Nights like these
For generations, the Canterlot Observatory had helped advance Equestrian culture and science, prompting intellectual revolutions and helping ponies understand their place in the universe. At the present time, a cool fall evening, Luna was using it to try and spell out dirty words with constellations. It wasn’t how she spent most nights, but the urge to be naughty had struck her, and she had decided to express it the way she did over a thousand years ago.
The language had changed over time, with new words that seemed even cruder than the ones she was more familiar with, but frankly that just made the game more entertaining. She let out a soft giggle as she managed to spell out ‘mother bucker’ in the sky.
Before her banishment, the stars had been one of the few parts of ruling the night that she truly loved. Now that she was back, she often spent many nights in the observatory, watching them twinkling in the dark blue sky. They had played a pivotal role in her return to Equestria, albeit without removing the darkness that had been born within her.
She spotted a slang term for a mare’s delicate bits and had to stifle a loud outburst, settling for a gentle chuckle. All good fun.
At the clicking of hoof steps on polished marble the younger princess spun about, looking to see who intended to interrupt her dirty fun. A crown of shining gold and a multicolored mane as radiant as the sun answered the question without a doubt, and the princess of the sun settled down next to her younger sister.
“I see you’re quite busy little sister,” she said in her usual regal voice, “After all, you’ve been up here for hours.”
“Not so busy, my dear sister,” Luna said, her voice having only the slightest hint of her Royal Canterlot accent. “I was simply spending time watching the stars. They’re quite beautiful tonight.”
“Yes, beautiful indeed…” at the mention of the stars, Celestia’s face fell slightly. The change in mood, small as it was, did not escape Luna’s notice.
“Is something wrong dear sister?” she asked, hoping to learn what seemed to weigh upon her sister.
“It’s nothing Luna, absolutely nothing.”
Luna’s face scrunched up slightly. It was obvious something was bothering Celestia, but she had no guesses as to what, though it most likely involved the stars. She leaned on her older sister gently, giving a slight comforting nuzzle. “Sister, there is no reason to keep a secret from me. I assure you that I can handle any revelation you give unto me.”
Celestia’s face fell more, and she let out a sorrowful sigh. “Luna, when I look upon the stars, I am reminded of the thousand years you spent away from me.” She ran a hoof through Luna’s flowing blue mane, sorrow still clear on her face. “It reminds me of the mistake I made all those years ago, the mistake of simply sending you away.”
“You did only what was best for Equestria, and it wasn’t as if you had any other options.” Luna said. Her attempt to comfort Celestia fell short and silence filled the room. A thought struck Luna; “You did not have any other options, correct?”
Once more the Princess of the sun was silent, and Luna began to wonder. “Sister?” She squeaked.
Celestia gazed out into the stars. “Luna, do you recall how Twilight in her friends used the Elements of Harmony to remove the darkness within you?”
“Of course. With the power of friendship, they were able to banish the dark spirit of Nightmare Moon and free me.”
“After I banished you, I worked with many powerful mages to fully understand the elements, and…” she trailed off, and Luna’s gaze narrowed slightly.
“Sister,” she said softly, “what are you talking about?”
“There was an ancient tome, written by scholars thousands of years ago that was written of the elements. I had read this tome many times, had known that the elements had been used to cleanse darkness from ponies.” Celestia said.
“If you knew this sister, why then did you not use such power in place of banishment?”
Celestia was silent for a moment more, but Luna’s expression returned to a gentle smile, if slightly shaken. “Well, I’m sure you had only the best intentions. Though I wonder why you had never sought to return me to Equestria and use the Elements power then.”
“I couldn’t Luna. I didn’t have the power to bring you back. If it weren’t for the power in the stars, you very well may not have returned.”
The observatory fell silent once more. “What do you mean sister?”
“Luna, dear sweet Luna, in my haste and fear I banished you to the moon. When the deed was done, I learned that I did not possess the power to return you to Equestria.”
Luna could only stare at her sister and shake beneath the night sky. “I wished to tell you this before sister,” Celestia said as she leaned in, hoping to give a reassuring nuzzle, but Luna jerked away, taking to her hooves and flaring out her wings, acting like a frightened and cornered animal. “Did you not search for some answer, some solution? Were you simply content to wait for the stars, or for me to never return?” the younger princess said, her accusations cutting deeply.
