A Walk Under the Stars

Chapters

A New Land
The First Day
Epilogue
Last Day
The Walk Under the Stars

A New Land

I woke up, I don't know why. I had stupidly convinced myself that I was going to die. And the fact that my eyes were open and I could see the day sky surprised me. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Could I have really survived? Then why wasn't I feeling any pain, hunger, or soreness? I looked around. My sleepy eyes shot open wider. This wasn't the woods that I fell asleep in. And the hill I slept upon was replaced by soft, plush grass. The day seemed brighter than usual. The air more clean, like I had breathed in last night.

Where was I? Had I been abducted by extraterrestrials? Then dropped off in a random wood? I looked around once more. The trees were more spaced apart, and I could see spots where the small rays of sun shined through, like spotlights. Several thoughts race through my mind, and fear began to take over my body. I cowered away, afraid of the unknown. After a while I forced myself to walk around, now that there's a little bit of daylight, maybe I can find my way out of here. There must be someone around. I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of these woods. There were flowers all around, some I didn't even know were real, though they seemed familiar. I picked one up and smelled it. It smelled like honey, I loved the smell and taste of honey.

I placed it in my pocket, making sure not to crush it. I kept walking through the woods, taking in every detail. The blueness of a stream, the croak of a toad, the way the trees reflected off a pond. Some leaves began to fall, I picked one up. I raised an eyebrow. This was definitely creepy. The leaves were green. At my home, it was autumn, the leaves were beginning to turn orange. I threw the leaf down.

"No, I won't let myself flip out again. I'm going to find someone, and there is going to be a perfect explanation for all of this," I said to myself. I found what looked like an opening to the outside. Finally, I could get out of the woods. I ran for the clearing and pushed my way out.

And for some reason, I saw Canterlot, from My Little Pony. My jaw dropped and I had trouble bringing words together. I could only think of what to say. My vocal cords might as well have been ripped out. My heart was in my throat. I knelt down on my knees and rubbed my eyes. I held my eyes shut. It's not actually there. I opened them and still saw it.

Canterlot sat next to a giant mountain, and on top of four mini water falls. There were buildings decorated with yellow, purple, and white designs. One of the buildings had pink flags. Part of it hung off the side of the cliff, and the part that was grounded had a moat around the entrance that ended in a waterfall on the left and a lake on the right, filled by a waterfall from the top of the mountain. The draw bridge was up. I looked towards the sun. It had just begun to rise.

To my surprise, there was a sort of wavy aura around the sun as it rose. My jaw cracked. This exactly what it looked like on My Little Pony when Princess Celestia raised the sun. I looked back to Canterlot, My eyes widened as I noticed the draw bridge had been lowered and there was a small sort of carriage coming down a path towards me. My mind was all over the place, and I didn't notice that carriage had arrived in front of me, and two ponies leapt out. Both wearing gold armour covering thier heads, back necks, backs, chests, and rears. They had golden slippers.

One had a blue, spiked up mane with a tail of the same qualities and a white coat. He had light blue eyes and his face never changed. He hopped out of the carriage and grabbed me by the arm. I was too surprised and mesmerized to resist. The other had a grey coat and yellow eyes. His mane and tail was the same style as the other, but a mixture of sky blue and white. He grabbed me by my other arm and they both lead me to the carriage, where I stepped inside and sat down. I just stared forward, unable to contemplate what was going on.

By the time I passed Canterlot's bridge, which was about five minutes, I accepted the fact that I was here. I had spent so much time thinking about what it'd be like to come here, I kind of desensitized myself to the surprise of actually being here. But deep down, I thought I was probably in a coma or a dream.

I tried looking out the carriage, but the drapes were drawn shut, and the guard told me not to move. Obviously, they were trying to hide me. And I understood that. There have been some crazy creatures on My Little Pony, but for some reason I think a human would be the most taboo. I felt us turn and a large door shut behind me.

"You may exit," the royal guard said to me. I followed his request and exited, where four more guards were stationed. I was told to follow them, and I did so. We went through a few doors and then up several flights of stairs. Two guards in front of me, two guards behind me. Do they think I'm lethal? I thought to myself. We went down a long hall, many of the stained glass windows recognized. The defeat of Discord, the defeat of Nightmare Moon. They lead me through another door and shut it, not following me. I stared at the door, wondering what's next.

"You may approach us," a voice said behind me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. No way, I said. I turned around to see two thrones inhabited by two alicorns. One throne was white, matching the coat of Princess Celestia. She stared down at me with her old yet young eyes. Her mane a light cerulean, a light turquoise, a very light cobalt blue, and a pale heliotrope. Flowing around with sparkles in it. Her eyes a pale, light grayish magenta. Her crown was gold with a purple diamond in the middle. Her necklace gold with a purple diamond in the center. I walked closer to them.

Princess Luna sat upon a dark blue throne. She sat upon it, staring down at my in wonder and curiosity. Her coat was a dark blue, her mane a moderate sapphire blue with a grayish Persian blue aura surrounding with white speckles that resembled stars inside it. Her crown was black and her necklace black with a waning crescent moon with four stars. She looked into my eyes and scanned me. I can't imagine how lewd I look to them.

I stepped in front of them and looked to Princess Celestia. She studied me some more. "Where are you from?" she asked me. I had some trouble believing I was standing in front of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. And that Princess Celestia was talking to me. I answered her nervously.

"Uh... Ohio," I answered. Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"You're not from this world, are you?" she asked. I was surprised when she asked me that. I didn't know she had thought of me being from a different world, but then again, she's very old. I can't imagine the amount of knowledge in her mind.

"Uh, yeah, how did you... know?"

"Thou fell from the sky one minute before sunrise, we thought thou was a meteor, though we had not planned on there being one," Princess Luna said. So that's true, she does plan out the night sky, I thought to myself. I chuckled in disbelief. "Is there a problem?" Princess Luna asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No, nothing," I answered.

"Are you here with evil intentions?" Princess Celestia asked. Now I raised my eyebrow, surprised by the question.

"No, not at all, princess." I watched as Princess Celestia leaned over to Princess Luna and whisper to each other. Princess Luna looked at me a couple of times. How could I have come down in a meteor? There was no impact zone around me, I thought. I know it sounds silly, but it kinda makes sense in this world. Perhaps I fell down in a magical meteor, thus no crater. I guessed that could have been true. It made sense being in Equestria, a land of magic.

"You will be given a room to sleep in until we know what to do with you. You will go there now, supper is at eight. A guard will lead you," Princess Celestia said as a Royal Guard opened the door, gesturing me to follow. I turned around and thanked the two princesses and they nodded in return. I followed the guard, this time there was only one, it seemed like Princess Celestia believed me.

