Starry Night

by Corporal Fluttershy

Chapter I : A house isn't a home.

Starry Night
By Corporal Fluttershy

Chapter I : A house doesn’t make a home.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Celestia allowed her tired eyes to close as she stepped out from the doorway, embracing alone the feeling of the late afternoon breeze as it brushed past, tugging at her flowing mane and gently lifting the hair as if it could carry on its journey with the wind. Taking in a great lungful of air and exhaling slowly, the Princess reluctantly returned her gaze to the world outside - directing her attention to the immense circular stone table that dominated the courtyard she stood within.

With the rhythmic clop of hooves against stone, Celestia slowly began to walk about the circle, occasionally casting her eyes over the walls of the high courtyard to look down on the bulk of the Royal Palace, a few levels below. Dropping her gaze as she leaned over the wall, the Princess followed the massive structure of the Palace’s southern wing as it stretched towards the distance, shaped almost as if some great pony made from the hardest stone had pushed its muzzle into the ground.

Continuing her gentle pace, Celestia took in the expansive gardens that ran between the southern wing and the eastern; bright slices of orange, blue, red and a myriad other colours on a bed of green making for a pleasing contrast to the Royal Palace’s painted white and grey walls. Stretching her muzzle out further – a little more precariously – the Princess could just about see the very lowest floors of the Palace complex as they spread outwards, like the tiers of a wedding cake from the top down.

It had been Celestia’s home for well over one thousand years and yet, every early morning and late afternoon she would take the same walk about the perimeter of the Solar Courtyard and it would all seem so bright, so alive ... So new.

Turning her attention to the immense circular slab that dominated the courtyard, the Princess’ alabaster wings unfurled regally and, with virtually no effort, lifted her from the stone beneath her hooves and up into the air. From a vantage point of a few metres high, Celestia could more easily make out the thin line of shadow that, courtesy of the spire of glass climbing from the very middle of the stone circle, told her precisely where her Sun now stood in the sky.

It was time.

Still, Celestia hesitated. As the seconds ticked by and – undoubtedly – somepony in the Department of the Day would be growing ever more hysterical at a late (by a matter of moments) sunset, she waited. After a few moments more, her gaze climbed upwards to the only part of the Royal Palace that stood higher than the Solar Courtyard ...

The Tower of the Moon climbed high into the Equestrian sky; coloured a dark blue where the majority of the rest of the complex was pale white.

A shimmering band of white wrapped itself lazily about the tower’s form, beginning at the widest foundations and spiralling upwards to end at the tallest spire. All but invisible in the brightness of the day, the band shone with the light of the stars reflected when the Moon stood watch. Numerous windows were cut into its wide height, but none - save one at the very highest point – were lit.

The entire tower seemed to stand aside from the greater Palace; connected to the rest of the complex other than via its base by a single walkway barely five ponies wide and almost a hundred long. It was a part of the Royal Palace and Canterlot, of course ... And yet it was not.

Conscious of the fact her ministers would soon be galloping through the doorway opposite to inquire about the terrible events that had held the Sun in the sky for three minutes longer then scheduled, Celestia gave one final glance up to the very top of the Tower of the Moon; willing her sister to choose this day to resume their partnership, to choose this day over the four hundred and ninety seven previous ...

Nothing.

Allowing a sigh to escape her lips, the Goddess of the Sun held her beautiful creation from its rest no longer, and with the effort and magic only an Alicorn could bring to bear sent the Sun below the horizon and brought the four hundred and ninety seventh day since the return of Luna to a close. A murky blackness, neither day nor night, settled over Canterlot and all the lands of ponykind as Celestia lowered herself back to the ground and folded her wings comfortably by her sides.

Planting her hooves firmly against the stone beneath, the Princess focused; the glow of her horn intensifying as she brought her full powers to the difficult task at hoof. The Moon was not hers; she had not crafted it from magic and the dust out beyond the stars, and she had not brought it to life with a kiss from her snout but nonetheless, she could command it.

While it could not protest in the same way anypony could to treatment it did not like, The Moon rose only sluggishly, reluctantly – providing no help to Celestia who began to feel as if she were pulling the silver orb into the sky by a rope held between her teeth. Grunting with the effort, the Princess finally succeeded and fixed the Sun’s polar opposite in place with a single thought.

