Sisters of the Sky, Cry No More
Sisters of the Sky, Cry No More
By Docboy at http://www.blogger.com/profile/00512291351953293845
Disclaimer: This is purely fan fiction. I do not own anything having to do with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That belongs to Hasbro.
The Crash
October 4 2011:
It all happened so quickly.
Too many red lights came up on the dashboard of my helicopter. Everything was going wrong. My craft spun out of control as it rapidly lost altitude. It was my own fault anyway. I had to keep flying out across the sea despite warnings of an impending storm. I’ll be honest. I’ve been an irresponsible person all my life. I never listened to what anyone had to say. I didn’t care. I didn’t care enough to mend many of the broken relationships that damaged me. What the hell was love for anyway? Liquor became my closest friend. That is, I wasn’t a lonely guy, just a lousy friend to the ones I was lucky to have.
I finally caught sight of the approaching coastline. But then that’s also when the storm caught me. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The sirens in the cockpit were blaring, warning me of our imminent doom unless I could somehow regain control of the aircraft. But I was powerless to the fury of the tempest around me. I watched in despair as the altitude meter dropped and dropped, clicking in a quick little rhythm as though it were laughing at me. But as I prayed to God that I wouldn’t die, I noticed something strange about the storm. All I could see through the glass was a black abyss from which rain would batter the cockpit windshield. But from time to time, I could have sworn that I saw figures flying about in the storm almost as if they were trying desperately to keep it under control. They appeared to have wings, but something about their bodies didn’t make sense. They looked as if they were equine.
I could only catch a faint glace of them as I continued to spiral downward. My heart was leaping into my throat. Finally, at about 300 feet, my chopper blacked out and the engine cut off. At that instant, I broke through the storm and saw land stretched out beneath me. From the good five seconds I had to look at it before I crashed, I actually marveled at its beauty. It was a huge orchard with a large barn in the distance. It looked peaceful, even at night in a storm. The sight put me out of my panic well enough that I gained enough control over myself to shut my eyes, and brace for landing.
Then I crashed.
I could feel what had happened. The skids of the chopper chewed at the ground for an instant before the helicopter tripped over, sending the craft rolling rotor over tail. I tumbled about in the wreckage like a rag in the dryer. Then the chopper hit something solid. I guess it was a tree. I went flying through the windshield and tumbled to the ground. I lay in the dirt for a few minutes until I opened my eyes, even though I couldn’t very well see anything. My vision was hazy and the fall had knocked the wind out of me. I could feel the world spinning around me. I knew I was about to fall unconscious any minute, but I also knew that the chopper was close and I heard a flame crackling as it started to consume my craft. I had to get to a safe distance before the imminent explosion of the gas tank. But as I tried to get up, pain surged through my legs and torso. Every bone in that region had to have been broken. I fell down and looked up at the starless night sky in despair.
Sometimes in dire situations, some things happen that we just can’t explain afterwards. Not that I can anyway. For what happened next was either a result of divine intervention, or some strange stroke of chance. I wasn’t sure which it was. Either way, God or Lady Luck blew my mind and saved my life.
I saw something. It was a small pane of glass… a mirror, right in front of me. It showed my reflection, and then the image shifted to my house, then my friends, then my family. I wasn’t sure why, but something about that mirror gave me the motivation I needed to crawl if I couldn’t walk. I grabbed it and crawled through an alley of what looked like apple trees in the darkness. I crawled for what was the longest period of time in my life even though it couldn’t have been more than five minutes until I heard an explosion that sent a wave of heat on my back and lit the orchard for a split second.
In that split second I saw two figures in the distance coming my way. I reached out my hand in supplication and uttered a pitiful cry.
“H-h-help. Please.” I croaked. They must have heard me because I heard them coming closer. I let my head fall to the ground. I could hear their footsteps approaching. But wait… no they weren’t footsteps, more like hooves thudding against the earth. They got close, then stopped.
“Well, lookey here Mac. Whad’ya reckon?” said a southern accent with deep concern in her voice.
“I reckon we gotta help the poor guy, Sister.” replied a male version of a similar accent.
“You’ll carry him over on yer back?”
“Eeyup.”
I felt myself being dragged a few feet, then being slung onto what felt like a pony’s back. I uttered a word of thanks to my unknown saviors.
Then everything went black.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sweet Apple Acres
I woke up sore all over. I was wrapped up in casts that covered both of my legs, and my left arm was in a sling. I sat up with difficulty and wondered where I was. It appeared that I was in what looked like a spare bedroom in a farmhouse. The windows let in the morning sunlight as it spread across the hardwood floor and onto the quilt like butter. The sunshine warmed me and bade me to open my eyes further. I did so and took interest in the rather odd décor around the room: Apples all around. An apple themed quilt, apple pillows, apple curtains, an apple wood dresser, and pictures of apples hung throughout the room. I turned my head and saw a small table by my bed with an apple fritter, a bottle of hard apple cider, and my mirror. Something about such seriousness for apples made me think of Sweet Apple Acres from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
“Couldn’t be.” I thought. I was a brony, but a new one, so I wasn’t that familiar with the settings of the show. Just then the door opened. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My love for the show stirred up excitement while logic racked my brain for sense. Standing before me was a small filly with a creamy yellow coat and a red mane and tail with huge brownish eyes with a bow in her hair. The size of her eyes alone caused my heart to melt, and then explode. She looked at me with concern for my wellbeing, causing her eyes to expand even more. Then I could no longer deny that somehow I was in My Little Pony, nor who this little adorable filly was.
