for a long time now, and although there are other ponies who could fill in for me in the meantime. They're all old like me. I think it's about time we had somepony new to handle the job.

"You see, what I'm getting at here is that…” Midnight sighed and shook his head. He looked over at the window and peered out at the dusky sky. “I want that pony to be you, Starry Night."

I staggered and almost fell over. I could not believe what Midnight was saying.

"What!" Starry cried, his jaw falling open. "But I know nothing about being a leader! I didn't even finish my training!"

Midnight rubbed the back of his head and donned a pained expression. "You may not know how, but I can certainly teach you." Midnight's voice somehow became small and mousey. "And about you not finishing training, that won't be a problem because... I didn't either."

"You didn't?" asked Starry, his face shipwrecked. "But you said you had to if you wanted to be a great warrior!"

"You do. That's why I never was a great warrior. This was all I ever amounted to," admitted Midnight, his words heavier than a million lead weights. "But don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad job; I enjoyed it. It just wasn't what I wanted in life. But this is your dream; it always has been. You want to be here to protect Luna. I should have seen that sooner."

"Midnight, think about this! Are you certain he is ready for that responsibility?" I asked.

"He's not ready, but he will be soon. The day Starry turns eighteen I'm putting him in charge of the royal guards and giving him the position of your official bodyguard, only with your consent of course."

"I do not know," I said, kicking at the floor.

"I'll do it," Starry blurted out.

"But, Starry I—"

"Don't try to dissuade me. I've made my decision."

I sighed and looked at my son. His face was hard and overflowing with determination. His once long and wild mane was now short and formal. He looked like a grownup. Oh well, I thought, a wave of nostalgia crashing over the beaches of my mind. I am going to miss those crazy hair flips. “Alright, you're almost an adult now, and I think it's about time I let you make your own decisions."

"So, Starry Night, are you ready?" asked Midnight, a wide grin across his face.

"Are you kidding me?" chimed Starry, happy to utter his familiar catch phrase. "I've been ready my whole life!”

I was still a bit uncomfortable with the concept of Starry taking up such an important role so young, but I knew that I had to let Starry carve his own path in life, for better or worse.

After that day, Starry visited Midnight in the infirmary every day he could. Midnight would give him pointers and quiz him on what to do in different situations, but Starry was always ready. Whenever Starry committed to doing something, he would keep doing it until it was done, and this was no different.

Despite my nerves, I was doing well too. Celestia and I were on far better terms after I opened up to her, so It was a relatively good time for the both of us.

Things continued like that all the way until Starry turned eighteen.

***

I tapped my hoof as we waited for the ceremony to start. It was hard to believe the day had come already. My son was going to become the Captain of the Royal Guard.

"Today is the day Starry. I'm proud of you," whispered Midnight, bursting out into a fit of coughs.

"Are you okay, Midnight?" cried Starry, putting a hoof on his back.

"It's nothing, just a mild infection. I'll be out of here in no time," assured Midnight. "When the time comes, they're going to wheel me out of here and the three of us are going to make a statement in the castle ballroom. Do you remember what to say?"

"I think so," replied Starry as he paced back and forth at high speed.

"Well you'd better! We're supposed to be up there in less than an hour.”.

"It is fine, honey; I am sure you will do well," I said, grabbing my son and caressing him like a foal. "You need to calm down."

"I guess you're right. For some reason it feels like I'm forgetting something."

Just then, Midnight's blue-eyed nurse trotted into the room. "It's time for us to move you now, Mr. Legacy," she said, sweetness bathing her voice.

"Oh alright, thank you ma'am," wheezed Midnight. "You two should get going.
They're going to be waiting for you backstage."

"Okay, we will see you there," I said, dragging Starry out of the room.

The stage was huge, and the audience was bigger. There were hundreds of guards sitting in white chairs, separated into two sections by a dark red carpet. They all spoke to each other in hushed tones, excited to see who was going to be the new Captain of the Royal Guard.

I looked down at the front row to see if Celestia kept her promise and came. Sure enough, there she was, waving at me with a big smile on her face.

I looked behind me to see Starry had continued his vigorous pacing, this time reciting his speech.

"Oh! Where is Midnight?" cried Starry, rubbing the back of his head.

"I am sure he is on his way, darling. Relax." I gave Starry a kiss on the forehead. Starry looked at me for a moment and kissed back before returning to his pacing.

After a few moments, the doors to the back of the stage burst open and Midnight came in on a wheelchair, being pushed by the nurse from earlier.

"Midnight!" called Starry, relived. "I was worried you weren't going to make it!"

"Well I'm here," replied Midnight, clutching the bandaged side of his body.

"Are we all ready?" I asked, my heart pounding a war anthem inside my chest.

Starry gave a shaky nod.

"Let's get this show on the road," groaned Midnight.

I took a deep breath and walked to the edge of stage. I used my magic to turn out the lights, and trotted to center stage. The room went silent. I turned the lights back on and stood behind my podium, looking out at the ocean in front of me. There was a long pause, and the stallions in the audience began to look back and forth.

Celestia smiled and gave a small gesture that said, "Go on."

