Luna Won't You Cry For Me

It was a chill winter's night in the Everfree Forest. The wind-driven snow piled up heavily around the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It was quiet, or at least as quiet as the Everfree gets. But even if anypony had been around, they probably wouldn't have been able to hear what was happening inside.

What was happening was a gaseous vapor, blackish-blue in color, rising out from the ground underneath the palace. At first, only a few wisps made it through the decaying cobblestone floor of the throne room. But slowly, gradually, more and more came through, creating a swirling, glowing, vortex. The vortex may have only lasted five seconds, but then, as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving behind something very different.

A unicorn stallion now stood where the vortex had been. His coat was as black as the night outside. His blue mane, which stood out abruptly from his coat was long and tied back. He wore a white dinner jacket, adorned with golden orbs both as buttons and cuff-links. The white-and-gold attire matched his cutie mark, a compass rose.  However, his most striking feature were his eyes, which shone with much more luster than their navy blue coloring would indicate.

The stallion peered around the old throne room, not in confusion, as he knew precisely where he was, but more in amusement.

"Well it appears nopony calls this place home any longer," he mused aloud before looking at the falling snow through the hole in the ceiling, "And, I suppose, I shouldn't either."

He began to walk out of the room with nary a glance backwards. As he set foot outside the castle walls, he effortlessly cast a protective magic bubble around himself.

*-*-*-*-*

The next morning came way too early for some of the citizens of Ponyville. While it was nice to see the fresh snow that had been made to fall the night before, there sadly wasn't enough of it to declare a city-wide snow day.

However, there was one pony who couldn't be brought down by the daily grind. That pony was Pinkie Pie. The smiling pony traveled through town on her usual morning walk, though considering that she was bouncing the term might not apply. With each little hop her four hooves made a delightful crunching sound against the snow.

"Good morning, Cheerilee," she waved to the schoolteacher, who was looking worse for wear, though considering it was the last week before Hearth's Warming break, nopony could really blame her.

"Good morning, Pinkie," Cheerilee returned, brightening up significantly. And who could blame her, Pinkie wasn't the former Element of Laughter for no reason.

Pinkie went on her way. She was almost to the edge of town, then she would turn back and get her own workday started. She bounced up to the top of a small rise which gave her a good view of the town, as well as the neighboring Everfree Forest. Usually, she wouldn't take in the view for very long, as it was nothing she hadn't seen a million times at this point, but today, something of interest caught her eye. Just as she was about to head back into town, she noticed somepony emerging from the forest. It was nopony she knew, which instantly made it interesting, but what was even more interesting to Pinkie was how he was dressed, which seemed more than a little out of place.

She wouldn't be Pinkamena Diane Pie if she just let somepony new stroll into town without saying hello. She quickly changed off of her usual course and trotted to where the path to and from the forest met with the main street of town. That way, Pinkie hoped, it would make it seem like their meeting was purely coincidental, though that wasn't the case at all. Pinkie timed her walk perfectly, meeting the new pony almost nose-to-nose where the path's converged.

"Hi," Pinkie greeted, trying not to scare him, as she knew she had a habit of doing, "Welcome to Ponyville. What were you doing in the forest?"

"Ponyville, you say," the stallion asked, not sure what to make of the bright pink pony who now stood in front of him.

"Absotutely-lutely!"

"This isn't where I want to be," the stallion explained bluntly, "I'm looking for Princess Celestia."

"Well, you won't find her here, unless there's some kind of special royal business I don't know about. But that can't be because I would certainly know about it. Or maybe if she made a visit because of something Twilight did. But other than that, you won't find Celestia here."

"Then I'll be on my way."

The stallion walked past Pinkie a ways before she got him to stop once again.

"Hey, if you really want to see the princess, you should talk to Twilight."

The stallion ran this over in his head. He didn't know who this 'Twilight' pony was, but obviously things are a little different than before, especially if there are new towns. Since he had nothing else to go on, he figured this was as good a bet as any.

"And where, pray tell, would I find this Twilight?"

"Oh, she lives in the giant crystal tree-palace thing. Straight up the road, you can't miss it."

