Friendship's Touch

Chapter 1

It was a nice spring day in Ponyville. Winter Wrap Up had come and gone a week ago, leaving the town and surrounding landscape covered in green trees and blooming flowers. The apple blossoms on the trees at Sweet Apple Acres were in full bloom, and it would soon be time for Applebuck season.

Up on the balcony of the library, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle lay reading a book. She and Spike had just finished spring cleaning the day before and were taking some time off to enjoy the lovely day. Spike had gone off somewhere, no doubt to see if Rarity needed his assistance, leaving Twilight time alone to enjoy her book. She had just turned the page when she heard a crash come from somewhere behind her in the library.

“What in the world could that have been?” she thought as she closed her book, which became surrounded by a purple aura and levitated behind her as she entered her room.

Setting the book down on her desk, she poked her head out the door, hearing the sound of something being shuffled on the ground below. She made the trip down the short flight of steps that separated her private quarters from the public part of the library, thinking that maybe a customer had perhaps come in. Though if that were the case, she’d have heard the bell she had set up to ring in her room when the door was opened, and the balcony gave her a clear line of sight of the door as well.  Once at the bottom of the stairs she followed the sound into the room that held the reference section.

“Oh, Twilight, forgive me,” came the apologetic voice of Princess Luna as she used her magic to sweep up the broken remains of what looked to be a vase, while simultaneously using a mop to clean up the water that had been spilled from it; the flowers had already been placed in a replacement on the nearby table. “I was carrying a stack of books and bumped into the table. I apologize for breaking your vase,” she said, before depositing the broken pieces into the trash can.

How could Twilight have forgotten?  She should have remembered that the Princess would be there. Luna wasn’t one for the hustle and bustle of castle life after being solitary for a thousand years, though come to find out she wasn’t much of a pony person to begin with; being a night pony can do that. So she had approached Twilight one day and had asked if she could stay in one of her spare rooms on occasion.  Twilight was happy to oblige if Princess Celestia was ok with it, who coincidentally saw it as a great idea. It would give Luna a chance to become reacquainted with her subjects in small numbers after her long solitude, and it would also give them more of a local presence in the town, which would shorten the time and distance one would normally have had to take to get all the way to Canterlot for a royal audience. So gradually Luna had gone from spending one day, to two, to eventually all but taking up residence in the library, teleporting or flying to the castle to make an appearance or two, and to visit Celestia.  It did turn out quite well as Princess Celestia predicted.  Within a couple months, with Twilight and her friends' help of course, Luna had acclimatized herself to the modern pony's way of life.  She had even gone so far as to learn to speak like a normal pony and dropped most of the archaic phrases she had used upon their first meeting on Nightmare Night, thanks to Cheerilee's lessons, though she would let a few slip every so often.

Luna had eventually taken Twilight on as her own personal student, something that Twilight and Celestia had happily agreed with. The time together had given Luna and Twilight a chance to get closer, giving Twilight a new insight into the mysterious mare that she had only spent a little time with on the previous Nightmare Night and then again at her brother’s wedding.  They’d spent many a night gazing at the sky, Luna telling her the intimate details of every little star.  She would tell her stories of the constellations, and the historical figures they were supposedly connected to by legend. She even got to learn, with great excitement, a lot about the sisters’ pasts, what things were like in Equestria in the old days, and the great ponies Twilight could only read about while the sisters actually knew and talked to them.

The closer they got as student and teacher opened the door for them to become closer as friends as well.  There would be many a night when Luna would sleepover in Twilight’s room after the two had sat drinking tea and playing games. Twilight had learned that Luna was an master in chess and an old game she had never heard of before called Mahjong. This new arrangement gave Twilight an opportunity to spend more time with Princess Celestia again as well, since it gave the Princess an excuse to ditch some of her boring meetings and other engagements to ‘check on her sister’.

Of course Luna’s presence in Ponyville had given her a chance to become good friends with the other girls as well. She had found an unlikely pair of companions in Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie given the fact that they all loved to prank everypony, Rarity being their favorite target. The funniest thing everypony remembered them doing was when Luna had taught the two of them to hypnotize Fluttershy’s chickens, after which, they rounded them up and carefully set them about Rarity’s room while she was sleeping. The next morning, when she had woken up and set a hoof out of bed; she nudged a chicken they had set on her slippers and startled the thing, which then flew across the room and bumped into another chicken, which then flew into and startled another chicken and so on until the whole room was a chaotic mess of startled chickens flying about.