I was lead up several flights of stairs to a room much like Rarity had stayed in, I couldn't remember the episode. I leapt into the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Supper is at eight. What time is it now? I leaned over to look for a clock. I found a wall clock, the hands suggested it was 9:30 in the morning. I leaned back down and took a deep breath. I chuckled, I'm in Equestria, I talked to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia and I'm laying on a royal bed with an hour until I eat dinner with royalty, perhaps there is a God.

I got up and picked a door. The door I chose opened up to a balcony, overlooking Canterlot, and some of the rest of Equestria. I laughed out loud. I wanted to fly, to soar across these skies. I thought back to when I was younger, when I kept wasting paper trying to draw the perfect original character. I went through so many mane styles. I don't even remember what design I chose. But I do remember I decided on a Pegasus. I always dreamed of flying. I looked down at the roads. I could see the ponies bustling around. One pony was going from store to store, coming out with a new bag every time. I must have watched them for ten minutes.

I went back inside and chose another door. This led to the stairwell that I came from. I chose another door, this one leading to a bathroom. There was an assortment of bottles that I didn't even take the time to read each one. I just picked one up and took a shower. The water was warm, seemed like the perfect temperature. I tried to stay in there as long possible. When got out I was extremely tired. Today had been really crazy and it took a lot of brain power to take it all in. The bed was so soft and comfortable by he time I shut my eyes I fell asleep.

This room was by far better than my apartment altogether.

I was always a light sleeper, so when a door opened, I woke up. It was the Royal Guard that escorted me to this room.

"You are being called down for dinner," he said formally. I looked to the clock. It was 7:50. I had been sleeping the whole day. Still, I had ten minutes to get down there. I sat up and hopped off the bed. I followed the guard down the stairs, to the left, down a hall, to the left again, and in through a door. Where there was a table with three chairs on each side, and two in the front and back. The table looked to be wooden and heavily polished. It was a surprisingly small table. I was seated on one of the two chairs on the end and told to wait for the princesses. I obliged.

I looked to the clock, three minutes until eight. I was surprised at how long the walk was to get here from the room. Seven minutes. This castle must be huge! I looked back to the clock, two minutes. For some reason, I felt extremely nervous thinking about dining with the princesses of Equestria. What about proper table etiquette? I had learned some of it from my father, but would it be enough? Maybe the princesses will go easy on me. They must know I couldn't possibly know all the etiquette.

One minute. Oh, God. I'm screwed. I'm going to utterly embarrass myself! My eyes shot around the room, thinking of some sort of exit.

The door opened and I jumped in my seat. I looked over to see two Royal Guards holding the doors open for the two princesses as they regally entered. They took their seats on the opposite end of the table. We stared at each other. I didn't know what to say. I needed to say something, though.

"Uh... thank you, for... inviting me to dinner," I said. The princesses smiled.

"But of course, our pleasure," Princess Luna said.

"Indeed," Princess Celestia added, "the meal should be coming in any minute, now." And as soon as she finished, the doors to the kitchen opened up as two ponies came out pushing carts with dishes covered by a top. The first one stopped by Princess Luna first. The top was taken off and shown was a bowl filled with salad. Of course, they don't eat meat. Princess Celestia took the same thing and they both thanked him. The cook came by me with the tray. I took one from the dish and thanked him. He bowed his head and returned to the kitchen. I didn't object to the lack of meat, though. I was too worried I might get in trouble for the injection. And plus, if they don't eat meat, and they find out I do, they might see me a beast.

The second cook pushed his cart over to the princesses. They went through the same routine, but this time the meal was pretty much a salad between to loaves of bread. Though when he came to me, I still did not object. I took it and thanked him. I turned to the princesses, who were looking at me, probably wondering if this was in my diet.

"Thanks, again, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia," I said, breaking the silence. They nodded again and began to eat their salad. I followed their movements, taking the same fork, putting my napkin in my lap. It was silent while eating the salad. For a while I thought I had done something wrong, but when we finished, conversation began.

"Thou seems to be handling this situation quite well," Princess Luna said. I was a little bit surprised at the breaking of the silence, but I went with it.

"Well, when you've dreamed about it your whole life you kinda get used to it," I said, somewhat under my breath.

"I beg your pardon?" Princess Celestia asked. I cursed myself for saying that. How would these ponies handle knowing they're on a television show?

"Uh, nothing, just... I'm good at adapting to new surroundings," I said. At least I'm not lying.

"We have many questions about where you come from, do you mind?" Princess Celestia said, gesturing to Princess Luna. I shook my head.

"Fantastic, we have a question. What art thou?" Princess Luna asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, I'm a human. Have you ever heard of them?" I answered and asked back.

"No, not at all," Princess Luna answered, Princess Celestia didn't. The princesses began to take turns asking me questions for about ten minutes.

"What do you remember from last night?" Princess Celestia asked.

Well, I went on a walk through the woods, then I got lost, then I fell asleep. And I woke up in a different wood, then your Royal Guard found me."

"Thou doesn't remember falling from sky at incredible speeds?" Princess Luna asked. I raised an eyebrow and shook my head.

"Very weird," Princess Celestia noted. "What is... Ohio like?" she asked. I thought for a moment. How could I describe Ohio in the best and most accurate way?

"There isn't a lot there, just bad sports teams and run down cities," I answered, silently laughing at my description.

"Ohio doesn't sound very good." I shook my head in response.

"What do you think we should do with you?" Princess Celestia asked, catching me off guard. I was at loss for words. I didn't really think about it.

"... I don't know," I answered.

"Well, I'm sorry but... you can't stay here, ponies would find you, they'd become afraid of you, there'd be chaos." Princess Celestia said. I thought about what Princess Celestia was saying. Perhaps she's right. I would love to stay here, but how could I without causing some panic? It'd be like an alien coming down back home. And besides, like I just said, that's my home. I don't belong here. I looked up at the two princesses. For a second, it looked like Princess Luna had a face of sorrow.

"I guess you're right, princess. I don't belong here." Princess Celestia nodded her head in agreement.

"Guards, bring me Princess Twilight Sparkle," she turned back to me. "She and I will find a spell to transport you back to your home. In the meantime, you will sleep here for tonight, tomorrow we should have found a spell. A guard will lead you back to your room and will get you tomorrow." Princess Celestia said. And with that the cooks came around and swept up our plates. A Royal Guard came around and led me away. When I turned around the princesses were gone.

The guard shut the door behind me and I took my place in my bed. I thought about leaving this place, and a twinge of sadness struck me. I had only been here a day and I was happier than I ever was back in Ohio. But I forced myself to push that happiness away, it would only make it harder to leave. I looked to the clock. It had just struck nine o'clock. I took another shower, this time using a shampoo that smelled like honey. When I got out, I noticed the sun had set.