It was little Applebloom.
I grinned from ear to ear, but she must have been frightened. After all, had she ever seen a human? She ran from the room. Either way, I was crestfallen that I frightened her. Then a voiced hollered at her not to be rude to guests. She walked timidly back in followed by another pony. I recognized her orange coat and ten gallon hat. It was none other than Applejack. I was ecstatic, forgetting the terrible crash and my broken body. She smiled at me.
“Well, Howdy there! You sure took quite a fall there stranger! How ya hold’n up? It was a miracle that you weren’t as badly broken by that crash as we thought.”
“Wait,” I interjected, “how did I get here?” I would have jumped out of bed to shake hand and hoof with her and thank her for her kindness, but even though I was talking to one of my favorite characters from the show, how I got here was the only question buzzing around in my mind. I immediately felt ashamed of my rudeness.
“Storms that big blow a lot of things all over the place. Ah didn’t think between worlds, but hey! Anything’s possible! Now drink your cider, stranger. Always helps Big Macintosh when he throws out his back from workin’ too hard.”
It sure was tempting. And I wasn’t a man to refuse a drink offered to me. I took the bottle in my hand. I made a toast to Sweet Apple Acres and downed the flask. Applejack looked surprised.
“Never in my life have Ah ever seen any creature take to the hard stuff so happily.”
“You obviously have never seen us humans.” She looked puzzled. “But then again, I guess there’ve never been any humans in Equestria before.”
“Heck no. But it’s okay.” She reassured me. “I’m sure nopony’ll have any objections. But you rest for now stranger. When you’re better, I’ll take you around Ponyville. How’s that sound sugar cube?”
“Nothing would give a brony more pleasure.” I said. She winked and walked out of the room. Apparently nopony had ever seen a human in Equestria before, but Applejack, at least, knew what a brony was. I spent the next few weeks recuperating at the farm. Soon I was able to walk around the orchard with crutches to get some fresh air. But what I was most interested in was my strange mirror. Not only did it show my reflection, but it seemed to be able to show what was happening in my world too. The image could shift from my apartment to my street to the Manhattan skyline at my command. So I had a magic mirror. Big deal. I was living a brony’s dream come true.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ponyville
When I was able to take off the sling and casts, Applejack invited me to meet her friends. Naturally I wanted the chance to meet everypony as well as take a walk. As we left the gate of Sweet Apple Acres, I saw the town of Ponyville over a grassy knoll. The sun was shining and the town was buzzing as pegasi flew around, clearing the clouds, and ponies everywhere were tending their daily business, but even more so. Nopony practically even noticed the human strolling around town.
“What’s all the buzz?” I asked, puzzled.
“We came just in time!” exclaimed Applejack. “Princess Celestia and her sister are coming to Ponyville tomorrow. That’s why everypony’s hustlin’ and bustlin’ about, getting things tidied up.”
We proceeded to look for the rest of the Mane Six, but with no luck. We stopped at Sugarcube Corner to look for Pinkie Pie baking cupcakes for the celebrations, but she was nowhere to be found. We looked in the kitchen, but no Pinkie. I opened a door leading to a stairway into a dark basement. There was only one far wall lit up at the end of the room. It seemed to be smeared with a crimson substance, and the shelf seemed to store various metal objects.
“Must be a storeroom.” I reasoned, and shut the door. We went to Fluttershy’s cottage, but she wasn’t tending to the family of ducklings playing about in the brook by her house. We knocked ever so lightly on the door for fear of frightening her into a corner and never answering, but the door was open, and Fluttershy was not at home. We tried Rarity’s boutique to see if she was preparing decorations, but she was neither in the showroom, nor her workroom. The only one home was a sleeping Opalescence who simply opened one eye at us indifferently and seemed to shrug as if to say, Sorry, Rarity isn’t here. Now let me go back to sleep. Finally, Applejack and I scanned the skies of Ponyville for Rainbow Dash. Surely the dependable pony would be clearing the skies of the clouds from the storm. But we couldn’t see her, and none of the other pegasi knew where she was. But perhaps I shouldn’t have asked that grey, kooky-eyed one of her whereabouts.
“That’s odd.” thought Applejack. “But then again, Ah didn’t see any of them either after Ah told Pinkie you were coming to town.”
