The Night Of A Broken Heart

by WanderingPony

Chapter 14: Moon Prism Power...

Canterlot's Ivory Tower had become a bustling and noisy place, what with goblins and Pies and moogles and Apples, plus a liberal helping of alicorns, unicorns, and the occasional pegasi, crying divas and blushing Big Macs. The time for some of that population to leave had come along with the time for sunset, and so most of the crowd stood at the opened door for the balcony, watching the Princesses prepare to set the sun and bring forth the evening skies.

Rarity cocked her head to one side and stage-whispered to the moogle floating beside her, "If you think Celestia's work is gorgeous, you must see her sister! Why, it's like watching someone floating a dragon's hoard of gems into the sky...oh! Here she goes, hush hush..."

The alicorn sisters began their change with a smoothness any changing of the guard would envy- Celestia's aura sending the sun into a gentle, easy curve as it sank below the horizon, while Luna's deeper blue unrolled the stars like a carpet into the night sky....and then came the moon, majestically settling into it's place like the crown jewel.

Except someone had changed the jewel from "moonstone" to "jade". Luna's namesake floated into place, it's nearly-full light tinted a distinctive green as it rose into the sky. As the moonrise touched her mane, the color spread- faint twinkles of a verdant glow mixed into the starlit vista that rode the Princess from neck to tail, rippling in an unseen (but playful) breeze. The whole effect was as if someone had covered Luna in the contents of a basket full of lively firefly lanterns.

She stood in the midst of the glittering cloud, jaw agape. The silence was broken only by the lively zephyr taking up residence in Luna's mane. It managed to stretch into a long moment of awestruck appreciation, which the breeze took as an opportunity to pour itself across the castle courtyard and into every open window in sight, drifting motes of green light carried along as they kindled from their Princess-nursery to dance in the air. Ponies stopped in mid-march, while at play, whatever errand or task had gripped their thoughts as the finale of Luna's moonrise left Canterlot Castle briefly a starscape in green...and then the breeze faded to a phantom's touch, letting the twinkles settle onto whatever surface they might find as they, too faded away. Every creature it touched felt like a breath of fresh air had suddenly cleared away whatever miasma of worry or fear had clouded their heads, short-lived though the wind had been.

The spell was broken by the stomping of dozens of hooves and a wave of cheers directed at the balcony where Luna, still rooted to the spot realized that she had become the center of attention for the entire castle without even trying- looking for all the world like a chorus girl who'd just managed to sing the lead of Das Neighbelungen perfectly without realizing she'd done it before a packed house. She looked back at her sister, not knowing what to expect...

Celestia was applauding as loudly as the rest of them, pride radiating from every pore as she clapped a hoof against the balcony stones. The ovation lasted for a minute, two, three...before finally tapering off into chattering and ponies returning to something resembling normal, if more lighthearted than before.

"That was magnificent, your Majesty!", Rarity managed to gasp out as she finally tore her gaze away from the glittering jewel the moon had become. "That's kinda purty, but...ain't it supposed to be white?", a more dubious Applejack followed up. Twilight was simply racing through astrological terms at an incomprehensible pace while trying to restrain herself from dive-bombing the Royal Observatory and commandeering the biggest telescope she could find, just to get a closer look.

"That was the most impressive moonrise I've seen in ages, dear sister! We will have SO much to talk about it when I've wrapped up the Day Court and...", started Celestia.

"Bu-bu-but I...I didn't mean...", Luna managed to gabble out before her elder sister put a hoof to her lips.

"I know, you didn't mean to show off quite so much for our guests-" Celestia cheerfully said as she walked for the edge of the balcony, one wing lifting to startle Luna a bit as it billowed out under her nose - "but it'll be so fun to talk about when we're in those boring old chambers during court change!"... and turning briefly to wave at the gathering, she launched herself into the air, flapping a slightly crooked line towards the gold-and-silvered halls that royal petitioners could be glimpsed peering from even in the darkness, looking for the approach of one royal or the other. Two Guard pegasi seemingly congealed out of the dark and followed, ensuring the Princess had a clear flight path all the way throughout. Landing on a balcony, Celestia left her escort behind, passed two more guards standing watch over her private entry, and walked into one of the many rooms reserved for alicorns who oft desired and required being able to come and go as they pleased.