A few solitary points of light, a literal hoof-full of stars accompanied the thin crescent which hung low in the murky sky ... A poor reward for Celestia’s efforts. Tapping her forelegs against the stone beneath in irritation, the light from the Goddess of the Sun’s horn faded until it returned to the same alabaster white as her flawless coat. Tipping her muzzle upwards towards the night, Celestia offered a heartfelt apology to the poor display; she could, if necessary, raise the Moon and bring on the night ... But it was no work of art. The stars were not hers, and the comets and brush swirls of galaxies belonged to her sister alone.

They obeyed her as an Alicorn, as a Princess of Equestria ... But they belonged to another like the Sun belonged to her. She regarded the thin slice of the Moon, a shallow crescent barely visible, with particular sadness. Four hundred and ninety seven days since Luna’s return and in almost five hundred days, the Moon shown no more of its face than a wisp, or a slice.

Equestria had not known a full moon in over a thousand years ... Even Celestia could barely remember the sight. And yet there had been no beautiful return, despite the return of the Goddess of the Night and the Moon, the sky remained as it had remained for ten centuries. The thought alone made her hooves ache, and swinging her mane from side-to-side, the Princess felt the unpleasant sensation of dizziness overtake her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Celestia sank down to her hindlegs.

Even with her eyes shut, she could still feel the Solar Courtyard spinning, as if something had taken a hold of her tail and span her about until she felt sick. Grimacing and pressing her snout to the cold stone, the Princess waited out the dizziness and, eventually, it passed. Blinking away the confusion and climbing back to her hooves, Celestia decided on sleep being the best course of action. Sending the Sun to bed and raising the Moon had been harder than she expected and thoughts of her sister only made it all harder ...

Pausing as she passed through the doorway and back into the Royal Palace, the Goddess of the Sun sent a final glance up at the Tower of the Moon and the Alicorn it undoubtedly held at its top, along with a final thought carried on the breeze ...

I love you Luna.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“So explain this to me one more time ...” Spike muttered, his back bent as he struggled to pull the artist’s easel across the floor and simultaneously balance the tubes of paint held in the crook of his scaly arm. From the table nearby - a table almost entirely hidden by the books stacked around it and on top of it – a purple unicorn paid only half her total attention to the complaining diminutive Dragon.

With flash of her horn, Twilight Sparkle turned the page at hoof and eagerly continued reading. “ ... Statistical tests have long established that creativity affects many other areas in ponylife,” She began to read aloud. “Creativity is heavily linked with magical ability, with ponies displaying the former more likely not only to have greater magical capability, but also superior control and use of that magic.”

Spike frowned, dropping the easel down to the floor and cupping the small of his back. “That supposed to be my answer, huh?”

Twilight glanced up, confusion written across her features. “What?”

“Nevermind,” Spike groaned. “I still don’t see why you gotta do this when you should be fast asleep! What’s wrong with putting your head down when the Sun goes down?!”

Closing the book at her hooves with a flash of light courtesy of her horn, Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and offered Spike a slightly condescending smile. Checking over the brushes and rags stuffed into her saddlebags and levitating it all onto her back without an effort, Twilight ambled towards the door.

“I could never do this during the day, Spike!” She explained matter-of-factly. “I can’t take a moment out of my scheduled studies; what would Princess Celestia say if she knew?”

Narrowing his eyes as he balanced the easel over his back, the baby dragon struggled to keep up with the pony ahead. “Not much I bet, she’s probably sleepin’ ... Like I should be!”

Coming to a halt with a humph, Twilight swung around and with a little effort and her horn, levitated a book from her saddlebag. Setting it down carefully on the ground, she flicked through the pages rapidly until coming across a copy of a painting spread across the spine. Nodding in satisfaction, she beckoned the Dragon over with a hoof. “Come take a look, Spike!”

