A slow soft noise permeated the cold stillness of space. Luna glanced over, following the noise to it's source, a young creature sitting on a rock not thirty hooves away. This confused her, not only was there no way any other being could survive up here, but she had never seen a creature such as this before. It sported a small blonde mane on it's head, it's eyes were a cheery blue and it's skin a pale peach color. It also seemed to wear some type of clothing on it's legs and chest. It's hooves were white and had some kind of string attached to them.
She dried her eyes with a hoof and watched as it slowly stopped it's noise making motion. She sniffled and wiped her muzzle, thoroughly ashamed that she, the night princess, could be witnessed in such a state. “What-” She tried to clear her throat and regain some of the dignity her former position required of her. She might be banished, but that did not mean she had to act any different. “What art thou and how did thou come to sitteh upon that rock?”
It slowly rose, showing off it's true size. Her eyes widened as she took in his height. It stood taller than her, almost as tall as her sister. She also noticed that it's ears were situated at the sides of it's head, covered partially by it's mane when it sat still. It waved with it's five pronged appendage. “That was a lovely tune you sang just now.”
Taken aback by his cryptic answer Luna was without words. “Thou hast not answered our question.” Hopefully this creature was not as stupid as a minotaur. She groaned inwardly, now that she thought about it, the new creature looked somewhat like a minotaur.
“My apologies, as to what I am, have you never seen a human before?” Human, what manner of creature is that?
She sighed inwardly, at least it was not related to the brute minotaurs who only cared about war and clans. “We hath never heard of such a creature, pray tell, from where doth thou hail?” If she could find out what country this 'human' came from she might be able to determine it if it was worth her time to talk to it.
“I don't know what's up with the thou's and we's, but I’m from the USA, well, United States of America. To tell the truth I’m pretty sure I’m not there anymore.” Luna cocked her head, was this 'USA' like the moon? If so, then this human was probably not as learned as she.
Sighing sadly she returned her gaze to her home, what was her home, before the monster took control. She felt a presence beside her and was surprised that the human had somehow gotten up beside her without her knowing. “You know, in my country it's rude to end a conversation like you just did.”
It backed away a little, then, much to Luna's chagrin, extended one of it's pronged paws in a greeting of some kind. She did not wish to touch this thing, much less make conversation with it. “Hmph, first impression I get of your species and you're soiling it. Where I come from, impression is everything, it's how I got my job.”
Luna groaned outwardly, apparently this creature was not going to leave her alone until she continued some form of conversation with it. “What did thou do for a 'job'?” To be honest, she really didn't care, hopefully it was something as simple as farming or maybe just digging.
“Well, to be put it simply, I designed things, you know, buildings, roads, parks, stadiums.” This intrigued the night princess. What were these 'roads' and 'stadiums'?
“Forgive us, but we hath not a clue what thou art speaking of.” She tried hard to keep the expression of confusion off her face, but she was not doing so well. Silently she chastised herself, surely Celestia would be berating her for being so sloppy with her mistakes.
“Well, first, it's hard to understand 'thou' with all your old timey language.” The human put stress on the 'thee' was it trying to antagonize her? How dare it insult her, the princess of- no longer, she thought, not since her fall.
“Firstly, what thou was trying to suggest is that 'it is hard for us to understand thee', not thou.” Luna was too rapped up her own emotions to catch the laugh that came from the new creature, the human.
She returned her gaze to the planet below, or was it above, she didn't care anymore. How could she have been so foolish. From her banishment she could indeed see that ponies did appreciate her night. They watched the stars, kissed under the moon's light, and even had romantic dinners that could only be accomplished under the darkness and candlelight. Softly she cried, she had been so blind to the hatred, Celestia had been the perfect foal from the start, and now she seemed to be continually trying to one up Luna.
Except, she could see now, that Celestia was not glad to finally be rid of her, Celestia was in deed weeping, mourning her loss. Free of the curse she had willingly taken upon herself for the time being, she realized that Celestia had not been trying to one up her, it had been her continually trying to one up Celestia.
Her sorrows were interrupted by a warm body pressed against herself. She looked down and saw that the human had indeed dared to touch her royal fur. In a fit of anger she pushed him away and dusted herself off. “How dare thee touch us! We art royalty, thou art a common peasant!” Immediately she regretted the words. Not only was she not a Princess anymore, but this human was more than just common, that she could see.
