My name is Star Gaze and let me start off by saying, just for the record, that I didn’t do it.
I had absolutely nothing to do with anything that happened to that guard. Something like that is way beyond me.
Not that the princess was having any of it.
“You come here, to my castle, and you kill a member of my Royal Guard!” Princess Celestia leaned forward in her throne. “What do you have to say for yourself!?”
I tried my best not to show fear, to look the Princess in her eyes. I’m somewhat ashamed that I failed on both counts.
“Princess, I was here only to…to give you my report on the stars.” I shook slightly and somewhat pathetically raised my hoof to the ceiling. “They’re moving funny.”
I was going to slap myself later for the bad terminology. Unfortunately, it looked like the Princess might do it for me, instead.
The Princess’ eyes flared with anger as she leaned further forward in her throne. The alicorn was white with a mane that flowed between varying shades of blue, green and pink, seemingly at random. On her flank was the cutie mark of what had been her charge, the sun. She was tall and majestic, a form that could command authority with absolute ease, although her grace had diminished ever since the betrayal of her sister. The event had taken a massive toll on the alicorn’s mind and, ever since then, the Princess had been far less forgiving in the punishments given to wrongdoers. Her favourite one was…well, I didn’t really want to think about that at the current moment.
“And even worse, you attempt to lie to me with stories of false reports on abnormal star activity!”
Well, at least one of us was getting the terminology right.
“P…Princess…I didn’t do it, I swear!” I was sweating profusely, the thought of my possible punishment heavy on my mind. “You…you even invited me here yourself! Don’t you remember?”
“I regret it immensely. I see now what your true intentions were. You were trying to kill me, to betray me. That one of my guard tried to stop you was only an obstacle!”
“N-no! I didn’t do it!”
“Enough of this. Guards! Take him away. The punishment shall be tonight.”
I could tell you that I kept my composure. I could say that I allowed myself to be escorted with dignity and with my head held up high.
I’d be lying if I did, though.
The guards, ponies wearing somewhat intricate looking golden armour, carried me, wailing and struggling, from the throne room and down several corridors. Eventually, I regained myself enough to properly take in my surroundings. Not that it cheered me up at all.
We were heading down a stone spiral staircase, the primary light source eventually becoming less from sunlight through the windows and more from magical torches that hung in brackets from the wall. I worked up the courage to inquire as to my current position.
"Um, could either of you tell me where exactly we're going?"
One of the guards turned to me. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion and anger. Although any reason for this escaped me at the time. "You, scum, are going to the dungeon 'til tonight."
Dungeons. I wasn't looking forward to that.
"And what happens tonight, then?"
The guard grinned a little. "You know what happens."
Sadly for me, I did. I kept my mouth shut after that, letting myself dwell upon my future.
Soon afterwards, we reached the bottom of the staircase and I was lead to a cell. It was in pretty good condition, actually. You know, for a cell.
After being fairly unceremoniously dumped in the cell, I watched as the guards closed the door and locked it. The one who had seemed fairly happy with my predicament earlier trotted off, his laughter echoing off of the stone walls. The other guard looked at me through the bars. He looked a little sad. "I know you didn't do it. You just don't look like that sort of pony."
I gestured in the general direction the other guard had gone. "Your friend would disagree, it seems."
The guard's frown deepened. "He's not my friend."
He turned to leave. I heard his voice calling back to me as he trotted towards the stairs. "But he was the friend of the guard who was killed."
As I heard the sound of hooves on stone fade into the distance, I worried about what would happen to me. I knew what was going to happen later that night, and I knew it would be horrible. I thought of the consequences. Not to me, but to my friends. My family.
"Sugar..."
I felt a tear make it's way down my cheek. I trotted over to the simple, firm bed in the corner of my cell and lay on it. I covered my head in my hooves and silently cried until I felt the bliss of sleep take me.
"Hey."
I murmured grumpily, annoyed at my awakening.
"Hey, you."
Why couldn't I just be left to sleep until my life ended?
"Hey! Wake up!"
I blearily lifted my head and looked at the entrance to my prison. Surprisingly, I didn't see anypony there.
"Are you awake yet? Come over to the door!"
At first my still-asleep brain told me it was the guards, come to take me away. I was relieved when I realised they would have simply come in and dragged me, were that true.