Setting the easel down and padding over, Spike peered at the book, his eyes widening as he took in the painting. He could make out a village in it, with a steeple rising up but they were all underneath the most amazing sky he’d ever seen! The night was a mix of blues, different hues all working together but it looked like the water down by the river; it was swirling, twisting like something right out of a dream. There were a couple of stars but they were ripples of light, like he sometimes saw when he skipped a pebble across a nearby pond. The yellows mixed with the blue, flowing in and out ... And the Moon! The Moon was incredible, lit so brightly it was like the Sun ...

“It sure is pretty,” Spike whispered, looking up at the knowing nod from the pony above. “Who painted it?”

“A pony by the name of Vincent Van Trot,” Twilight answered with a nod. “He painted it a very, very long time ago. Long before either of us was born—“

“He must have had some imagination!” Spike interrupted, glancing up into the night sky above and frowning. “It’s never looked like that to me, ‘cept when I accidentally drank Pinke Pie’s “Zoot-Alut Surprise” and saw all kind of funny stuff; had all kinds of funny dreams too, I had this one dream ‘bout Rarity—“

“Spike!” Twilight groaned, interrupting the dragon herself. Having the good grace to look apologetic, Twilight returned her attention to the book. “It was painted over a thousand years ago; I think the night looked different back then ... Or so I’ve read.”

Whistling, Spike settled back on his haunches and gave the night above him a gesture. “Thousand years, huh? Bet only the Princesses remember that ... Well a Princess, Well, Celestia.”

“Yeah ...” Twilight mused, closing the book and returning it to her saddlebag with a flicker of magic and light from her horn. “We’d best continue on, Spike – before it gets too late ...”

Nodding and wrestling with the easel once more, the dragon-to-be settled in behind his boss to the best of his ability, just about able to keep pace and avoid tipping over like the stacks of books around the library did ... All the time.

“Hey, Twilight!”

Craning her had back as she ambled, the purple unicorn raised an eyebrow in silent question.

“What was that pretty painting called, anyway?”

“Starry Night,” Twilight called back, her own eyes wandering up into the plain, mostly featureless sky and hoping she wouldn’t have to wait another thousand years to see something as beautiful and wondrous as the apparent inspiration behind the painting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A gentle tap against the door – so quiet it was almost impossible to hear – roused Luna’s attention from the mattress where she had lay, looking up at nothing more interesting than the frilled canopy draped above the four corners of her bed. Rolling over towards the enormous doors that separated her Royal Chambers from the rest of the Tower, Luna spoke for the first time that day (and now night).

“Who is it?” She called out. One of the double-set doors, fully six times the height of a pony, creaked open to admit the thinnest slither of somepony’s mane. The voice that replied was impeccably polite, well-practiced and utterly neutral. “Will there be anything further tonight, Your Highness?”

Luna craned her neck to get a better view of whichever pony from the Household Staff stood at the door, but she could barely tell the door was open, let alone who stood behind it. “No ...” She replied eventually, before remembering her manners. “ ... Thank you.”

“Very good, Princess,” The voice clipped before promptly pulling the door closed with a reverberating thud. The sound of hoof against polished marble beyond echoed for a few moments further, before total silence was restored again. Rolling onto her stomach, Luna pressed her snout down against the duvet and sighed.

You didn’t raise the Moon tonight.

“I am not ready yet,” Luna replied to no-one, matter-of-factly. “Sister is more than capable of doing it.”

That she is, the voice replied with obvious irritation, without ever being heard by the wider room. Putting the question of Celestia aside, the Moon and the stars are yours to do with as you please, Little One. Why do you ignore them?

Luna shrugged her shoulders, resting her head on her forelegs. “I told you, I do not feel ready. Maybe tomorrow ...”

You have told me that every night since you came home. You used to say it with so much more conviction; I think you have stopped believing it.

Rolling over, Luna fixed her gaze on the visage of Nightmare Moon, spread out on the carpeted floor below. The elder mirror of herself returned the stare, cocking its head to the side and offering the slightest smile in return. I can almost understand the need you feel to lie to others, Little One ... But why lie to a fragment of yourself? I know why it is you refuse to return to your canvas, and why you decline all offers to paint your sky.

“The fact you are here to discuss this at all proves my concerns are founded,” Luna retorted with a frown. Nightmare Moon shook her head, climbing up from the carpet and stretching out her hindlegs.