There was a mask of rage upon her face, and an incredible sadness in her eyes. “Did you even want me back?” Tears began to well up in Luna’s eyes as she backed away from the ivory alicorn. “Did you sister? Did you!” She screamed out before breaking into sobs. Celestia crept forward gently, but Luna jerked away again, this time spreading her wings and dashing away. Flapping her wings hard she leapt from the observatory, soaring out into the cold night air.
She couldn’t think about this now. Luna flew as fast as she could, tearing off her crown, as well as the rest of her royal adornments. She needed to clear her head and relax, to rest someplace with nopony around.
After an hour of flying, she finally stopped, the cold air chilling her sweaty body. There was nopony around, and the air was silent save for the insects of the night. Alone amidst the trees, she began to sob, softly at first, and then she began to bawl loudly, tears running down her face. She lay there, crying in the night, wishing for nothing more than for the revelations to go away, for her night to have ended with her glancing up at the stars.
She looked up once more at the stars, and collapsed to the ground, her sobs echoing through the night.
At past midnight in Ponyville, everypony was asleep in their beds, safe and sound and sleeping peacefully. The moon shined through their windows, and the twinkling stars gave a sense of comfort to the peaceful village. Farther out on the border of the small town sat Sweet Apple Acres, home to a small family of ponies. There was the family’s elderly matriarch Granny Smith, the chief apple bucker and sales pony Applejack, and the villager’s master carpenter Applebloom.
In addition, there was the loving couple of Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash, the strongest pony in Equestria and the fastest pony in Equestria respectively. They lay together in bed, with their twin colts Bramley Rush and Battleford Blitz sleeping in the next room.
At least, the colts were supposed to be sleeping. Bramley snored softly in his bed, but Blitz was outside in the night air. He was young, just barely having entered school, but already he was large and strong, a born apple bucker. The trees were bare of fruit, the harvest season already passed, but he came out anyways, standing in the middle of a small cluster of trees.
The red Pegasus stood as still as a stone; for a while he didn’t make a single movement. His mind was focused and alert, as though he was a great predator stalking its prey. Crickets chirped in the distance, but he ignored them, waiting.
A single leaf fell from one of the trees, and in a burst of movement he had planted his back hooves into the trunk with enough force to rattle the branches, knocking several more leaves down. The vibrations coursed through the ground, and a few leaves fell from other nearby trees, and in response the colt flared his wings, launching out towards the trees and delivering an expert buck to each trunk. He returned to the patch of grass he had leapt out from, turning slightly to observe his work.
The leaves from the trees swirled down in the nighttime breeze, a beautiful sight in the light of the full moon. The swirling reds, oranges, and yellows shined in the night, and with a soft sigh, Blitz lay down on his stomach, simply watching. The running of the leaves was only a few days away, and the sight of the leaves falling from the run would be an amazing sight to see. But there was something about watching the leaves falling in the moonlight that touched the colt’s heart, and despite the chilly wind he felt warmth fill his chest as the last of the leaves fell.
Then he heard it; a distant noise, sobs silenced by the air between the colt and the source. He pulled himself up, his ears perking up to confirm the noise. Picking up his saddlebags, he spread his wings and started into a steady trot, working it up to a full gallop before taking to the sky. He scanned the ground of the orchard and the nearby woods, eyes looking for any detail that would explain the sound and ears trying to pick out the exact location.
He finally spotted a figure down below, a blue pony, tall and slender, with a mane that shined like the night sky. With a swift dive, he pulled up in a small copse several yards away. The mare was curled up into a sobbing ball, and yet somehow held an amazingly regal presence. Blitz crept forward slowly and silently, trying to understand what was going on in front of him.
The pony had wings and a horn, a sign of an Alicorn. And the only Alicorns alive were the Royal family.
He had stumbled across a member of the royal family sobbing and crying.
It would be polite to say his mind was blank from sheer shock.
He had learned about how the two princesses controlled the sun and moon, the very forces of night and day, and how they were powerful, nigh omnipotent beings who ruled over Equestria with wisdom and kindness.
Despite the sobbing turning into soft sniffling he had no plan of action, so Blitz went with the first idea that entered his head. He crept over until he was less than a foot away from the princess. She turned slightly, sensing the colt standing over her. Blue eyes locked with magenta, and before the blue alicorn could react, the colt had her in a comforting hug.
He held the princess delicately in his forelegs, giving a slight nuzzle, the kind a foal would give to his mother. He felt the princess shudder slightly, and then relax and return the hug and nuzzle.
