A gardener's life is a treasured one, and Princess Luna's is no different.
As like many others, she tends to her flowers, watching them grow, bloom, wither, and fall. Sometimes they help her grow, too, sharing in their stories, entwining them with hers. Such as it has always been, over time immemorial, whether it be friendship or love or the familial ties that bind.
Equestria is the largest garden of all, and their stories are hers to keep.
A standalone piece in the Spectrum-verse. TV Tropes page here!
Chapter II, Orion, is an entry in the Imposing Sovereigns III contest, with the prompt Luna/Kindness. Yes, it's allowed.
Featured from 12/01/2021 to 14/01/2021.
Edited and proofread by VoxAdam, pre-read by SockPuppet, Kizuna Tallis, Doctor Fluffy,TheIdiot, skysayl, and daOtterGuy. Thanks, everyone 
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Cover by OGRE
Ayy, very good to see this in the light of day. Will be sure to prioritize the reading.
...Sledge you took my heart, gave it a ride, and smashed the roller coaster into the ground.
I was not expecting this, at all.
All in all, a very good job done, feelings are quite good. You show how annoying duties are :3
Also, if anyone else is wondering, the reason why Starswirl is spelt wrongly is because of an artistic reason. Sledge wants it like this, so don't keep asking :)
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/12/20/788798.jpeg
I liked almost everything about this first chapter, but specifically Mistmane's characterization. Also, I see those freckles :)
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Aw. Thanks, heh
happy you've liked it 
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I keep telling you to read Sledge's stuff.
You should have expected it.
breaks into giggles
Whoo-hoo-hoo! You did it again, Sledge! Hit it right out of the park right there! Good work, and can't wait for future chapters! Great work!
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Stay tuned.
Thanks! Glad you've enjoyed it
I haven't read much yet, because I'm finding the incessant spelling "Starswhirl" very distracting. I don't know whether it's a misspelling or a major plot point.
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On second thought, changed the spelling.
This looks interesting and I've put in my read later list. Said list is rather long so I don't know when I will be able to provide proper comments.
Finally got around to reading this! What a strong start you have here, Sledge. Such beautiful description and characterization. I love how you developed Mistmane and Luna's relationship, and how both the garden and Luna's dreamwalking skills grew in tandem with that. Also made the emotional payoff even better.
I absolutely adore your Luna and all her little quirks. Like the freckles, they are very you, but they are done so well that it feels natural to accept them into my headcanon.
I'm not familiar with most of the backstory used here (the Reindeer especially) but you integrated it well, not overexplaining but not underutilizing it either.
Great work, my friend!
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Always a treat to see your comments as well, Gadot
Huzzah! Glad I stuck the landing here -- the very idea of the story, a look into Luna's life and times through gardening and the flowers / people around her, came to be because of Mistmane's issue in Legends of Magic. Prime material to be written about, I tell ya, and I'm happy to see it work out
. And yeah - admittedly I had a few constraints to work with (long story), but I wanted to ensure that Luna chooses to be the guardian of dreams, rather than have it assigned to her.
I was afraid that the emotional climax wouldn't land, given that, well, we know what happens centuries later. But hey, Luna doesn't.
Glad you like her
but I can't take all the credit for her freckles, heh -- you'll have to thank Amarynceus and their fantastic art of Luna for inspiration, because my God isn't she just beautiful;
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/3f36ee47-d415-4253-ba64-c901b8ba6e21/dcpy2pk-3ecadf0a-3dc6-43ba-b484-5768e5670531.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvM2YzNmVlNDctZDQxNS00MjUzLWJhNjQtYzkwMWI4YmE2ZTIxXC9kY3B5MnBrLTNlY2FkZjBhLTNkYzYtNDNiYS1iNDg0LTU3NjhlNTY3MDUzMS5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.rTCCYF_NY9ohbDiCSkOGdnrPXtvuY0shd7HHzMiLvPU
All in all, glad you've enjoyed it
And stay tuned!
Heh, this is a nice change of pace. Black bowtie, astronomy-hating, class-skipping, rebel Luna? I can buy it. I will buy it.
And add to it a side of brutish, definitely-not-diplomatic Celestia. Hell yes. They have quite the road ahead of them.
The beginning of the piece feels incredibly like the beginning of a Disney movie. The calm ambience that allows for giggly teenagers to faff around, the magical palace and mysterious (well, not to us, heh) unicorns, flower imagery. It’s all very alluring.
Gadot speaks true. Some parts are more privy to those with insider knowledge (the headcanon to their origin and what happened for their coronation, the deer and their connection to the princesses, etc), but they stand perfectly fine on their own, no further context is really necessary to enjoy and understand the overall meaning of all external mentions.
The transitions between the moments added to this, I feel. You managed to export the nice transitions from Moonbug, by referencing the show, but adapted them to reference what a reader would naturally expect from the progression of the story, so props to that. (The “potatoes”, heh, are a good example. Instead of simply handwaving that they started cultivating, you expanded on it and added this quip which serves as a centering point for a short timeline. Very nice.)
Ah, the scene of the bloom. I knew what was gonna happen once Luna noted the flowers were ugly, but it was touching nonetheless. The turn into the discussion of the meaning behind the flowers was a nice surprise, as well.
All the ‘dream weaving’, from when Luna first comes into her role as a protector of dreams, to the subsequent telling of her delving into this realm, and finally when it had no stardust; those were all told wonderfully. The trademark Sledge fantastical tale style.