I am here only because you wish for the company. I am a ghost, a remnant; I exist only because you desire it and I have not had any will of my own since we were defeated over a year ago.

Luna swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut and taking a shuddering breath. “ ... I know.”

You are lonely, my Little One. You cannot spend your days and your beautiful nights up here, talking away the weeks and the months with a ghost who has not existed for a very long time. We were once the same pony, my Princess, but I am not real ... Only a shard from a broken mirror.

“You feel real to me,” Luna whispered as a single tear spilled free from the prison of her eye and rolled down to splash against the cobalt-coloured bedsheet. Crossing to the bed, Nightmare Moon looked down on herself-of-a-sort, and bent downwards to nuzzle the Princess who now began to sob uncontrollably.

You will carry me in a way, forever, Little One but our journey together ended long ago. Your path does not lie with me ... It lies with the Principality outside, sleeping underneath your Moon. Celestia forgives, she offers your Night to you once again. Why will you not put what has happened before out to pasture?

From underneath a swaying mane, the Goddess of the Moon seemed to give a thousand tears for one thousand years. She struggled to draw breath, the enormity of it all – the responsibility of it all – simply too much and in her weary mind, too soon. “I am not ready ...” She breathed, barely audible.

Nightmare Moon climbed onto the bed and extended a wing, resting it over her smaller self and spreading the feathers to cover the shivering Alicorn.

I know ... The Remnant sighed. Maybe tomorrow ...

~*~*~*~*~*~

“ So you see Your Highness!” The pony summarised, brushing at an imaginary grain of dirt on his sleeve with an impeccably filed hoof and gesturing to the map pinned to the board behind his mane. “We propose a total of thirty new homes, as well as a school, a concert hall and several other community services!”

“ … Your Highness?”

It took the Princess several moments to blink away whatever half-thoughts had distracted her from the business of the Court, recall the presentation she’d been receiving, and conjure a question that would smooth over her inattentiveness. If she’d had a few more seconds to spare, the alicorn would have dedicated them to scolding herself for such wandering attention.

“I do not question your vision or your planning,” Celestia said eventually, having lived long enough to remember when established towns like Ponyville and Manehatten were mere gleams in the eyes of their developers. Surreptitiously meeting the gaze of the aged, wrinkled Pony stood to the left of her throne, the Princess continued; “ ... I question the location.”

“A short gallop from Everfree Forest?” The old pony at the base of the throne grumbled aloud, ambling over to the map to inspect it closely through half-inch thick lenses perched precariously on the end of his snout. “Parasprites and Ursas make for interesting neighbours, I would think.”

For the first time in the already hour-long audience, the constant smile of the impeccably-dressed stallion representing Equestrian House & Homes faded. “The low cost of the land makes for a highly attractive incentive ...” He began, awkwardly. “Moving the planned construction north-east, far enough away to avoid the objections of the farmers tending Sweet Apple Acres, would increase costs by over forty percent!”

The old pony glanced over his shoulder towards the Princess, shaking his mane in what might have been shock or masterful sarcasm. “Heavens!” He grunted. “Forty percent you say!”

“The safety of my subjects will always be of the very greatest importance,” Celestia began with all the diplomacy of one thousand years experience, and all the soothing of a voice that could only belong to a pony capable of raising the sun in the sky. “I applaud you for your vision, Mister Salesbury; after all your success is Equestria’s success ... However in light of the unknown associated with the Everfree Forest, I would like a little more time to consider your proposal.”

While a bowing Salesbury couldn’t see it, behind his flank the aged pony’s lips curled upwards in a smile as he recognised the supreme method for dismissing an idea with the minimum of offence. Firstly, build-up before breaking down; throw in a compliment or two ... Then make any issue one of your own and, finally, dangle the carrot of possibly changing your mind in your own time. Superb.

That’s why she’s a princess, He thought with a grin. Even if she seemed a most distracted one.

With the help of a member of the Royal Guard, who easily folded the half-dozen scrolls, maps and the stand they rested on underneath his wing, Salesbury offered the Sun Goddess another bow, roll of his hoof and a dip of his snout before spinning on the spot and trotting out of the Throne Room.

“ ... Need I ask your opinion on the Everfree Development, Church Hill?”