I leapt over and opened the balcony doors. If I'm going to leave this beautiful place, I want to experience the night sky here. I imagined the clearness of the night sky. No light pollution whatsoever. I walked out onto the balcony and leaned over the railing, searching for the Moon. When I found it, it was rising above the horizon with a moderate cobalt blue coloured aura around it. The Moon looked more beautiful than I imagined it would be. It was a beacon of brilliance in the night sky.

I remembered when I thought I would see the Moon for the last time, this made me appreciate it so much more. The sky slowly became darker and more and more stars could be seen. I sat down with my feet dangling between the bars of the balcony. When the magic aura dissipated from the Moon, it was high in the sky, but not right above me. It was right in front of me. I had the perfect view. I could feel the moonlight on my face. I sat there for about half of an hour. It was almost ten o'clock. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something flying through the air. It was flying kind of out of the way, almost stealthily. The figure noticed I had seen it and flew straight towards me. As it came closer I found out what it was.

It was Princess Luna.

The First Day

I was still sleeping when I was interrupted by talking. I remembered everything that happened last night and my heart felt warm. I opened my eyes to see Princess Celestia and Luna talking to each other. Luna noticed me awake.

"Oh, Sam, thou art awake," she said.

"I was always a light sleeper," I replied, rubbing my eyes. "Good morning."I said. Both Princess Celestia and Luna didn't hear me. Now they were whispering to each other. I sat up and my back ached. "Excuse me, princesses, could I get filled in?" I spoke again. Princess Celestia looked to me with a hint of anger.

"You were supposed to be in your room," she said. I reached back and rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

"Yeah, I guess plans changed."

"And you," Princess Celestia turned to Luna, "were supposed to lower the Moon, I had to do it for you," she said. Luna looked down at the ground, but then back at Princess Celestia.

"We know, but we fell asleep," Luna said. Princess Celestia switched glances between Luna and me. I was saddened by Luna saying 'we' again. But it made me feel better that she was still able to break it for me.

"What's going on here?" she asked. Luna looked around nervously. A lot of this didn't make sense to me. What I did know was the Luna didn't lower the Moon and the Princess Celestia must have caught Luna sleeping on my lap.

"Last night we spent some time with Sam, and we told him the truth about our banishment." Luna said with a hint of nervousness. Princess Celestia looked at me, surprised.

"And... how did he... react?" Princess Celestia said, nervously glancing at me. Luna smiled. She poked the flower I gave her and blushed.

"He gave us this... then... confessed his love for us," Luna said. Princess Celestia took a step back, surprised. "...And we confessed ours to him," Luna stated. Princess Celestia lowered her head. I could almost see a tear well up in her eye. Before I could say something, she bought her head back up. This time she looked angry.

"Last night, Twilight and I found a spell to transport him back to his... home. We do it now." As Princess Celestia said this, my happiness began to crumble. Thoughts of being without Luna filled my mind. Thoughts about going back to that crappy apartment, back that crappy job, to that crappy car. A tear welled up in my eye as I saw Princess Celestia's horn light up a very light gold. She aimed her horn at me and I was frozen still. I looked over to Luna, who had tears welled up in her eyes.

"No!" she shouted as she jumped in between Princess Celestia and me. Princess Celestia immediately ceased her magic. "No! We won't let you!" she cried. Princess Celestia stared into Luna's eyes.

"Sister, move out of the way."

"No, we won't let thou. We love him, we don't care what thou says or that he's a...human," Luna said. I saw her take the flower out of her ear and smell it. I wanted get up and help Luna, but I was unable to talk or move. I looked to Princess Celestia. Her expression surprised me. It was no longer anger, it seemed more like... sadness.

Princess Celestia was struggling to keep the tears in.

"It's for your own good," she said.

"Why?" Princess Celestia didn't answer. "...Wh-"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU, AGAIN...!" Princess Celestia shouted, silencing Luna. The tears beginning to fall down Celestia's face. Princess Celestia thinks she'll lose Luna if she's with me? Princess Celestia had only cried twice on My Little Pony. The first time when she banished Luna to the 'Moon', and the second time when she was reunited with Luna. I could understand why she wanted to get rid of me.

I was having a lot of trouble taking this all in so early after I woke up. All I could do was watch. My brain might as well have been shut off. How long had they been arguing while I was asleep? Will Celestia really send me away? I don't want go back to Ohio. I want to stay with Luna! There must be some sort of way to solve this.

"Tia... We love thou so much. So, so, much... But if thou sends Sam away... then thou will lose us," Luna said through her tears. Princess Celestia looked shocked at first. She turned at me with sad eyes. She was so fearful for Luna. Always worried, always sorry. I saw her horn glow again and I was pinned down more. Celestia shut her eyes, but the tears continued to spill. She tensed up and I shut my eyes, expecting to be wooshed back to Ohio. It felt like hours had passed by. But instead, I heard Celestia break into sobs, and the pressure on my body leave. I opened my eyes to see Luna embracing Celestia.

"Please... Luna," Celestia said through the sobs, "please don't... leave me... again,"

"Dearest sister, never would we do such a thing," Luna replied, more tears welling up in her eyes. For a while, they stood there, hugging each other. Then Princess Celestia broke away. She turned to me and helped me stand up. I had to look up to meet her gaze. She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Okay... Sam. Do you truly... and honestly... love my little sister?" she asked.

"Yes, truly and honestly," I replied. Princess Celestia nodded in assurance. She turned to Luna.

"And do you, dearest Luna, truly... and honestly... love Sam?" Luna looked over to me and smiled.

"Yes, Tia... We do, truly, and honestly," she answered. Princess Celestia smiled happily. Probably happy her little sister has found love. Princess Celestia turned towards me with a new youth and enthusiasm.

"Well, we've got to do something about that weird form of yours," she said, winking at me. I laughed, happy to see Princess Celestia happy. "Lucky for you, as I was searching for a transportation spell, I found a form changing spell." Princess Celestia said as she smiled brightly when she heard her little sister gasp.

"Oh, Tia. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Luna said as she flew around in glee. Princess Celestia looked back at me.

"Are you sure you won't be missed back in Ohio?" Princess Celestia asked me. I thought for a moment. But I couldn't think of anything.

"There's nothing to miss in Ohio," I replied jokingly. Princess Celestia nodded.

"Okay, that's good. Now, this spell will change you into the pony that you would be if you were born that way. It'd be you but a pony version." It was a bit confusing, but I understood enough. Princess Celestia closed her eyes and leaned her head down, pointing her horn at me. It glowed again and I began to feel weird. My whole body felt like liquid, I felt myself rise above the princess and then there was a blinding light and I found myself lying on the ground. I opened my eyes to see both princesses staring at me worriedly.

Luna rushed over to me and helped me up.