I stretched my legs and got out of bed, trotting tiredly over to the bars at my cell door.
"Oh, so you are awake!"
I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to clear them of sleep and looked once more through the bars. In the cell across from me stood a young-looking, cream-coloured mare. Her red mane was short and somewhat scraggy, with black tips in places. Around her eye, her skin was a darker colour, sort of like an eyepatch.
"So, what are you in for?"
The mare looked, somehow, almost excited at her current surroundings. Though her eyes looked at me specifically with some kind of sadness in them. Maybe she knew what I had in store for me.
"They think I killed somepony." I saw the sadness in her eyes grow and I looked down at the ground. "I didn't do it. I just found him like that. They don't believe me, though..."
I looked up and she nodded, looking sympathetic. I was curious at that point as to why I had company all of a sudden. "What about you? What are you doing here?"
She looked away, nervous all of a sudden. "I, uh...I was caught trying to steal something. Something the Princess didn't want to give up..."
It was my turn to nod in understanding. We looked at each other through the bars and, somehow, I knew we were in the same boat.
She was going to get the same as me.
It was at that time that I heard approaching hooves and I looked towards where I knew the spiral stairs to be. Slowly, the two guards who had brought me to my cell came into view, one looking quite pleased while the other looked very depressed.
The guard who was happier than he should have been approached my cell. "Come on, time to get you off to the Princess. This is her first time for, what, a few months, I'd say." He walked past my cell and I heard the sounds of a set of keys in a lock. "You first, you brute." I heard a grunt and the sounds of a door swinging open not long before a large, well-built unicorn stallion slowly trotted past my cell. He was a soft grey colour and his hair was a dark, chocolatey brown. I managed to catch a glimpse of his cutie mark, which appeared to be a large dumbbell, before his large, hulking form was out of my vision.
Next the guard approached my cell door. "Your turn, filth. Come on, there's a show to be had." The keys jangled in the lock and my door swung open. I trotted past the guard, towards the stairs, with my head down. Behind me I could hear as the young mare's cell was also opened.
As we made our way through the castle, the guards moved to the front to lead us to our destination. I took this time to get to know my new companion more fully.
"So, do you have a name?"
She was surprised at my initiation of the conversation, but smiled all the same. "I'm Patches." She gestured to her flank with a movement of her head. There I could see the cutie mark of a pair of reading glasses. "I make glasses for ponies who need them." Her smile faltered slightly as reality kept her in check. "Well, I used to anyway..."
I gave her what I hopes was a reassuring smile. "Well, my name's Star. Star Gaze. I was the town's astronomist." At Patches' confused look, I elaborated. "I study the stars and how they move and how that might affect everything else."
Patches smiled. "Well, it looks like you're going to get a much closer look, doesn't it?"
Gallows humour. I'll admit, I hadn't thought of it that way. I chuckled, weakly. Our giant of a companion trailed behind us, not uttering a noise. I wondered at his story but, not wanting to anger him, I stayed my tongue.
Eventually we reached a newer part of the castle, a giant set of double doors blocking the way.
The two guards approached the doors, each preparing to push it. The one who thought I had killed his friend continued to grin. "And here...we...go."
"Heavyweight," The grey stallion stood forward, looking directly at the Princess with no sign of fear. "You are charged with the destruction of property belonging to myself. I view this as unacceptable."
The Princess shuffled her papers, bringing a new sheet to the front. I glanced around. We were in a courtyard, the most recently added part of the castle. It had been built, not for simple viewing pleasure, but for the reason we were there.
"Patches Eyeglass" Patches hesitantly stepped forward, her eyes looking at least in the general direction of Celestia. "You have attempted to steal something of great value to me, no doubt to give to my enemies. This is a serious crime."
She shuffled the papers once more, turning to me.
"Star Gaze, the astronomist." I stepped forward, eyes on the ground. "You will look at me when I address you! I dragged my vision up to her, quaking with fear. You have made an attempt on my own life and, when a royal guard attempted to stop you, you slayed him instead. This is unforgivable."
She put the papers away and instead readied her magic. I felt warmth around me and I slowly floated an inch or so off of the ground. I glanced around me, taking in all that I could of this world before it disappeared. Patches and Heavyweight were also floating in a manner much like mine.