Regarding his Princess with a shake of his mane, the Secretary of State for the Department of the Day offered his opinion nonetheless. “Damned foolish idea, My Lady; anything so close to that forest is begging for trouble to rain down upon them. If I’d been an older pony – and only a little older, mind you! – I’d have objected to Ponyville based on that same idea!”

While Celestia nodded, she’d heard the words on some subconscious level, her attention had drifted away to the throne sitting vacant by her side. Tilting her muzzle upwards, eyes passing over the carved crescent of the Moon that matched the same of the Sun above her own mane, the Princess absurdly felt like laughing. Was this scene, with the Lunar Throne sitting empty while she tended to the affairs of the Principality alone, any different from the last thousand years? For all the terrible events she had borne witness to; from the banishment of her sister to her return to do battle against the Elements of Harmony, and the difficult and bumpy track her hooves had walked since then ... At this moment, here and now, it felt as if all that had been in vain.

Shaking her head as if she could shake such thoughts from her mind, Celestia chastised herself. To even think that nothing had changed was to insult not only the brave ponies who had come together to aid her against Nightmare Moon, but her sister and of course, herself.

... And yet it was so difficult to keep such thoughts away.

“ ... So I think we should grant immediate permission to begin to the Everfree Development. After that, I thought you might grant me the title of King of Equestria—“

Snapping her head back towards the old Pony and suddenly remembering where she was, Celestia had the good grace to bow her muzzle in apology. If he felt any true offence, Church Hill hid it well and instead replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh, don’t mind the dreams of some old warpony, Your Highness ... Just thinking out loud.”

His features becoming more serious, Church Hill ascended the steps of the Solar Throne and settled on his hindlegs by his Princess’ side. He glanced over his shoulder towards the Lunar Throne, and while had his suspicions like any canny pony of his advanced years might, a glance up at the sorrow in the eyes of Celestia provided all the confirmation he needed.

“If you’ll forgive what I am about to say, Your Highness ... And if you can’t, may you chalk it up to my senility ... It has only been a year and one half since her return. Princess Luna has spent more time upon the Moon than she has spent time either in Equestria, or even alive. It’s a different world up there from the one down here.

“Clichés are only truths repeated once too often for a pony to stand, and while I’m certain you grow tired of hearing it I offer you a truth with one caveat; Time heals all wounds, Princess ... And you have all the time there is to have. I regret only that I, and the ponies around me, will know this as a time without both the rightful rulers of Equestria on their Thrones . And yet there were countless generations of ponies, Your Highness, before the unfortunate events of one thousand years ago that knew only the Sun and the Moon in perfect harmony.”

Bowing respectfully, Church Hill turned about and ambled down the steps to the floor of the Throne Room. “That time will come again, and I regret only that I won’t ever see it.”

Feeling the hotness behind her eyes become almost too much to bear, Celestia managed to find her voice as the old pony made it almost beyond the doors. “Thank you, Church Hill ...” She virtually whispered.

Showing a stunning range of hearing for one so advancing in years, the old warpony dipped his mane in acknowledgment as he continued out. “At your service, Your Highness.”

Taking a long and shuddering breath, Celestia pushed herself up to her hooves and stepped down from the dais. No sooner had she done so than the strength in her legs failed the alicorn, sending the Princess down to the marble floor with a thud. Grimacing as she rolled onto her side, wings unfurling reflexively, Celestia felt her vision swirl and the Royal Palace around her twist in new, strange shapes. Dimly aware of the clatter of hooves and raised voices surrounding, she tried to fight through the disorientation.

Horn flashing in once, twice, sending out coruscating pulses of light that forced the attending Royal Guard to shield their eyes, the Goddess of the Sun unsteadily climbed back to standing. Shaking her multi-coloured mane, Celestia felt her world stabilise and her vision clear.

“Princess?” The Captain of the Guard broached, concern clear behind his otherwise stoic and well-drilled persona.

Taking a few deep breaths, and hesitantly planting a hoof forward as if testing her weight on it, Celestia raised her head and exhaled, slowly. “I am fine, Captain ... Perhaps a little tired.” She replied, adding a little more force to her words. “ ...Thank you.”