They sat there for a while longer, the young colt and the princess of the moon, simply hugging in the moonlight. Neither spoke a single word, Blitz being glad to help and Luna glad for the shoulder to lean on.
The Princess of the night had not expected anypony to find her in while she wept. Nevertheless, the appearance of this colt brought a degree of joy to her heart and cheered her up just slightly. When he finally pulled away, she took a good long look at the young pony. He looked to be fairly mature, most likely his last years of schooling.
His coat was a rich red that reminded her of apples, and his mane was a strange otherworldly silver color. It seemed to shine, even in the darkness of the night, and though the wind was almost still and his mane itself was short, it seemed to flow as though there was a wind pushing through it. He looked back at her quietly, not saying a single word, as if waiting for her to speak.
Luna cleared her throat softly. “I, uh, I thank you for your kindness good sir. I am truly sorry you had to stumble across me in such a state.” She paused, trying to think of a way to express her gratitude. “Your company has been greatly appreciated, and you have my eternal gratitude.” She extended a hoof towards the pony. “If I may, might I ask you name good colt?”
The pony was silent for a moment, staring at her hoof. He finally looked up, locking eyes with her. “Ah ain’t no sir ma’am. Mah name’s Battleford Blitz.” He said. Battleford reached up, rubbing a hoof against the back of his head as he continued. “Mah Dad says that Ahm supposed tah call older stallions sir, an Ahm not an older stallion.”
“You are a stallion though, are you not?” Luna couldn’t help but worry that she had mistaken the pony’s gender, though its voice certainly seemed to have been a stallion’s voice.
“Ahm just a young colt ma’am. Ah just started school this year.”
Luna could only stare silently at the young colt. It did seem somewhat strange for a pony to have ignored the common etiquette for meeting royalty, and his youth would certainly explain the fact. And as she looked closer, she did notice that despite his size, there was a very youthful energy to his actions, from the subtle shifting in posture to the way he rubbed at his eyes.
For a moment the Luna stayed quiet and still, comprehending her minor error. When the moment passed, she burst out laughing, tears of joy flowing from her eyes, and her laughter echoing through the wind. She laughed and laughed until she was gasping for breath and rolling on the ground, and when she finally managed to pull herself to her feet, she noticed that the colt was staring at her, looking at her with a quizzical expression.
With a few more small chuckles, she said, “I’m sorry, it’s just that, well, that was rather surprising, and with how my evening has been going…” she trailed off as she wiped a tear from eye. “This hasn’t exactly been a good evening for me, you see.”
“How come?”
Even though she kept smiling, it was obvious that the question disheartened Luna slightly. “I had a…” She struggled to find the words to explain her flight and her sorrow. “A disagreement. I had a disagreement with my sister, and I… I ran away.” Her smile vanished, and her head drooped. She had not handled the situation well by any means, and now visions of the potential consequences began to weigh her down.
“Must’a been pretty bad t’make yah run away from home.” Blitz’s words struck home, and Luna cringed slightly at the accuracy of his statement.
“It was not as bad as I had believed it to be. In truth, I believe that I overreacted rather badly.” The princess lay on her stomach, head resting on the cold ground beneath her. She had overreacted. Her sister had obviously regretted her decision, and Luna had the gall to shout at her and run away. She had been immature and now that her head had cooled she realized how rude and childish she had been.
And then she was looking at a sandwich. It was a triple Decker apple blossom and dandelion sandwich on wheat bread, with some kind of sauce smothered inside it. Just looking at the tasty sandwich made Luna’s stomach grumble, and she turned to the colt to see him taking a bite out of a second one. The princess lifted her head and lifted the sandwich to her mouth with her magic. She started with a small bite, intending to eat it with all her normal grace and etiquette, and dropped the sandwich to the ground.
It was delicious. Incredibly delicious. So delicious that she stood still in the night, rolling that tiny bite around in her mouth. The delicate blend of flavors and the bold sauce held between two slices of bread mixed together with such beauty and passion that all she could do was drool as she finished that first bite. As it finally passed down her throat, she snapped the sandwich up with her hooves and brought it to her mouth again. She began to gobble it, and bits of saliva flew from her mouth as she dug into the food.
When she finally finished the sandwich, she began to lick the sauce that had leaked off of her hooves, at least until she noticed Blitz starring at her with an expression of surprise and confusion. “Ah guess y’liked it?” he said.
Luna put her hooves down and spent a moment straightening herself out and wiping the bits of spit and sandwich off of her face. “Your sandwich recipe is superb, Mr. Blitz, and I thank you for sharing it with me.”
