The Last Sight

by NoMane

Enter the Princess

Disclaimer: I do not own Friendship is Magic, copyrighted material is not my own and I seek and receive nothing through my production of this work. Support the Official Release.

The Last Sight

Chapter 2: Enter the Princess

Pumpkin awoke in a very warm place, opening her eyes slowly. She tried to rise from the darkness that surrounded her, only to find herself tangled. Wriggling fiercely, she finally managed to get her horn loose and her head out of the snarl of fabric.

Blinking, she found her eyes resting on the strangest of rooms. A mixture of white, lavender, and silver trimmed this extravagant place. The room was lit to a comfortable level by candles that burned with white flames. It looked a little like the palace Pinkie talked about in her stories...but a thousand times prettier and not quite as bright.

Also, she noted with disappointment, there were no cakes the size of Sugarcube Corner here.

She looked down at the floor, frowning. This bed was gigantic!

Still, oversized bed or not, she knew there were better things to do here than to lay around.

Going over the edge flank first, she eased herself down. Her hooves clipped and clopped softly as she crossed the room, her eyes drawn to the ornate mirror mounted on the wall on her left as she passed it.

Fixing her mane just a little as she looked into it, she actually stopped for a moment. She noticed the reflection of the room was just a little dimmer. It'd be nice if the entire world was always like that: just bright enough to see everything but not so bright that the sun would burn her eyes...

She dismissed that idle fancy and moved along. There were more important things to do, and no wooden door was going to keep her from getting to them!

...the handle was pretty high, though. She had to rear up to her full height to get a hoof on top off of it, and even then, it almost slipped out of her grasp completely.

Pumpkin frowned and tried harder. This time, the door handle turned and it was easy enough to push the door open.

Inside, she saw the fanciest bathroom ever. The toilet and tub were silver, and they shined ever so softly in the low light of the candles.

The lighting was a little lower in there, but she could see everything pretty well from the door. It didn't look like any pony or monster was inside, so she stepped inside and surveyed the facilities. Easing the door a little further shut so no pony could see within, she surveyed the contents at length...

As she exited the bathroom, she was still marveling at just how comfortable the toilet had been. However, something struck her as she stepped back into the main room.

Indeed, she realized that her hunch was true as she strolled around the room quickly, looking up and down.

“Where am I?” she asked. She looked around again and again, her pace increasing with every step, but even three sweeps of the room revealed nothing new.

Her breath came faster and faster even as she slowed to a stop near the bed. Nothing reached Pumpkin's ears but her own gasps for air.

She was alone...

“I am glad to see that you are well, little one.” A soft voice broke through the silence.

Pumpkin jumped back, turning toward a previously empty wall. Now there was a tremendous dark pony standing in a dark doorway. The candles dimmed just a little bit as she drew near.

“H-hi, Princess...” she said, stepping back and lowering herself to the floor.

The huge winged unicorn did not move, but her gaze remained firmly upon the filly. “Let me be the first to welcome you to your new home.”

That was the strangest of all things to hear. There had been a few Nightmare Nights where she had laid eyes on the Moon Princess, but that didn't make her any easier to deal with. Mommy and Daddy had always been close by to make sure that no gobbling would occur.

Pound had always said that she was silly to think the Princess would gobble up any pony, but he was the kind of pegasus who would be eaten first!

Still, the Princess didn't look like she wanted to gobble up anypony...at least for the moment.

“My new home?” she spoke after an age of silence.

“Yes, this room is one of my favored chambers within the palace,” the Princess explained with a smile.

“S-s-so why am I here?” Pumpkin queried.

“Why? Do not worry about the why, little one. I am here to help you have fun,” the Princess explained quickly.

Before she could really ask, the larger unicorn turned around and started trotting away. “Come, come. As long as I will it, this door will remain open. Unless you want to stay in here for a while longer, I suggest you come along.”

The darkened doorway was a little scary in its own way, but even the chance of being gobbled was worth escaping from this boring, empty room. Besides, if the Princess really did want to gobble her up, she could just outrun her!

As she stood there considering the situation, the Princess added, “It will be quite fun, I promise.”

Outside that room was a much brighter hallway, one that stretched farther than she could imagine. She didn't have time to take in the scenery, though, as the Princess never slowed her pace.

The white stallions in golden suits matched up with the stories, though. If that part of the story was true, there were no limits to what could also be true!

“Princess...” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Yes? What is it?” The Princess stopped in her tracks.

She steeled herself and raised her voice. “Where do they keep the cakes?”

“So you hunger for sweets?” The Princess laughed softly. “It is not meal time, but I was already a little hungry.”

Pumpkin could only smile and increase her pace as the Princess changed her course.

It felt like such a short time later when they arrived in a kitchen with golden trim upon the white walls, and the shiniest cooking implements ever. The real prize, however, was a tremendous chocolate cake sitting on the center counter. It wasn't as big as Sugarcube Corner, but it looked almost half that big from the floor.

A knife flew from one of the counters, wrapped in a dark blue aura.

“If my sister asks, just remain silent.” The Princess looked down at her, her face serious for a moment as her horn glowed with that same dark color.