I cleared my throat. "Stallions of the Royal Guard," I said, my voice quivering—You would think public speaking would get easier after thousands of years—"We have brought you, and Our lovely sister Celestia here on this day to bestow a great honor. So if We may have thine ears for a moment we would like to invite Midnight Legacy onto the stage to say a few words about the young stallion who will be assuming the coveted position of your new Captain." I then stepped back, and the crowd burst into a wild fit of claps.

The kind nurse wheeled Midnight, who was trying to look as strong and dignified as a pony in a wheelchair could, onto stage.

"Thank you, Princess," said Midnight in a low rasp. "As you know, I have not been in very good health as of late. And if you didn't know, I'm sure it's quite obvious now," Midnight gestured to his wheelchair and the crowd laughed. "Joking aside, I think it's about time for us to make a change, and I think I may have found just the stallion for the job.

“I've known this one since he was just a little foal, and I have gotten the great pleasure to watch him grow into the magnificent pony he is today. He is strong, determined, decisive, and most of all, compassionate. His empathy for others ponies is stronger than any stallion I have ever trained.

“Every single one of those things is a necessity in a Captain, and I have met no better candidate than Starry Night." Just then the crowd began to clap, but as soon as Starry waddled onto stage, they stopped. Instead, they looked at each other and began to mumble again.

"Thank you, Midnight," I said moving next to Starry. "We now invite Princess Celestia onstage to give Starry Night her blessings."

Celestia nodded her head and trotted onstage, inhabiting the space on the other side of Starry. "Starry Night," she said, a great solar warmth in her voice. "I have heard many stories about you, and from what I understand, you have been a wonderful student to my sister. You have stayed with her through thick and thin, just like a good Captain stays with his troops. That is why Luna and I are proud to present you with these," Celestia and I pulled out two medals. Hers had a sun on it, and mine had a moon. Both of them had the letters RG engraved on the front. Starry then bowed his head, and we hung the discs around his neck. "Starry Night, we are proud to call you Captain of the Royal Guard."

"You deserve this," I whispered, trying to dam up the rivers flowing from my eyes.

"Thank you,” Starry replied, nodding his acknowledgement.

“It means so much to me that I get to be here." He turned to face the audience. "Ever since I was very young, my dream has been to be a part of this amazing group of ponies.

“I remember when I was little, I got a poster of the Royal Guard for my birthday. I loved that poster, and every time I looked at it I knew that was what I wanted to do when I grew up." Starry's voice started out tiny, and the audience was full of scratching heads. But the longer Starry went on, the more confident he became. "I still have that poster, and every time I look at it, it still inspires me to do great things. That's what keeps me going every day, the idea that if I keep trying, or if I keep pushing, that someday I would be able to accomplish my dream.

“Now here I stand, in the middle of the exact moment that I've dreamed of for years." Starry paused for a moment, and the audience leaned forward. "I may not look like what you expected, and I may seem too young. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. I don't know yet, but I do know one thing; I have dreams, a lot of them in the fact. Some of them are big, and some of them are small, but all of them are ideas for making this world a better place. I just hope that all of you will join in with me and help me make some of these dreams a reality." Starry then took a bow. There was a bit of a pause, but before long, everypony began to start a slow building clap. There were whistles and cheers all around, and Starry took another bow. "Thank you," he cried, waving to the audience. The four of us then moved off stage, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That went better than expected," admitted Midnight, beginning to cough again.

"They really liked me!" mused Starry, tears welling in his eyes.

"That's because you did good, son," said Midnight

"I did; didn't I?"

It turned out that Midnight's infection was not as mild as he said it was. Throughout the following weeks, he got worse and worse until he went into something called Septic Shock.

Out of obligation, Starry and I would try to go and visit him, but we hated seeing him like that, and it was very hard to find time out of Starry's job.

The doctor said that the survival rate was only about fifty percent, so I knew that there was a real possibility of losing him. For the most part I was able to deny it, but as his health declined, it was hard to ignore.

One day the doctors came for me and told me that he probably did not have long.

***

"Midnight," I said as I crept my way to his hospital bed.

"He may be asleep; if so, please try not to startle him," whispered the nurse as she trotted from the room. Starry and I stood in front of the bed. Midnight was asleep. I thought about waking him up, but I decided it would be better to let him rest. I looked at Midnight and sighed. Every time I saw his emaciated face and his long unkempt mane, my heart ripped apart. His once muscular body had somehow deflated, leaving him thin and fragile.

This time was much easier than others; at least he looked peaceful when he was asleep.

I could not help but notice all of the strange medical implements scattered around the room. Some of them glowed with a magical aura, and others were hooked up to Midnight, pumping him full of unknown fluids. I dared not touch anything out of fear that I could cause a catastrophe, so the two of us just waited. Starry Night sat on a stool and laid his head down on the bed next to Midnight. He tried to stay strong, but I know I saw a few tears escape from his eyes from time to time. After a few hours, I could not help falling asleep myself. I do not know how long I was out, but after a while, Starry woke me up.

"Get up, mom," said Starry, poking me into consciousness. "He's awake now."