The last place we had left to try was Twilight Sparkle’s library. Surely she would be there organizing the preparations to receive the Princess. As we walked to the library, I couldn’t help but notice graffiti on some of the walls of buildings. It seemed so unlike the inhabitants of Ponyville to deface their buildings like that. They seemed to be an image of a dark blue colored mare with a picture of the moon on her flank. She seemed to be wearing a small, sky blue tiara. The image was crossed out in apparent disapproval for this pony. There was also some writing painted out underneath. The letters were sloppily drawn out in the style of an anarchist message to the masses. It read, “The Moon is where she belo-” the rest was rubbed out by a pony scrubbing off the picture. I tried to think of somepony whom the citizens of Ponyville would despise so much. But the thought didn’t make sense, so I brushed it aside as a vandal’s mischievous spree. We walked into the library, but it was pitch dark inside. I was bewildered. Were they avoiding me?
“What’s going on? Where is everypony? Applejack?”
No response… “Applejack?”
Just then, the lights came on.
“SURPRISE!” yelled everypony.
“What the…”
Just then, I saw a pink mass bounced toward me and stared me in the eye.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… You really ARE a human! Wow! That’s like so incredibly super-duper fantastically-asticly AMAZING! Not that I’ve ever seen a human before, BUT STILL! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
I backed away from the hyper pink pony only to be cornered by a hovering rainbow pony whose playful voice cracked a lot.
“Wow. Applejack was right! You really do have two legs. How do you get around with only two? Don’t you have a machine the flies or something that you crashed? Because MAN! A big machine? Please! Twilight’s balloon is one thing, but a big clunky machine? Hahahahaha!”
She was rolling on the floor in uncontrollable laughter as a white pony with a purple curly mane came to comfort me from the multicolored pony’s rude behavior.
“Rainbow Dash! Don’t be so callous. This poor gentleman lost his method of transportation!”
She turned to me. “Good sir, please don’t mind my- g-GOOD HEAVENS!” She cried, gingerly holding my clothes that became singed and ragged in the crash. “Whatever are you wearing? Poor dear. You simply must come by my shop sometime so I can get you out of those… those… unfortunate results of a terrible ordeal!”
As she went on with the processes of how to make me fabulous, I backed away. It was just too much to have six ponies crowding me, even though I wanted nothing more than to talk to them all. But as I was backing toward a bookshelf, I almost tripped over a purple pony who was studying my legs with great interest. I could only guess as to who would be cataloguing my anatomy.
“Interesting,” she mused as she measured my lower extremities.
“Listen, I…”
“Hold still please,” said Twilight. “Your movement is throwing off my calculations. Now how could an organism with an upper body balance itself with two legs? And why do you have shoes on your hooves? Do you even have hooves? Can you take off your shoes please?”
I backed further to a wall away from her before she decided to strip me of all my clothes. But just as soon as I escaped her, I bumped into who could only be Fluttershy from the timid voice I heard behind me.
“Oh! I-I’m so sorry. Did I startle you? Because I didn’t mean to. I was just so excited that you were coming because Applejack has talked about you so much. I mean… not to be rude, but I thought, a human? I’ve never heard of such a thing before. It sounds so cute! Maybe we’ll be best friends. And I heard about your accident. Are you okay Mr. Human? I just wanted to talk all about it. That is, if it’s okay with you.”
The ponies were all mobbing me simultaneously. I couldn’t think straight. I gave a shout:
“QUIET!” All fell silent except for Pinkie.
“So then the oatmeal said, ‘maybe you’re the crazy one…’ oh.” She looked sheepish.
“What is all this?” I demanded. Pinkie Pie bounced over and giggled.
“Heehee! It’s a PARTY silly!”
“For what?”
“For us to meet you.” said Twilight. “It was Pinkie’s idea that we have a get-together before the princesses come!” When she mentioned the princesses a look of anxiety came into her eyes. But she just as quickly let the thought go, whatever it was. Pinkie Pie continued:
“I have it all figured out! I talked it over with Gummy. Before we have a big ‘Princesses arriving in Ponyville’ party, the six of us will get together and throw a Welcoming a new stranger in town before we have a ‘Princesses arriving in Ponyville party’ party!”
“YAY!” the ponies cheered. Except for Fluttershy, who meekly smiled and said,
“Yay!”
My frown and confusion melted away as they were replaced by a smile and utter delight. Pinkie had outdone herself. There was music and a lavish spread of pastries and cider, and Twilight’s library had been festively decorated for the occasion. So we danced, although it was quite awkward to try and dance with a pony. And we talked and drank into the night. If you passed by the library that night, it was far from quiet as peals of laughter and gasps of awe sailed out the windows as I recounted the tales of my adventures thus far. Twilight’s eyes widened when I told of the engine dying in mid-air. Fluttershy covered her eyes when I was falling to my death. Rainbow Dash gawked as I was tumbling about in the wreckage. Applejack looked proud when I told them that she saved me. Pinkie Pie giggled at my memory of constantly tripping over my crutches, and Rarity was awestruck when I finally told them of my mirror.
