Waning and Waxing

by Calliope Pony

Chapter 6

How many nights has it been since I had that fight with Celestia? I’ve found myself losing track of time lately. The nights all seem to blur together, and I can’t tell what happened a week ago from what happened a month ago.

Two mornings after the fight she did come looking for me. She asked if I was all right. I probably should have said something then, but I didn’t. I was too miserable to come up with any words beyond “I’m fine.”

She kind of looked at me for a moment like she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t. We haven’t spent any time together since then.

One remark she made keeps sticking in my head: lucky. She thinks I’m lucky that I don’t have much to do. Lucky that nopony needs me, that I’m completely useless, that I could just disappear and probably no one would even notice.

She doesn’t understand at all! Every single pony in Equestria loves her. She doesn’t know what it feels like to be alone.

What’s the point in even having a Princess of the Night at all? Nopony comes out at night. Nopony cares to look at the moon or admire the constellations. They sing the praises of the sunshine. Celestia can take care of everything they need. They all come to her for help with their problems, even if some of those problems are stupid. Nopony comes to me for help with anything.

She’s the lucky one, and she doesn’t even know it.

The nights are all blurring together now. Nothing ever happens to distinguish one from another. I don’t talk to anypony. I don’t see anypony. I fly around from town to town. In theory, I’m supposed to be making sure the land is safe, but Equestria has been enjoying a time of peace and prosperity. In the early days of our rule the land was wild. Strange, malevolent creatures roamed freely, sinister characters attacked and plundered at will. There were real dangers lurking in the dark then, and yet ponies came out and worked and socialized as I watched over them. Now the land is quite safe, so safe that there’s little for me to do, and yet the ponies celebrate this pleasantness by locking themselves indoors and sleeping through it.

There are still occasional night dangers. Sometimes packs of timber wolves or other creatures wander into settled areas, and I have to chase (or fight) them off. Back in the early days, though, I was never alone when that happened. Ponies would be there when the danger occurred. They would rally together, protecting each other, offering what support they could. I remember Commander Hurricane sending flights of his pegasi to assist in combat, Star Swirl teaching defensive and binding spells to the other unicorns. We would fight and work together to keep each other safe. We would celebrate victories together

Now I’m always alone. Last year a rampaging hydra would have destroyed a village. It came charging out of its swamp, knocking down trees as it came. I defended the village, fought with the beast, and won victory. I sent the hydra slithering back where it came from, and the village was saved. I even got to the hydra before it had trampled the agricultural fields on the outskirts.

Nopony woke up. After I sent the hydra packing I looked around, but nopony had come outside. There were no lights in the windows. I remember I waited around until morning. After I set the moon and the sun came up the ponies began coming outside. None of them even realized what had almost happened. When I flew down to talk to some of them they just seemed surprised and confused at seeing me there.

I’ve never seen anypony act surprised and confused at seeing Celestia. They always seem delighted by her very presence.

Celestia is the lucky one.