“How dare I?” His voice cut into her like a cold spike. “How dare I? Well excuse me, your majesty, I couldn't tell because you lack your garments and your kingdom!”
It's words sliced through the rest of her emotional barrier. Immediately she felt overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, collapsing upon the dirt and dust that she now had to call home. The tears flowed freely, collecting in a pool on the ground. No time ever in her life was she ever this grief stricken. As a princess she was required to hide her emotions, a great leader does not let emotions govern her decisions.
Through her grief she heard a sigh and once again felt the warmth of the human upon her barrel. “Hey, I’m sorry, I really hope that I’m not the cause of these waterworks. I feel really bad already for making you feel this way.”
Luna wiped her eyes and nose on a hoof, looking at it coming away tear and snot stained. She grimaced at it before stretching it away from herself. The human leaned into view, it's clothing poking out. “May I?” Right now, she could care less what the human did, he couldn't kill her, the nightmare made sure of that, it would protect it's host.
She watched with disinterest at first, but as the human picked up her hoof and wiped the snot and tears onto it's own clothing she became confused. Why was this creature being so kind to a hostile pony such as her? She had done nothing but be rude to it, and yet it was kind to her all the same. “Why art thou-” she was shushed by a protrusion to her muzzle.
Instead of lashing out, like she felt she should do, she let the human say his piece, if it was not worth shushing her, then he would be berated. “It's 'are' honey. Thee and thou are 'you' and hath is 'has' or 'have' depending on how you use it.” Now it was expecting her to 'correct' her speech to his? “By the way, name's Cameron, Cameron Tellous, odd name, I know, but my family is an odd bunch.” If these humans were anything like ponies then it's name meant that it was male.
“Cameron, we doth not think that thou hath an odd name.” Quickly realizing her blunder, she tried to cover it up. “Our name is Luna, we used to be a princess of Equestria, but...” She couldn't finish the sentence.
The newly dubbed Cameron sighed. “It's going to take some work for you to start talking in a more modern way.”
Luna felt a bit of offense at his terminology. “Thou art the one not speaking of modern tongue. This is how all ponies speak.” Satisfied she had defended her position, she decided to press on. “Why doth it matter that we speak as thou speak? Thou should be speaking as we do.”
Cameron laughed and sat down in front of her, that smile of his just making her feel more and more miserable. “Luna, that's a pretty name, but you have to realize, you're speaking like your from the dark ages, where people used spears and catapults, lived in castles and had no indoor plumbing.” Luna was not amused by his description of these 'dark ages'. Her brows furrowed and her muzzle turned into a frown. “Oh, I assume I have just described your kingdom?” Cameron sounded sheepish now, rubbing the back of his head, in embarrassment Luna hoped. He should be embarrassed, making fun of her- what was hers. “Sorry, I come from a place that's a bit more... um...”
Luna was curious, she wished to know what more um meant for a kingdom. “More um?” This caused the human to blush a little, she did not know why, since he was just describing his own land, maybe he was embarrassed by it.
“More... advanced.” She was confused by this statement, how can this 'um' mean the same thing as 'advanced' and what gave him the right to berate her kingdom?
“Pray tell, how 'advanced' is thine kingdom?” A smile grew upon Cameron's lips, he looked about ready to laugh at her again. This would not do. She magically tapped him on the cheek, which silenced the laugh and turned the smile into a frown. He then resumed smiling as if nothing happened.
“Don't worry sweet cheeks, I forgive you for that.” He put a finger to his lips. “Advanced...” Luna lit her horn to slap him, but was surprised that he ducked, dodging the magical blow. He laughed at her efforts, bringing her to slap him. She could not keep a smile off her own lips though. It was nice to have company during her exile. “Well, Princess Luna, first, I live in a country, not a kingdom. I guess they are kind of the same, just mine is more modern.” A frown tugged at her features again. “Well, it's modern from my point of view.” She let it fade, he obviously meant no disrespect from now on. “We ride around on these things called 'cars'. They drive on four wheels and go really fast. We can also fly on huge things called 'airplanes.” Her eyes grew wide. How could this, she looked Cameron over again, human, ever fly? It did not have wings. “These airplanes have a special wing design that allows them to fly. Of course, it looks like you just flap yours, airplanes use giant engines to go really fast.” Luna's head was spinning, these humans did sound much more 'advanced' than ponies. Maybe if this human could get down to Equestria then he could make some of these 'cars' and 'airplanes', he did say he designed things.
