Does Faust Play Dice?

by herfaithfulstudent

Chapter 8: Stargazing

I amble out of the abandoned cottage that used to be the royal sisters’ home, trying to clear my head of what happened with Celestia.

First, she invites me out on a nighttime walk, which feels a lot like a date; the fact that Cookie thought so too means that pony-culture thinks of that stuff the same way. She brings me to her childhood bedroom—having me sit on her bed for fuck’s sake—so I’m expecting her to make some kind of move. Then, I find out this was all about Luna and Celestia just wanted to, once again, try and get me to prevent Nightmare Moon. So, I shift to ‘let her down easy and get her to accept that her sister going evil is just a thing she has to deal with’ mode and she fucking kisses me! What the Hell’s up with that?

“-s?”

Was she just trying to seduce me into fucking up her future? Normally, getting knocked up would be the cause of that, but this would be way worse!

“-eus.”

And what if she actually wanted to kiss me? She couldn’t have thought that I’d go for that, right?

She’s super nice and all, but she’s still a horse! Bronies on earth don’t-”

“ASTRAEUS!” comes a shout that nearly causes me to trip on a tree root. I realize I’ve just emerged from the forest and a familiar, slightly annoyed, but very confused looking mare stands directly in front of me.

“Lu-Luna? Where’d you come from?” She’s dressed in full armor and carrying her spear, but for once it’s not pointed at me.

“Me?! I was going to get my next assignment when I saw something move at the edge of this forest. I thought it was Celestia.”

“Really? Why'd you think I was your sister?”

“Our old house is nearby, but we abandoned it when our father died,” Luna says with a touch of melancholy.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You had nothing to do with it. But… thanks.” Shifting gears, she gets back on to a topic I was hoping she'd forget about. “What about you? Why were you all the way out here?” she demands. “Do you realize what would have happened if you’d been seen by a pegasus other than me?”

“What?” I defend. “Is there something wrong with –” Oh crap, probably shouldn’t tell her about Celestia.

It’d actually be good to get her thoughts on the kiss, but it probably wouldn’t go over well if I went with, ‘Hey Luna! Soooo, your sister invited me back to your old bedroom to beg me to prevent you from becoming an evil Alicorn capable of killing ponies, and even though I’m pretty sure evil-you will never actually eat little fillies, Celestia’s still REALLY freaked out about it. So anyway, why’d your sister kiss me?’ Yeah, probably best to leave out that stuff.

“– is there something wrong with uh… taking a nice walk under the stars?” Perfect! Luna loves the stars!

“No,” the mare puzzles, “but if any other pegasus were to find you they could have thought-”

“What? That I was some big scary spy?”

“Yes! Don't you get it???” Her exasperation slowly turns to tired resignation as she continues. ”We're not at war now, but each tribe is preparing for the possibility. They almost always are.”

“I think the pegasi are just paranoid. I haven't seen anything like that from the unicorns or earth ponies. Actually, the unicorns do pretty intense guard training, but Celestia says that's just for monsters and stuff.”

“That's mainly true,” Luna admits. “But they don't need to send out infantry when my sister is a super-weapon. And they have two archmages better than her at the moment.”

“Okay, you can't be accusing Starswirl, Clover the Clever, and your sister of plotting to destroy the other tribes. That's impossible!”

“No, of course not! But Commander Hurricane doesn't know them like I do. All he knows is that the unicorns have three powerful weapons instead of the usual two.” Cutting me off before I can object, she says, “I'm not saying I agree, but think about how it looks to most pegasi.”

“Okay, fine, but the earth ponies are definitely clean though.”

“No, they’re not. You just don't see the signs. Listen a bit more the next time you're hauling carts, you might learn something.”

Could Luna be for real? The earth ponies I've met don't seem battle-ready. A bit racist, maybe, but no one’s doing combat training.

Wanting to convince me, Luna continues, “The Chancellor is indirectly rationing the majority of their food Astraeus. That's a sure sign of war.”