"How are you feeling?" Luna asked. It took me a few seconds to bring my thoughts together. I broke away from her and pulled out my phone. I used the reflective screen to see what I looked like. My breath was utterly ripped from me.

I had a tan coat and green eyes. My brown hair was still somewhat of a mess. It spiked up in some spots and frayed out in others. My green eyes were bigger. I brought my hand up to feel my coat when I noticed it was a hoof now. I studied it intently, mesmerized. There was a fluff of fur in the dent of my chest, it felt so soft. I turned to my side and looked at my hip. I smiled at my cutie mark. It was a star cluster inside a heart. It was exactly what I imagined it to be. That's when I noticed the wings. I gasped when I saw them. I soon found myself spreading them out, folding them in. I put on the biggest grin I could without hurting myself and leapt at Princess Celestia. I hugged her and she put an arm around me. I repeatedly thanked her.

"I don't know how I could ever repay you, Princess Celestia!" I said, tears of joy welling in my eyes. Princess Celestia leaned down to my ear.

"I think I may know how... make my little sister... happy, okay?" I looked up at Princess Celestia and nodded repeatedly. "And Sam? You may call me Celestia, from now on," she said. I smiled brightly and studied Celestia's face. Once again tears had welled up in her eyes, but she had the happiest grin I've ever seen on her. She looked towards Luna, then back at me. "Go to her now," she commanded.I nodded and turned towards Luna, who was still looking surprised by my new appearance. She looked into my eyes and I into hers. It felt like the world had been shut out, and only she and I were left. I wouldn't even care if she and I had to spend one thousand years in another dimension, I'd be happy with her.

I walked up to her and stood snout to snout. She blushed heavily and I must have been blushing even more. But I didn't care, I wasn't going to shy away. I could feel the heat of her breath on my face. I could still smell the honey from the flower. I shut my eyes and tilted my head to the side and leaned towards Luna. My lips met hers and we kissed. I was kissing the love of my life, Luna. I soon felt her do the same, and it felt like all of eternity had slipped away. And we were still kissing past time.

I was happy, Luna was happy, Celestia was happy and would most likely become my sister-in-law, and I would live in Equestria with Luna until the end of my days.

Today was the first day of a beautiful life.

THE END

Epilogue

I was laying down in front of the fire, enjoying the heat against my face. I brushed my mane out of my eyes, it had become very long and overdue for a manecut. I watched as the fire licked the space above it with its orange flames. I loved to hear it crackle. It was a satisfying sound. It calmed me on cold winter nights like these. I picked up a fire poker and tipped over a small log, causing little fire speckles to fly up, only to burn themselves out and fall back into the fiery pit. I put the poker back, careful not to burn myself.

I rolled over on to my side and heard a small thud next to me. I picked up what fell and held it in front of my face. I smiled warmly.

I was holding the charm to the necklace I was wearing. It was a golden waning Moon inside a heart. It held it close to my heart and felt a twinge of worry. It had been a long time since my wife had been away. I hoped she was okay. The thought of her made me feel better. I thought about those two days I first spent with her. It all seemed like a dream, yet also like it happened yesterday. The thought of her warmed my heart more than any fire could.

I remembered the exact way the Moon looked when she found me on the balcony. I remember her telling me she had specifically placed it in front of me for romantic reasons. Oh, how we laughed. It was odd how I didn't notice those first few signs. Her watching me from afar, how she sat closer than the normal pony would on that balcony. How she tried to impress me with her knowledge of the sky, how she tried to impress me with her flying skills.

I remember the exact words she said to me when she was telling me about her banishment. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I can still hear her cries and feel her tears. I recall how she lied in my lap and spilled her demons. I remember her eyes when I gave her the flower, her anchor to herself, the separation between her and Nightmare Moon. For the longest time, it never came out of her ear, excluding showers and sleep and stuff like that. But she always kept it nearby. I remember when she jumped onto me and sobbed, how I petted her and told her it was going to be okay. I remember when she fell asleep on my lap. And when I slept, too. Never had I had such a sound and restful sleep.

I remember, most of all, when I first told her I loved her, how I looked into her sparkling eyes. Those beautiful cyan eyes. I remember how they filled up with tears, how red her blush was. I remember when she jumped onto me and sobbed, confessing her mutual love. If I ever felt stressed or angry, I always remembered that moment. And I would be restored to calm. It was hard to believe all that happened nine years ago.

I brought my attention back to the necklace, another feeling of worry came over my body. I held the necklace to my lips and I kissed it. I never took this beloved jewelry off, not even for showers or sleep, it wouldn't get damaged. This necklace was the wedding present from my wife. She gave it to me two years ago. I admit, I shed a tear or two. It was a combination of my cutie mark and my wife's.

For my wedding present, I stole the flower I gave her and made into a necklace of my own, with the flower inside, neatly spread out, and this magical flower never lost it's smell, never ever. She wore it around her neck everyday and every hour. I remembered what my mother told me, the day before her death. I was seventeen and lived with my mother and I used to see my father on weekends.

"Sammy, do you know what love is? Besides the one for me and your dad," she had asked me. I looked up at her confused.

"No, I gu-ess not," I answered. I remember my voice cracking and my mother putting a hand on my face, feeling my soft skin. My mother looked surprised. She took a deep breath.

"No, I didn't really expect you to... Listen Sammy, I really need you to hear this," she said. She coughed and I tensed up at the unexpected sound. "One day, Sammy. You will find someone great. Someone who is going to fit in your puzzle of a life. And when you meet that one person, I begging you, hold on to her. Don't let the candle of love burn out. You need to be the best husband in the world. You need to remind that person of your love for them every day." She shut her eyes for a moment, then spoke again. "... In every love, there is something that symbolizes your love, always. Some sort of thing that always reminds you of her. I need you to hold on to that thing, make sure you see it every day. For that object... is your love. It is everything that you two hold close. Every time you see it, you should smile and relive every moment you two had together. Your father... was a great man and a greater father. And I still love him, even though he may be... gone. Without him, you would not be the striking young man you are now. And before you have to go, I want you to know... I love you more than anything in this world. And when I get old and die, I want to know that my son made a difference in someone's life. Sammy... my Moon... come closer," I obliged and leaned closer to her. "My Moon... I have cared for you my whole life, and if you have ever felt in my debt, I know of one way you can repay me..." silence hung in the air for what seemed like eternity. "Sammy, make her... happy..." she said, then she fell asleep. I walked out of that hospital in tears.

A tear slowly fell down face as I remembered that moment. But I smiled and made a small laugh.