Opening his mouth as if to challenge this, but thinking better of it, the Captain simply stepped back and nodded, turning his attention to the pegasi gathered about him. “Stand down!” He barked.

Turning away from the Royal Guard, confusion written across her alabaster muzzle, Celestia wandered away from the thrones, unable to process what had just happened. Her thoughts disordered, haphazard, the Goddess of the Sun got no further than replaying her dizzy spell inside her mind when the business of raising the Moon burst forth from her memory and demanded her total attention.

Making her way towards the Solar Courtyard, the Princess could feel every sinew of her body’s weariness. It had been a long day ...

... It had been a long thousand years, she mused.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A foal was everything to its dam; a physical form to the love and caring required to bring a new life into the wider world. A foal was equally capable, of astounding acts of insensitivity towards its parent; such were the troubles of youth and, often, a simple refusal to do as it was told.

Gritting her teeth together, Celestia imagined this was as close as she would get to that same irritation any mare would experience when her foal so brazenly ignored her will. Bending her hooves to the task, horn blazing with the power only an alicorn could boast, the Princess literally dragged her sun across the sky, tugging on the incandescent ball of light as it began to dip only grudgingly below the horizon. With a final grunt of effort the sun did as it was told and disappeared from view.

Blinking away the beads of sweat that rolled into her eyes and stung, Celestia tapped a hoof against the stone floor of the Solar Courtyard, flushed and annoyed. She had raised her sun and put it to bed countless times, and yet she could not remember it ever taking so much effort. Glancing up at the strange sky – neither day or night – the Princess forced herself to focus on the task of raising the Moon and completing her duties.

But it would not come.

The sky darkened, a little more recognisable as night perhaps but still not as it should be. Not a single star offered its light to Equestria below and the Moon, or at least the slither of a crescent it had become these last ten centuries, folded its imagined hooves across its chest and refused to come out. Knees quaking with the effort of it all, her own eyes forced shut by the brightness of her horn, the Princess demanded the Moon’s compliance. The Moon, wherever it hid, however, ignored Her Royal Highness.

“I order you to come out!” Celestia shouted, exasperated by it all. “As a Princess of this land you are bound by my magic! Do as I say!”

After a few moments of silence, the light from the Sun Goddess’ horn faded and her multi-coloured, flowing mane flew upwards in anger as she pointed her muzzle to the sky and directed her irritation to wherever the infernal Moon hid and defied her. A few moments more and it became obvious she would not win this fight, at least not tonight. Turning on the spot, Princess Celestia marched through the doorway and back into the Royal Palace – the loud clapping of golden horseshoes against the marble floor acting as a powerful indicator of her mood.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Thank you,” Luna nodded as the levitating service tray settled down in front of her. The unicorn responsible simply bowed, the glow of his horn fading with his work done. Stepping back against the stone walls of the dining room he might well have been another of the hundreds of busts, sculptures, statues and supporters scattered throughout the Palace Complex. His eyes fixed ahead at some imagined point on the wall opposite, he would play no further part in Luna’s evening unless she made a request of him.

Resisting an urge to sigh, the Princess focused on enjoying the early evening with Celestia, before her sister turned in for the night. The shared dinner – like the breakfast at the beginning of each day – had once served as an unofficial handover, as one Princess would take watch over Equestria whilst the other slept. They had served no other purpose now except to socialise for well over one thousand years.

Leaning back on her hindlegs, Luna frowned as her attention wandered to the far end of the table, towards the distinctly empty chair that should have been filled quite some time ago with another alicorn. Puffing her cheeks outwards the Princess hopped down from her chair and crossed the expansive dining room, stepping out onto the small balcony that overlooked the east wing of the Royal Palace.

Luna knew something felt wrong before she could look up and see it for herself ... Where was the Moon? She rarely looked at her night – the night, for it hadn’t been her own for a very long time – but she could not remember a time when it looked more alien. Barely qualifying as night at all, not a single star shone and it seemed only a little darker than the dawn before the rising of Celestia’s sun ...

Luna glanced over her shoulder, back into the dining room. Where was her sister?