Blitz scrunched up his face slightly and trotted over to the princess. “Ah ain’t a sir. Ahm just Battleford Blitz ma’am. No need t’be all fancy ‘round me.” He gave her a pat on her back and chuckled slightly. “Y’know, y’kinda remind me of Miss Rarity. Y’both talk fancy, Ah mean.”
The mentioning of Rarity caught Luna off guard. “You are familiar with Rarity? The Element of Generosity, who aided in my return to Equestria as myself?” Blitz nodded, and Luna looked closer at him. “If it is not too much to ask, how do you know her exactly?”
Blitz shrugged and said, “She’s mah brother Bramley’s Godmother. Ah also know the other elements too.”
“You do?”
With a sigh, Blitz began to speak, his voice in a practiced monotone. “Twilight Sparkle’s the town librarian, an the element of magic, an she organizes the winter wrap up and stops by the farm sometimes. Rarity’s the element of generosity, an she’s mah brother’s godmother. Fluttershy’s the element of kindness, an she’s mah godmother. Pinkie Pie’s the element of laughter, and she stops by the farm fer apples to cook with.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “Applejack’s the element of harmony, an mah aunt, an Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty an mah mother, an she’s the fastest flyer in Equestria.” He stopped, letting out a deep sigh before continuing. “Seem like every day Ah gotta tell somepony that.”
Luna could help but giggle at the thought of this colt suddenly going through this rehearsed speech every day. Now that she thought about it, the colt had his mother’s eyes, if not her coat or mane. “Well, I’m certain that one day you shall not need to explain your relation to them.”
She felt better now, nowhere near as upset as she had been, and she settled down on the grass nearby Blitz. “I would like to thank you once again Blitz. You are certainly an interesting pony.”
He chuckled in response, then turned his flank to her. “Y’see that?” he asked, pointing a wing at his flank. Luna took a good look at the young colt’s cutie mark. It was a large stone amidst a raging sea, with a silhouetted pony standing atop it, just out of reach of the waves. “Ahm a rock. Ponies come t’me an they just talk t’me. Ah have a way of helpin’ them deal with their horse apples.”
Luna blushed slightly at the young colt saying such a dirty word, and he returned the blush in kind. “Uh, ah mean, uh…”
Luna let out a kind laugh before pulling the colt close with a wing. “Don’t worry. Tis nothing I haven’t heard before.” Blitz eased up at her words, and she let out a small chuckle. She looked up at the stars. Simply resting in this clearing with the young colt at her side was cheering her up, helping her clear her mind. The night sky was clear and bright, and she let out a soft sigh.
The two sat there side by side for a while, the princess and the farm colt, neither saying a word but enjoying the other’s presence. After several long minutes of silence, an idea popped into Luna’s head. She turned to Blitz with a small grin. “Tell me Blitz; are you fairly knowledgeable of profanity?”
Luna landed in the central hall of Canterlot Castle as the sun came up. She trotted through the hallways slowly, giving small nods to the saluting guards and bowing servants as she made her way to her chambers. As she passed through the hallway that house Celestia’s quarters, she came across the Alicorn herself, obviously relieved at the younger’s return.
“Luna! I’m so glad that you’ve finally returned.” Celestia gave her younger sister a small nuzzle as she came close, “I was so worried when you flew off like that. I’m sorry if I upset you…”
She was cut off as Luna raised a hoof to the white Alicorn’s mouth. “Shh, do not worry my dear sister Celestia.” Luna teetered slightly as she spoke, her eyes half closed with small bags underneath them. “Tis in the past; let us live life to the fullest, with that unfortunate conversation well behind us.”
Celestia’s eyes widened slightly. She had been expecting a longer discussion of what had happened, but as Luna trotted past her she felt a warmth inside herself, and a smile across her face. Luna seemed more at peace than she had in a very long time, and Celestia was glad. She turned away ready to attend to her royal duties when there was a sudden thump behind her. She turned swiftly, just in time to see Luna recoiling from running into a pillar and close enough to hear her younger sister shouting out in surprise and annoyance from the stone’s sudden appearance.
In the halls of Canterlot Castle, there were many wise utterances and conversations spoken throughout the structure; amongst these there were many conversations and statements that were remember for decades or centuries afterwards. And so it came to pass that on that sunny fall morning, the entirety of Canterlot Castle heard and would remember the sound of the Princess Luna shouting, “Mother bucking horse apples!” at the top of her lungs.
