Daughter of the Stars (Reboot)

by Arkinstone

Chapter 4 Stress

No one ever told Luna how stressful babies are. The only things said were how children were just little darling or such, never about the long sleepless days and how mentally demanding it was to constantly be keeping watch over the accident-prone creatures. Let alone the god awful smells when the diaper was full of unspeakable horrors.

Despite the care Luna was trying to put into her appearance, she could feel the bags underneath her eyes from wandering the dreamscape AND having to stay awake during her sleeping hours when Aquila would wake and decide that her mothers time of rest was a wonderful time to start crying for one reason or another.
Luna was still suffering from the aftereffects of her banishment in the forms of night terrors that she had to forcibly silence herself from screaming herself awake and how her muscles were still thin and hardly used, making it exhausting to walk even moderate distances.

As Luna exited the dreamscape for the night, she noticed how dim her stars were, how glazed and dull the moon was. The bright, colourful galaxies that should be present are nearly gone. She was so tired. But she couldn't stand to see her birthright in such a wretched state. She started to gather her power when she heard Aquila start to fuss, the small cries calling for attention and cuddles.

Luna sighed and walked back into her room from the balcony she stood on. Aquila's pitch black wings wiggling and flapping weakly as tears gathered in her bright blue eyes. Luna picked her up in her hooves and held her close to her chest "Hush little one. Would you like to see me clean the stars?" Aquila tilted her head inquisitively. Luna smiled and walked back out into the cold air on the balcony.

A gentle breeze greeted Aquila as she was moved to her mothers back. Luna looked around cautiously, making sure no spying eyes were on her before completely stepping out and exposing her daughter to the night air. Aquila murmured happily as her eyes immediately snapped up to the sky. Luna grinned slyly "Already taking after me are you? Your father would have been jealous" A wave of regret washed over her as she mentioned her long past lover, but she pushed it away, the time for grief has not yet come to pass.

Luna once again gathered her magic and lit her horn to start the process. Her first act was to reignite the forever dying stars, sudden bursts of light lit up the sky as hundreds of stars made their reappearance. She was the caretaker and power behind the stars, they could not die nor be reborn without her interference, so for a thousand years, millions of her creations had been stuck in a state of limbo.
Aquila squealed happily as her mother scrubbed the moon clean so it would shine once again as if it was new, Luna felt her magic flow easily as she smoothed out the craters and unsightly blemishes on the silver celestial object, it was always so much easier for her to tamper with the moon than with the stars.

Luna panted slightly with the effort it took her, she knew it wasn't wise to spend so much energy, but seeing her sky in such a way is like an obsessive-compulsive cleaner seeing their house covered in filth and trash, she simply had to clean and restore or she would go mad. She still had one more thing to do.

With a final mental heave, she added more pigmentation to the faded dust clouds that were subtle in their reappearance, but all the more beautiful for it. Large swaths of red, orange, and greens exploded in the clear night sky. Finally, she was done. She looked up to see bright stars, colourful yet quiet galaxies and a shining moon look back at her. Her night was back to its former glory as it was all those years ago.

She was now extremely tired, but it was worth it to see Aquila stare up at the sky in wonder, to see her still immature mind trying to wrap around what she had seen. Luna slowly stumbled back into the room and collapsed on the bed, Aquila giggling at the jerky movements. Luna hardly had to presence of mind to recreate the fortress of pillows before falling into a deep sleep with Aquila cuddled in underneath her wing.

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Luna would have liked to sleep for days longer, but with a hungry foal begging for food every few hours, it was impossible. She tried to attend breakfast with Celestia every morning to keep up the appearance of nothing being wrong or out of the ordinary, but she could tell Celestia's concern was rapidly increasing.
And as much as the prideful princess would have liked to disagree, she needed help.