“Yes, Princess.” Pumpkin bowed again.

She said nothing as the knife danced through the cake, swiftly leaving the cake in sixteen equal slices.

The little filly's eyes widened as she stared on, and it took a while for her voice to show itself. “Wow, Princess! How'd you do that?!?”

“When a pony has more than a thousand years to practice magic, little one, the things one can do are limited only by the imagination.” She turned her head a little, as two plates floated over to meet levitating slices of cake.

“I apologize, little one, but I forgot to ask your name.” The two plates floated on either side of her head.

“My name is Pumpkin,” she said.

“Well met. You may call me Luna,” the Princess stated with a smile. “Now, let us eat.”

They both had more than one piece of the cake, though Luna easily had the griffon's share. Only half of the cake remained after they cut it down to size...

“Now, my little Pumpkin, we should make ourselves scarce before the Royal Chef discovers us.” Princess Luna waved her horn, a shadowy doorway starting to form on the nearby wall. “After you.”

Pumpkin giggled and hurried through, but she stopped short when she felt grass brushing up against her legs, and the lighting grew even dimmer...

They were outside, standing in an empty field. A soft breeze blew through the darkness, carrying a chill that just barely cut through her fur.

The darkness and the wet grass didn't bother her, though. Her eyes quickly turned to the stars. There were so many more stars before her eyes now, in dozens of patterns that she couldn't see before.

It felt like an age passed in simple silence, occasionally broken by the Princess quietly pointing her toward a constellation. The warrior pony Porion, the Unicorn's Horn Wrapped in Pegasus Wings, and the Bouquet between the Lover's Hooves were just a few of the marvelous sights she was shown that night. As she marveled at the sky, there was nothing to frown about. There were no lies among the stars, only an eternity of beauty and truth. Even the cool night air didn't bother her even as it prompted her to shiver a little bit.

However, even that was abridged when Luna lightly rubbed her withers. “I am sorry, Pumpkin, but it is time for a bath before moon-set.”

“Moon-set?” Pumpkin parroted, tearing her eyes away from the sky just to see another one of those shadowy portals opening.

“Sunrise,” Luna explained quickly enough, gesturing toward the opening.

Though the idea soured her spirits, it was better to be inside in a nice warm bath than outside to watch the stars vanishing into the bright sky. She smiled at the stars one last time, waving good by, before heading through Luna's strange, gloomy doorway...

A bath at Luna's Castle was better than most baths. The water smelled like fresh flowers, and the water was just the right kind of warm. There was no need for any pony to shield her from unkind heat like Mommy and Daddy did when they tested the water...

That thought was banished by a big splash.

“Sorry! Butterhooves!” Luna was there in a moment, reaching into the water. As she retrieved the bottle of shampoo, she smiled. “Close your eyes.”

Pumpkin grinned and did so. Luna was no Mommy, but she took care of everything anyway. Better yet, she didn't lie. Every last word she had spoken had been the truth!

Pound always got mad when Mommy tried to wash his mane or to do anything for him, but that was just him being stupid. The same way he was stupid when he went on and on about the Wonderbolts with Inferna. He'd probably get mad at Luna for washing his mane and treating him well!

Then Luna would gobble him up...

“What is wrong?” A soft voice cut through her thoughts.

Pumpkin looked up into Luna's eyes, trying to banish her frown. She knew, now, that the pony behind those kind eyes couldn't gobble anypony, even somepony as annoying as Pound could be.

“Just...thinking,” she said.

“Oh.” Luna nodded. “It looks like you're all clean. Come along!”

Dark magic stripped away the cooling wet, leaving only a dry, warm feeling. She could only blink and follow along as Luna started walking away.

That warm feeling never went away, though, even as her hooves clipped and clopped across the tiles. She opened her mouth wide and yawned. Her legs tried to get out from underneath her.

Just before she crashed into the hard floor, she felt herself moving up and over.

“Careful. You have had an exciting night; it is no wonder you are so tired,” Luna said as Pumpkin softly landed on her back. Nuzzling into that warm back fur, she was a little surprised as that weird flowing mane caressed her.

“I'm not...” She yawned again, her words slipping out under that heavy noise. She forced her voice up and spoke, “I wanna have more fun!”

“There will be plenty of time the next evening for us to spend together, but you did not get much sleep last night. Let yourself journey back to dreamland for a little while longer.” That voice was soothing, all too soothing.

Pumpkin tried to keep her eyelids up, murmuring all the while, “I don't wanna...go to sleep...”

She couldn't struggle anymore. Even her voice did not want to cooperate. That shadowy doorway on the wall opened again, and she found herself being carried into that nearly empty room. She tried to squirm out of Luna's magical grip, but she was tucked in before she could do much more than murmur again.

Luna gave her a kiss on the cheek before pulling the covers up to her chin. The warmth doubled, but she remained ever so comfortable within it.

Pumpkin's struggles ceased entirely as her eyes began to win the fight.

“Good night, little Moonbeam.” One last whisper entered her world as the candles around the room burned out entirely.

All was silence as she left the waking world behind...

Comments

[Alpha Scorpii]

Aw, this was very cute!