She had become good friends with Applejack as well, admiring the pony’s hardworking spirit and the love between her and Applebloom, reminding Luna of Celestia and herself. She had spent hours at the Apple Family farm bucking apples or assisting with the Zap Apple Jam making process before participating in the good old Apple Family fun that came after all the hard work.

The best thing that Luna had taught them however, was during a sleepover Twilight had with all the girls. She had told them about some of her responsibilities as the Mistress of the Night. There was the thing everypony knew about her raising and lowering the moon and organizing the occasional meteor shower and comet fly-by. But what she had shown them next that had amazed them all was her ability to move about the dreams of the ponies. It was one of her favorite things, she admitted. She demonstrated later that night, after everypony had fallen asleep, by appearing in their dreams.  They then had a delightful tea party in Pinkie Pie’s dream which somehow turned into a volleyball game involving a pie instead of a volleyball.

“Oh, that’s ok, It wasn’t any special vase,” she reassured Luna, snapping out of her reverie. “I’m surprised to see you up at this time of day Princess. I thought you slept during the day just as Princess Celestia does at night.”

“Tis true, Twilight, that Tia controls the sun, while I control the moon and stars. But we only require the smallest amount of our magic and concentration to raise them, put them in motion, and then set them. Other than that, we live the same day and night cycle as normal ponies,” she explained as she hung the mop, broom, and dustpan in the cleaning closet and shut the door.

“Oh, I never knew that. You’ll have to tell me more sometime about how you two work the sun and moon, and how you make that lovely night sky!” she exclaimed, feeling like when she was a filly eager to learn something new.

“Of course, it would be my pleasure,” Luna said, giving the purple mare a smile. “I was just preparing to go out into town for lunch. Would you care to join me?” she asked Twilight as she watched the unicorn who seemed to be bubbling with excitement.

“Sure, that’s like a great idea,” Twilight said in between thoughts of the questions she wanted to ask Luna.  Her ecstatic moment was interrupted by her rumbling stomach however, which caused her to blush lightly with a soft chuckle.

Twilight grabbed the closed sign and hung it on the doorknob as the two mares made their way out the door. She looked up and noticed that the sun was high in the sky now; she hadn’t realized how into her book she was until now. They walked through town a ways and had just started to pass by the florist shop owned by Daisy, Rose, and Lily when a voice came from above.

“Look out below!” shouted the voice as a grey streak crashed into Luna, sending the larger Alicorn staggering back a few steps though she ultimately managed to keep her hoofing. She looked down with concern as Derpy the mailmare lay at her hooves, disoriented and shaking her head a bit.

“Oh, dear Ditzy Doo. Are you alright?” Luna asked.

As Derpy collected herself, she closed her eyes and gently knocked on the side of her head a bit before opening them again, which were now aligned perfectly and focused on the pony she had collided with.

“Oh, Princess Luna, I’m sorry!” She immediately bowed before just as quickly finding herself being gently lifted back up to her hooves.

“Tis alright. I hope you are OK though,” she said, giving the confused mailmare a kind smile.

“You weren’t hurt, were you Ditzy? Did your eyes go out of focus again?” Twilight asked as she helped Derpy pick up some of the letters along with a small package of muffins that had fallen out of her pouch.

“Yeah, I was on my way to deliver your mail when it happened, in fact.” She reached into her pouch and pulled a large magazine from it, holding it out to Twilight in her mouth. “Here’s your book catalog,” she smiled as Twilight took the magazine from her with her magic, floating it over to browse through it quickly.

“Oh thank you.,” Twilight said, using her teleportation spell to send the magazine to the library.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any mail for you your majesty,” Derpy said with a bow.

“That’s perfectly fine, and please, call me Luna, young Ditzy,” Luna said with a wave of her hoof.

Derpy nodded with a wide grin before looking at her watch.

“Oh goodness! I have to finish my route then go get Dinky from school! It was nice to see you Twilight and P- Luna!” She shouted as she zipped up into the sky, making her way towards Canterlot.

