Sorrowed Souls
Tonight wasn't the same as any other night. The stars were out, shining bright up in the sky. The moon was full, giving off it's full, majestic glow. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which gave way for any pony still up to gaze upon this night in awe of the beauty that had been created by Princess Luna. She had put a lot of work into making sure that the night was beautiful every night, but this was one of her greatest works yet. But why did she not feel accomplished.
It may of been the fact that she had done this thousands of times over and just got tired of making it such a big deal. Or perhaps it was because of the fact that most of the ponies in the land were fast asleep and could not enjoy her beautiful night. Whatever the reason, it made Luna feel slightly empty.
It had been almost a half hour since the moon had hit it's peak, and as custom for Luna when that happened, she prepared herself to go dream walking so that she could help out the ponies who were having nightmares. It had gotten pretty easy over the past few months, as fewer and fewer ponies seemed to be receiving nightmares. Come to think of it, Luna didn't recall anypony having a nightmare at all this past week, which was very odd, considering the amount of sleeping ponies there were.
This didn't bother Luna as much as she thought it would though. It just made her job all the more easier. But at the same time, it also made her job feel all the more pointless. I mean, what good is going out of your way to help ponies out with their nightmares when they aren't even having them in the first place. It has become more of a sentry duty than a actual job.
But tonight, something was very off. She felt something inside her but she couldn't quite put her hoof on exactly what the problem was. She decided to shake off the feeling for now and come back to it in the near future. For now, she still had to watch out to see if a pony was having a nightmare. Maybe tonight would be the night she would be able to help a pony out again! She slowly took off into the night sky, and as she did, she lit her horn up, and in a flash of light, she had entered the hallway of dreamers.
This was one of Luna's favorite places to be, despite how quite it has been lately. From here, she could watch over all her subjects and could easily reach them if they were to require her help while they slumbered. She felt like this place was her own personal sanctuary where she and she alone could finally be free of her sisters day. But being here this night, brought a slight pain to Luna's heart.
She didn't have much time to evaluate it, however, because she had assumed right about tonight. Somepony was indeed having a nightmare at this very moment. She quickly trotted over to the door where the problem was coming from and entered post-haste. A light engulfed her and in an instant, she was in the pony's nightmare. But looking around, this didn't look to BE a nightmare.
From the looks of it, it seemed to be one of the most peaceful dreams she had seen in a while. She was currently standing in a study that was packed wall to wall with romance, mystery, and general fiction novels. in the middle sat a smooth, birch desk covered with more of the books she had just seen upon the shelves. Along side that was an inkwell and a stack of parchment. It seemed to be the study of an up and coming author, but she did not remember any of her subjects that were following that path.
"Ah, Princess Luna, so nice of you to join me." A calm voice called out from behind her.
Luna quickly turned around. The origin of that voice came from none other that her fairly new friend, Fleur de Lis. They had met just a few days ago while Luna was walking the streets of Canterlot. She had entered a local cafe and to her surprise, Fleur just came up to her and spoke to her like she was an ordinary pony. It felt nice to be treated as a normal pony instead of a princess sometimes, and Fleur gave her that pleasure.
"Why hello there, Fleur. How art thou this dusk?" Luna managed a smile.
"I am doing well, and yourself?" She smiled back.
"I am completely fine." She lied, hoping that Fleur would buy it.
"Well, that is nice. Would you care to join me for a friendly conversation?" She offered Luna a seat.
"I have nothing else to do so... I would be honored." Luna sat down, as Fleur took her seat across from Luna.
She tapped her hooves against the desk and a few seconds later, a suited pony walked in with a tray of tea. He set it down on an empty space on the desk and took his leave. Even thought Fleur only knew Luna for a few days, she already found out how comfortable tea made her feel, and she already memorized how she took it; 2 sugars and a bit of honey.
"Tea, Luna?" She offered.
"How can I refuse." This gave Luna a genuine smile.
Fleur simply nodded and used her magic to pour both her and Luna some tea. They took the time to enjoy their drinks and eachothers company, but after they finished up their beverages, Fleur was the first to speak up.
"Luna, I have a question." She said.
"Yes, what does thou want to know?" Luna replied with a tilt of her head.
"Are you really ok?" Fleur de Lis asked, concerned for her new friends mental well being.
Luna went silent for a moment. She took the time to think about what Fleur de Lis had just asked her. Was she really ok? Luna knew that it had been a quiet week, but from what she was thinking earlier may of hinted to her current emotional state. After thinking about it for about a minute, she looked Fleur dead in the eye and spoke up.
"No, dear Fleur, I am not ok..." Luna said in a sorrowful tone.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Why do you care?" Luna questioned, confused why she would care for her well being.
"Because you're my friend Luna... and I don't have many friends... so I want to make sure the ones I do have are happy!" She smiles.
Luna never thought that another pony other than her sister would care for her like this. But she could see the honesty in Fleur's eyes as she spoke. Luna may have only knew this mare for a few days, but that is all it took for her to feel like she had known her forever.
"The truth is Fleur... I feel like I am not needed anymore..." Luna began.
"Why is that Luna?" Fleur got up, and walked over to Luna.
"Because it has become quiet for me every night. You are the first pony this week to have anything wrong in their sleep. I had been gone for 1000 years and ponies did just fine without me. Now that I'm back I feel like that same statement still stands. I wasn't needed back then, so why would it be any different now?"
Luna was starting to tear up at this point which gave Fleur more concern than she previously had. She could feel all the pain that Luna was feeling at this very moment, just not as badly. She approached Luna and wrapped her hooves around her, allowed her to let go. The tears started to rush out as Luna wept out all the pain that was inside her at this very moment.
"Luna, we all need you." Fleur began to speak, "Sure you may have been gone for 1000 years, but now that your back, we are all happy at night. Celestia could never make the night look as pretty as you do. As for your help in our dreams, I hear talk about how much the ponies in Canterlot want to personally thank you for what you did for them. And think about it. Celestia needs you more than anypony. She probably missed you so much after she banished you. You are so important to us all Luna, don't you forget that."
At this point, Fleur was starting to tear up as well. She couldn't believe the princess of the night was feeling like she wasn't needed. She was one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria and she feels like she doesn't belong. It must be hard to feel that way.
"T-thank you Fleur..." She releases herself from Fleur's hooves, "I feel a bit better now."
"I'm glad to hear that Luna."
"But if I may ask, why did you have a disturbance in your dream?" Luna questioned.
"Well... I guess it's beca-"
Fleur was quickly cut off as a noise sounded from the hallway of dreamers. "It looks like somepony else is having a nightmare. I must go for now. May we speak again another time?" Luna asked.
"Y-yea... Sure..." Fleur managed to get out.
"Alright. Farewell Fleur. Pleasant dreams." Luna said, leaving the dream in a flash of light.
"Oh Luna... If only you knew why there was a disturbance... You would see my pain too..." Fleur said, trotting off into the rest of her dream.