Her head drooped and tears flooded again. She realized that, even if Cameron somehow got down to Equestria, she would always be alone on the moon. Maybe he was stuck here with her though. A smile gained entrance as she thought about having a companion with her. Her smile didn't last long as she realized that the human had a family and a job that he had to return to, he could not be with her forever, that and the beast inside continued to flourish, living off the hate that Luna couldn't let go of.
“I can see you're impressed princess.” He moved over and sat beside her, looking at the planet in front of them. “So, tell me, why are you stuck up here and not down there with the rest of the ponies?”
She was taken aback by his forwardness and looked away, trying to distract herself by creating the shapes of friends long gone in the dust. “We do not wish to talk about it.” The dust pony collapsed, bringing more tears to her eyes. She realized that no matter how much she wanted it, Cameron would not be here forever, for some reason she just knew.
She felt Cameron put a foreleg around her, it's appendage and protrusions slowly stroking her back. Slowly the tears stopped flowing as warmth and happiness permeated through her. This, stroking motion he was doing, was extremely comforting. “You know, if you keep it inside, it'll only get worse, trust me.” How could he possibly know her pain, she'd lost everything, nay, she'd given up everything, all for blind hatred that was unfounded. “So, what happened o beautiful mare.” She looked at him and he wiggled his eyebrows oddly.
Sighing she decided that there was no harm in letting one creature know what she'd done. “I tried to block out the sun and make it eternally night.” It sent a pang through her heart, but for some reason she also felt a bit better. It didn't help matters that she heard the human whistle, how could he admire what she'd done?
“Wow, you tried to steal the sun, impressive, all the people on our world do is threaten nuclear war.” Luna opened her mouth to question what this 'nuclear war' was, but another prong silenced her unexpectedly. “Nuclear weapons have the power to wipe out millions of people in a single second.” That's preposterous!
“That's preposterous! No weapon, can begin to deal that much damage! Thou art pulling our foreleg.”
“I am not, of course, blocking out the sun forever would eventually kill the planet and therefore all life on it, so I guess what you did was pretty damn mean. No wonder you're up here.” She wished to thoroughly smack this human stupid, but she found that she could not. “If it makes any difference, you don't look like a pony that would destroy a world.”
For some reason, it didn't feel so lonely anymore, neither did it feel quite like exile, not with another pony to talk to. “So Princess L-”
Luna felt a liking for this human, she did not care for her title anymore anyways. “Please, thou may call us Luna.”
The human smiled, obviously happy that their short lived relationship had come so far. “Okay, Luna, what do you do?”
At first Luna was confused, what did he mean by 'what do you do?' It was obvious that she ruled a country, in the past tense, maybe he was speaking of a hobby perhaps. “We raised the moon during the evening and lowered it in the morning.” She let a smile escape as the human's jaw started to open wide. “We also put each of the stars in the sky at night. Since we had already directed their position, it is a simple enough task.” The humans' jaw dropped farther.
Luna was grinning like a Cheshire cat. She was proud that she could impress the human more than he impressed her. She wondered how he would respond to her claims. “That's... wow, wow. Can you tell me any of the constellations?” Constellations, what are constellations? Her confusion must have showed, for the human frowned slightly. “Tell me you know what constellations are!” He sighed in defeat. “This is weird, I’m about to teach the star pony what a constellation is.” He sighed again. Luna noted that he did this a lot.
“A constellation is a group of stars that form a picture.” He pointed at a group of lights behind them. “See those twelve stars? They kind of look like a cat when you connect the dots.” Luna followed his finger. While she did indeed see the stars, she could not begin to see how they made the shape of the feline animal.
“We do not see what thou meanst.”
“Can you make a little glowy line thingy with that horn of yours?” He pointed to said appendage while looking at her.
She looked upwards and then back down. Grinning slightly she 'drew' a little mustache like she'd seen on some of the older Germane ponies. The human looked down, throwing her artistic creation off. Quickly compensating, she moved it back onto his lips. The human grinned and raised his head. “I bet I look dashing in this new mustache, don't I Princess?” Luna giggled as she looked upon the human and his goofy looking mustache. “Well, jokes aside, can you draw a line between the stars for me?”