“What? That's impossible. We eat just fine, and more importantly, Puddinghead is an idiot.” I mainly think of Pinkie Pie from the play, but it was a spot on performance.

“Have you been eating carrots a lot?”

“Yes, but how do you know about that?”

“It's literally my job!” Oh right, I forgot spying was part of her job. “Plus I get daily intel briefings.” Luna sighs as though that should have been obvious. “Did you know that carrots stay fresh for far less time than say apples?”

“No…”

“And doesn't ponies eating carrots allow more apples to be kept aside for a rainy day when say the tribes go to war and the earth ponies need a good stock of food in reserve?”

“Okay, now you're just talking like some conspiracy nut.”

“It's a smart tactic, and I don't know if it's true, but it's what the top brass seems to think is going on.”

There's no way Puddinghead could be some Illuminati-level genius, but I don’t think we’re going to see eye-to-eye on this. “Well, thanks for the info Luna. At the very least I might be on the lookout for this kind of stuff in the future.” She nods, as though judging me satisfactory. “But uhh… don’t forget about work. We have been here a while.”

“Oh no! You’re right. Thanks for reminding me.” And with that, she assumes a stance to prepare herself to take off, but then pauses before flapping her delicate wings down. “But before I go, if you’d like to see some really beautiful stars, Canis Major will start to appear soon. I have the night off in three days if you want to stargaze with me.”

Hanging out with Luna could be a good way to take my mind off of the fuckery Celestia tried to pull. “Sure, sounds fun.” As long as she doesn’t bring up pegasus chemtrails or something, it’ll be a nice night.

I do a double take when I see Luna actually smile. Well shit, I guess it is possible. “Then I’ll meet you on the same hill we were last time. Don’t forget.” She instructs.

Without waiting for a response, she flies away in perfect silence.

***

The walk home is way too peaceful. There aren't any distractions to keep my mind from returning to Celestia, her plea about Luna, and that PG-13 ending.

When I arrive at Smart Cookie's place, I enter quietly and check if any lights are on that would indicate she's still up reading. Thankfully, the old mare is already asleep. It’s nothing against her; I’m just worried she'll start asking me about my night out with Celestia. I am not ready for that.

Figuring that I'm in no state to answer any of my questions about what got into Celestia, I lie down on my bed — my bed — willingly and without a horse kissing me. A return to my standard nighttime ritual.

***

I wake up to sunlight penetrating the thin curtains in my room. God damn it! Even when I don’t have to get up early, my body betrays me.

I hear my host downstairs making breakfast and know I'm going to regret what I'm about to do…

“Good morning Cookie,” I say as casually as possible, praying to God, Lauren Faust, or whoever will listen to let me avoid what I know is in store.

“Astraeus! Where's your marefriend? I made enough breakfast for the three of us,” she says as she sets a plate of pan-fried hay and oats in front of me. “There’s extra for you two since you probably worked up quite a sweat-"

Cookie’s great. She's actually become like a surrogate aunt these past few weeks. Granted, it’d be more accurate to call her a slave driving aunt with no scruples about working me from dawn till dusk, but that's all fine. My one complaint…

“You should have told her she didn't have to teleport out. I had planned on you two sleeping in so I was making food that doesn't have to be eaten hot. But now that we're alone, you just have to tell me everything that happened!”

…the mare is nosy as hell.

I almost question show-Celestia’s choice in casting the Hearth’s Warming pageant. Cookie is definitely the most like Apple Jack in terms of work ethic and diligence, and the chancellor is as scattered as Pinkie Pie. But when there's a topic she's interested in (growing crops, tribal politics, or my personal life), she can fire off questions as fast as Ponyville's number one party pony.

“Ughh,” I groan out loud. “Can we not talk about this please?”

“Oh dear, that bad?”

I nod as I slump into my chair.

“Shoot, you have to give me more than that. An old mare like me has so little going on this late in life.”

“Glad to know my pain sustains you.” I mutter between mouthfuls of hay. Also, from what I’ve seen, Cookie’s not that old. There are plenty of earth ponies older than her. She’s in her late 60s at best. Or at least, that’d be the human equivalent. “Hey Cookie, how old are you?”