And, of course, Mistmane eventually leaving, as was our foregone conclusion. I don’t know if it was purposeful, but I felt that Celestia was quite more mature then than her first appearance in the story. Much more like the Celestia we know. That was a great bit of background development.
Overall, a great start for the anthology, and already feeling connected enough for you to rightfully call this your Luna trilogy.
Lovely poetic tone, and far more words than my patience would ever allow me to write for one chapter. Absolutely phenomenal, and a well-deserved follow.
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Once more, the constraints of writing in a shared universe shows itself, but I'm glad that it didn't stick out too much
It's a delicate balance, you see, to do mine research into how long each flower blooms, to see if it all works out. Ultimately it did. I hope. I know I missed something...
I considered this, alongside the ruined garden, as the two centerpieces and emotional hearts of the stories. Happy to see it struck a chord!
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Thanks! Glad to see you've enjoyed it, too
What?! This cannot be borne!
Oh. Work.
Ouch.
An amusing situation to imagine. Ah, but to be young and carefree.
So, Mistmane is where Luna got it from...
The little tricks writers come up with.
Mhmm! It's on their passports, their Seal, even the bows of the ships of their Navy!
菊 as they write it.
Personally I like wisteria, or fuji (藤). There's a traditional Japanese color named fuji after it, lovely shade of light purple. Lavender, you'd call it.
I suppose my reason for liking it is clear enough.
‹—
It's nice to see them so young, so open...
I like potatoes. They're delicious and have a nice roundness to them.
And that's why having your very own life and the little things that come with it is important.
Huh? Don't they, you know, bloom centennially?
Ah, but Luna, I know of at least one person who likes your freckles, else they wouldn't be in this story~
How far the family has fallen!
Or not. This is the SPECTRUM world.
Speaking of SPECTRUM and Polaris Blueblood... hasn't he appeared before? Something to do with that reindeer? Not too sure.
Huh. Are they advanced enough to know what quasars are, let alone the fact that they spin?
Is Luna calling Tia's mind unorganized and messy?
Siblings.
Not ominous...
... Not at all.
One of the worst things in both our worlds.
And so the Shadows take her.
Do your best, Luna, do your best, even if you fall with them...
I more or less knew what his story is about. I was a bit involved in its beginning.
And yet it didn't feel like a story about Luna becoming a gardener.
No, it felt like Luna becoming a gardener because of the story – the words developed her naturally, engrossing me in her growth.
Luna didn't become a gardener for the story. Luna became a gardener through the story, if that makes sense.
That, I think, is the hallmark of a good story, and a good writer.
And so I will end with a line.
"All the world's a garden, and all the mares and stallions its plants, and yet also its gardeners.
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That's what happens when something you love is turned into a chore!
You, and everyone, know what's coming. But for now, such is the joyous days of childhood...
Ah, and here I decided to take some artistic license
But the bamboo have already been planted here, and close to their first blooming, hence why Mistmane came in the first place.
Twilight Sparkle does, doesn't she?
Good eye.
Nothing's changed, in three thousand years
So they did, and she won't know what became of her. Not for three thousand long years...
She will, for it is her duty, and her promise to all the land, no matter how much it costs her.
All in all, it's a lovely sight seeing your comment here, too
Stay tuned, for there is still much more to come...
ayo it finally updated
Fascinating. I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s rare to see a tale of Luna still somewhat integrated into Equestria before her banishment. Given what transpires here, I have to wonder if she ever does go Nightmarish in this timeline… though maybe the Badalisc should’ve held out until she shared yer secret with her sister.
Also, what the actual crap is the Badalisc?
In any case, lovely showcase of Luna at her best and, well, less than her best. Thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.
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Just another day in the life was the intent, heh. Regarding the Badalisc... well, I like to think it came from whatever hell Discord tried to send Treehugger to;
Glad you liked it, and thank you for the opportunity
P.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badalisc
It's so... goofy
Finally getting to my tracked stories.
The existence of the Summer Sun Celebration threw me off the timeline for a moment there. Good to know that the holiday predates banishment in this universe.
Luna never really said much to the child. To think that the Badalisc accepted the simple admission of her fear as "telling her secret to the child" shows how deeply Luna hid it away.
Another great story, as always.
As of this writing, In Night's Garden is two stories ("Mistmane" and "Orion") that make for two quite compelling and intriguing portraits of Luna's formative years, long before the Nightmare took hold. While not the chronologically earliest stories in the Spectrum universe, they are the first in the timeline to center on canonical characters, with "Mistmane" providing a very interesting look at the relationship between the Two Sisters and the Pillars of Equestria. In both stories, the author's love for the character is on full display, with clear care and thought put into her characterization in both stories and a noticeable evolution accompanying the time gap between them.
Yet while these may be set far in Equestria's past, they, like Celestia Regina, are haunted by the specter of events unseen, but known to the readers. The canonical disappearance of the Pillars looms like a shadow over the course of "Mistmane", though it doesn't lessen the feeling of tragedy when it occurs. With "Orion", meanwhile, we see a Luna who is still a force for good, love, and care, yet within whom the seeds of the Nightmare are being planted. The two stories are separate, were written independently, and in-universe are distanced by quite a long time, yet there's an impressive thematic continuity across them, along with a shared sense of heaviness.
I'm writing well after reading, so I won't get into minutiae here, but I quite enjoyed these. I hope we see more of Luna and her garden down the line, but as is, these are two poignant and worthwhile entries in Spectrum canon.