"For these crimes, inexcusable as they are, all three of you have been sentenced..." The magic around us grew stronger and the Princess' voice grew louder, more commanding. "TO AN EXILE ON THE MOON!"
A strong burst of magic flew from Celestia's horn and the magic around us spiked incredibly. My last glimpse before the world exploded was the face of the guard stallion who had wanted this so much.
I opened my eyes, squinting against a bright light, to see a dark form above me. The form reached out a hoof, meaning for me to take hold.
"Welcome to your exile, fillies."
Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
Physically, I'm not that much to look at, really. I'm a young, green stallion with a brown mane and yellow eyes. No, nothing extraordinary about me.
I'll be honest with you here, too. I am not a strong pony. If you were to put me up against somepony like Heavy Weight, I'm sure I would bravely cower in a corner until he mashed me into a paste or something.
No, what I myself believe to be my best feature is my mind. I won't say that I'm the smartest pony in Equestria, but I do like to think of myself as just a little bit above the average. I took some tests.
And what do I put my slightly-above-average intelligence towards, you might ask? Am I a doctor, helping to heal the injured? Too much close contact with others for me. A psychiatrist, then, helping solve other ponies' problems? I honestly do not have the socialising skills for that. No, I devote my entire time to...
...staring at the night sky and mapping out the stars and the patterns within.
That's right, I'm a great help to society.
I grabbed a hold of the stranger's hoof and allowed myself to be pulled to a standing position. A bright light behind the form blinded me constantly, allowing me only to see his blurry silhouette. From what I could tell, he was slightly above me in height, which was quite tall, as I was above average myself, and was definitely built better than I was.
"Hey, give me a hoof with this one."
The voice came from behind me and the pony in front of me walked past me towards its source. When I looked at what was going on, I saw two ponies attempting to lift an unconscious Heavy Weight onto their backs. The ponies were, surprisingly, wearing armour similar to what the Royal Guards in Canterlot had worn.
Except, instead of a golden shine, they were a dark, deep purple.
The pony who had helped me up was rolling his eyes. "The bigger ones always arrive sleeping."
"Probably for the best," the other pony replied. "They normally aren't too happy when they get here, anyway."
To my left I could see Patches slowly standing up. I looked again to the two purple Guards.
"Where...where are we?"
The Guard who had helped me up looked in my direction and gave a chuckle. "Didn't you hear me? You're at your exile. He waved a hoof around, indicating the room we were inside. It was a large circular room with very tall walls. It reminded me of a giant cylinder, with the top open to the sky. At our feet, illuminated by the bright, white light, was a large, circular symbol covering a large majority of the ground. The symbol appeared to be of a crescent moon surrounded by stars and shadows. "This is the welcoming chamber in Her Highness' Castle."
Her Highness? He couldn't possibly mean...
"Princess Celestia? How could she be he-"
"It would be a good idea," said the Guard, interrupting me and shooting me a warning look. "not to mention that name here."
Him and his companion, who had now managed to manoeuvre Heavy Weight onto their backs, began to trot down a corridor which seemed to be the only exit to the chamber. Patches and I looked at one another and quickly followed behind.
The journey to our destination was fairly silent and I took the time to observe my surroundings.
Strangely enough, the building I was currently in had an interior very similar to the one I had been escorted through less than a day ago. Much as with Celestia’s castle, this place was built with massive stones as the walls. A difference my eyes picked up however, was how new these stone blocks looked. While still somewhat aged, years at least, they were much newer than those in the Princess’ castle. As I looked, I realised this rang true with most everything. The place looked similar, but everything was newer, less worn. And…dark. Everything was tinted slightly, and I would almost say tinged a dark purple.
Purple seemed to be the favoured colour of this weird place.
I realised, as we went, that this castle was similar to Celestia’s not only in material, but also in layout. I found myself feeling familiar, in a way, with our route. If we had been in Canterlot Castle, I could have sworn we were heading for—
“The Throne room of Her Highness,” Said one of the guards. “Time to say hello.”