“You can’t go expectin’ an answer to a prying question like that without answering my prying question first.”

“Fine,” I relent. “She kissed me and I was super freaked out.” There’s no way I’ll tell her about Luna’s future, but there’s no harm in telling her about the other thing Celestia invited me out for.

“Aww, why’d you do that? She’s such a sweet mare.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way Cookie, but to me you guys look like horses.”

“We’re ponies thank you very much, and that ‘we’ includes you at the moment. But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Remember how I told you that in my world I’m a different species entirely? Well, ponies are just animals like dogs or pigs.”

Cookie just nods her head thoughtfully and remains silent for a bit until finally, “I see where you’re coming from.”

“What? No shock or awe at the revelation?”

“Not really, darlin’. I know you don’t view us as animals,” she says plainly. “If I were transported to a world of talking pigs, I doubt I’d be too keen on one of them falling in love with me even if I knew they had the same kind of mind I had.”

“Huh? Well, thanks for understanding.” It’s nice to know Cookie doesn’t think I’m in the wrong on this one, even though I still feel bad about what happened.

“Of course.” She smiles. Then, after a pause, she says, “Sixty-eight.”

“What?”

“I’m sixty-eight years old. But don’t worry, I still have at least a couple decades left in me.”

“Oh,” I laugh, forgetting I had asked about her age in the first place. “That’s good.”

“What are you talking about?” she exclaims. “The way the tribes have been going at it, I’ll be running on pure frustration from here on out. Somepony has to keep the chancellor in check. This one especially.”

“This might be a weird question, but is Chancellor Puddinghead really an idiot?”

This actually elicits a laugh from the previously serious mare. “Anyone gets themselves mixed up in government and politics is an idiot, myself included.”

“You never struck me as the stupid type.”

“Ahh, well that’s where you’re wrong, colt. Even if you get into this line of work for the right reasons, it consumes your life. When your job is caring for an entire tribe, you suddenly lose the ability to care for yourself. It’s like some kind of sickness.”

“I know you’re a hard worker, but is it really that bad?”

“Astraeus,” she sighs, “I never got the chance to find a good stallion, and now it’s too late for me to have foals of my own. I’ll be alone at the end of my life just waiting for The Pale Mare to take me. So that’s why I’d say Puddinghead is just as dumb as I am, but he knows what he’s doing if that’s what you’re asking.

“He’s not one for the direct approach like I am, but all his actions are calculated. He’s not a bad stallion and really is as featherbrained as he seems, but he uses that to his advantage so ponies let their guard down when talking to him.”

“Does that mean he’s dangerous?” I ask. “You know, having someone like that in charge of the earth ponies?”

“There’s nothing to worry about Astraeus. His ‘earth ponies first’ policies are fine to get the masses excited when election season comes around, but chancellors never stick around long enough to do much of what they promise. What matters is the day-to-day affairs, and I’ve kept him and those before him in check so that none of my people have to suffer that much. Trust me on this one, there’s a big difference between being a figurehead and actually having influence.”

With that impromptu lesson on politics done, the two of us head off to work.

There’s not much to keep your mind occupied when you’re stuck with manual labor so I keep thinking back to last night. Based on how broken Celestia looked, I doubt she has Cookie’s empathetic view of my preference of species. And besides, I don’t know how much reasoning you can do to help someone through rejection. I’ve been on the other end and no amount of “there are plenty of other fish in the sea” can help ease the immediate hurt.

Hopefully it’ll pass soon. Even though she occasionally acts like I’m some prophet sent to save her sister’s soul, she’s still become kind of a friend here. She took the time to get me used to pony life, and seems to actually want to look out for me. The kind-to-her-people thing is expected for a future benevolent god-ruler, but she had no reason to care for me and did so anyway.