Turning away from the sorry display of the sky, the Princess ambled back inside, suppressing the twinge of guilt she felt for doing nothing to make the night any greater. The clink of armour-against-hide interrupted her thoughts, and Luna glanced up to see a member of the Royal Guard breeze into the dining room and offer a stiff bow.

“Princess Celestia sends her regrets,” The Pegasus announced detachedly. “She is previously engaged and unable to meet with Your Royal Highness this evening.”

Luna opened her mouth to ask why, but the Guardspony clearly had more pressing duties for the speed of his hooves carried him almost to the door before she had time to think. Glancing over at the unicorn who had remained totally immobile since delivering her meal, the Goddess of the Moon finally released the sigh on her lips.

“I’m not hungry ...” She said simply, to which the Royal Steward only nodded; spiriting the undisturbed service tray up and away from the long table with a shimmer of his horn. Making her way towards the doorway. Passing the armoured Pegasi flanking either side of the exit Luna paused, trying to meet their eyes. Both stiffened in textbook reaction, but they went no further than this basic requirement of royal etiquette and military response.

Giving up and returning her focus on the corridor, Luna could make out the flowing black flanks and violet hues of Nightmare Moon ahead, where before there had been nothing. The older mirror of herself looked back, offering Luna an encouraging smile as she trotted forwards to catch up. Rubbing her own mane against the black coat opposite, the Princess felt some of her loneliness abate.

“I missed you ...” Luna whispered, unwilling to talk to loudly for fear of being heard by the Pegasi still guarding the doorway behind. Nightmare Moon returned the contact, nuzzling the smaller alicorn briefly before breaking the contact and shaking her mane.

You know I am here always. Still, it would be better for you to spend time with your sister, other ponies ... Anypony.

Luna scowled, stepping away and shaking her own horn in defiance. “Some ponies have invisible friends!”

Some do, Nightmare Moon replied after a moment’s consideration. But none of them are over a thousands of years old like you, Little One ... And secondly, none of their invisible friends—

“I don’t care!” Luna shouted, interrupting herself. The taller mare bowed in apology, and the two walked on through the winding corridors until they reached the narrow walkway linking the rest of the Royal Palace to the Tower of the Moon. Looking up to the sky, Nightmare Moon frowned at the glum somewhat-blackness that stared back, starless and boring.

You did not raise the Moon again.

Luna shook her head, trotting onwards and making it clear the conversation was not open for discussion.

Perhaps tomorrow, Nightmare Moon sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Pushing the last book into place on the shelf, Spike brushed the dust from his claws and nodded. “All done, Twilight!” He called out expectantly.

After a few moments’ silence, the tiny dragon peered around the corner of the bookcase at the purple-tinged unicorn sat at the reading table and paying him absolutely no heed whatsoever. Clearing his lungs, his voice echoed around the library.

“Twilight!” He bellowed, “I said I’m all done with the books!”

Nothing.

Huffing, Spike scratched at a scale on his behind and frowned; surely she couldn’t still be upset about what happened yesterday? Besides, she didn’t seem like the type of pony to hold a grudge ...

“You’re not still mad about last night, are you?” He broached. His reply was nothing more than a swish of mane and an upturned snout. It seemed Twilight was the kind of pony to hold a grudge, and she was grudging him like there was no tomorrow ...

... Which, when Spike thought about it, was an infinitely better option were there to indeed be no tomorrow. Definitely better than something scarier ... Like Zombie Ponies ...

Shuddering, he forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Clearly he would have to use all his dragonic cunning, all his guile, to get Twilight to give up the pony and talk to him.

“So I was thinking about breakfast,” He began, perched at the edge of the bookcase and watching Twilight carefully for any outward signs of any possible attention being paid. Nothing.

“Got some pancakes ... Even found a little Sweet Apple Acres ‘sweet apple sauce in the kitchen ...”

Zip. She was one tough unicorn, but of course there was always ... No. Unleashing that would be too terrible a thing to contemplate, it’d be like opening a box of parasprites! Still, the alternative seemed to be living in absolute silence for the rest of his life. Puffing out his chest and taking the plunge, Spike wandered over and pressing his back against a leg of Twilight’s reading table, pretended to inspect his claws for dirt.

“Hey! I spoke to Rarity today!”

