The Artistry of Night
The Artistry of Night
Luna closed her eyes. This was her favorite time, the only time she felt she honestly deserved the false title of “Princess.” She knew, of course, the power she carried. She knew how the ponies of the Night Court looked to her for leadership, and she knew how the Royal Guard swore themselves to her service, no matter what, but none of that mattered. She was always the little sister, the one turned to when Celestia was too busy. The one hiding in the shadows of the day.
But here, at the twilight when both sun and moon hung, slivers in the edges of the horizon, when the blue sky gave to pink, then finally to clear, allowing the clear blanket of night to shine through. The as-of yet empty blanket. The blank canvas waiting to be painted with bright pinpricks of light that hinted at the vastness infinity above.
Luna could see it all in her mind. She saw the way the stars wished to be seen. She saw the intertwisted galaxies, and the stars stuck out alone--like she had been... She saw the comets, and how they wished to fly that night, dancing between the stars like pegasi through the clouds. Everything felt right in her mind, stars set in paths rarely changed over the course of millennia.
The blue alicorn reached for the magic within, ready to shape the night sky as she had done every night, even during her exile. The power was there, a globe of warmth and light deep within her, and the knowledge was there, the never failing road map of the heavens painted sharp and clear as a picture upon her memory.
But nothing came. Try as she might, the Princess of the Night could not will the stars into the void as she had done ever since assuming the mantle.
This was nothing new, every once in awhile Luna knew that her mind just needed a break. The sky did not need to be formed this very instant, she could afford a moment or two to relax. She closed her eyes, letting the magic slip away as she took a deep breath, filling her lungs as full as possible before slowly letting it out.
A few more repetitions, and Luna felt ready. She reached once again for the magic, for the unbridled power residing within, eager to show her celestial creations to all of Equestria.
She pulled, she shaped, she pushed... and nothing happened.
This... this was new. Never before had she failed twice in a row like this. Princess Luna got up, shaking her hooves in a sort of bouncy dance. She jumped up into the air, stretching her wings as far as she could on the small balcony off of her room. Alighting on the cold stone below, Luna reached once again for the power.
She pulled, she shaped, she pushed... and something appeared. A fizzle, a small spark of power no larger than a bit slowly meandered it’s way out of her horn and popped in front of her muzzle in a small explosion of almost nervous energy.
Things were getting desperate now. Her sister was lowering the sun fully, the bright orb descending into the ground as the moon slowly rose up to take its’ place. This was it, she had to try, one last push. Luna reached deep, straight into the core of the power within her. Using all the techniques she had learned over her long life she coaxed a small strand of the power out, spreading it across the map of the heavens in her mind before pushing forward, focusing the enlightened string of energy through her horn and into the air.
Quickly, as though sensing the urgency, the stars spread from the center of the sky out across the whole world. Luna sighed in relief, leaning against the iron railing before her. She closed her eyes for a brief second, the perfect picture of tranquility before a face appeared in her mind’s eye, forcing her to snap to attention to prevent the painful memories.
Princess Luna stamped a hoof, accidentally chipping part of the stone flooring. Her head shot up, eyes darting towards the door as the monoliths of wood slowly clicked closed.
“Sister, you do realize that chips like that are ridiculously expensive to repair, yes?” Princess Celestia asked, giving her sister a half smile that conveyed more than her words. The white elder alicorn looked smaller devoid of shoes, headgear, and necklace. If one ignored the horn or the wings, and the eternally-flowing mane, she could almost be a normal--albeit large--pony.
Luna shot back her own crooked grin, though one filled with more mischief than good-willed humor like her sister’s. “Of course Celly, I have seen the repair orders for the spa, specifically near the massage tables...”
Celestia blushed. They had sworn to never speak of that incident again, and since the file warmer had been installed, a repeat had not yet occurred. “Hush.” Her gaze softened, and she walked to stand side by side with her sister. The white alicorn gazed at the blue, a softer expression falling on her face. “Are you okay? The stars and moon were slow today, I was getting worried,” she said with a voice full of concern.
Luna looked down, idly examining the chip with her eyes and hoof. “I... have had better days.”
The white alicorn nuzzled her sister. “I understand. I miss her too.”
“No! It is so much more than that!” Luna shouted, glaring at her sister for the briefest of seconds before backing down. “Sorry. She just meant so much to me. It almost feels... empty now.” The midnight alicorn looked down for a moment before looking back up, smile on her face a direct contrast to the sheen of tears in her eyes. “She could name almost everything I pointed out to her. We would sit out under the stars on top of the North Tower and just... talk. Hours on end, Tia, into the earliest hours of the morning when she would fall asleep, and I would carry her back inside, and tuck her in.”
Celestia stood closer, using her wing to pull her younger sister in a hug. Luna huffed for a moment before leaning into the contact, token protest out of the way. “Loss is always hard, dearest Luna, especially when you are close.”
“I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” came the soft reply some time later.
“Nopony did. It shouldn’t have happened,” Celesita said. ”I should have been watching, should not have let her do it.”