"I did it, mum. I did everything you asked me to do. I made a difference in someone's life. Though I guess it's somepony's life now. I will always be your Moon, mum... always," I said to myself. Another tear streaked down my face as I recalled that brilliant woman. She really did shape me into who I am... I remember how sad I was after she died. I remember holding that knife in front of the bathroom mirror every night, first I wondered if I would ever go deeper, then I began to dare myself to go deeper. And then My Little Pony came into my life, and I threw the bloody knife down for good. I didn't care that I got teased for liking that show. It was the reason I stopped bleeding. I will always be in debt to those I now live with. I turned back on to my belly and closed my eyes in bliss. My ears twitched as I heard galloping coming from outside the door. It came closer and my door busted open, causing me to jump. There was a very light gold aura around the door handle. I looked up to see my sister-in-law, Celestia. She was breathing heavily. She must have been running fast. I jumped up and turned towards her, surprised and attentive.

"I came as soon as I could. It's Luna..." she took a breath, winded by her run. "The babies are coming!"

Last Day

I woke up from my sleep dreary. The covers were hiding all parts of my body excluding my legs. I wiggled my toes to wake myself up. It didn't really work. I turned my head to the side and looked out of my window. The sun was beginning to show over the horizon, the brightness dulled by the thicker part of the atmosphere. I diverted my vision to my clock. It read 5:58. I sighed, hating waking up so early after staying up so late, but it was worth it.

I threw the rest of the covers off and swung my legs over the bed. They dangled, the tips of my toes barely touching the carpeted floor. Pretty soon I was making my bed and putting on a t-shirt, leaving my pajama pants on. I walked down the stairs of my apartment into the small kitchen. I grabbed the cereal and the milk from the fridge and poured myself a bowl. I used a spoon to eat it. Upon finishing the breakfast, I put it away in the dishwasher and sat down on the three seated couch in front of the television.

"Wow, I've got a lot of catching up to do," I said to nobody. The screen in front of me was my recorded list. I had missed a couple of episodes of my favourite show, My Little Pony. Second favourite show Doctor Who, third favourite Sherlock. I would be able to watch only two episodes before I had to get ready to leave for work. I started from the beginning of the recorded shows and leaned back, getting comfortable.

I skipped the end credits after I realized I had to get ready for work. I turned off the television and rushed up the stairs. I went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. I had brown hair that went down above my eyebrows. I liked it somewhat of a mess so I fixed it a little bit then left it be. My green eyes had bags under them from lack of sleep. I had some freckles on my face, sometimes when I was younger, I'd make shapes connecting them, I still do. My body was kind of noodly. I picked up my toothbrush and brushed my teeth. I walked out of that bathroom hygienic.

I went back into my room and shuffled through my clothes. I walked out wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt with the words '20 Percent Cooler' on it, it was my favourite shirt. I had bought it a couple of weeks back at a store in the mall. It was a good buy. Sometimes people would look at me weird, or whisper something to their friends. But I did not care, I was at peace with it.

I grabbed my keys and phone and went out the door. I shut the door behind me and looked around. The sun had risen more, but it was still somewhat dulled. I diverted my eyes away to the world in front of me. A few cars passed by, but not many, I had gotten an apartment away from the town, I didn't like the lights. I turned back to my apartment, there was two buildings with four apartments in each one. From the outside, it made shabby apartments look less shabby.

I pulled out my keys from my pocket and went over to my car, a black Mercury Sable GS. It wasn't much of a car, but I enjoyed it. I had gotten it a few years back, with the help of my father. He payed for half. I shook my head of those thoughts.

I climbed in my car and turned it on, the radio coming on immediately. I turned it off and took my phone out. I drove away as my favourite song was playing. "Children of the Night." For about three weeks I began every day with that song. It's melody so enticing, the voice so beautiful, and the music video was brilliant. The animation was amazing. Everything flowed together perfectly.

As I drove along the road to the town I looked out towards the sun. It looked so beautiful from this angle. There was a large field of grass that stretched out for three acres. Then, at the end of the field, there were trees that were beginning to turn orange. And right in the middle there was a small clearing. This clearing shown the sun in all of its brilliance. It was simply a giant ball of gas burning at extremely high temperatures. And yet, the reds and the yellows and the oranges made it look so regal. Like a pastel painting sitting up in the sky.

I turned my attention back to the road and sat through the rest of the drive in silence.

I entered the town and turned into the nearest Starbucks. I didn't like coffee, so I never ordered it. Caffeine never did me good, and I never acquired its taste. I entered the building and waited in line. In front of me were three people, each with their money in their hand. They obviously wanted to get their drink and leave as soon as possible. I shrugged to myself and took a seat. If I'm going to wait, I'll wait comfortably, I thought to myself. As I sat down I thought about my schedule for today. I have to be at work by nine, which gives me about an hour to get there, and a thirty minute drive at the most. I'll get off of work at five, which will leave me four hours until sundown. And I have to go grocery shopping, which will take me about one and a half hours. That'll leave me with three and a half hours until sunset. Then I'll just go to the gym or something until then.

"Excuse me, are you here to order?" A voice said. I awoke from my thoughts, surprised I had been so distracted by them. I looked up and saw the cashier looking at me. Nobody was in line, they all left.

"Oh, sorry, yeah," I said, getting up and walking over to the counter. "May I get sweetened iced tea? No lemon?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll get you that," she said, typing stuff into a computer. I looked at the price and pulled out the correct amount of money, plus a tip for the cashier.

I liked the cashier, not in a "love" sort of way, since she's seventeen. I liked her because she was nice to me, she was patient, she was always smiling, and just the fact that she's seventeen and is working. Not a lot of teenagers work around here, hopefully she'll make a difference in this world, she's got the potential. She had blonde hair that extended just below her shoulders, and she recently got highlights, they looked good on her. She had green eyes, too. She was wearing a Starbucks shirt with light blue jeans. She came back with the tea and I payed her, telling her to keep the change. She smiled to me and thanked me.

I exited Starbucks and got back into my car. I drove away listening to the Pegboard Nerds and sipping my tea. More driving later and I ended up at Best Buy. I locked my car after I got out and walked inside. The people there, which there wasn't a lot, looked tired. I went through the door marked employee. I came out wearing a Best Buy tag reading "Electronics." I began to walk to the electronics section when I ran into a friend of mine.

"Hey, Benny," I said to a guy with black short hair, blue eyes, and teeth as white as freshly fallen snow. He looked over to me and smiled.

"Hey, how's it going?" he replied. He and I walked over to the electronics section, where we worked together.

"I'm alright, little bit tired, though."

"Stayed up late again? Same thing?"

"Yeah, but it's worth it, Benny, you should join me next time," Benny chuckled and stepped behind the checkout counter. I took my place with him and sat down in the chair, hoping work won't be that bad today.

Work went by smoothly, I answered questions, gave opinions, and stuff like that. One person asked me what kind of laptop she should buy for her children, one asked if the computer he wanted to buy was a good one. Just normal stuff that I dealt with everyday. Then a father came in with his son.

