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Chapter 1: Regain2,313 words
Chapter 2: Goodbyes2,555 words
Chapter 3: Ready2,225 words
Chapter 4: Arrival2,540 words
Interlude: Celestia's Thoughts1,414 words
Chapter 5: Duties2,808 words
Chapter 6: Nightmare Moon2,480 words
Chapter 7: Redemption2,685 words
Chapter 8: Blessing2,295 words

Chapter 8: Blessing

Chapter 8:

“Remember, Twilight, we have that blessing to make today.” Luna reminded Twilight as they walked along the corridor from the circular room, the newly risen moon now shining bright through the highly-polished glass that were fixed into the walls. Twilight gave a nod, she had not forgotten, how could she?
“Is Night Court still on?” Twilight asked, wondering whether going to the stallion’s house would leave enough time for there to be any decisions made in Night Court.
“I suppose so, we can’t really just close it for a night, though we will probably have to cut it quite short, I don’t want to be late for the blessing.” Luna replied, Twilight nodded in affirmation, she was pretty sure it would be disrespectful to be late.

They quickly settled themselves in within the Great Hall, Luna upon her gilded throne and Twilight upon her cushion. The first of the citizens came up to them, glancing at Twilight before looking back to the Princess. Twilight recognized him as one of the ponies that was there the previous night, not the one that ran out, nor the one who wanted the blessing, but he had been there nonetheless.
“Hello, um, I don’t actually have anything that requires you, Princess.” He said hesitantly. Though his body language suggested he was confident and had no trouble speaking with royalty, his voice gave him away.
“Then, why are you here?” Luna asked quizzically.
“Well, I was actually here to inquire about the nature of your, um, assistant.” He replied, looking once more at Twilight who sat lower than he stood.
“What is your inquiry?” Princess Luna continued, wondering where this was going.

The stallion licked his lips nervously, not keen on making eye contact with the Princess, especially since she appeared to be slightly annoyed with his train of questions. But despite his anxiousness, he continued to say, “I was just kinda wondering, well, who she is.”
Luna looked at him, trying to suss him out, before replying, “Might I ask why?” Even though she was not afraid to let out the nature of Twilight being here, and who she was, she still wanted to know the stallion’s intentions first.
“It was just that, I haven’t seen her before, and I come to the Castle most days, and I was wondering why she so suddenly appeared, and to such a high ranking job.” He said all of this in a rush, now that he had finally a chance to voice his opinions, he let them all come out before he could be stopped and reprimanded.

Luna glanced at Twilight before turning back to the stallion. “I will answer who she is first. Twilight Sparkle was protégée to my sister, Princess Celestia, and is now my student. After she saved my life, or rather my mind, I was greatly weakened and had to live with her. We quickly became friends, and then more than friends.” The stallion blushed slightly at that remark, “And once I regained my strength, we moved back to Canterlot, however that meant having her forfeit her job. When we arrived, me and my sister arranged for Twilight to have a job that would let her stay close by, this was an obvious choice.” Luna finished, gesturing at the purple unicorn.

The stallion looked between them and asked, “Are you two married?” Luna shook her head, they had actually considered marriage about a year after they had started being together, but they both agreed that they were already more closely bonded than marriage could ever make them, so there was not much point in them wasting their time with a mostly useless ceremony.

“Now, as to why she gets this position? Well, she has certainly proved herself worthy, having saved Equestria on more than one occasion.” Luna said, but the stallion frowned slightly.
“But still, if you don’t mind me saying so, don’t you think it’s a little unfair?” He asked. Luna’s anger flared, just as she was about to reply that it was, in fact, not alright to say so, Twilight stopped her.
“Wait,” Twilight began, speaking for the first time that session as she held up a hoof in Luna’s direction, “It does seem a little unfair, I mean there are ponies who have been studying for years and working their hardest to get a position like mine, yet I get it instantly just for being with you.” Twilight finished, Luna knew that Twilight was downplaying her work, she had certainly done a lot more than ‘just be with her’ to get where she was, but she had to admit that Twilight had a point.

“I see what you’re getting at, but as this position never existed prior to you becoming it, nopony would have filled it spot, regardless of how long they worked for.” Luna replied.
“But still, suppose I have a different role in Night Court, something that wouldn’t give me as much power but still allow me to stay here, then everyone would be pleased.” Twilight said.
“I suppose so, what do you propose?” Luna asked.
“Perhaps I could do what I did before, as in provide another opinion on matters, but instead of you just taking in what I say, we have to ask whether the pony concerned wants it first of all? That way my job wouldn’t really change, it would just mean that I only get to do something with the pony’s word, as opposed to just yours.” Twilight said quickly, the idea coming to her head that, instead of just Luna deciding everything, they would give a bit of power to the ponies, even if it was just a small bit. Luna nodded slowly.

“That seems like it may work, we’ll have to give it a go.” Luna replied, turning back to the stallion. He had been quietly observing as the two ponies debated on the point he had drawn to them. “Does this seem reasonable to you?” Luna asked, the stallion nodded, placated. “I see, well if there is nothing else you need to say, have a nice night.” Luna said. The stallion bade farewell to the both of them in turn, before turning from them and departing the hall.

The rest of the session passed fairly quickly, no major events coming to their attention. However, they still employed what they had discussed before, Luna always asking whether the pony present wished for Twilight’s opinion too. This was almost always met with some variation of the question ‘Who is she?’, which was quite reasonable. And once the ponies had heard who Twilight was, and what she had done for Equestria, they were mostly willing to allow for Twilight’s logical opinions to come into play.

