Moments in Time

by Shingo

A Piece of Childhood

To many who saw the castle in the Everfree Forest, it was a crumbling building. A display of an era long gone, a show of how cruel time can be, and an example of what happens whenever one forgets. To Princess Luna, it was a place she called home. A small smile was on her face as she walked in the empty halls of the once great castle. Thousands of memories came back to her. Happy laughter echoed in her mind, smells of flora that no longer existed rested with her, and even the taste of banquets that were held long ago returned. The lunar princess was heading to somewhere important to her, and although time had drastically altered her old home, she knew exactly where to go. She turned to her left to find a perfectly preserved wooden door. Cobwebs and dust had formed on it over the years that it had been neglected, but other than that the door was perfectly intact. A midnight blue hoof wiped off a layer of dust on the center of the door. Underneath it was a crescent moon facing downwards with a star underneath it engraved into the door. A pair of wings sat at the side of the moon. Luna’s smile grew. Even after all these years, the spell still works. She turned the handle and entered the room.

On the other side of the door was a relatively small bedroom. Sitting in the corner of the room was a dilapidated four poster bed. At the foot of the bed sat a large chest shaped object covered in a foot of dust. Beside the bed was a drawer with all of its chests missing. Across it was a desk with scattered pieces of parchment all over it. Luna walked towards the desk and opened up a drawer. Inside it was a small journal with yellowing paper. Embedded into the cover of the journal was the same symbol as the door. The journal was covered in a blue aura and placed on the desk. She turned to the foot of the bed and looked at the chest. Luna took in a deep breath and blew onto it. Dust flew around the room causing her to cough. This was a poor decision in hindsight. Sitting underneath the dust was a purple wooden chest with a lock on it. Luna’s coughing died down and she brought the journal towards her. The cover was opened revealing a silver key attached to the back of it. The key was removed and placed into the lock. With a single turn, the lock clicked. The top of the chest was opened up and Luna looked inside. Inside the chest were things that were worthless, but to Luna, they were her greatest treasures. There were five objects in the chest: a paper hat folded out of what looked like a map, a purple baby blanket, a photo album, a star shaped rock, and something that Luna had been searching for since she returned to Equestria. She smiled as the hat and blanket were covered in a blue glow and brought out. The hat was placed over her head and the blanket tied around her neck. Luna turned to the entrance and looked to the door facing her room. Though dust had formed on the door, she could see a stylized sun with a wreath underneath it engraved into the door. With a thought, she opened the other door and walked towards the room. The smile on her face turned into a smirk. You never let us in here when we were children. We wonder what you were hiding from us.

*

To say that the castle staff was shocked to see the lunar princess’ current state would be a vast understatement. Happily moving towards the princesses’ personal dining hall was the younger of the two. On top of her head was a paper hat and around her neck was a small purple blanket. She was skipping towards her destination with a wooden chest following close behind her. As the princess skipped, she left a pile of dust wherever her hooves stood. When she reached the hall’s large oaken doors, the guards opened it without any question. As she passed the guards, they coughed from the dust flying off of her. Sitting at the end of the room’s table was the solar princess. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the state her sister was in.

“I see you’re trying to make a new fashion statement,” she said. Luna placed the chest down and sat at the other end of the table. “I take it you found what you were looking for?”

“Indeed we have, Celestia,” Luna said. “But we found other things too.”

“Like the layer of dust on your coat?” Luna inspected herself. Just as Celestia had said, a thick layer of dust was on her coat. She stood up from her seat and shook herself. Dust flew all around the room. Both Celestia and the castle staff currently in the room coughed. “A shower would have been more efficient.”

“This was is faster,” Luna retorted. “After so many months of searching, we finally found him.” The chest opened and a small, white, stuffed tiger was pulled out. The tiger was wearing orange robes, a long necklace of black beads was around its neck. Luna brought the tiger to her face looking straight into its eyes.

“Hello, Brother Bengal,” she said. “We’ve missed you.” Brother Bengal was brought close to Luna and embraced in a hug. Celestia giggled at the sight.

“Luna, that is adorable,” she said. “But you’re acting a little childish.”

“What’s the point of being a grown up if you can’t be childish from time to time?” Luna asked letting Brother Bengal go. The hat and blanket were removed from her and placed on the table. “Besides, we know that you’ll be the same as we are as soon as you see what we’ve found. And you in particular could be a little more childish.”

“I highly doubt that,” Celestia said. “When we took over the country, I put my childish nature behind me. I grew up to lead. I don’t think that I’ll be acting like a…” Her sentence stopped when Luna pulled a second object out of the chest. A beige stuffed ram was floating in Luna’s magical grip. The ram had a long white beard and was wearing a black vest. In its left hoof was a stuffed brown cane. Celestia’s eyes widened.

“He was missing a leg and a horn when we found him,” Luna said. “But with a simple time spell, we’ve managed to fix…” The ram was yanked out of Luna’s grip and brought over to Celestia. She hugged the stuffed animal and she squealed with joy.

“Ambassador Aries!” she said rubbing her cheek against the ram’s. “I haven’t seen you in centuries! We have so much to catch up on. I can’t wait to hear all of the things that you’ve…” Celestia looked up at her sister. A smirk was on Luna’s face as she held onto Brother Bengal. A blush appeared on Celestia’s face

“Ahem,” she coughed. “I mean, thank you for finding and fixing Ambassador Aries for me, Luna. I’ll admit that he’s one of the treasures that I forgot when we vacated Castle Everfree.”

“We require no thanks,” Celestia sipped from her tea. “Your diaries that we found are thanks enough.” Tea shot out of the solar princess’ mouth.

“What?!” three red diaries with stylized suns on them were pulled out of the chest. “Luna, give those back to me at once!” In response, Luna stood up and stuck her tongue out. Brother Bengal was brought to her ear.

“What’s that, Brother Bengal?” Brother Bengal’s head was tilted forward twice. “Run from Celestia? Good idea!” Luna turned around and grabbed both the diaries and the chest in her magical grasp before running out of the dining hall. Celestia hopped over the table and chased after her sister with Ambassador Aries following close beside her. The ram’s head was tilted as she ran through the castle’s halls.

“It’s good to see you too,” she said. “Well, Ambassador, we have a job to do.”

Comments

[Desol]

And mere hours after I thought there wouldn't be a cuter chapter than the adventures of miniature Twilight and Spike, we get this. Even if it isn't a linear story like most that are featured, your collection here really deserves more exposure. You're a talented writer, and you cover a wide range of emotions and characters very well.