The Reattempt and the second chance

Prince Sol woke up with a start. The skies were still dark, illuminated with tiny dots of bright light. Worried by the sun's late arrival, he raced out of bed, finding his older brother on the balcony, gazing at the stars. Sol crept quietly forward, as if the they were having a conversation he did not wish to interrupt. Regardless, Prince Lunario turned to glance at his brother.

"Hello, Sol."

Sol sat down next to the dark blue alicorn. "Why isn't the sun up yet?" he asked.

Lunario laughed lightly. "Because you overslept."

Sol gawked. "You mean..."

Lunario gestured out to the never-ending land beneath them, their reign bordered by the Everfree forest. "The ponies of Equestria are waiting."

Instantly, the young prince was terrified, the past coming to haunt him by force. "No! I can't!" he covered his eyes, hoping Lunario would raise it for him anyways, but the young alicorn found the weight of his crown settling in the birds nest of his uncombed mane. "Please, Rio. I couldn't handle it."

"Past tense, Sol. This morning will signify the start of an important day. Why don't you give your subjects that?"

Sol took in a deep breath, quietly recognizing defeat, but he was glad to do so. This was something he had not been able to do in over a thousand years. The weight of the sun was almost alien to him, but the ever changing colors of the sky were not. They were his now, as they used to be.

"I'm sorry for everything, Rio."

"I am too."

Elusive had his best friends in line from Butterscotch to Bubble Berry. The extravagant unicorn stopped in front of the pink pony, who's never ending smile countered Elusive's frustration. The unicorn almost growled at Bubble's hair. All the other ponies' mane was smooth and proper, ready for the Gala, but this earth pony had the audacity to reverse every attempt anypony put in to straightening it out.

"You." The unicorn said darkly, "are a challenge."

Bubble could only agree.

Elusive didn't take his narrowed eyes off the pink frizzy hay stack. "Every pony else, you are dismissed." He shot a dangerous glare at the other four colts. "I trust you can keep yourselves neat and clean before we leave in an hour."

"Of course, Elusive." squeaked Butterscotch. the other colts nodded vigorously, not wanting to get caught in the impending war between the frustrated fashionista and a stubborn stack of curls.

"Good luck!" shouted Dusk before running out behind Applejack.

It wasn't two seconds before Elusive had armed himself with an extra can of hairspray and a container of gel. Bubble only smiled, his eyes now holding a terrifying chill ignored by the opposing unicorn, ready to attack the mess upon his head.

"You will never win." taunted Bubble as Elusive made a leap for him, the earth pony just moving out of the way.

"Say that to my face!" Elusive yelled back, a shot of hairspray just missing the pony as he leapt onto a shelf, knocking down several rolls of fabric.

"I just did, didn't I?" Bubble strolled the shelf tops until he was near the door.

"Don't you dare," warned Elusive, his horn starting to glow.

Bubble made a pounce for the exit, Elusive catching him in mid leap with telekinesis. The unsuspecting pony lost sight of the situation for a split second, forcibly sending back the magic right into Elusive's mind. they both fell to the floor, the earth pony recovering faster than the unicorn. Bubble walked towards Elusive, who was put in a momentary daze and seemed to have trouble lifting up his head.

Bubble apologized. "it was a reflex."

Elusive shook it off, not understanding what had happened as Bubble helped him up and led him to the door. "Come one Elusive, lets head to the Gala."

It almost seemed planned. The moment the colts were in front of the palace, the ponies rushed to different parts as if they had been assigned posts. Dusk was sucking up to the Prince, Butterscotch chased animals in the gardens, Blitz was following the Wonderbolts, Elusive was getting stalked by Princess Bluebell and Applejack was conning a couple ponies into the "Wonders of Carnival Food". Only Bubble was out of character, hiding under the tables eyeing the only known exit. It was already an hour into the Gala yet the line of hoof shaking ponies showed no sign of an end. Well, Bubble thought, finally emerging, I may as well live up to my reputation, if the Prince isn't going to notice. Unfortunately, an all pink pony is hard to miss among the candy colored ponies of 'class' and 'elegance' and Prince Lunario excused himself, apologizing to Dusk for leaving him to deal with the party guests. The Prince made his way swiftly through the the crowd where Bubble was bouncing through. Once the earth pony caught wind of the Prince he started trotting through the more crowded areas, but the Prince teleported himself and Bubble ended up crashing into the Prince of the Moon. Lunario gestured to an incognito hallway with his wing which was bigger than Bubble itself.