They browsed through the electronics section before the boy's father left for the mini refrigerators. After a while I went over to the kid to see if I could help. He had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He had some acne on his face. He was wearing a shirt with a cool and twisty design on it. He was wearing black shorts with a pair of earphones sticking out of one of the pockets. I walked up next to him and got his attention.

"Can, I help you?" I asked him. He turned towards me. He scanned me from head to toes.

"Sure, I'm looking for headphones," he said. He looked around, looking for the headphones.

"Okay, well, the headphones are on the other side of this row, I personally use Skullcandy, but others like to use-" I stopped as I noticed he was staring at my shirt, not listening at all. "Excuse me?" I said, waving my hand in front of my shirt. He disregarded my gesture and kept staring.

"What's the shirt from?" he asked. I grabbed it and flattened it out.

"It's from my favourite television show."

"What show?" he asked. I used to be embarrassed or nervous when telling people I watch My Little Pony, but after a while I became used to it.

"My Little Pony," I answered. He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You mean that show with ponies? The one with rainbows?" I nodded and he half smiled. "Isn't that kinda... gay?" he said. I internally rolled my eyes. Using "gay" as an insult was really overused.

"I don't think so, I like it, it's pretty good when you are willing to give it try," I answered.

"Nope, seems pretty gay," he responded. I tried to get the subject back to the headphones, but the boy ignored me. "How can you like that show? It's for girls, little girls. Are you a pedophile?" he asked mockingly. I sighed.

"No, I'm not a pedophile, I just enjoy the show, aren't you here to buy-"

"Do you live in your mom's basement?" he asked, smiling now. I became angry at him talking about my mother.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"I'm fifteen," he answered.

"You are a teenager, and you're spending your time teasing a 25 year old man that went to college, has a job, lives in an apartment, and has money. Grow up, kid. You're wasting your breath," the kid looked at me, probably thinking of another insult. Then, his father called him over from the movies section.

"Coming!" he said over his shoulder, then he turned back to me. "You want me to grow up? At least I'm not a fag that jacks off to a show meant for little girls," then he walked off, determined to have the last word. I groaned to myself and went back to my seat, thinking about what that jerk said. Am I as sad as that kid really thinks I am? I thought to myself. Surely not, like I said to him, I'm 25 years old, I went to college, I have a job, a home, and money. I'm not... sad. I smiled to myself, happy that I don't hate myself. I looked at the clock, it was almost 3:30, which meant Benny was about to come off his thirty minute break and I would get mine, then we'd both work for another hour, then I'd leave. And soon enough Benny came out of the break room and sent me off.

I entered the break room and opened the mini refrigerator and took out the rest of my iced tea. I sat down in the chair and joined other employees to watch soccer, or as I prefer to call it, football. It was a friendly between Doncaster and Birmingham. I took out my phone and began to play Tetris. The thirty minutes ended quite quickly, and I was back out there, talking to Benny about the match.

"Birmingham's keeper couldn't catch a ball even kicked by you," Benny said to me, jokingly, nudging my shoulder. We both laughed, causing us to get some looks. A few more people required help, and we gave it to them. After an hour, I bid my farewells and left for the grocery store listening to "Lullaby for a Princess."

I entered my apartment at seven o'clock, with two plastic bags on each hand. I placed them on the counter and began to put them away.

"Milk in the fridge, tacos on the counter," I placed the tacos I bought from Taco Bell on the counter, I planned on eating them while I stayed up late. "Cereal on top of the fridge, bread on the counter, peanut butter in the cabinet, and grape jam in the fridge." I placed everything where they were supposed to go, according to me, and sat down. I looked at the clock again, it was 7:15. I decided to take a shower, change my clothes, and go for a walk until sunset. I went upstairs in my room, picked out my clothes, and went to the bathroom. I took my shower and reminded myself to buy shampoo. I climbed out and checked my facial hair. I had shaved yesterday, and I checked to see if it was coming back, it wasn't, not yet.

I put on my clothes and locked the door behind me, I walked down the driveway and contemplated which direction to go. When I did go on walks, I went right, opposite the town. But this time I wanted to go somewhere else. Not left but, not right. Either forwards or backwards. If I were to go forward, I'd run into an old abandoned factory, and I've drove past it before, nothing very interesting about it. There isn't even a way in. I turned around and went behind the apartment. I had never gone this way before, never even drove by it before. Maybe I'd find something interesting.

There was a small field of grass and woods at the end. I chose a path to take and I walked towards it. There was a small opening in the bushes and I pushed them aside, revealing a small dirt path. I began to walk down it, looking around me. There were trees as far as I could see. The farther I looked, the denser the woods became. There were some bushes around me, and I could hear animals scurry out of sight. I looked up at the sky, of which I could not see. The trees were very close together, showing little signs of the sky. From what I could see, it was beginning to change colour. I tried to tell the time by looking at the sky colour, but it didn't work. And I didn't expect it to work either. Only a pro could figure something like that out. And I'm certainly no pro.

"What time is it?" I asked aloud. I pulled out my phone and checked the clock. 20:38, it read, 8:38. "I should be getting back," I said as I turned around. I jumped in surprise. I slapped my forehead and cursed. "My wandering mind." As I was looking up and trying to depict the time, I was still walking. Now I somehow got off the path. Instead of a dirt path, there was a wide tree. I looked around, searching for any sign of the path. I found a tiny clearing, and I nervously convinced myself that was the way. I pushed my way through and got a cut on my leg from a sharp branch. I watched it begin to bleed. The cut stung like a bee. I cursed again and pushed on. I knew that this was indeed not the way to the path, but I forced myself to continue, trying to trick myself into believing I was on my way out.

After about ten minutes of walking and frantically jogging around, I began to feel nervous, after five more minutes, I felt extremely nervous. I checked my phone.

"What! No signal? Ten percent battery?" I shouted. I knew I shouldn't have listened to music so much and played Tetris so much. I checked the time. 8:53. The sun had already set and the woods began to darken quickly. I sat down and thought out loud. "Okay, okay, okay, okay. Let's asses the situation. Okay, I'm lost in the woods in the back of the apartment, I'm cold, hungry, tired, and my phone battery is at eight percent." I stuck my hand out in front of me. I cursed loudly. I couldn't even see my hand, even though the sun had set a couple of minutes ago, the dense woods had already darkened. "Okay, if I'm going to walk, I'll have to use my phone as a light, but its at seven percent now!"

I began to become extremely paranoid. Every noise I heard was a demon about to wring my neck like a wet towel. Carve my skin off like a potato. I shut myself up, I can't think like that. I started to breath heavily, and by doing so, I noticed something.

The air seemed... better, in a way. Like it was cleaner, not polluted. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, clearing my mind. My eyes shot open as I thought of an idea.