The doors opened and shadows whirled until I could see the powerful alicorn on her throne. Mane dark blue, almost black as night. I swore I could see stars in there. She was tall. As tall as the Princess in Equestria, almost. She wore dark, evil-looking armour and stared at me particularly with a reproachful eye. While Celestia had looked a broken kind of powerful, this Princess' form commanded respect without cruelty. The blue-black shadows around us seemed to be originating from her, as her horn’s aura glowed with that same dark, yet strangely beautiful, colour.
I swallowed with a dry throat and shook a little.
Before me was the Princess of the Night in all her glory. The sister of Celestia herself, banished.
I was in the presence of Nightmare Moon.
My love of the stars wasn’t actually as useless as it may seem. Honestly, I wasn’t too good at much else. Job prospects were, it looked to me, pretty slim pickings. So, imagine how surprised I was when I found out my hobby was actually useful. In a way.
Princess Celestia noticed my talent one day and, for whatever reason, requested I continue my observations of the heavens and report back to her once a month by letter. I wasn't complaining, really. I was actually quite glad to know I wasn’t entirely useless. So I continued and sent my letters to Celestia every month as requested. Nothing was ever unusual or out of place.
It really was great while it lasted.
I surprised even myself when I didn’t instantly melt into a broken-minded puddle of tears and spouted gibberish at Nightmare Moon’s hooves. No, I managed to hold myself rather nicely, considering. The Night Guards on either side bowed low and I could see Patches and Heavyweight both standing still. Patches quaking with fear and Heavyweight with the same uncaring, gruff non-committance. My brain quickly processed my options and came up with what it thought was a good strategy.
I waved my hoof, emitting a weak “Hi there.”
Mentally, I bucked myself very hard in the face.
To my astonishment, I was not instantly vaporised. Patches, beside me, stared with her mouth open wide, unbelieving. I shared her thoughts.
Nightmare Moon, rather than doing what I would have thought she would have, was looking at me with her deep, dark eyes, head tilted to the side. Somehow, I don’t know how, I had a feeling she had liked what I had done.
“Hello to you, young stallion.” The voice was powerful and demanded respect, yet was not as cruel as Celestia’s. “Exiled from your home, finding yourself lost in a strange, new place and being in the company of a Night Terror herself, you address me where so many others have begged and pleaded oh, so pathetically. You are different. You have pleased me greatly, this night. Now, you and your companions shall kneel before me, may you learn of your place.”
I quickly did as instructed, amazed that I had not only not messed up, but had actually managed to put Nightmare Moon in a good mood. Score one for Star Gaze.
As Patches and Heavyweight both bowed beside me, Nightmare Moon spoke up once more.
”My sister has punished you for your crimes, opting to send you to the Moon, as she did me. From now, you are no longer under her rule. From this moment on, and indeed since you first arrived, you are under my reign. And my reign comes with new laws, new rules that you must follow or be punished.”
To me, the speech seemed rehearsed, or had at least been repeated many times.
”First of all, new arrivals, let it be known that any and all crimes you committed before exile are hereby pardoned entirely.” Her eyes suddenly bloomed with dark flame. ”But crimes committed from this point forth shall be dealt with severely. Do I make myself clear?”
Patches and I both nodded. Heavyweight grunted assent. Nightmare Moon’s eyes cleared.
"Good. Second, you shall be assigned a place to work and stay, based upon your talents and skills. This will take place after our current meeting. When you have been sorted accordingly, you shall be assigned a guide to take you to your new homes and tell you in more detail of life here.”
That didn’t sound good. I didn’t really want to be split away from Patches. Though I was sure Heavyweight could handle himself just fine.
"Third, you must never stray where you are not permitted. I shall not say why, other than one foalish individual once decided this did not apply to him, leaving the village I constructed to provide his sanctuary. He did not return.”
I swallowed nervously. So that was a bit of a worry. Ponies who left…never came back. Note to self: Don’t leave town.
"Leave, now. Your guide will answer any questions you may have. But know this, follow law and you shall live as comfortable a life here as is possible. Make trouble and you will not be content.” As we turned and were escorted to the great doors, I heard Nightmare Moon speak once more, a hint of smooth, dark glee in her voice. "Welcome to your new home, ponies.”
At first, it hadn’t been that noticeable, really. Just a slight abnormality in usual formations. I’ll honestly say I had assumed it was something wrong with my telescope. So, as with all things seemingly insignificant, I chose to ignore it.