“I was wondering why a feller like yourself had a mirror like that.” mused Applejack.
“Me too. This isn’t any old mirror.” I showed them the shifting images of my world. They were taken aback as I made the image shift from the Hudson River to the Chrysler Building, to the busy Times Square.
“This is your world?” inquired Rainbow Dash. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, a passerby in the mirror stopped and looked around, perplexed. She looked into the mirror.
“Is someone there?” said the stranger. We gasped and kept our mouths shut. I put away the mirror.
“It’s a communication device!” cried Rarity. We were stunned at the power of this magical item.
“Can it show other worlds?” asked Fluttershy.
“I’ll try.” I said. I focused on one location, and sure enough, the image shifted to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Wow.” They all gawked. This mirror could show any place or anything in the universe. We all would have studied it more, but Twilight, ironically, insisted that we go to bed instead. So we all tucked in for the night on the floor with some pillows. We were one short, so Fluttershy let me rest my head on her flank. Perhaps Twilight was right. We did need to go to sleep. She was anticipating a big day tomorrow and wanted to be well rested for anything that might happen.
Little did she know how right she was.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Royal Sisters and Their Welcome
The first crack of dawn came into the room the next morning, alerting everypony that the Princess was awake and probably on her way over to Ponyville with Luna on her carriage drawn by her ever-vigilant entourage of the Royal Guards. We all arose quickly to prepare ourselves and make ourselves look presentable. I simply brushed my teeth, at which they looked at me quizzically. I suppose ponies don’t have to brush their teeth. Maybe microbial bacteria that rot teeth didn’t exist in this world. Still. I wanted to be presentable to the honored guests, I explained. Rarity then put her hoof on my shoulder and led me out the door.
“If that’s true,” she quipped, “then I won’t let you wear those clothes that you singed and tore. I’ll just have to whip something up for you.”
Being a boy, I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I tried my best to diplomatically and tactfully turn her down. But she wouldn’t hear of it. I started to panic at the thought of having to wear something girly. Or worse yet, what if she couldn’t make something in the form of a human and I had to walk on all fours in pony clothes? I started sweating and my heart started palpitating at the thought of having to look ridiculous. I tried once more to address my concerns with the understanding pony. She simply laughed.
“Oh don’t worry dear.” she reassured me, “You’re talking to the best designer in Ponyville, if I do say so myself. I’ll make sure you like whatever I end up making.”
This reassured me a bit. When we got to her work room, she set at me right away, cutting, snipping and measuring. I had seriously doubted her ability to accommodate. After only a half hour, I was fitted with new jeans and a red and black polo shirt. It didn’t look bad at all.
“There you go!” she sighed triumphantly. “Oh Rarity is there anything you can’t do? You look simply spiffing. But look at the time! We must get going! They shall be arriving any minute now.”
I ran and she galloped to the grassy knoll outside Ponyville that showed Canterlot on its mountain far in the distance. Everypony was already waiting, looking out for the royal coach. We saw the others waiting at the front. We walked over. I got many strange looks from the other citizens of Ponyville while I made my way to the front. I brushed it off. I was used to the stares by now. When I reached the front of the crowd, I couldn’t help but notice something strange about Twilight Sparkle. You would think that she would be more than excited that her beloved teacher was coming to visit. Instead, she looked anxious. She was shaking, her knees were buckling, and her eyes shifted from side to side in panic. Applejack walked up to her.
“Are you okay sugar cube?” she asked.
“Oh! I’m fine.” She replied, “It’s just…”
“Just what?” asked Rainbow Dash.
The nervous pony didn’t have time to answer. Just then, a horn was sounded, signaling the arrival of Princess Celestia. Everypony cheered. Twilight gulped and tried to stand erect. The carriage appeared over the next hill and came to a stop in front of the crowd. An attendant stepped out of the cabin and briefly addressed the crowd.
“Announcing her Royal Majesty, Princess Celestia!”
The mare stepped out of the carriage. Everypony knelt on their forelegs. I decided to give a bow. Celestia cleared her throat and began to address the crowd herself.
“Citizens of Ponyville! You all know that it is always a pleasure to come to this wonderful town during my annual tour of inspection. And joining me is a very special guest whom I would like you all to meet.”
The crowd murmured in confusion. Who did she mean?
“I would like you all to greet my sister…”
Panic returned to Twilight’s eyes. The crowd began to scowl. Something wasn’t right here.
“Princess Luna!”
As she said it, her sister stepped out of the cabin and looked shyly at the crowd and smiled. The scowls turned into death stares.
That’s when all Hell broke loose.