"Yes!" I shouted, alarming many squirrels. "I need to go uphill. If I can find a way to see above the trees, I will be able to see the town's lights," I checked my phone, six percent. A chill of worry flushed over my body, but I didn't let it deter my spirits, though deep down, I doubted I would find a hill taller than the trees. Still, I had to hurry. I jumped up and turned my phones' LED light on. I caught a chipmunk in its ray and it scampered away. I swung the phone around, looking for any incline of the ground. I found one and jogged in that direction, scanning for a hill. After two minutes of following inclines, my phone beeped. My first thought was that it was a notification that I had gotten service. But when I checked it, it was only a notification telling me I had five percent battery left, and to connect my phone to a charger.

Now I was running. Disregarding any sounds I heard. I was in total frantic mode. I tried and tried to control myself, but my mind kept imagining my body, lying on the ground, dead from cold and hunger. I kept telling myself that if I just calmed down I could build a shelter and eat berries. But my heart was beating so loud it was all I could hear. It might have exploded out of my chest. My eyes began to water from pain and fear. Not seeing where I was going, I tripped on a fallen tree and flipped onto my back.

I laid there a held my eyes shut, horrified. I began to think about my parents, I thought of Benny, I thought of that fifteen year old boy that teased me. I thought about the girl from Starbucks. I started to give up, thinking that maybe it would be better to die. My life wasn't going anywhere. I lied to that kid.

I dropped out of college the second year, my apartment is terrible, my job is boring and cheap, and I don't have as much money as I like to think. I'm just a college dropout with a shit apartment, a terrible job, and only enough money to just get by. If I make it out of here alive, the first thing I'm doing is killing myself. I became hysterical, no order in my mind. At that point in time, committing suicide seemed like a brilliant idea. But... something willed me to open my eyes, to continue going on. A voice telling me to open my eyes. And when I did, my hopes were lifted.

There was a hill. It looked like the biggest hill ever. And as soon as I saw it, I was bounding up the side. I heard my phone die, but I didn't care. I kept climbing. Finally, I reached the top.

The hill looked so big while on the ground, but when I got to the top, it was only halfway below the tops of the trees. I didn't know what to do, but for some reason, I felt nothing. I should have felt dead, defeated, but I didn't. I just laid down on top of the hill and stared up at the sky. I didn't even react to the fact that there was a huge clearing of the trees. I just stared up at the night sky.

"Well I had planned on doing this at the apartment, like I did last night, but screw it. The sky is clearer here, anyway." I said. Every night, I climb on top of the apartment roof and watch the stars until I'm about to pass out. The latest I stayed up was four in the morning, two hours before the sun would rise. I thought about the tacos I would be eating right now. My stomach grumbled. I began to study the sky.

The sky was black, blacker than any time I had ever star watched. The contrast of the sky and the stars was beautiful. I must have been miles away from the town, because there was no trace of light pollution. I felt like I could see everything. My eyes began to tear up again. The beauty of the sky brought me to tears. The first thing I noticed was the Moon. It shined like a landmark in the sky. I could see the face created by craters, to me, it looked like a nuclear sign. Some parts of the moon had lines stretching across it, like spider legs. I could see the dark spots of the Moon, the maria. Formed by ancient, solidified pools of basaltic lava. Then there was the terrae, the brighter spots of the Moon. Made of minerals and rocks. The Moon was full, and amazing. There were countless amounts of craters on it. I remembered looking up at the Moon when I was a kid, asking my father questions. The thought of my parents warmed my heart. I looked at the space around the Moon. I quickly found the constellation Leo, the lion. It was above the Moon and in what looked like a sitting position. Below the Moon I could see Hydra, the snake constellation. It extended across the sky, and all I could think about now was how beautiful the sky was. How I could see all the colours of the stars. The reds, whites, blues. I could see the planets of Mars and Jupiter. They looked beautiful I must have looked it over ten times, maybe twenty. I had never seen the night sky like this. I watched as a meteor shot across the sky like a fiery bullet, aiming for Earth. I sighed in bliss. If I were to die, I'd want to die like this. After a couple of hours I began to feel tired. I had trouble keeping my eyes open to look at the sky. Soon I just gave up. I shut my eyes. I thought about what my last words on Earth would be. But only four words came to my mind. I wanted my last words to be in honour of the night sky.

"Thank you, Princess Luna," and then I fell into unconsciousness.

And for some reason as soon as I fell asleep... I woke up.

The Walk Under the Stars

"Princess Luna? Is that you?" I asked. I heard a nervous laugh. It looked like Princess Luna, but all I could see was a silhouette.

"Uh, yes, it is us," she replied. She came into the light and hovered outside the balcony. What is she doing here?

"Well, why don't you join me?" I said as I patted the space beside me. Princess Luna smiled and sat down next to me. The Moon hovering in front of us.

"Why art thou awake? Most ponies are asleep," she said, looking down for a little while. I felt sorry for her, is her night still under appreciated? I needed to say something to make her feel better. Luckily, the truth will do just that.

"Well, if I'm going to have to leave tomorrow, I'd like to watch the stars before I go. They're beautiful." I said. Princess Luna looked to me and smiled.

"You think our sky is beautiful?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think I'd lie? Of course it is!" I gestured to the stars. "Look, that one is my favourite. That star cluster to the right of the moon." I said. Princess Luna closed one eye and followed my point. She nodded.

"Why that one in particular?" she asked.

"Well, look at it. All those whites and reds and blues. Can you imagine how many stars are in the one spot?" I asked. Princess Luna looked up, thinking.

"If our memory serves us right, that's Messier 69 with... 19,869 stars," she answered, smiling. I looked at her with a surprised face. Holy crap! She knows the name and the amount of stars? She's a genius! "That's Mars, that's Betelgeuse, oh! there's the Orion Nebula. There's the Orion constellation, there's Taurus the constellation. That's Aldebaran, there's the constellation of Lepus, and Monoceros." She said as she pointed towards stars and tracing the line of the constellations.

"Wow, that's brilliant, you are extremely clever" I said. Princess Luna blushed a little bit.

"It's our job to know the night sky," she said modestly. I laughed.

"Huh... showoff..." I said teasingly. Princess Luna chuckled,

"Stop it... Does thou want to see a real showoff?" she asked cockily. I looked at her, confused.

"Uh, sure." I replied. Princess Luna stood up and turned her side towards me.

"Get on," she said enthusiastically. Now I was even more confused.

"You want me to climb on your back?" I asked.

"Yeah, just do it. Unless thou art scared," she said teasingly. I smiled at her and climbed on to her back. Once I settled in she took off over the balcony and did a swan dive. She pulled up and leveled out. I felt like screaming but all I could do was laugh. "Thou art enjoying this?" she asked.