“Don’t start,” Luna said, wiggling out from under her sister’s wing until she could stare her in the eyes. “There is no way you could have known what would happen. She should have been able to. Nopony is to blame.”
Celestia dropped her head, unable to hold Luna’s gaze any longer. She looked out into the canvas of the stars, names and locations and history popping in her head faster than it was possible to acknowledge. Luna said something, drawing the sun alicorn from her daze. “Sorry, what?”
Luna rolled her eyes in mock indignation. “Of course, ignore the little sister. I said the funeral is tomorrow.”
Celestia nodded once. “I know. I spent all day preparing it down in Ponyville.” A rueful grin spread across her face. “It is probably more than she wanted, but I couldn’t help myself.”
Luna grunted in reply, looking out at the star-filled sky. “Do you think she can see them?” she asked softly a short while later.
"Hmm?”
"The stars. Do you think she can see them?” Luna looked at her sister, gaze suddenly intense.
The elder sister draped a comforting wing over the younger once again. “I’m sure she can, and I’m sure she thinks it is beautiful, as she did every day in life.” This was apparently the right answer, for the younger alicorn returned her gaze to the heavens. The stars winked and flashed, oblivious to the pain below, as always.
Luna had returned that way, cold and distant as the stars and moon. After all, it was difficult to return to a world you had tried to conquer, a sister you had tried to dethrone. “It was the astronomy lesson...” she mused to herself.
“What was the astronomy lesson?” Celestia asked from beside her.
“Do you remember back to when all six of them were here in Canterlot?” She waited for Celestia’s nod. “She asked as demure and sweet as could be if I would give her a lesson about the stars. She said that she had been curious of them since she was a little filly, and had often spent hours staring up at them. It melted my heart, Tia. I think that was when it started...” A single silent sob wracked her frame. “...and ended a short, short year later...”
“‘Tis better to have loved and lost...”
“Quiet. You know as well as I the pain of losing a loved one.” The silence was all the answer needed. Minutes passed, both alicorns gazing up at the stars, both lost in thought. Luna’s eyes grazed over a nebula, small smile growing across her lips. She pointed a hoof at it, drawing her sister’s attention. “She designed that one, you know.”
“Really?” Celestia asked, genuine interest flitting through her voice.
Luna nodded. “It was sort of a joke. One night she came to me and said she would make a better princess of the night than I, so I jokingly told her if she was so good she could do it herself. And she did. I left the room for a couple of minutes, pretending I was mad at her, and when I came back that was there.” Luna shook her head in awe. “I left it, of course, how could I take it down? Especially since I don’t know how it got there.”
“The Elements work in strange ways, sister,” came the sage reply from beside her. The two stared up at the small, but intense, swirl of color and light in the sky. It started in the middle, light pink swirls gradually becoming deeper as one looked across the edges until it faded into a deep, deep blue, almost blending in with the void beyond.
Celestia yawned, no longer able to hold in it. She stretched like a cat, “accidently” bumping her sister’s head with a wing in the process. “Well sister, I must get to bed. I shall see you tomorrow in Ponyville?”
Luna gave her a rueful smile. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” The white alicorn nodded, nuzzling her sister’s forehead before leaving the room as quietly as she had entered, leaving the room much, much emptier than it had been before.
Luna gazed up, unwilling and unable to go to sleep. “Do you think she can see them?”
"I’m sure she can, and I’m sure she thinks they are beautiful, as she did every day in life.”
The midnight alicorn stood up, inspiration flowing freely through her mind. She pictured it in her head, a new constellation. A deep nebula of purple, filled with a dark blue much like her coat, and twinkling with stars like her mane. She pulled from the ball of energy within once again, and this time the energy flowed as easily as it had for centuries.
She shaped it in her mind, no pattern for it to mimic this time, and cast it from her horn into the heavens. Right in the middle of the sky, almost as large as the moon, it formed. A line of purple stretched out, forming one, then two, then three, and four, and five, and finally six points in a star.
The line of magic then reached in, beginning to swirl around, spreading a dark blue inside of the lavender mold. Stars sprung into life in the magic’s wake, making the new creation glitter as if made of rhinestones. A small white crescent moon formed in the center, before the bolt of magic shot up, forming five smaller stars of white directly outside the larger one of purple and blue.
And across the edges of it all, written in small comet trails, barely visible without a telescope were written the words, To My Dearest Twilight. I Will Love and Remember You Always.
And maybe nopony would look up. Maybe nopony would ever care about her sky the way her Twilight had, and that was ok. Because somewhere out there, Twilight was missing Luna just as much as Luna missed Twilight.
Dedicated to Blake.
I said I would write your OTP
I just wish I could have before you could no longer read it.
RIP
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Still sorry about the spacing, I tried to fix it as best as I could. When I write, I write in google docs, and then upload it to fimfiction using the upload function, but apparently it likes to goof on the spacing. Anyone know how to fix it?
You have made my day.
My favourite pony is Princess Luna and I adore stories about her. I love your story.
I don't care about the spacing, it's still a good read.
