"Thank you for coming," Avant Garde said as he stepped back, allowing the dark blue alicorn to enter. "I know it was short notice."
The regal princess stepped into the room as various ponies embraced her with open forelegs and tears in her eyes. She hoped that she wasn't too late. It was always harder to keep track of time nowadays. She had made a promise to return to the inn someday, and it was time.
"How is he?" Luna asked.
One of the elderly mares shook her head and pointed towards the door on the other side of the room. "He's not doing so well. He's been getting progressively worse."
Luna glanced around the room. These were half a dozen ponies, friends and family of the bedridden pony. Many of the ponies waited for the inevitable and stared at the floor. She nodded, immediately understanding the situation. The time for departure was drawing closer. It felt like it happened too soon, but then again, it always was.
"May I see him now?"
Avant Garde, the owner of the inn, gave her a small nod. "I'm not sure if he'll know who you are, though. Pip can't see anymore." He sighed and continued. "He's still alive, but I'm not sure for how much longer."
The wife of the innkeeper approached them. "It's a shame. I know you came here just for him." A tear glided down her cheek.
"It is all right," Luna said as she wrapped a wing around the mare's shoulder. With her other wing, she wiped away her own tears that had collected on her cheeks. She had lived an eternal life, cursed to sit idly by, powerless to help as her loved ones went one by one. Slowly but surely, her experience had taught her that much.
After a quick embrace, Luna looks into the mare's eyes. "I still have plenty of stories to share with him."
Instead of smiling, the mare released another tear and nodded. "He always did love hearing your stories." Her sobs almost drowned out her words.
Avant Garde said, "I would ask if you wanted to rest before you saw him, but..."
Luna held out a wing to silence him. "That's fine. I'll see him right away."
Leaving them both behind, Luna slowly trotted into the hallway. There was very little time left now. Judging by what the mare had told her of his condition, he would probably breathe his last before the sun came up. Upon walking through the familiar hallway, she stared at the door that led into the bedridden pony's room. With a sigh, she slowly pushed the door open.
As she walked into the room, she noticed the frail form huddled in the bed. No one else was in the room, an indication that he had passed the point where the doctors could help him. Even if his sight was already gone, perhaps it wasn't entirely too late.
Normally, death first takes away the power of speech. Then the ability to see. However, the last sense to remain to the very end was the power to hear. Even if they had lost consciousness, it's not a rarity for the voices of loved ones to bring smiles or tears to the pony's face.
Upon a closer look, Pip lay on his side, his little chest rising and falling almost imperceptibly. Luna kneeled next to him and smiled. Gently, she strokes his face with a wing.
"Hello, Little Pip. I'm back."
The young colt stirred, but his eyes remain closed. Luna felt his forehead and realized it was burning up. He let out a soft moan. At first, Luna couldn't think of anything to say, so she just stood there and watched him sleep. Memories of an earlier time flooded Luna's mind.
"The moon sounds like it was a wonderful place," Pip said as he threw his hooves into the air.
"Quite." Luna nodded. "There are even places where you could actually eat pieces of it. It sorta tastes like blue cheese."
"Really? That's amazing!"
They both sat in silence in the lobby of the Inn. Pip stared out of the window with an gaping mouth while Luna chuckled nearby. They were exchanging pleasantries and random talk about various things in their lives, Pip being one of the very few that seemed interested in what Luna had to say.
"The night sky, it's so beautiful."
"Indeed, my little pony. It really is." Luna tilted her head at him. Even though Pip couldn't explore the world on his own, he still appreciated many of the adventures that Luna spoke of. No matter how boring of a subject it seemed to her, he would always pay attention to her every word, clinging like a mountain climber for dear life.
He turned to face her. "Promise I'll see you again?" he asked with a sad smile. He laid in a makeshift bench, his face pale and nearly transparent. "I always like hearing about your stories."
Luna nodded. She leaned closer and nuzzled him on the neck. "I promise."
"Ya know, I might never see you again," he said, leaning back. He coughed violently for a few minutes before regaining control. He placed a hoof to his head and moaned. Sweat ran down his forehead and he was noticeably a lighter color than normal, but he smiled. "Still, I'll wait for as long as it takes. Always for you."
"Of course."
The time gently slipped away, until finally the moon started to fade into the horizon, replaced by its celestial counterpart. Pip had fallen asleep, gentle snores drifting from his drooling mouth. Gently, Luna draped a blanket over him and walked towards the doorway. She took one last look back. "I wish you well. Do not worry, I will return someday." As she closed the door behind her, she shook her head. It was too soon, like always, but it always happened sometime. For this particular colt, his time was coming not in the distant future.
Luna snapped back to reality. It had seemed like such a short time since then, despite the fact that it's been many months. He had held on for far longer than anypony would have thought, determined to hear from Luna one last time. She didn't mean to keep him waiting, she had just lost track of time. But the last letter that she was sent sounded urgent and by looking over his figure, it looked like his time was up.
She sighed as she stroked a flock of his mane. Normally pony lifespans were already short enough, but his was about to end way ahead of schedule. Several years after he came to Ponyville, he contracted a disease that soon left him unable to walk.
"This colt will probably not become a stallion," the doctor told his foster parents.
Although he had to stay indoors, his enthusiasm never waned. The innkeeper who had adopted him always brought him into the lobby, where he could talk with many of the adventurers that had passed through. Robbed of his ability to experience life directly, he lived vicariously through others instead. As each new face appeared, he would ask, "Where are you from?"
"Where are you going?"
"Can you tell me a story?"
Occasionally interrupted by a fit of coughing, he would sit and listen with all of his heart. With sparkling eyes, he reassured the guests that he was fine and urged them to continue.