Somepony yelled, “GET HER! Get that bitch!” Ponies charged the carriage in an attempt to attack Luna. Celestia’s eyes bulged out in utter surprise as she grabbed her sister and practically threw her back into the carriage, trying to protect her against the fast approaching mob. Twilight was faster. She yelled, “COME ON!” meaning us. We raced to the carriage as fast as we could. I couldn’t run as fast as a horse, so Rainbow Dash snatched me up and put me on her back and raced to Celestia who was beckoning us to hurry. The Mane Six and I jumped into the carriage and the guards took off. The tour of inspection was cancelled.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Luna’s Lullaby
We were shocked. We couldn’t believe what had just happened. Celestia still looked as if in a trance. Twilight sat dejectedly with an air of regret, like she knew that this was going to happen. We all sat in the carriage in silence and once or twice tried to comfort the crying Luna who was sobbing uncontrollably. She tried to ask why they would attack her and call her such obscenities, but all that came out were tears.
“I can’t believe it.” sighed Celestia. “I thought…”
“You thought what?” yelled Luna, regaining control over her voice, “You promised me that this wouldn’t happen! You promised that Equestria forgave me for what I did! You promised Tia!” Her head fell to her chest as fresh tears gushed from the poor girl’s eyes. At this point Celestia couldn’t hold back her tears either.
“I-I’m-I’m so sorry Luna. I…” Nothing else could pass her lips as she could only let her sister cry on her shoulder all the way home.
After a while, I could see the looming towers and turrets of the glorious city of Canterlot, with its gleaming marble spires and gilded cupolas that glistened in the afternoon sunshine. The carriage pulled up in front of Celestia’s castle. The ruler of Equestria led her still sobbing sister indoors. Twilight tried to follow, but the guards stood in her way.
“Hey! What gives?” shouted the indignant pony.
“Sorry Twilight, you know I enjoy your company, but I think I need to be alone with my sister for the time being. Why don’t you show your friends and our special guest around Canterlot?”
“But…” Celestia shot her an impatient look before Twilight backed down. The sisters walked into the palace and the huge golden doors shut behind them.
None of us were in the mood to tour Canterlot. Pinkie Pie simply walked slowly to the Canterlot Donut Shop though she had no appetite. Rarity trudged over to the Performing Arts Center where a fashion show was taking place in a half hour, not that she was that interested. Fluttershy trotted dejectedly over to the gardens, but she didn’t want to make any new forest friends. Applejack meandered aimlessly over to the farmer’s market without purpose. And Twilight wandered over to the huge Canterlot library even though she didn’t have any studying to catch up on. I tried to take my mind off of what happened and tried to enjoy myself by joining each pony in what they were doing for the day. But I couldn’t go for more than a few minutes before my mind was filled with questions. It seemed so strange that people would treat the rehabilitated princess like that. By nightfall, I was on my way to the Canterlot Observatory when I couldn’t stand it any longer. There was no way I was going to wander around town while my mind raced with questions. What happened on the grassy knoll? What did Luna do? Did it have to do with that incident of the show’s pilot episode? I decided to find out. I walked back to the main entrance of the castle only to find that the entrance was still guarded. There were also pegasi guarding the top. No one was allowed to visit today. I’m not sure why I wanted to get answers so badly, but I wanted them enough to do what I did next.
Under the castle was a waterway that let out into the adjacent stream that flowed down the mountain. The waterway was probably drainage from rainwater. I decided that I would take a detour into the waterway to see if I could find a drain opening in the castle. The grating on the wall of the castle outlet couldn’t accommodate the girth of a pony, but it looked like I could just manage to squeeze through. I dove into the stream and made my way through the grating. I swam through the maze of underground drainage channels until I saw I glint of light coming from the ceiling of the far end of the adjacent passage. I stepped out of the water and looked through the grating and guessed that I was under a kitchen from the faint sound of pots and pans clanging against the stovetops. I waited patiently until the kitchen closed for the night. I was in luck, for I didn’t have to wait long before the lights went out and I heard the door slam. I lifted off the grating and pulled myself up onto the floor.
The kitchen was huge. I suppose it had to be for big occasions like the Galloping Gala. For the time being, it seemed only a portion of the kitchen was used for the time being to cook for the residents and employees of the palace. But the whole room was the size of two hockey rinks end on end. The walls were lined with pots and pans and spices. At the far end of the kitchen was a side door. It led to a long, tall, but relatively narrow hallway. The sides of the corridor were packed with stained glass windows depicting different feats and adventures of ponies all across Equestria. As I walked down the hallway, the windows seemed to be in chronological order. One of the more recent ones showed Twilight Sparkle taming the Ursa Minor. But two of the most recent ones were covered by a tarp. Across from the final window was a pair of large double doors. The position of the bedroom magically shifted with the addition of a new window in history. Inside I could hear voices:
“…please Tia?”
“Oh okay. I would have thought after a thousand years you would have gotten tired of that song.”
“No! Please sing it sister! It helps me go to sleep!”
I tried hard not to gasp audibly. I was outside Luna’s bedroom. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop some more. Celestia began to sing a slow, soft, sweet tune.