The chair Twilight sat on screeched ever so slightly the merest inch across the wooden floor.

“I thought maybe it was just a phase, you know? But the more I see her, the more I know she’s the pony for me, Twilight! She’s just so graceful, so proper, so ... Did I mention graceful? And her horn, what a horn! It’s like a sculpture, so pointy! I wish I could eat her all up ...”

Screech. Screech. No going back now ...

“So, uh, I invited her over later today; hope you don’t mind or anything ... ‘Cause I sort of pretended you wanted to see her. Just because I get embarrassed and I didn’t want her to say no. Told her you needed help redesigning your whole wardrobe and you only trusted her to go through it all—“

“Spike!” Twilight barked, slamming the book on the desk closed with a flash of magic almost as bright as the flash of red across the unicorn’s cheeks. “I’ve listened to you whittle on for hours! I feel like Princess Celestia – know how? Because listening to you go on and on and on and on makes me feel like I’ve been around for a thousand years!”

An awkward silence fell between the two, stretching into minutes before being punctuated by a wide grin splitting Spike’s lips. “Glad we made it up, Twilight; I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me!”

“Oh I’m mad!” The purple pony groaned, rubbing a hoof against her forehead. “You just won’t let me be mad in peace!”

Spike shrugged, “I said I was sorry ...”

“You ruined the whole night’s work!” Twilight glared, gesturing towards the canvas perched against the table leg opposite that might once have held a masterpiece, were it not covered almost entirely in bright orange paint.

The dragon’s smile didn’t falter, “The tube was stuck! I thought you might need it so ...”

“I was painting a nightscape! When have you ever seen orange in a nightscape!”

Spike had the good grace to look sheepish, his claws linking together behind his back as he scratched at the floor with a sharp toe. “If it makes you feel any better, I was just kidding about Rarity ...”

“Well, that’s something!” Twilight muttered, flicking her mane from her eyes and giving her assistant a long, hard look. “Were you lying about the pancakes and the Sweet Apple Acres sweet apple sauce?”

“Nope!” Spike beamed. “I’ll get to it right away!”

Nodding as she levitated the ruined painting up onto the desktop with a wave of her horn, Twilight rolled her eyes and offered the library a shrug. “Oh well ...” She sighed. “Maybe I’ll paint it again tonight ...”

A loud knocking from the front door gave the unicorn a welcome distraction from the orange disaster at her hooves. “I’ll get it!”

Twilight barely had time to unlatch the door with a flash of her horn and pull it open, before the whole thing suddenly flew back with the force of a runaway applecart. Stumbling backwards and falling onto her rump, Twilight looked up into the wide eyes of another of the Elements of Harmony.

“Sugarcube!” Applejack pounced, “You taken’ a walk outside lately?”

“Not this morning,” Twilight grumbled, climbing back to her hooves and shaking the dust from her mane. “What’s wrong, AJ?”

Applejack span on the spot, motioning with her foreleg before galloping out into the street. “Might be just a lil’ quicker if ah’ show you what I’m talkin’ about!”

Shrugging her shoulders, Twilight trotted outside after the excitable orange pony. She didn’t need to catch up Applejack to see what it was she seemed so alarmed about ... Or rather, what wasn’t there to seem so alarmed about.

Narrowing her eyes, the purple unicorn searched the pale, pale sky; more like a hue of winter white than the pastel blue of a full-blown summer season. Hanging high in the sky the sun barely deserved its name - a weak circle of sickly yellow that succeeded in defining its own outline, and little more. Twilight shivered, aware of the chill in the air that replaced the warmth everypony expected, and the cloud of breath that billowed from her nose ...

What in the name of Celestia had happened to the Sun?

~*~*~*~*~*~

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Comments

hmm...i look forward to reading more.

[DarkBlueDreamer]

Too early to rate, but this first chapter grabbed me. Looking forward to seeing more! I'll keep an eye on this one.

[flutterdash1]

Holy celestia this is good! I'm absolutely adoring what you're doing with Luna. So cute, so lovely, so touching <3 Bringing Nightmare Moon back but in a supporting, imaginary friend sort of way is something I never expected to see! I'm gonna read chapter 2 right now!