Thinking about how kind Celestia is does nothing to alleviate my guilt at breaking the mare’s heart. Why didn’t I say no to the date initially‽

To distract myself, I spend the next couple days taking on the most difficult tasks Cookie needs done. I may be doing it more to help myself, but it still feels good to help the ponies prepare for spring. After a couple days, my sharp guilt has dulled from a razor blade to a butter knife.

The thought of stargazing with Luna tonight has also kept my mind on the lighter side of life. I kind of agreed on a whim, but now that I think about it, I’ll be getting a personal astronomy lesson from the goddess of the stars! That sounds pretty damn cool. I mean, who wouldn’t love to chill out and talk about stars with Galileo? Even if Galileo, in this case, is a teenage female pony.

Once my work is done for the day, I head over to the spot I had followed Luna to when we last watched the stars together. Judging by the position of the sun, I realize I’ve arrived about an hour before sunset. Weird, back home I tended to arrive late to the majority of my classes. Even the ones that start in the afternoon.

Most of the hill is covered in a thick layer of powdery snow, but I take advantage of the protective radius offered by an evergreen tree and settle down on some clear ground. The cool winter breeze blowing through my equine coat is a welcome sensation after a long day of physical exertion. I figure I’ll hear Luna when she arrives, so I think I can afford to rest my eyes for a bit.

***

I hear something scratching.

Hmm, I guess I fell asleep.

I crack an eye open to see what’s going on. The first thing I notice is that it’s almost pitch-black. Damn, I must have been out for a while. “It looks like it’s already midnight.” I mutter to myself.

“About 45 minutes past actually.” Comes a nearby voice. I blink away the haze in my eyes and see Luna writing in her notebook. “Good morning.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” I offer, still only half awake. “You could have woken me up you know.”

Luna moves to her telescope, “I could have.” She fiddles with the device with such an intense look in her eyes. She’s not smiling, but it doesn’t seem like she’s unhappy. It’s almost as though she’s so focused on her work that she’s forgotten to give any thought to how she looks to the rest of the world.

I sigh, “Then why didn’t you?” Is she trying to be sarcastic? If she’s trying to be difficult to get back at me for dozing off, this might not be the relaxing night I had hoped for.

Luna doesn’t move away from the eyepiece. I can’t look her in the eye since her mane covers her face, but it gives me a rare opportunity to get a good look at the moon’s keeper. It’s kind of funny, even though she hasn’t ascended into godhood yet and just has normal non-ethereal hair, her normal mane still has this dark luster to it that make it seem like it wants to reflect the starlight. It looks like her face is hidden behind a veil made of the night sky itself. “I figured you needed the rest. You were out before sunset.”

“Oh,” I blink in surprise, both because of how considerate she was being and because I may have forgotten what we were talking about. “It didn’t annoy you?”

“No big deal,” She shrugs. “It let me get my recordings done early, and I’m just about done now.” There’s a long pause after Luna’s words as she takes some time to deftly make a few marks in her notebook using some kind of writing utensil with her mouth.

“What’s that?” It’s definitely not a quill, but that’s all I’ve seen ponies here write with. These medieval equines don’t have pencils yet, do they?

Luna looks up from her notebook at me. Indigo mane obscuring the right side of her face, but her left eye stares into mine. I can see the stars reflected in her pupil, the iris reduced to a thin halo of teal in the darkness. Her writing stick dangles from her mouth, and her head is cocked slightly to the side in confusion.

I stand by my earlier feelings, that I can’t really look at these 3D ponies the way Celestia was looking at me, but holy shit! Luna looks adorable right now!

“My telescope?” Luna asks only slightly muffled behind the instrument she shifted to the side of her mouth.

I shake my head; I don’t have the word to describe something I’ve never seen before. Instead I just open my mouth and point to it with my hoof.

With an even more perplexed look now, Luna lets her mouth open up which causes the object of interest to fall out.

“That!” I say, as it falls between the pages of her notebook.

“Oh,” Realization dawns on her face. “Well, quills and ink aren’t easy to keep on me when I’m flying so I mainly use charcoal. You’ve seen the earth ponies use it when marking wood for construction projects.” That sounded more like a statement of fact than a question. This whole Luna being a spy thing is unsettling.