This one had a comfortable couch that Celestia had been known to take more than one quick nap between sessions of Parliament or just for a snuck-in snack break...occupied by a chimerical guest. A serpentine mish-mash of species, somewhat....dwindled. Lessened, even. And fast asleep. Celestia paused a moment and bumped the spirit of Discord's muzzle with her own, an almost wistful expression of hope on her face.

"Discord? Discord?", she said with the tone of a mother half-unwanting to wake up her child.

The chaotic creature curled impossibly back on himself and muttered, "Oh, just hit the snooze alarm for next century, I was having the most delightful dream..." , and proceeded to literally soak into the cushions., leaving only a mismatched set of upholstery and a pair of bushy eyebrows on a pillow to mark his presence.

"You...you didn't just turn the moon green, did you? It was beautiful, you couldn't have not heard the applause..."

The cushion opened two yellowy eyes and peeped at Celestia. "Is THAT what all the racket was about? Clever girl. She's finally developing a sense of style, but no. My powers at the moment are...*YAWN*...relaxing. All that iron grip of Princess List-A-Lot's little pony friends and the order you've been squeezing into the world for centuries? So flaccid, my dear. Why, what they did in the Empire has managed to set more chaos to roost in Equestria than -I- did. The world doesn't need me set against something you broke all by yourselves...so I've been given a vacation. Chaos doesn't need a champion when it's already running around with the cup! You know how I tick..."

The cushion morphed into an alarm clock, which jangled it's eye-bells as it's fang-pointer spun to 12.

"And look at the time, it's "ponies can't control the world" after "blowing up the greatest artifact of order the world has ever known" ! And without all that order bottling up all that chaos in little ol' me...well, you've left me a shadow of my former self."

Celestia's shadow suddenly developed a new form as a monochrome Discord rose from it's depths.

"I've gone all pale...", as the shade cracked apart and sank back into the depths, "falling to pieces...", and as the shrunken spirit reappeared on the couch, "and half the handsome creature I used to be.".

The Princess grinned, despite the deadpan-grim delivery. "But the same horrible sense of humor, so clearly we can't bury you just yet."

"Oh, no no no Princess! Cremation. Self-inflicted. The only way to go." Discord spontaneously combusted, crackling into a tornado of ashes that drifted into a nearby flower vase. "Just make sure you pour what's left of me on Blueblood. Maybe some sense of humor might stain him for a while.".

Celestia levitated the impromptu urn and upended it. With each shake, a different bit of the dracoequus drifted to the floor until a sand-painting image had finished staining the rug...whereupon it got up and resumed being flesh again. "You know, Fluttershy would love to see you in person. She thought the butterfly flowers were a wonderful get well present...especially when they started flying around the bed. Spending most of your time moping around secret passages and royal chambers can't be good for anyone..."

"No, no, no. Every time I DON'T hide, your unicorns are always trying to *poke* me with something. They're boring. Why, Dotted Line spent an hour trying to write me up as some kind of EQUATION! On a CHALKBOARD. If I hadn't started his X's and Y's on a nice game of hoofball, he might have actually lectured me to death." Discord slithered up to press his mouth against Celestia's ear as if to share a prophecy of doom.

"He was worse than Twilight Sparkle. Every one of your subjects wants to study me, poke me, measure me, see how big a cup I fill, exactly how much I can do, why I can do it...well, except for Fluttershy and her friends. Do you BLAME me from hiding from being an endless test subject?" The scroll that unrolled from an open paw was covered in nonsense save for a big red "D" circled in ink. "Why, I'm barely passing them as it is!"

Celestia headbutted Discord, half-lifting, half-shoving as he began to protest further. "Go see them, Discord. I know you're not that familiar with friendship, but when you feel like you need to hide from your best friends...that's when you need them the most. And they need to see you. Do you want Fluttershy to worry about you?"

"Why, of course not! Oh, all RIGHT." The weight suddenly vanished as it shrank to a moth-size Discord and flapped energetically towards the door. "Maybe we can play a nice game of Old Maid or something, have some milk and cookies..." the voice dwindling as it's owner gave in to the inevitable and went. All the griping in the world couldn't hide what Celestia had known all along...Discord was a lonely creature, and needed friends as much as anypony did.

She shook her head, letting a few strands Discord had rumpled fall back neatly into place. We all could use more friends right now..., Celestia thought tiredly, and walked past the now empty couch. The very full audience was still waiting, and Celestia for once didn't have enough answers to match them...