"And then? And then?" he asked.
When they had to leave, he would beg them to return. "Please come back and tell me more stories about other places. I'll be waiting." As they left the inn, he waved until they disappeared before giving one last lonely sigh and climbing back into bed.
The first time they had met, Luna thought Pip was afraid of her. She had just proclaimed that Nightmare Night was over. Yet, a little white colt approached her and asked her to come back next year, to scare the foals again. Little did she know was that he, as well as the other foals in Ponyville, loved being afraid. It was like an adventure, to not know what was behind the shadows, the lurking darkness, and what lay beyond the stars. The unknown was scary and yet, exciting... fun. Intrigued by the little colt, Luna promised that she would.
After Luna's escapade to Ponyville, she eventually wondered what had happened to her admirer. Upon a return visit, she found him at the inn. Like many of the prior passersby, she relayed her stories to him as well. Thankfully, her long life provided her with a wealth of stories to pass the time with. They spent hours upon hours just talking, Luna about her banishment to the moon and proceeding adjusting to the unfamiliar world and Pip asking his endless stream of questions. For once, Luna was thankful that somepony actually took the time to care. Finally, she had a friend. Even if she knew that it wouldn't last forever.
Year after year, she visited Pip, always relaying her experiences. Even after he was stricken by the disease, his enthusiam and spirit never seemed to falter. Luna did her best to come up with the most interesting parts she could think of, a warm glow burning within her heart as she told of her epic tales. She told him many things.
About the dolphin ride on the moon, about the time she had met an astronaut, about the mysterious shaped moon rocks that looked strangely like body parts. She made sure only to mention the good, never the bad. Instead of mentioning her loneliness and guilt, she talked about vast, bottomless sky, the patterns of stars, and the beauty of Equestria from her special vantage point.
After she talked about all she could about her past, she began talking about her more current adventures. About how she tried to use a fan, her obsession with socks, and her friendships with Twilight Sparkle.
But eventually, Pip began to get worse. Luna could do nothing but fear the inevitable, powerless. The feeling was worse than the loneliness she had felt while on the moon, and she gripped at the strings of hope, wishing that it wouldn't happen until the next year.
A violent cough brought Luna back to the present again. Pip had stopped snoring and was now laying on his back. Gentle breaths rolled across his lips, a slight wheezing whistled through the air.
"My sister says that the kingdom was invaded while I was asleep. I told her that I wish I could have helped but she reassured me that it was alright. I felt like she was pushing me away. Not letting me help with anything important or always treating me like a child. So I ran away. I ran as far as I could to the ends of Equestria. I came to a place called "Pangaea" where the ponies didn't believe in the power of Celestia and believed it was the work of a different god. Isn't that silly?"
Luna chuckled, and she could swear that she saw Pip's pale white cheek move slightly.
He can hear her. He might not be able to speak or see anymore, but he could still hear. At least, that's what Luna hoped. Wanting to believe with all of her heart, she continued her story.
"At first, I just listened and I learned that although they believed in a different god, they acted very similarly to the way we do. Some ponies seemed rather obsessive, but they weren't bad ponies."
She told Pip about their way of life, the fascinating ponies she met, and even about the admirers of the night sky.
"I wondered why they didn't believe that alicorns could even raise the sun and moon, so I asked. It was because they had never seen it first-hoof before. I wanted to prove it was possible, so the next night, I showed them. It took me a few minutes, but I made the most amazing constellations into an amazing patchwork of stars. It was a clear night and my best work yet."
Luna leaves out the part about the rioting, the madness caused by ponies having their beliefs shot down, and how some ponies couldn't handle the truth. There was no talk of the massacres that followed, how she had to run, how they had threw stones at her. Instead, she focused on the inquisitive young fillies, the helpful stallions, and the elder ponies with the stories of her own.
She sighed. Luna knows that this will be the last story she will ever share with him. Never able to see him again, to tell him stories again. Even as she relayed her tale, the night continued on, blissfully unaware. Just before dawn, when the darkness of night has reached its peak, long pauses entered into Pip's breathing. The frail thread that was his life was about to snap as Avart Garde and his wife enter the room. They watch over him, Luna turning away to look out the window. The tiny glimmer of hope and friendship that had remained in her heart was flickering.
Tears running down her cheeks, Luna turned back to Pip and said, "It'll all be okay, Pip. Pretty soon, you'll be able to walk again. To run again. You'll be able to experience the life that was taken away from you and you can do anything you want. At last, you'll be free."
"Someday, you'll meet everypony again. All of your friends and family, they'll be there." She stopped, trying not to think of the fact that she's not included. No matter what happens, time will continue to march on, but Luna won't be able to leave. Putting a hoof to her chest, she stuttered out her last words. "Thi- this isn't goodbye. We... we'll meet again someday."
She lied to him. She didn't want to, but she wanted him to know that death isn't a bad thing. After she finished, Pip's breathing gradually stopped, his face transfused with a tranquil smile as if to say "I'll see you someday." A tear slowly glides down his cheek.
Avart Garde placed the blanket over Pip's face, a stoic expression on his face. The wife is bawling her eyes out, using a nearby pony as a handkerchief. After saying her goodbyes, Luna slowly trotted out of the room and then, the inn. No thoughts pass through her mind, if anything, there is only nothingness. As she walked onto the hill that overlooked Ponyville, she could only turn back and stare. Wiping away her tears, she sighed. Just like that, another young life has been severed and her only friend was now gone. With nothing else pressing on her mind, she laid on the ground. Her mind blank, she gently drifted off to sleep.