It was some call for alarm, however, when I returned home after buying a suitable replacement and found that, not only had the stars not gone back to normal but they had, in fact, changed even further.
The stars in the sky, especially in close proximity to the moon, had been…moving. Not fast enough that I could watch them in motion, but definitely moving.
I’d felt a bit saddened that I’d thrown a perfectly good telescope away.
“The name’s Joust,” the dark green unicorn stallion announced proudly, holding out a hoof and grinning wildly. “And I’m your guide to this strange, scary new world.”
I took charge, trotting forward and shaking the energetic unicorn’s hoof. “We could definitely use one.”
The unicorn nodded. “You’ve done a lot better so far than a lot of the new arrivals I’ve seen. Some don’t keep their figure long at all, what with the shock and all.”
I could understand that well enough. It was still taking quite a bit of effort not to roll up in a small ball and tune out from sanity radio. I took a second to get a good look at the unicorn.
He was young, I’d say he was not too far out of colthood. His red-tinged eyes were alight with the excitement of seeing new faces. His mane was short and scruffy, though not to the point of Patches’, and it was coloured a tinted blue. The hoof I had taken a hold of, as well as the rest of his body, was a dark-green colour. He spoke again.
“Well, I guess it’s time for me to sort out your future jobs. Can’t have you just lounging around, can we?”
He approached Patches and, smiling, held out a hoof. “And what’s your name, then?”
Patches confidently took Joust’s hoof in her own. “My name’s Patches.”
“Nice name, Patches. Did you have a job down in Equestria?”
“I made glasses for ponies who find it hard to see.”
Joust’s eyes lit up in delight. “Do you, now? Old Salt’s going to like that. Maybe we can avoid the ‘Vegetable Salad Surprise’ in future.”
Curiosity got the better of me. “What’s the surprise?”
Joust looked at me, grimacing. “The croutons aren’t croutons.”
With that, he turned back to Patches. “Well, that about sums that up. Good news for you, my dear Patches: You get to do pretty much the same thing you did back in Equestria.”
Patches’ face lit up at that. I could tell she was glad to still be doing what she loved, even if it was in a new place.
He glanced at Heavyweight, sizing him up, before looking away from him and beginning to trot towards me.
“Heavy lifting work,” he called as he moved. Heavyweight grunted, though it sounded as if he wasn’t too unhappy with this decision. “And what’s your name, then?”
“Star Gaze.” Knowing what was next, I hurried things along. “I was an astrologist to Princess Celestia.”
Joust flinched slightly as I concluded my statement. “I wouldn’t go around saying that name, if I were you. Not a popular name in this place, you can imagine.”
I nodded. A community made up entirely of ponies banished to the Moon by Princess Celestia? It shouldn’t be a surprise that she’s not much of a celebrity here.
“So,” he continued. “An astrologist. That’s pretty good. I congratulate you.” He drew a little closer. “What’s an astrologist?”
I was a bit taken aback, but I had to admit: “Astrologist” wasn’t a very common occupation.
“I watched the stars every night, recorded what they did and reported back to the Princess.”
“Sounds…pretty boring, actually.”
Suddenly, Nightmare Moon’s voice rang out, filling the room from no discernible direction.
"The astrologist shall be passed over in the task allocations. He shall be returned to my throne room next Night.
The dark fog that I had not noticed appear slowly dissipated, leaving our group in a shocked silence.
“Well, er…” Joust regathered himself, shaking his head and beginning to trot to a far door. “Maybe it’s time I showed you to your lodgings, huh?”
I looked at Patches, who had already been staring worriedly at me, and nodded, indicating for her to go first. She responded in kind and followed the young unicorn with Heavyweight and myself trailing behind, ready to emerge from this dark replica of a castle and finally lay eyes on our new home.
Always an astrologist at heart, I couldn’t let the strange happening go without further study. I’d set up my research and collected information, looking through my telescope regularly and noting down any differences.
When I saw it, I didn’t hesitate to send a letter to Princess Celestia. It was unheard of, something that shouldn’t have happened, not in a million years.
The stars were moving, swirling in a spiral shape.
Slowly but surely making contact with the moon.