Okay, so it’s definitely a pencil, but the outside is more of a pale grey. “But only the tip looks like charcoal.”

“I wrap my charcoal in paper so it doesn’t taste like burnt bread when I write.”

“When Cookie had me tallying up seed stores, she told me to just hold it with my teeth.”

“That’s fine for a line here and there, but you need your teeth, lips, and tongue to control it well enough for writing.”

“And drawing?” I add in, thinking of the sketches Celestia showed me when I first arrived, and again a few days ago… when I made her cry. Fuck, I’m thinking about it again.

“What?” Luna bristles. I can see her muscles visibly tense. “How do you know I like to draw?”

“Umm, your sister told me.”

“She had no right…” Luna grumbles to herself, although her posture does relax.

“Damn, you really like to keep your life private, don’t you?” I’d normally be worried about pissing off Luna, but she doesn’t have her spear or armor with her so I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.

Her ears droop slightly, “You would too if your existence was criminal.” Shit, I expected to get a rise out of her. I didn’t mean to bring her down.

“Come on, cheer up Lulu.”

She raises an eyebrow and I can almost see a smirk form. “Lulu?”

“What? I heard Celestia mention your nickname before. Figured it’d get a reaction. Anyway, we came here to look at the stars so what are we waiting for?”

Luna takes the bait and starts pointing out the various constellations. A lot of them have the same names as the ones back home; it’s a nice familiar feeling knowing I’m kind of looking up at the same sky. Although there are some differences. “And if you follow Orion’s mane up a bit you’ll get to my personal favorite, Canis Major.” Namely that a lot of them are ponified.

“Why do you like that one so much?”

“It’s kind of a stupid story.” Luna turns back up to the stars in a failed attempt to prevent me from reading her embarrassed expression.

“Okay, now I’m really curious. I promise I won’t laugh.”

My companion studies my face for a few moments as though judging whether I’m worthy to hear this, and after a few long moments acquiesces, “Okay, so when I was a little filly, I really wanted a dog, but my dad never let me have one. If I had told another pegasus about it, then they’d know we lived on the ground, which would raise questions. Dad always told the others that we had a cloud house pretty far away because he liked the quiet.”

Oh god, is Nightmare Moon’s backstory that she didn’t get a puppy as a kid and so she became evil? Fucking garbage writing. Although MLP is a kid’s show, and Luna’s issues are pretty much at the same level as Starlight Glimmer’s, so…

My impromptu analysis of my new—are we friends?—friend’s past is cut short by the subject in question, “The point is I didn’t have a dog. In the winter, I used to make snow dogs but they weren’t much of a substitute for the real thing. Eventually, I started pretending that Canis Major was my dog.”

“What?” I say, putting on my best definitely-not-judging-you face. “How can a constellation be like a pet? I get their shapes are different, but that’s not much.” Okay, Celestia was right, Luna really didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.

“Well, I would pretend that every year in winter he’d return just to see me. I’d stay up late during winter and watch the stars just to know that he was eagerly waiting to greet me. It’s stupid, I know, but you know how that little kid stuff sticks with you?”

“Actually yeah. I used to have this stuffed animal named Chickie—it was a chick obviously. I found it when I was cleaning up my room in my parent’s house before heading to college.” At Luna’s quizzical expression, I amend, “Advanced school that you go and live at for a while. So, I found him and he received a proper place of honor among my other childhood knickknacks. Whenever I head home for the holidays or summer break, I get to see him and he always makes me smile.” I realize I’m smiling now just thinking about my childhood treasure and notice Luna matches my expression.

We continue talking for a while, and eventually our attention returns to the night sky. My astral guide opens up her notebook and shows me what she’s constantly working on. It’s hundreds of pages of star maps, recordings of their movements, and various notes on positionings.

“The reason I always volunteer for long distance scouting missions is that it gives me a chance to see the stars from other locations. They always let me since I’m never slowed down by bad weather.”