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed
Drift drift off to sleep
Exciting day behind you
Drift drift off to sleep
Let the joy of dreamland find you
Hush now, quiet now
Lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed
That lullaby sounded so familiar. Wasn’t that the lullaby that Sweetie Belle hijacked from Fluttershy in episode 17? I could hear a faint snore. Not the annoying, loud kind, but the kind that you can only just hear that confirms whether one is sleeping or not.
“Goodnight Luna.” whispered her loving sister. I could hear Celestia approaching the door. Instead of panicking, I was more curious as to what was behind the tarps. I threw one back, then the other.
They were pictures of Nightmare Moon.
The second to last one showed Celestia banishing her to the moon for one thousand years. The second one showed Twilight Sparkle and her friends using the Elements of Harmony to defeat her again. Each picture of Luna depicted her as a character truly evil with cruel red eyes, and a sinister look on her face.
“You know, I originally wrote that lullaby just for Luna.” said Celestia, walking over to me. “She was so small back then. She was afraid of the dark and always wanted me with her at night. So I sang her that lullaby so she wouldn’t be afraid to go to sleep. It became so popular over the years. Yet I haven’t sung it to her since… she left.”
“You mean when you banished her?” I instantly regretted those words, but she looked more hurt than angry. Her eyes became glassy and her lips started to tremble. Her voice faltered.
“I had to! She was a danger to Equestria! Eternal Night would have disrupted the balance of nature. Never did a minute go by where I wanted nothing more than to have Luna back at my side. Perhaps she wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. I would have done anything to bring her back. I… I missed my little sister so much!” she cried. She started heaving and sobbing. I ran my hand through her mane in an attempt to comfort her. Instead, she turned toward me and let her head fall to an almost complete stranger’s shoulder and cried her heart out. It seemed so strange. The Celestia on the show was always in control. This Celestia was troubled and broken inside. It wasn’t long before my eyes stung and became glassy as well. But I still had questions.
“So that’s why those windows are covered. You wanted her to forget what had happened so she would want to stay.”
“I was so happy that she returned!” The ruler of Equestria’s face became a fountain of tears. The well-defined water lines ran down her face and met at the bottom of her chin. She looked at me pleadingly like the accused before a judge, begging for compassion. “I was afraid that those windows would upset her so I had them hidden. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing my little sister again.” At that, she broke down in sobs once more.
“I tr-tried…” she choked out. “I tried to protect her. I thought I could make her feel welcome again.” It started to make sense now.
“But nopony every truly forgave her. That’s why everypony was so outraged at Luna’s appearance today.”
Celestia looked up. My shirt was wet from her barrage of tears. Suddenly, a messenger came barreling down the hall with an urgent look on his face. The pegasus stopped before the princess and bowed before he looked up again. He didn’t seem to mind my presence in the castle at such a late hour, nor did he seem to notice the sadness and distress written on her face.
“Your majesty! Terrible news! There is a revolt in the making! Equestria is in an uproar! Riots are in progress and the hordes are marching on Canterlot! They will be here by morning. What are your orders?”
Celestia went limp. She wore an unmistakable expression on her face:
Pure and utter Terror.
“Princess?” the Pegasus pressed. He didn’t get an answer. Celestia looked back at Luna’s door.
“They’re going to kill her.” She whispered. Then she walked away. She walked down the hallway repeating to herself.
“What will I do? What will I do? What will I do? What will I do…”
The Pegasus flew away. I was left alone in the historical hallway. I knew that Celestia was right. The mob was undoubtedly stirred up by today’s incident, and they were going to hurt Luna unless something was done. I opened Luna’s door quietly. I saw her sleeping with some sort of stuffed animal. Her face reflected her regained innocence and compassionate, gentle nature. I couldn’t stand it. Half of Equestria was about to do God knows what to the poor girl. I saw something else on her nightstand. My curiosity got the better of me as I sneaked over to look at what it said. It was a formerly crumpled piece of paper with a crayon drawing on it. It was a picture of Celestia reading Luna a bedtime story about two sisters who could overcome anything as long as they promised to always be together. There was a note attached that looked as if it was recently written. It read:
My dearest sister Luna,
You will never guess what I found! You might remember the story behind it. We were both practically still Fillies. You drew this picture for me and tried to give it to me in the middle of my Astrological Movement Training session. I got so annoyed at you that I crumpled it and threw it at your feet. You ran crying and put it in my room on my mirror. You also wrote, “Celestia and Luna. Sisters Forever!" Afterwards I never ever took it down. But it’s been so long, I thought you might want to see this again. I saw it and it made me want to remind you that I love you sister. I will always love you and will never let you leave, no matter what anyone else says.
I tucked the note into Luna’s arms and walked out of the room. I looked at the doomed princess who way drifting off in dreamland. I could see her reminiscing of her times growing up with her big sister, laughing and playing and galloping around the gardens as little fillies. I didn’t have the heart to tell her of her fate. I heard her snore peacefully one more time, and then I shut the door.