Luna had not tried her astrological powers as of yet, too caught up in her grief and anger she failed to realize that maybe her sister didn't seal them away. Concentrating hard she sought for the link that connected her with the stars above, slowly diverting some of the star's light from around it to form a line between the one he requested. “Okay, now move it down to the next star.” She did as he asked, forming a sort of obtuse angle.
Eventually the 'cat' was complete. Luna could see now what he had been talking about when he described seeing such a creature in the sky without the light lines, but it was a crude visual. “Tis like a cat, but we do not think it tis a good cat.” Lighting her horn the stars she had connected moved slowly, making the form of the cat, more distinguishable among the night sky.
Below, hundreds of ponies either ran around, preaching the end of the world, or stared at the night sky. They all saw the newly christened cat that had been drawn in the sky above the moon. The moon itself seemed to hold a small sparkle, as if somepony had been shining a light from it, but nopony paid much attention to that.
Many a pony came to the court room and demanded that Celestia tell them what was going to happen. Celestia never showed though, much to the citizens displeasure. She was too busy looking out her balcony, already had been informed of the 'occurrence'. She watched, eyes slightly watering, knowing that her sister, her real sister, was obviously still alive somewhere on the moon. She laughed softly to herself as the stars slowly aligned themselves to create a better picture.
She watched with baited interest as even more stars came from the sky and moved to make the ears of the cat. She was confused though, when the stars were then moved back to where their original place was. She smiled and lit her horn.
Slowly the stars that Cameron had insisted go back, moved back into place, creating the ears of the cat once again. He stared back at Luna who was just as mystified by the sudden movement of the celestial bodies. She knew that Cameron would confront her so she decided to cut him off. “We did not do such a thing! We moved the stars as soon as thou asked!” She watched with awe as the two newcomers connected themselves like she had done with the others.
Cameron folded his arms, frowning. It did make the cat a bit better looking, but he insisted that she was freaking out the populace below. “We swear upon our crown that we did not such a thing!”
As quickly as they came, the stars moved back to their original places, quieting both of the moon occupants quickly. Cameron put his two appendages into his pockets. “Well, whatever happened, it's stopped now, want to find some more?”
Luna smiled and nodded, that she did.
They had spent hours searching for shapes in the sky. Most of the shapes had been spotted by Cameron, but a few had been pointed out by Luna herself. She found another, “Look there Cameron, thou must see this for thineself. Tis a manticore!” This garnered a confused look from the human whose company she'd grown to appreciate.
“Manticore? You know those things don't exist right?” Luna was also confused by this, since she had to fight a manticore herself one time to protect a guard unit that had been trapped. She had been younger at the time, foalish too. Her big sister had come in right in the nick of time before she got stung.
“They do too, one almost killed me.” The human's eyes grew wide. He then sighed and looked back up at the sky, looking for something else.
“Whatever you say princess. Hey look, it's a- oh wait you wont know what that is.” Luna shook her head and smiled, this will have been the eighth time he pointed out something that 'she wouldn't know about' and it just got funnier every time.
A familiar pain shot through her and she looked to her right. To her horror she saw the edges of the sun's light, the time had come all to soon for the night alicorn. “Thou must leave!” She pushed him away before holding her own head between her hooves.
Cameron was surprised. “What do you mean? We were having so much fun.”
Luna cried out again, her voice deeper and more menacing. “Thou, must, LEAVE.”
Her vision lightened as she started to look through the eyes of a predator. She watched her companion's expression turn to shock. He backed away from the nightmare. Luna was powerless to stop the nightmare as it stalked her friend. She was forced to watch, to feel, to hear everything that went on around her. Her teeth snapped uncontrollably where Cameron’s hand lay, too quick for him to move it. To her delight and surprise, her newly fanged mouth closed around nothing.
She felt like crying out for joy and in anguish as Cameron's form slowly faded from existence as he scrambled away. Finally he disappeared all together.
On the moon, a single black alicorn, head and and chest covered by menacing dark purple armor, cried out, in anger and in anguish at the lost prey. Inside, a defenseless filly, curled up, mourning her fate. She was cursed to be alone, nothing would change that.
It would take Luna many decades to forget her human companion. Eventually she did forget, but after that, each day on the moon only seemed lonelier than the day before. She always looked upwards and saw the cat. Long after she had forgotten her human friend, she decided to give it a name. She did not know why she had not named it before, maybe she couldn't think of a good one.
So, with great joy, she named her first constellation, 'Cameron the Cat'.