“Are you that good of a flyer?”

“No, that’s not it,” she says, looking kind of sheepish for some reason. “Most scouts rely on landmarks to find their way, but a couple years ago, Starswirl The Great copied some books for me on navigating with the stars. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at it. I can fly above the clouds at night and not get lost.”

This prompts the now rather chipper mare to launch into a lecture on which stars are the most useful to follow, what seasons bring which constellations, and how to estimate the angle from the horizon if you don’t keep a sextant on you at all times like Luna does. This is pretty cool. I’d wanted to take an astronomy class in school, but never had the chance. But I’m sure any class on this wouldn’t have been as interesting; the way Luna talks about the movements of the stars makes them feel alive (and not in the pretending they’re pets kind of way). She just has such an unfiltered excitement for this stuff and her enthusiasm is contagious.

After what was probably three and a half hours, based on the moon’s position—I’m learning!—flew by, Luna and I find ourselves exhausted and lying on our backs looking up at the sky. I’m torn between asking something that’d been on my mind for a while and protecting the peaceful silence that’s formed, but in the end my curiosity wins out. Besides, I doubt I’ll get her in a better mood for talking than this.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Depends on what it is,” Luna responds lightheartedly, even though she’s probably being serious.

“What’s the deal with you and Celestia?”

“What do you mean my deal with her?”

“Well, you guys are sisters, but you don’t seem to get along that well. And not in the ‘all siblings fight’ kind of way.”

Luna lets out an exasperated sigh, “Why do you spend so much time with her anyway?” She’s clearly dodging the question.

“I could ask why you don’t. And she’s not a bad pony; she’s just been showing me around the area,” I answer nonchalantly, but then realize that given her actions three nights ago, her motives may have been less than pure.

She glares over at me and then rolls her eyes. “There are plenty of reasons for me to avoid Celestia: the chance of our connection being found out and me being exiled, my wings making it particularly suspicious to visit the castle, and the fact that she’s a spoiled jerk who gets everything she wants on a silver platter.”

“What do you mean gets everything she wants?” Celestia always struck me as incredibly humble, even though she’s clearly super powerful.

“She’s the archmage to be! She can basically do whatever she wants. She holds the same status as a noble or general. Have you ever seen anypony tell her no?”

Wellllll, I kinda told her no when she was kissing me, but there’s no way in hell I’m telling Luna that. It might just be guilt because I made her cry, but I feel the need to defend Celestia since she’s not here to give her side. “From what I’ve seen she works pretty hard, and I think she’s really isolated. Plus, she seems to be under a lot of pressure. Last week, there was this doctor who was a total dick head to her and-”

“Oh come on, did Celestia give you the ‘it’s so hard being a prodigy' speech?” Luna lets out a sarcastic chortle. “I’m sure she just felt terrible being almost guaranteed one of the most prestigious positions anypony can hold at such a young age.”

“She told me she offered to let you live with her at the castle. Doesn’t that mean she wanted to share her good fortune with her little sister?”

“I refuse to leech off of Celestia,” declares the increasingly indignant pegasus. “I’m my own mare, and I can make a life for myself without Celestia always hovering over me. Plus, if I were to live with Celestia in the castle and acknowledge her as my sister, I just have to hope that The Archmage is able to keep her promise and convince the Princess to let me stay. If she can’t, we’re talking exile! Not to mention what the knowledge that we weren’t purebred would do to both of us. I might be killed by a pegasus or unicorn. I’m not much good in a fight; I can do stealthy, but I’m too small for hoof-to-hoof combat. Celestia can defend herself and would probably keep her job because Starswirl and Clover would demand that she be the next archmage, but it’d ruin any of her chances of marrying up.”

Seizing an opportunity to dial back her horrible vision of the future, I interrupt, “Is marrying up important to her?”