This was good! I'm very sorry about your friend, I hope she lives a wonderful afterlife. This was a great read, and did indeed make me sad.
Not since Raefire's passing last summer has something pony-related touched me so deeply.
2015775
I noticed the goof on spacing that occurs with importing from Gdocs. I found the culprit (rather annoyingly so) is actually the a formatting issue, mainly with italics.
Take for example:
If you have the space lines italicized when you upload it to fimfiction it'll look like this in the editing window, minus the spaces, of course.
And for some reason where there are lines with just italics on, Fimfiction will just delete it, and it'll appear like this
Unless you watch out for this in Gdocs, I find the best way to combat this is to proofread it in the Fimfiction editor window, just before you publish it.
Sadly I'm not sure whether this can even be fixed, let alone whether it will or not.
Hope this helps!
2015775
It does that for everything that you copy pasta in, whether it's a new story or a new chapter. My advice would be to double space everywhere that you had a single space (I assume between paragraphs is the biggest issue).
Hope it helps
About to give the story a read
Edit: Very moving. It really struck a chord with me when I read about Twilight's nebula. I'd like to think it was for this very purpose; one day, she knew she would no longer be with Luna (what with immortality and all that), so she inscribed the heavens with her soul. Truly inspiring.
Dealing with death is never easy and I'm incredibly sorry for your loss.
Most touching thing I've read in a while, and that's saying something since I don't like TwiLuna very much. I didn't see a single mistake, and the pacing was impeccable. Also, the flow was perfect--truly a work of art. Great job!
As a sidenote... I'm sorry about your friend.
whoever down-voted this deserves to get bucked in the face.
This was beautiful.
First off, I would like to say that I am very sorry to hear about your friend. You have my greatest sympathies, and I only wish the best for you.
It is through real experiences that such works of beauty are created, however. This was a fantastic read. It was very touching, and I hardly say that about anything. I say to keep it up as far as it will take you. You created something beautiful.
Also, I hope this can be of some meaning to you:
2021650
GODDAMNIT!!!!
Seriously though, thanks. Didn't realize you kept an eye on my stuff.
2020424>>2021293>>2021506>>2021582
And thank you to all of you. Your thoughts, opinions, and condolences mean a lot to me.
It just saddens me that something like this had to happen to make a story like this.
Reads story:
Sees authors note:
I know how it feels to lose a friend, it sucks especially if you were close
I'm terribly sorry to hear what happened to your friend. I hope wherever she is now, she's reading this story and is happy that you did.
I'd love to see a second chap to this with the funeral for her and the girls saying good bye to their friend and helping Luna and Celestia getting over the loss.
2021672
I know this probably doesn't mean much, coming from some random stranger on the internet, but i'm sorry for your loss. I've lost friends (and family, more recently) myself, but not in such a tragic way. This story saddened me more than it really should have, because of those friends, and their memories it brought back.
I haven't cried, seriously, cried, not just a tear or two, but a near breakdown, like this since 'Letters for Luna' and how very sad that story was, and it's several times this one in length. Luna's tribute to Twilight that night, was the straw that broke the camel's back here. I calmed down enough to write this, and just thinking about that (not so little, once you think about it) tribute just brings those feels right back.
This story feels complete, yet incomplete at the same time. No real mentions of what happened to Twilight other than an accident were given. I can say that can be left to the reader's mind what happened. But i also wish to see what you as the author thought happened to Twilight, was it a magical mishap of some kind, was it an animal attack, a runaway cart (i know this strikes home a bit closely, but i felt it needed to be added), or was it something else? I would greatly enjoy reading what you thought happened. That's your choice to share though. I'm not 'wanting' one in the traditional sense of expecting more to this story, i'm wanting one to see how that accident also sparked this story, and any thoughts and emotions behind it all.
There've been a lot of these kind of fics going up on fimfiction lately. Twiluna or Twilestia, Twilight is either on her deathbed with one or the other comforting her in her last moments, or the princess(es) reminisce about how she impacted their (long) lives, with the 'lover' of the two nearly having an emotional breakdown again just from those thoughts and memories.
2024468>>2024731
If I did write a second chapter, it would probably be either at the funeral or directly after. I'm not sure if I would say what happened to Twilight, because in some ways it is better if it is left to the readers mind because they can take what I've put in, and immerse themselves deeper trying to dig up little details to add to their own ideas.
And yes, I have read Letters to Luna. It was a very sad read, so I know where you're coming from on that one.
This is very very thoughtful, and the emotions in this story are some of the most heartfelt I have ever read in a work of fiction.
2024866 fair enough^^
This story needs no second chapter. Change nothing.
Well done. Very well done.
2021582 eeyup !
Oh no, that dedication. :(
Venerable as this piece is, it's actually pretty darned good. You did your friend proud.
A very intense and well written sadfic.
I'm so sorry about Blake, but what a glowing epitaph.
No, I think this is perfect the way it is.
I'm so sorry about your friend. I wish I could say something else meaningful to make it easier to bare.
The story was beautiful, btw. I've always enjoyed a bit of TwiLuna, and the sad nature makes it oddly more compelling.