A knock resounded at her door. Luna instantly shot up from the bed to cast a silencing and concealing spell over the bed before she went over to the door, fixed her appearance and answered. A Night Guard stood in front of the large double doors calmly and bowed reverently "Your highness, the royal couriers wished for me to inform you that you are receiving hundreds of letters concerning your changes to the night sky, and ask when would be an acceptable time for you to receive them"

Luna paused in a moment of confusion, ponies noticed her changes? But everyone slept during the night and had little appreciation for her efforts of artwork. She responded primly "We thank you, loyal Night Guard. We would request that all letters be sent to thy chambers effective immediately"

He bowed once more with an "Of course, your highness" and went about doing as she commanded. She closed the door and turned to face her bedroom. When she made those changes, she never expected anypony to truly notice, perhaps a few astronomers whose duties it was to study such activities, but never such an amass of ponies.

Aquila was still sleeping soundly when the letters arrived. And Luna wasted no time reading all of them, some were concerned and confused as to what had happened, but surprisingly, others were thankful and appreciated her works. She read notes from sailors who had been joyous as to have such bright navigation, from astronomers who were sent into a frenzy by all the 'new' stars put in place, and even a couple from children who had thanked her for making such pretty nightlights so they could sleep easy.

Luna nearly wept. Finally! finally, she was getting recognition and love from her subjects. Since she had returned, she had not necessarily craved it as she once had, but she had looked up to her sky and felt uninspired because why waste such energy if nopony is going to appreciate it. She smiled softly, this is just one more step towards letting her precious star have the life she deserved, unintentional as it may be.

But there was still the issue of finding a Night Guard to help her. She wanted to continue and read more of the letters, but this had to come first. She tore herself away from the parchment and went outside her chambers after briefly checking on Aquila

The halls were quiet and empty as she walked, the only sounds coming from the tapping of hooves against the cold stone. She managed to quietly make her way unseen towards a patrolling Bat pony Night Guard who was wandering the halls of the castle.

He stopped in her presence and bowed, she spoke quickly and quietly to the still bowing Night Guard "Fetch us the most trustworthy and loyal of your kind, for we have need of them urgently. Speak of our request to no one, this is a matter of utmost secrecy" that should do it.

The Night Guard swiftly stood with a startled expression, but quickly nodded and trotted off into the castle depths. Luna sighed as moonlight filtered through the windows and cast a solemn air. Either she would receive a trustworthy guard to protect and assist her daughter, or her secret would be cast around the castle for everyone to learn of it. And though perhaps it would not be the worst thing if it were to happen, she could not foresee the effects it would bring to Aquila and her future.

Luna went back to her room and waited in trepidation, Aquila sucking on her hoof and playing with some toys Luna had conjured for her. Was she ready for this? to be so closely connected to another Bat pony? She felt robbed of her time with Noctis, the gentle yet protective soul he was, and she wasn't ready to let go of her love for him. She couldn't tell how she would react to a hapless guard.
She could only hope for the best and pray that she would receive just a little more time with her daughter before she had to share her with the world.

......Well done my dear Luna. You are thinking like a true Queen now. Planning to keep secrets from Celestia? good. She deserves some payback for her ignorant deeds

Author's Note:

Yes, Aquila and Celestia are becoming less featured in recent chapters, but that's just because I want to work with Luna a bit more before I start to really delve into the story.

Nightmare Moon is less totally insane in this fic and more sneaky then anything.

Comments

[rikithemonk]

This was very well done. Im looking forward to more

The Monk
Her hands were still bound with rope, she debated an escape before all the stupidity gave her an aneurysm. -Scarheart

[Arkinstone]

9822472
Thank you!

[KittyrinnAiko]

Luna needs to remind the Night Mare that her present situation is her fault, and not Celestia's.

Just out of curiosity, what is Luna using for nappies, and has she been cleaning them herself? Is she just magicking them the same as the milk? That's got to be taking a heavy toll on her.

[xavex]

How to piss off Nightmare, by saying the target she compares us is no different. Honestly Nightmare you can be just an open version of what you describe Celestia at times.