“Such a nice pony,” Luna said as she watched Derpy become a gray speck.

“Yes, she can be prone to klutziness at times, but we love her all the same,” Twilight replied with a smile before she heard her stomach rumble. She blushed a bit and chuckled nervously as she looked up at Luna. “Guess I got too into my book.”

“It would seem that way. It is good to be learned Twilight. But not at the expense of your health,” Luna chided her.

“I’ll try to remember that,” Twilight smiled.

The two made their way down the street once more, Luna receiving the odd bow or two; though for the most part she had been accepted into the community as just another citizen, and she was appreciative that her words had been taken to heart. When she had first made the arrangement to stay she had addressed the town, letting them know that she wished to be treated as one of them. The townsfolk were happy to oblige, though it took some getting used to.  After some time though, they came to treat her as one of their own while still giving her their respect and admiration she deserved. Some still addressed her as Princess or Princess Luna, with her closest of friends really only calling her Luna as she preferred. But ultimately it made Luna happy, and more importantly; it made her feel like she belonged.

They opted to go to Sugarcube Corner for lunch guided by their sweet tooth as well as a desire to visit Pinkie Pie and see the Cakes' foals.  Luna had given them her blessing when she first moved to town, and the two foals seemed to take a liking to her, climbing on and playing with her much like they did Pinkie and the other girls.  Rainbow had taken a special liking to Pound Cake, flying around with him and teaching him to use his wings much to Scootaloo's despair, however.  The girls constantly tried to bring it to Rainbow's attention, but she could be a bit dense at times.  One day they'd have to sit her and Scootaloo down together and let the little pegasus tell her her feelings.  As they walked in with a tinkle from the bell above the door they caught sight of Rainbow Dash and Applejack standing at the counter with the Cake family while the strange sounds of crashing and and construction noises emanated from the kitchen.

"Hey AJ, RD, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Twilight smiled walking up beside them, Luna's towering frame standing behind them all. "Hey there you cuties!" She said to the twins, bending down to them and talking in a cute voice which sounded odd coming from her, which their odd looks happened to confirm.

"Hey Twilight," Applejack said before she caught sight of somepony out of her peripheral vision and looked up to see Luna. "Oh, hello Princess!" She added with a smile.

The announcement caused Rainbow to draw her attention to the Princess as well as the Cakes, who had begun to turn to address Twilight before they caught sight of Luna.

"Your majesty!" They said as they bowed. The twins however had immediately jumped onto Luna's back, who kept them safe and steady with her wings.

"Luna, please." She reminded them before turning to smile at the twins and give them a nuzzle on the top of their heads.

"Yes, of course deary," Mrs. Cake said shifting back into her motherly tone she addressed everypony with, her husband rising beside her with a nervous smile.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, shifting everypony's attention away from the awkward situation.

"Pinkie wanted us to test her new concoction. Something she called a chimicherry," Rainbow Dash said as she licked her lips. The scent that came from the kitchen was quite tantalizing.

"Ah believe it was a Cherrychanga, er some such thing." Applejack corrected her.

"Well whatever it is I hope it's as delicious as it smells," Rainbow said with another excited sniff.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie thrust her head through the swinging doors with her usual excitement, a big grin on her face as always.

"Hey Twilight and Luna, you're just in time! Would you like to try a Cherrychanga?" she asked with an excited bounce.

"Sure," Twilight responded as she looked over at Luna, who simply nodded as she looked up at Pumpkin Cake, who had taken a seat on her head while Pound Cake played with her starry, flowing mane, clearly mesmerized by it.

"Okey Dokey Lokey!" She giggled before zipping back into the kitchen as more odd sounds came out. For some reason they heard a sheep and a power saw.

A few seconds later Pinkie came out with a tray full of the treats. It looked like a crepe instead of a tortilla stuffed with cherries and drizzled with a white glaze. Everypony looked on with excitement and a bit of drooling and lip licking in Rainbow's case as Pinkie set them down on the counter.

"Dig in everypony!" Pinkie Pie said as she took one for herself and scarfed it down with excitement.

Everypony took a plate for themselves, the Cakes giving their foals a bite from their own. Everypony gave a collective Mmm and smiled in delight, and then they all complimented Pinkie for her delicious invention once they had savored the first bite; the Cakes in particular took a special interest.