Luna looks at me as though I just asked the stupidest question in the world. “We came from humble upbringings, Astraeus. We both grew up in a small cottage in the woods, no special luxuries. I was told our mother might have become archmage instead of Clover The Clever, but she refused to take on the trials Starswirl assigned because she wanted to have a foal with dad. And dad was a good soldier, but he died too young to have been promoted to any high rank. Celestia’s going to be archmage so she has the opportunity to marry a wealthy stallion, maybe even a noble! That means safety and security for her foals even if they don’t end up being powerful unicorns who can take over her position.

“And for me, assuming I’m not cast out, I’d probably be fired. Then I’d be at the mercy of my sister’s kindness. Even if I somehow manage to keep both my life here and my job, I’d never be tasked with any significant assignments anymore. I’d be a glorified errand pony because they’d all assume I was spying for the unicorns.”

“Do you really care about your job that much?”

“No! It sucks!”

“Then why-”

“How many things do you think a fifteen-year-old recently-orphaned pegasus can do?”

“Actually, I don’t know much about your people.”

Luna groans. “Right, stupid question. Well let me tell you, unless you have connections, the military is basically it.”

“What about weather control? Don’t you guys have to move clouds and stuff?”

“The weather branch is very much a part of the military. The only reason I signed up for my job specifically is that patrolling the skies and doing reconnaissance alone sounded a lot better than most of the other options. Honestly, it hasn’t been a terrible life these past few years.”

After that, Luna relaxes a bit and her frustration turns into a quiet irritation. She makes some excuse or another about having to head home. I feel kind of guilty about my questions ruining an otherwise pretty fun night.

Just as she’s about to leave for her cloud house, she does offer, “Thanks for coming tonight Astraeus. It’s nice to talk with somepony every once in a while.” A relieved smile spreads across my face. I’m glad that she wasn’t mad about— “Even if you did spend a good portion of the evening trying to annoy me.” I’m about to start apologizing when she gives me a sly smirk.

“Hey, trying? I think my mission to annoy you was pretty successful.”

With that, Luna turns around and heads off. I’m surprised she can see well enough to fly with how hard she was rolling her eyes.

I actually had a really nice time. I’m glad I agreed to come. Luna’s not so bad when she’s not threatening you.

I try to spot the dark blue pegasus against the almost identically colored sky. If it weren’t for her wings shifting the light of the stars, she could be mistaken for just part of the scenery.

Then a flash of light shoots up from the woods below, briefly illuminating Luna before hitting her squarely in the head. Her wings freeze mid flap, and she drops like so much dead weight. All the while, she doesn’t move. She doesn’t scream. I hear the rustle of leaves as she breaks through the canopy of the forest.

I begin my chase.

Comments

[Goodrock]

Well I did not expect that ending. Can't wait to see how that gets resolved.

[Raw Gem]

Celestia decided to stop Luna from becoming an evil alicorn... by killing her.. dum, dum, dum!!! XD

[Time Reaper]

Well, I didn't see that one coming.

[BleuBlooms]

Hopefully it’ll pass soon. Even though she occasionally acts like I’m some prophet sent to save her sister’s soul, she’s still become kind of a friend here. She took the time to get me used to pony life, and seems to actually want to look out for me. The kind-to-her-people thing is expected for a future benevolent god-ruler, but she had no reason to care for me and did so anyway.

Im curious if you will include other species? I love this story and wonder if the future will be as specist as the show is after all everypony knows its just a faze.

You express your self well. Your use of language and the tension your building makes me think it can go either way.

To me where I am at it feels like almost anything can happen.

Hint I love that your character is earth pony. They really needed more love as did other species. Looking at you every villian that happened to be another species. Oh and zecora.

Thank you for this chapter.

I hope you have a kind afternoon!

Peace!

[GlitchyFox]

i just relised that celestia only knows her sister becomes evil not that she gets cured! at this point the time line is busted so the mc might have to ajust his thinking now

[PrinceSunriseshimmer]

Headshot!

[herfaithfulstudent]

10551977
I'm so glad you're enjoying it, and I definitely plan on finishing! Most of the chapters are fully outlined so it's just a matter of putting fingers to keyboard now.