I opened my eyes to see Starry hanging over me, a distant look on his face. When he stepped back however, I was able to see Midnight. He was looking at me. his entire body was shaking, but his smile was unwavering.

"Hey," he whispered. "Come here; I want to talk to you two." I nodded and jumped to my hooves. "Good," muttered the white earth pony as I sat down next to him. "I'm sorry; I just can't speak very loud."

"Don't apologize!" cried Starry. "We're not the ones who are sick!"

"That's true," said Midnight nodding his weak head. "Speaking of, the doctor gave me the news. He said it would probably be better if I told you myself."

"What do you mean? What news?" I asked, my heart doing a drag race through my torso.

"Well, apparently the infection has spread, and my organs don't work too well anymore. Pretty soon, they're going to stop working altogether and my body will shut down," Midnight said more factual than emotional.

"Are you saying you're going to die?" wailed Starry, his eyes wide and wet.

"Almost certainly," replied Midnight. "But that's not the question. The question is, how long do I have. Basically the long and the short of it is, we don't know. It could be days, or it could be hours."

Starry exploded into tear, but Midnight laid a hoof on him and smiled. "It's okay; don't cry. I'm not sad. Dying was never something I was scared of. Actually, there were many times in my life where I wanted to die. I didn't have anypony who loved me, and I had nothing to look forward to. I just moved through each day, wanting nothing more than for it to end." Midnight laughed a bit, causing him to cough some more. "Then you two came into my life. Helping you keep your secret gave me a purpose again, one where I felt like I was actually making a difference. My days became brighter, and I had something more to look forward to than the sundown.

“I wish I had more time with you two, but sometimes that's just not how the universe works. It's unfortunate, but dying isn't going to be the hard part. No, the hard part is going to be saying goodbye to you guys." Midnight looked out the large window that was visible from his bed and let out a long sigh.

"I asked the doctor if she could take me outside tonight, so I could see the moon. But she said it'd be impossible. It would put too much stress on my body, or something like that." He turned his head and looked back at us, smiling again. "At least I have you two."

Starry sniffled a bit and then threw himself onto Midnight, constricting him in a great hug.

"Do not injure him, Starry!" I cried, lunging toward my son.

"It's okay, Luna; I can take a little pain. It's not like I have many more hugs left to look forward to. I'd better enjoy it while it lasts."

Starry then began to cry once more.

He cried harder than I had ever seen anypony cry.

I tried to remain strong, but the sight of a grown stallion bawling his eyes out was to much for me to handle. I too began to wail. I could feel as the hot tears flowed out of my eyes and down my face, soaking my fur.

The three of us then did the only thing we could do; we waited. We shared stories, advice, and of course lots of hugs. Hours past and for the most part Midnight held up. It wasn't until about 2:00 in the morning that things became dire.

One of the strange magical contraptions stopped glowing and doctors started rushing in. After about twenty minutes of stabbing Midnight with needles and beating on his chest, they were able to stabilize him. However, the doctor said it would not last very long.

She said it was time to say goodbye.

I asked her if we could take Midnight outside. She nodded and said, "It's not like it's going to do much damage now."

I opened the large window and was able to use my magic to move Midnight and most of the medical equipment outside.

"There you go, Midnight," I said, standing next to him.

"Wow," whispered the scrawny earth pony. "It's a full moon too."

"I recall Celestia mentioning a lunar eclipse tonight. I do not know when it was supposed to be," I admitted trying to hold back more tears.

"That's okay; the sky is beautiful the way it is." Midnight took a long and shaky breath. "I've always loved the outdoors, especially at night. Thank you Luna."

"Why are you thanking me?" I asked.

"I’m thanking you for all these years of breathtaking night skies. They got me through many lonely nights. But also I want to thank you for being here for me. When I first got to know you, I thought I'd help you. I never knew how much you'd help me. And for that, thank you."

"You are welcome," I said pouring out all my heart and soul.

Midnight suddenly began shaking. "Starry, come here," he said, pain in his voice.

"What is it?" asked Starry, rushing to Midnight's side.

"I need you to promise me something," Midnight groaned. "Never stop being yourself. I need you to tell me you'll continue to care about other ponies. And most of all, I need you to tell me you will never give up on your dreams."

"Of course!" Starry cried. "Why would I ever give up?"

"Sometimes life beats you down, son," whispered Midnight, breathing harder than a hurricane.

"I'll never let that happen! I'm going to keep going until I'm dead!" Starry said, fire in his voice.

"I'm glad. That's all I needed to hear." Midnight cried out in pain. "It won't be long now... I suppose it is a nice night to die."

Starry and I both placed a hoof on Midnight's chest. Midnight smiled at us for a brief moment and then his body started convulsing.

After a few minutes, he was gone.

I removed my hoof from Midnight’s lifeless body and looked up at the sky. At that moment, the moon had only just started slipping behind the sun.

***

That night when Starry went to bed, he asked me to sleep next to him like I did when he was a foal. However, as I lay on the bed next to him, I felt that same strange feeling I felt a few months ago, like something dark was trying to get into my head.

This time I could have sworn I heard the words, "Let me in."