"I think we have something new to put out front if that's OK with you Pinkie Pie," Mr. Cake said looking like he was in heaven.

"Of course! I'm glad you all like them!" Pinkie smiled from ear to ear as she bounced in place.

"Pinkie, I think these would sell really well at the Lunar Festival," Twilight said with a contented smile.

Twilight's remark caused Luna to nearly choke on her own Cherrychanga. Applejack quickly patted Luna on the back who had descended into a coughing fit.

"Are you ok, Princess?" Twilight asked looking at her a bit worried.

"Yes, yes I'm fine now. I had nearly forgotten about the Festival! I need to start planning. It's my first one in nearly a thousand years and I want it to be special," she explained as she finally caught her breath.

"How hard could it be? You just raise the moon like Princess Celestia does with the sun at the Summer Sun Celebration," Rainbow Dash said getting a poke in the ribs and a glare from Applejack.

"It's more than that Rainbow Dash. The Lunar Festival is a celebration of the first full Moon of Spring. It's a night when Luna uses her magic to not only raise the moon, but fill the sky with all sorts of lovely constellations and other things, like comets and the Aurora," Twilight informed them, the excitement in her voice and gleam in her eye causing Luna to blush slightly.

"Yes, as Twilight says it is the night where I get to show my subjects my best work."  Luna said, composing herself "and if I want to make it special following my long absence I must get to work right away, I only have two days to get ready."  She said as she turned to make her way out the door.  "I shall see you back at the library Twilight," she said before bidding everypony goodbye and making her way out into the street, a look of dread and apprehension crossing her face.

*  *  *  *

Dusk had begun to settle as Twilight made her way up to the door of the library. Following the unveiling of Pinkie Pie's new creation Twilight had run some errands around town. She stopped to place an order for some ink and quills, then from there proceeded on over to pick up a book from Cheerilee and stopped to visit with Fluttershy before making her way home. As she used her magic to open the door she began to wonder if Luna had already begun to set the moon in motion for the night so it would be there once Princess Celestia set the sun. Maybe she would let her watch. Being the personal protégé of Celestia, Twilight had personally seen her raise the sun more times than she could count. But ever since Luna’s return, for all the time they’d spent together she hadn’t seen her raise the moon and stars once. As she entered the library she spotted Spike setting some books on the shelves, most likely returns.

“Hey Spike, how’d things go with Rarity?” She asked as she magically closed the door behind her.

“Eh, she used me as a mannequin,” He said with a shrug as he stepped down from the ladder.

Twilight giggled lightly before looking around. “Have you seen Princess Luna?”

“Yeah, she showed up in kind of a panic and shut herself in her room. I haven’t seen her since,” He replied, putting some more books on a low shelf.

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she rushed up to him, pressing her nose against his and effectively knocking the books he was holding onto the floor.

“What! And you didn’t try to figure out what was wrong?” She shouted, a look of panic crossing her face.

“I didn’t think it was my business.” He raised his hands up in a protective gesture. “Why don’t you go in and ask her?”

“Maybe you’re right,” she said, looking to the storage room door, where they had set up the Princess’ room.

Twilight made her way to the door and slowly opened it, poking her head in first. Her ears strained to listen for any sign of the Princess and after a few seconds of silence she slowly made her way up the short flight of stairs to stand in the entryway to the room proper. The room was very much Luna; dark blues and blacks adorned the room in the form of curtains and a carpet, both intricately woven with the moon and stars down to the smallest star in the smallest constellation. In the corner of the room, near the large window, sat the rather modest bed with dark blue and black bedding. Luna had insisted on the simplest of everything, the bed being the main thing; though she had to fight for that one. The local furniture maker had insisted on making her a bed fit for royalty, but she had finally reached a compromise with him, ending up with an extremely comfortable, but simple, round bed. The frame and headboard were made from the finest oak, along with the end table and desk that sat on either side of it, intricate carvings of the stars and other celestial bodies along the frame and edges of the bed as well as the edges of the table. As the last rays of sunlight filtered into the room, Twilight could make out Luna’s shape under the large blanket, her muzzle and horn poking out from under it. Twilight suppressed a giggle at the site and composed herself before taking a couple steps towards the bed.

