The Art of Being Different

     Anxious hoof steps echoed throughout the Canterlot Castle hallways. Outside the grand doors paced King Thunder Flare, completely out of his usual character. Instead of the confident, brave stallion he tended to be portrayed as, he was a complete nervous wreck.

     It had only been a few months since Celestia had made her grand decent into the sun, passing on her royal duties to her daughter, Starshine. The event hadn't been sad, but rather quite marvelous. Even though Equestria would miss their beloved queen, it was just as exciting for a new queen to rise into power.

     Luna had yet to make her own decent into the moon, where she would forever watch over Equestria. She had been able to hold on a bit longer, just to see who would be the new ruler of the great land. She would leave later that night.

     But at that moment, all of Equestria was buzzing with delight to meet the new son or daughter of the royal couple. Would it be a colt, or a filly? What would they look like? What would they be like? What would their name be? Would the rule over the Day or Night? And so on.

     But the anxious king could care less about all these tributes at the moment. He had been pacing for hours, wondering worriedly how his dear queen was, and about their foal.

     However, the king's worrying soon came to an end as a castle nurse poked her head out of the doors. With a soft, delighted smile, the nurse muttered quietly, "Your Highness. You're a father."

     With a smile so bright it could've blinded, the king nodded, struggling immensely to control his overflowing joy. Stepping past the nurse, he approached his wife, who was resting in bed, clearly exhausted from labor. She wore a smile as he approached, motioning him to her side.

     "Congradulations, your Highnesses." The docter beamed, turning around to reveal a small bundle, and place it softly beside Starshine. "You're parents to both a filly, and a colt."

     The couple's hearts skipped a beat simultaneously. It was as though their hearts would leap out of their chests for joy.

     Returning their attention to the sleeping bundle, King Thunder Flare smiled softly at the healthy filly, who responded with a gentle yawn. Her eyes blinked open, as though for only seconds, and closed immediately, drifting off to sleep.

     "She's the Princess of the Day." Starshine confirmed with a soft chuckle. It was pretty obvious, with the fillies shining golden orbs and all.

     "Sun Drop seems like a suitable name." The king muttered in return, gazing fondly at his daughter. Starshine confirmed with a weary nod.

     "May we see our son?" Thunder Flare lifted his head to the docter, who froze, eyes glimmering with apprehensiveness.

     "Well..." The docter began, neglecting to use their proper titles. "There's something you ought to know about your son..."

     "I'm sure it isn't anything we can't handle." Starshine replied gently.

     But instead of the docter answering, he placed the second sleeping bundle next to the first, pulling the blanket a bit further down to expose the colt's back. Instead of two pair of wings, there was... nothing.

     The couple looked at each  other anxiously, then back at their son. Born without wings..? Neither had ever heard of an alicorn being born without wings. But this stallion wasn't an alicorn. He was a unicorn.

     The crown prince of Equestria was a unicorn.

     "Enter." Princess Luna called from inside her room. A smile appeared on her face as her niece and nephew-in-law entered with their two newborns. "Are these the new royal foals?"

     "Yes." Starshine answered, coming up to nuzzle her aunt affectionately. Quietly, she set her daughter beside the respected Princess of the Night. "That's Sun Drop."

     "Princess of the Day, we can see." Luna replied fondly, her tone a bit more muted then usual. Starshine nodded, but a smile was absent on her face.

     "Listen, Luna..." Starshine began as her husband approached with their son. Luna turned her attention to her niece, and eyebrow raised assumingly. "Our son... He was born.."

     "Without wings? We know." Luna finished without explanation to how she knew. Thunder Flare gave Starshine a glance, then set the dark blue colt beside Sun Drop, where Luna smiled affectionately. "The Prince of the Night." Luna smiled, touching her own horn to the young foals.

     "There is a way we can make him an alicorn, right?" Starshine asked worriedly, keeping her eyes glued on her newborn son.

     "Of course. But why would thee want to do that?" Luna looked up steadily at the shocked couple.

     "W-well.. Because! He's the prince! What if he isn't respecte-"

     "If Equestria cannot learn to respect and accept him for who thy is, then they are thy ones who need to be transformed, not him." Luna interrupted. Thunder Flare opened his mouth to argue further, but Starshine silenced him with a shake of her head. She couldn't understand, but she knew it was something that her son would need to discover on his own.

     "Thee may turn him into an alicorn if thy'd like, but we suggest that thee let him be thy way he is. We learned to accept ourself for who thy were, but before that, our hearts were hardened." Luna stood up, gazing out the balcony window to the moon. Starshine knew she was talking about her days as Nightmare Moon.

     "Does thee have a name?" Luna turned back to the two, who quickly wiped off their puzzled faces.

     "Oh! No, he does not." Starshine answered quickly, watching Luna return her gaze to the prince.

     "Then thee shall be named Eclipse." She muttered softly. Starshine smiled softly. It was a perfect name for the young colt. Eclipse voiced his approval with a gentle yawn, which earned a giggle from Luna.

     Suddenly, moonlight filtered through the balcony doors, falling on Luna's shimmering mane and making it look as though it glittered with stars. Luna's eyes pooled with knowledge, turning her head to face the moon. With a nod, she smiled at the royal family, dipping her head and touching horns with each member.

     "Goodbye." Were Luna's final words as she stepped onto the balcony, closed her eyes and smiled, as moonlight suddenly overflowed her, and she disappeared into the starry night.