"I believe we need to talk."

Bubble thought it over, pretending he had a choice in the matter, ultimately groaning and following the Prince deeper into the palace towards the high courts.

"I know a quicker way." Bubble thought aloud his voice echoing off the tall ceiling of the sunset lit hallway. The prince said nothing, however, and Bubble fought every urge to slip away quietly into the darkness, beating the Prince to their destination, but the tension in the air alone was enough to stifle him.

By the time they were at the top of the palace, the moon was next to them, the high courts earning their name for good reason. There were no guards, no artificial light. A spell had been cast, one that practically insulted the earth pony. There was nothing to do for him than to sit down patiently at one end while Lunario stood at the other.

"While I appreciate your efforts with the defeat of The Solar Stallion-" Lunario began, earning scoffs from Bubble. "and the overly occasional minor dimensional shift is small enough to be ignored-" Bubble rolled his eyes, glancing at the window where the moon was in full view. "Due to a quite recent event I wonder if this enchantment should be cast upon the colt itself."

Bubble sat up. Was it because of Elusive? He couldn't think of anything else. "That was an accident! It wasn't even that major. I swear by you, Elusive is fine."

"What?"

Bubble bowed his head. "You didn't know." He said quietly, almost to himself.

"That only strengthens my decision." Now the Prince's voice was decorated with bouts of anger. "But I am addressing to what you've done on your birthday."

Oh.

"Prince Lunario, I wasn't myself that day. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing because I got mad over a misunderstanding. No pony got hurt and it wasn't obvious." Bubble stood up again, a serious expression embedded in his eyes. "I am very careful."

"I'm sure you are, Bubble, but you said it yourself. You weren't thinking. Next time you won't think when you put a crack in the space of this reality!"

"Do you even know what you're saying?"

"What I'm saying is that the same spell that is casted on this room, should be put on you."

Bubble said nothing at first, taking a few steps towards the window, hoping there was a ledge of some sort. He couldn't see past the glass. The room to him was a floating box in space against the thought that it was really sitting on top of complex, intricate mansion. If he could see a ledge, or another building, he could get his senses in order for a jump, but they were so high up, and Bubble was so far away from the window. Once the Prince's horn began to glow, Bubble made a leap for it, but such a complex spell only needed a moment to be put in affect. The earth pony was in a daze, one he thought must have been similar to what he put Elusive in. He looked up, the moon just slightly above the window pane. It's moving fast. Bubble thought. He felt blinded and shackled.

Lunario headed to the door, his wings tucked away. His great hooves made pounding echoes as he made his way down the hallway, eventually Bubble finding the will to stand on his four tiny hooves and making the trek back down. Back on the ground floor, the Gala was finally winding down. With much difficulty, Bubble observed that Dusk had finally gotten away from the entrance and that Butterscotch had drunk himself into a raging fit while he argued with a pretty blond mare who's coat matched Elusive's who in turn wore a painful expression. Applejack had taken his operation to the inside, in front of the foods that Bubble did not know the name of and Rainbow Blitz was planted in a corner, head to the floor, pouting.

Bubble trotted outside where the air was clearer and the atmosphere was calmer. The only light came through the tall arching windows, shadows of ponies dancing inside flickered about the ground. Far off was the sky, speckled with stars and tinted with the slightest hint of the sun to come, pushing away the moon, bit by bit. Bubble looked up, wondering if it was Prince Sol who now tended to the bright celestial body. An hour ago, he wouldn't have had to wonder. An hour ago, he wouldn't even have felt the need to look up. He would have just known.