I walked down the hallway until I came back to a door that lead to a sitting room of sorts. The parlor was small in comparison to the other looming halls of the castle. At the far end of the room was a couch that faced a huge window looking out to the night sky. I sat down and looked out at the horizon. Lights from other cities were visible as the light they gave off formed a halo enveloping the horizon, mimicking the rising sun. Those mobs would be here by morning, and would only go away if Luna was gone, or else the fate of the well-being of Equestria hung in the balance. I looked up and lamented the future of poor, forgiving Luna. Tears flowed from my eyes at visions of ponies carrying her off in front of her helpless sister Celestia, the once powerful ruler of all the land, who could only watch in sheer agony as her sister cries out for help. Celestia was in a state of shock. I had little doubt that she was pacing about in the throne room. Neither of us would get any sleep that night. The lights on the horizon were brightening. It wasn’t time to raise the sun yet. Those must have been the mobs approaching Canterlot.
I looked out at the night sky. The moon was shining its light into the parlor and onto me.
The moon…
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Goodbye for the Better…
I suppose it was inevitable that Luna would have to leave Equestria. It was as Celestia said herself: Nopony ever forgave Luna for what she did, and they were too set on driving her out to see the good in her. I finally got up from the couch as the sun rose in the sky. I didn’t see how Celestia could have found the strength to lift the sun at a time like this. But I suppose it was a force of habit. I found my way into the throne room where Celestia was looking out the eastern window. She didn’t look like herself. Her face was ashen and her eyes were bloodshot. Around her hoof was a bluish silver tiara. It was Luna’s tiara. There were voices of many angry ponies audible from outside the window. They were here, and we were out of time. A few moments later, the Mane Six rushed into the room.
“Princess!” cried Twilight, “We came as soon as we could. What’s going on? Why is half of Equestria on your doorstep?”
Celsestia didn’t even try to look as if she were in control. She simply looked at her pupil and looked away. She opened her mouth as if to reply, but before she could answer, the doors to the throne room opened again and in walked a very perplexed Princess Luna.
“Tia? What’s going on? What are you doing with my tiara? Who are all these ponies? Sister? Sister! Are you all right?” She dashed over to Celestia who embraced her like one embraces a loved one whom she won’t see again.
“Luna.” She said ominously, “We… we need to talk.” Luna became frightened when she saw her sister’s complexion of grief.
"What’d you mean? Why are you crying? Please stop!” Before she could answer Luna’s questions, another pony walked in. He was a brown colt with a scowl written on his face.
“Who are you?” barked Celestia. “How dare you come into the castle without permission?”
“Spare me Your Majesty.” He quipped. Celestia was taken aback at his baseness. “You know very well why I’m here. I represent the Coalition of Ponies for Justice.” I scowled at his pretentiousness about his ridiculous impromptu name for a horde of angry ponies. “We are here to bring justice to the usurper of Time, the one who threatened to bring Eternal Night yet whom you continue to harbor in your palace. The Princess Luna!” he cried, pointing to the trembling mare.
“What are you going to do?” said Celestia with more fear then authority.
“In half an hour, if you do not either expunge the threat or exile her, we shall take matters into our own hands with a public execution!” He glowered. Luna gasped. The Mane Six and I stood together, dumbfounded. He was actually going to execute her. Even more shocking, he expected Celestia to kill her sister first.
“No!” shouted Celestia. She grabbed Luna and embraced her again as if she were hugging a diamond the size of a boulder. “You’ll never take her away from me!”
“Your choice.” He threatened. Without another word, the brown colt left the throne room. We stood in silence. Luna trembled in fear next to her sister who had a savage look of defense. I had to break sense into her.
“You have to banish her.” I said. “Otherwise they’ll kill her…” Celestia just looked away and shook her head. I became furious at her persistent denial. But then again, who could blame her?
“And you know that too. You know the moon is the safest place for her.” I continued. This was too much for Luna. She broke free of Celestia’s hug and backed away. Celestia looked at me like I had given her a death sentence. She couldn’t take the guilt.
“You…you knew about this, sister?”
“Look I didn’t… I hoped it wouldn’t… I just… oh, forgive me Luna!” Celestia gave up trying to hold back her tears, I couldn’t hold mine back either.
“Luna.” I said, “Celestia was trying to protect you. Your sister would have given anything to keep you beside her.”
Luna looked back up at her sister. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears and her lips started to quiver.
“So… d-do I h-have t-t-to leave you, Tia?” Celestia sank down to eye level with her sister and put the tiara on her head.
“Luna, my little sister, I love you with all my being. These years that you have been back reminded me of how much we cared for each other from when we were young. It reminded me of how much I love you and would die for you. I knew that it would be hard for Equestria to welcome you back, but I don’t care what Nightmare Moon did! That wasn’t you! You’re my sister and nothing can make me love you less than I do and will forever. I just didn’t think the day would come where I would have to let go of you again.”