This information confused the stallion significantly. "Giant crystal tree-palace thing" made absolutely no sense to him, but he decided to humor the pink mare and be on his way, "Thank you, ma'am, I will go there post-haste."

"You're welcome," Pinkie waved as the stallion continued on his way.

The black-and-blue stallion didn't care much for this so-called "Ponyville". In his eyes, it wasn't much more than a village, no more than a pinpoint on the Equestrian map. Though, he had to admit, if there really was a palace here, then the town must hold some importance, whatever that may be.

He didn't have to go very far to find what he was looking for. Rising in front of him stood a tall structure. The ground floor and first story looked like the trunk of a tree, a crystal tree. The rest looked like an ordinary palace, mostly colored purple. He walked up to the door, surprised to find that there didn't seem to be any guards. Giving the door a firm knock, he stood there for a second before it opened, by itself. Now he was even more confused than when he had first gotten here.

Walking down the main corridor, it almost felt like the castle was empty. He was so used to places like this being filled to the brim with every kind of waitstaff and servant imaginable that not having to dodge thirty ponies at any given time was a relief. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was the only one there. He began to wonder if Twilight was even here. If she lived in a palace, she must be somepony important, and she could be elsewhere. However, as soon as this train of logic came to a halt, his questions were answered.

"Is somepony here," a voice called down a side hall, which the stallion immediately turned down. Soon thereafter, he found what appeared to be a library. And, more importantly, there was another pony there. The lavender mare looked at him, her eyes the only facial feature visible as she was half-behind a book which was levitating in her magic.

"Yes," the stallion began, "I was told by a strange pink mare in town to come here and talk to a pony by the name of Twilight. Do you know where they are?"

The lavender pony shut the book and put it down.

"I am Twilight Sparkle," she stood up, causing the stallion to notice that she had wings in addition to a horn, "Who are you?"

"You are...an alicorn?"

"Oh, yes, some ponies only use my title, Princess Twilight Sparkle, but I just prefer Twilight."

The stallion, now aware of the status of the pony in front of him, quickly bowed.

"I'm sorry, your highness," he apologized, "I was unaware who you were."

"Oh, that's OK. Wait, you don't know who I am? The name Twilight Sparkle doesn't ring any bells?"

"I'm afraid not," the stallion said as he rose, "I must admit that I have been out of the loop for quite some time."

"Elements of Harmony?"

"I know of them. But the last time I saw them, Celestia was using them as statuary in the palace."

"You know Princess Celestia?"

"Yes. That's why I've come here. The pink one told me you could help me find her. It seems she no longer lives in the old palace."

Twilight was, unsurprisingly, confused, "Exactly how far out of the loop are you?"

"That depends. Tell me, how many Summer Sun Celebrations have come to pass?"

"Well, let's see. This year was the one thousand and...fourth Summer Sun Celebration."

This information knocked the stallion flat on his ass. He stared at Twilight blankly.

"I have been gone for that long," he muttered, not expecting a response.

"Um...sir," Twilight said, trying to get his attention, "Who exactly are you?"

The stallion regained his four hooves and shook his head, "My name is Blue Star van der Dusk, of the noble house of Dusk. Celestia banished me to Tartarus one thousand years ago."

It was now Twilight's turn to be taken aback by new information. The young alicorn took a hop back, taking on a defensive stance.

"If Celestia banished you, you must be evil," she said, completely confident of the fact, "What did you do?"

"I did nothing," Blue Star mourned, sitting back on his haunches and hanging his head, "I was only trying to defend Luna."

Twilight eased up a bit at the stallion's emotional display, "You know Princess Luna?"

"A little more than 'know her', princess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you take me to see Celestia, I will explain everything."

"OK, I will help you. But it can't be today. I will have to send a letter in advance. We can go to Canterlot tomorrow."

"Thank you, princess. And, if I may change the subject, what exactly are you the princess of," he asked craning his neck to get a look at her flank, or more correctly, her cutie mark, "I would guess the stars?"

"Nope. Princess of Friendship."

"Princess of Friendship," Blue deadpanned, "Next you're going to tell me that there is a Princess of Love."

"Uh, yeah. She's my sister-in-law."

"It seems I have much to learn."