Though, as the night wore on and grew closer to midnight, Luna had to wrap up the session, dismissing the rest of the ponies and asking them to come back tomorrow, when the sessions would resume their regular length. Once the Hall was empty, the two mares stood and stretched out their limbs slightly, before making their way to their bedroom.

Before they entered the room to collect scarves and other clothing fit for a cold night such as it was then, they dropped in to Moonlight’s room, to check how she was doing. Luna slowly and silently opened the door, making a slight creak as the ancient oak groaned at its movement, and peered in. With the Moon casting its soft glow into the room, Twilight and Luna could make out Moonlight snoring softly on her bed, seeming peaceful. Twilight smiled at the sight and the pair withdrew, shutting the door quietly behind them.
“She seems to be getting on well.” Twilight said.
“Do you really think she’s changed for the better?” Luna asked, still slightly skeptical about Moonlight’s intentions. That was to be expected though, considering what Nightmare Moon had done to Luna over the years. But Twilight nodded nonetheless.
“Yeah, I’m sure she’s better now.” Twilight replied, sure of herself.
“If you say so.” Luna replied as they reached the doors to their own bedroom.

Luna quickly fetched a pair of scarves and coats from her large wardrobe. Twilight hadn’t brought much in the way of clothes so she mostly had to make do with Luna’s, but she didn’t mind. The majority of Luna’s clothes were made for Luna for when she was in her natural form, so they were much too big for the both of them, but Luna had managed to dig out a couple of coats she had got when Nightmare Moon had just been banished by the Elements of Harmony a few years ago. And since Luna preferred her clothes to be slightly loose anyway, her coat seemed to fit Twilight just fine.

They quickly made their way through the labyrinth of corridors that made up the Castle, and departed through one of the many side entrances. Luna led them towards Canterlot Town, and towards where they would have to perform the blessing. Though Luna had been away from Canterlot for years now, she still knew the town like the back of her hoof and expertly led Twilight to their destination a lot faster than she would have thought possible, were they not using the shortcuts that Luna seemed to know inherently.

Luna gave a swift rap on the door and stepped back. The door was quickly answered, the owner having expected his guests.
“Princess,” He said with a bow, “thank you so much for coming tonight. You too, Miss...” The stallion stopped, not sure what Twilight’s name was.
“Twilight.” Twilight offered.
“Miss Twilight.” The stallion repeated in a kindly voice, tinted slightly with sadness. He stepped aside and held the door open for the two mares to enter, which they did.

The stallion led them through to where the casket was being held.
“Sir, might I enquire as to what your, and your sister’s names are?” Luna asked, thinking that this would flow a lot easier if their names were known.
“Ah, yes, I forgot to tell you, my name is Scribbled Scrolls, my sister is... was, Indited Scroll, though she didn’t really like her name. She always asked to be called ‘Indy’ instead, she said that ‘Indited’ sounded too formal for her.” Scribbled Scrolls explained, eyes taking on a rather glazed look. Luna nodded.

The casket was a simple construction, made of an unvarnished pine and was a regular cuboid in shape.
“Do you wish for me to begin now?” Luna asked, snapping Scribbled out of his memories.
“Huh? Oh! Yes, please, if it’s not too much bother.” Scribbled replied, stepping closer to the coffin. Luna gave a nod and lay a hoof upon the pine, Twilight stayed at the wall, content with just standing back and allowing Luna to perform the blessing.

Luna took a deep breath before beginning, “I, Princess Luna, stand here today with those congregated to bless the dearly departed Indited Scrolls. We commemorate her.” Luna recited. She continued speaking for a few minutes longer, speaking from memory the blessing. Once she was finished she turned from the casket to address Indited’s brother, “Do you have anything else you wish for me to say?” She asked, hoof still laying upon the simple coffin. Scribbled gave a shake of the head, but spoke not. Words had failed him as his emotions had risen. Luna nodded once more and removed her hoof, bowing her head slightly before turning away from the coffin and walking back to the other room, Scribbled and Twilight in tow.

The three of them stayed silent as Scribbled Scrolls composed himself and wiped his eyes with a foreleg.
“Thank you so much, I’m sure this is what she would have wanted.” Scribbled said, head bowed in thanks.
“It’s no problem, I’m sorry for your loss.” Luna replied.
“I’ll cope.” Scribbled replied simply. Luna and Twilight bade him goodnight and goodbye and left his house, making their way steadily back towards the Castle, now walking at a leisurely pace; they had no particular rush. As they walked they raised their gaze to the stars, the plethora of celestial objects enticing them.

Luna took a deep breath, taking in the cool night time air. “You know, we haven’t had an astronomy lesson in a while, and you still haven’t seen Canterlot Castle’s telescope.” Luna said, looking out of the corner of her eyes to Twilight, head still raised to the sky. Twilight’s eyes widened noticeably. She had had a telescope when she was living in Canterlot as Celestia’s pupil, but she knew that they had gotten a newer, much better one.
“I would love to have an astronomy lesson.” Twilight replied, a smile appearing on her lips. This was just what she needed after the blessing. Luna smiled back at Twilight’s enthusiasm and they carried on for the Castle.

Once they reached the Castle, the guards let them through without question. Luna set a course for the telescope that Canterlot held within its walls. Prior to Luna finding about astronomy, Luna believed that the telescopes were merely for study of far off places, such as the depths of the Everfree Forest, but she now knew their purpose, and encouraged Celestia to bring in a telescope to try and get some of her students interested in the subject. Twilight nuzzled up against Luna as they walked alone together through the winding corridors of Canterlot Castle, the night time silence leaving the entire place seem peaceful and serene.

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