Luna buried her face in her sisters chest and started wailed pleadingly like a child being ripped from her mother. Celestia pulled her in an embrace and cried on her shoulder.
“Can’t-can’t you come w-with me?”
This was too much for Celestia.
“Luna, you know I can’t…”
“But we belong together as sisters! Just like you told me in the stories you would read me! We… we would always be together!”
It hurt us so much to see Celestia and Luna in so much pain.
“You’re not safe here. I would be a worse sister than I am now if I kept you here in danger. You need a place to stay in safety where no one can hurt you until…maybe one day we can be together again.” Celestia smiled, and so did Luna. They both remained silent for a minute to let the facts of what must be done soak in.
“I love you Tia.”
“And I love you Luna, no matter where you are.”
They both stood up and looked at each other lovingly. Celestia’s horn glowed as she was about to send her sister to the moon again. I still couldn’t stand the fact that they would be separated again for another thousand years, never to see each other.
Never to see each other…
Then it hit me. My mirror. It could show anywhere in the universe. I would have liked to be able to communicate with my friends back home, but they needed it more than I did…
“Stop!” I cried. Everypony looked at me. I pulled out my mirror.
“What is that?” sniffed Luna.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of you two not being able to talk to each other for a thousand years, so… I-I wanted you to have this. It may look like an ordinary mirror, but whoever holds it can see anything or anyone in the universe. So you two never have to be totally separated.” I cried happily as I handed it to Celestia who held it gingerly and looked at it with awe. She decided to test it. She concentrated and Luna appeared in the glass. Across from her, Luna gasped as she saw an image of her sister in front of her face. They both looked into their respective images with a look of loving care and put their hooves to the image of each other in a brohoof of an undying sisterly love. They shut their eyes and burst into a fresh stream of tears, not out of grief, but out of relief.
The sisters looked at me and smiled thankfully. I sniffled happily and winked.
Just like in their stories…
"Thank you.” Said Luna. The Mane Six jumped up and hugged me.
“THANK YOU!” they shouted together. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“And I thank you too” said Celestia. “You, a stranger in this land who owes me no loyalty at all, rid me of my darkest fears. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“You caused me no trouble.” I reassured them. “In fact, I want to thank you all for opening me up to a love I never would have realized if it weren’t for you. If you could send me back to my world too, that would be thanks enough. After all, even though I would love nothing more than to explore Equestria, I don’t really belong in your world.” Celestia nodded. I hugged everypony goodbye before we went our separate ways. Luna looked up at her sister one last time.
“Can I have one more hug before I go?” She asked. I wasn’t that familiar with My Little Pony memes but I felt like I was about to go HHNNGGH!
I watched in tears as Luna and Celestia embraced for the last time.
“I love you sister.”
“And I love you too…sister.”
Luna closed her eyes and shed a final tear. Celestia’s horn began to glow again. I shut my eyes too, preparing to return home, wherever in my world Celestia would put me. It seemed like an eternity until Celestia’s horn touched Luna’s forehead. At that moment, I felt myself being enveloped in a bright white light. When I opened my eyes again, it was as if I had never left my world. I was standing in the middle of my Manhattan apartment. The clock read: 10/04/2011. It was the same day I fell into Equestria. Time had stood still. I had all my memories of what had happened, I reached into my pocket felt something odd. I pulled out the flask that Applejack had given me. I walked over to my desk by the window looking out over 42nd street. Then I saw my typewriter. I took one look at the flask and set it on my desk, never to be filled again.
As I sit here and write this tale, I know that I should be lamenting my leave of Equestria, and the separation of Celestia and Luna. But I feel better knowing that I said goodbye for the better, knowing when I look up at the moon that I see Luna laughing with her sister on her throne in a peaceful Equestria. I feel happy that I gave them the mirror. But most of all, I am happy that Luna didn’t leave on bad terms. And I know deep down inside that they are truly happy. So I shed tears of joy now for them.
And if they can be happy miles apart, I can make up for the life I lived before. I intend to fix things I broke. And I have the sisters to thank for that. I suppose I have a lot to do, but not to cry: That’s one goal I’m going to focus on for now. For them, and for myself.
Cry no more Celestia
Sing your sweet Lullabies
For Sister and Sister are together now
Through sorrows and sweet goodbyes.
Raise the sun as you would your sister
Raise her up with joy, not gloom
For her reflection shines on you
Like sunlight from the moon.
Cry no more O Luna
My sweet blue silver star
For Celestia was and is your shield
From the masses out afar.
Speak! Into the mirror now!
Don't let your sister wait
For many tears she shed in sorrow
For your love she wouldn't wait.
Cry no more O sisters
For Luna was gone before
But let that kindle your love as sisters love
To be away she won’t forevermore
Kindle your love as sisters love
Sisters of the Sky, Cry No More.
THE END