“Luna?” she asked quietly.

“Leave me alone Twilight,” Luna replied, her muzzle withdrawing under the blanket until her horn was the only thing showing.

“Luna, what’s wrong? You can tell me,” Twilight reassured her, stepping up until she was right next to the bed. “Is it the Lunar Festival?”

“I can’t do it! Tia makes the Summer Sun Celebration look so easy. But raising the moon and positioning the stars just right is more difficult. I want everything to be perfect, it’s my first Lunar Festival in over a thousand years!” Luna shouted from under the blanket.

“I know you’re nervous Luna, but I know you can do it. Ever since you came back from the moon, the nights have been the most beautiful I’ve ever seen,” Twilight said, lifting the blanket to look into her eyes, a warm smile on her face.

“If only the other ponies thought as you do Twilight.” Luna sniffled, her head slowly coming out from under the blanket.

“I’m not the only one. There are plenty of groups dedicated to the appreciation of the night sky. In fact, the whole town turned out not too long ago to watch your first meteor shower.” She said, keeping her smile on Luna, soon receiving a small smile from the Princess.

Luna sighed a bit and slowly crawled out from under the blanket, her head a little higher.

“Then I guess I can’t disappoint them.” She said with confidence, her smile growing wider. “I’ll have to make this the best Lunar Festival ever!” she shouted, raising a hoof in the air.

“Good for you Princess!” Twilight said clapping her fore hooves together.

“Thank you Twilight, you’re the best friend a pony could have.” she said, pulling the unicorn into a tight hug. “Would you like to see me raise the moon and stars tonight?” she asked.

“Oh yes! Yes of course I would!” Twilight bounced excitedly.

“Come then,” Luna said as she walked out to the balcony into the now dark and pleasant night.

With a smile, Luna looked to the horizon and closed her eyes. As a blue aura surrounded her horn, the stars slowly winked into view in the sky; the Big Dipper, Draco, and Orion constellations were prominent in the corners of the sky.

“And I have a gift for you, Twilight.” Luna smiled.

Closing her eyes once more, her horn began to glow again. Soon, a large milky looking band of stars appeared in the sky, every star bunched so close together it seemed as if it was one long glowing band in the sky.

“The Milky Way!” Twilight said, her eyes wide and aglow like a filly on Hearth’s Warming Day.

“Do you like it?” Luna asked with a grin, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, I love it!” Twilight squealed, giving her an excited hug.

“That makes me happy to hear. For you are the greatest friend I’ve ever had. While others gave up on me you showed me true friendship, for that I thank you. You are dear to me like my own sister, Twilight,” Luna smiled, nuzzling the top of Twilight’s head.

“That makes me very honored and happy to hear Luna,” Twilight said as she turned her eyes back to the beautiful sky as the moon started to peek up from behind the hills in the east, the very top of the barn of Sweet Apple Acres visible from the library. Twilight stared on, lost in the show and slowly leaned into Luna.

“I am glad….Sister.” Luna replied, leaning back into Twilight and looking up at her work with a newfound appreciation.

*  *  *  *

Meanwhile, far to the southeast, past the Everfree Forest, past the steep mountains beyond that, even past the vast plains and forests nestled amongst the many valleys and hills beyond that, at the end of a vast marshland, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, stood a castle that rivaled Canterlot in sheer size but paled in comparison to its beauty. While Canterlot was warm and inviting, everything about this castle was sad and depressing. The castle appeared abandoned, as the surrounding forest showed signs of creeping inside the castle's walls. Trees and grass grew amongst the wide roads while vines and other clinging vegetation grew up the sides of the buildings and battlements. As one got closer to the actual castle, there would be revealed large pieces of stone missing from the wall, littering the ground below. Inside the castle, a path descended to the right into a dangerous looking labyrinth while in the center stood the keep, towering high above the walls with a tower in the middle that rose even higher. Deep inside the keep, in the spider web and dust covered throne room, a dark stone figure lay motionless on a marble throne that was adorned with a cushion beneath the figure and a sword hanging from the armrest to its right. A soft murmur of voice that seemed to come from everywhere was heard as the figure began to stir.  Suddenly, large cracks formed along the figure’s body before its eyes suddenly shot open with an intense red glow.