"Heck yeah!" I said. I always wanted to fly, and now I am... on Princess Luna's back.
I looked down to the ground. We were even higher than the balcony now. And I was enjoying every bit of it. The streets were empty and the Moon's light was the only source of vision. We were flying towards the Moon, Princess Luna's head glowing in front of it. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Thou should hang on," she said.I wondered what she meant when she tilted her body to the side and did several barrel rolls. This time I screamed and wrapped my arms around her neck. I heard Princess Luna laugh as she leveled out once more.

"This is fun, Princess Luna," I said. She laughed.

"Thou art welcome... we never got thou's name," she said. Surprisingly she was right. Neither Princess Celestia nor Princess Luna asked for my name.

"It's Samuel, you can call me Sam." I answered.

"Thou art welcome... Sam. Odd name. Thou may call me Luna. Saying 'princess' each time is a waste of breath," she said. I felt very happy that Princess Luna would allow me to call her Luna. I felt honoured beyond belief.

"Hey, Luna, how did you know I was awake?" I asked. Luna looked away hesitantly.

"We go through the dreams of all our subjects, and when we could not find thou's, we came to say hello," she replied.

"You wanted to get in my dreams? At least buy me dinner first, sheesh," I said jokingly. Luna laughed with me. But she seemed kind of nervous. Was she allowed to come see me? Is she breaking some sort of rule right now? Luna interrupted my thoughts by circling down to the ground. "Where are we?" I asked.

"We like to come here to think, sometimes. We are in the garden," Luna replied, taking seat on a nearby bench. And by seat I meant lying down on it, taking up three fourths of the bench. I stood there, thinking of how to sit. "Oh, we're sorry, you... humans sit differently then us." Princess Luna said as she stood up and sat back on her haunches, her wavy tail tucked in through the gap on the bottom of the backrest of the bench. I thanked her and took my seat beside her.

"Is this the Canterlot garden?" I asked.

"No, this is Tia and ours. Our own special garden." Luna said. She sighed deeply as she looked around her. I looked around, too. And was very surprised by the beauty of the garden. From above it looked huge, and from the ground it looked bigger. I took in a deep breath. All sorts of fragrances filled my nose. Each one more beautiful than the last. I took another deep breath.

"Honey," I said, smelling my favourite scent. Luna looked at me.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just smelled honey." I answered. Luna closed her eyes.

"Yes, that is our favourite smell, honey. We picked it specifically," she added. I was surprised to find out Luna liked honey.

"Nice, it's my favourite, too." I said. Luna looked at me and smiled. I looked back to the garden. We were in an opening inside tall hedges, like a checkpoint in a maze. There was a large center piece of flowers behind us and on the other side there was another bench. There were two trees, one sprouting beautiful flowers. The closest tree had blue flowers with dashes of purple and white.

"We see thou art looking at our trees. They are so pretty and clever. The one with the sprouted flowers is our tree. It blooms at night. The other tree is Tia's. It blooms flowers that are red with dashes of orange and yellow during the day," Luna said, looking at the trees.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, "Your tree is beautiful." I said. Luna blushed and thanked me. On the ground below the trees there were rows of flowers protected by a small railing on the edges of the centerpiece. The flowers were in two rows making squares around the trees. Luna's tree had flowers that look exactly like the night sky. I tapped Luna on the shoulder. "Hey, Luna, how do those flowers work?" I asked.

"Oh, those art genius. They reflect the sky above them. And they do the same as the flowers on our tree, they sprout at night. And the same for Tia's," Luna said. Once again I exclaimed my wonder. Luna laughed. "Thou looks like a puppy that just discovered the world," Luna said. I laughed along with her.

"Maybe... I did." I said as I stared at Luna. So many things rushing through my head. I remember always questioning her character to other bronies. So many arguments about what's canon, what's true. And here she was, right beside me. But would she want to be questioned? What if I accidentally went to far? The last thing I want to do is hurt her feelings. She seems special, she makes me happy.

"Hey... Luna?" I said. She turned towards me, staring straight into my eyes. I could feel myself begin to blush. I quickly distracted myself.

"Yes, Sam?" she replied.

"If you don't feel comfortable, I understand, but, what was it like on the moon?" I asked. Luna became a little tense, but soon relaxed. She looked away, but then turned back to me.

"We will tell you, we have never told anypony this before. Only Tia and us know," she said.

"I feel honoured," I said.

"It isn't what everypony thinks. It wasn't literally the Moon," Luna said. She began to relax more, she leaned on the arm rest. "When Tia... sent us away, the reason Nightmare Moon's face appeared on the Moon was because it was an effect of sending us away. She really transported us to... we don't know how to describe it," she stated.

"Take your time," I said, now noticing she was beginning to lie down. I didn't tell her though, she seemed deep in thought.

"She was forced to send me to... another space," she said. I looked at her quizzically.

"Another space? Like another dimension?" I asked.

"Yes, that's a word for it. It's like a timeout chair, but separated from the rest of the room," Luna answered.

"Wow, I'm so sorry. You were there for 1000 years?" I said as a tear came out of Luna's eye. "Luna, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you," I said. I felt extremely embarrassed and guilty. I told myself that hurting Luna's feelings was the last thing that I wanted to do. I couldn't sit still, nor could I bring myself to look at Luna. She probably has tons of painful memories of her banishment.

I tried to imagine what it would be like to be away from ponies for one thousand years. I tried to imagine what it'd be like if I were in the same situation. "I'm sorry, I should go," I said, standing up.

"No!" Luna shouted. She threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I blushed. Luna worked through the tears. "We want... to tell thou, Sam. It's been so long since we've talked about it. We don't understand why we want to talk to thou about it, but... please don't go!" she exclaimed. I nodded my head and sat down. Luna kept her arms wrapped around me. And to my surprise, she laid her head in my lap. My face turned red but I didn't object.

Luna obviously needed me. I was the ear she never had. Maybe she had talked to Celestia about it, but it wouldn't be the same. How can you open up to the pony who made you have to open up? I would have to stomach my embarrassment and be there for Luna. And plus, I couldn't stand to see her this way. It pained me to see her so sad.

"Okay, I'm here for you. I won't go," I said

"Sam... thank you..." Luna said as she hugged me tighter. I began to feel drops of her tears hit my leg. Luna took a deep breath. "Being sent away was the worst thing we've ever had to experience. We were stuck inside Nightmare Moon, seeing out through her eyes. It seemed like a good idea to attack Tia, but as soon as we did, we didn't want to. But Nightmare Moon already got her fill of hate. She wouldn't stop. When Tia sent us away, we thanked her. But when we got to the other dimension, we were still inside Nightmare Moon. We tried to fight her, but she was too strong. She slammed at the walls of the space, never stopping for ten years. And those thousand years went by so slow... one hour was like one day.

"Soon the loneliness began to get to us. We felt horrible. The only company we had tried over and over again to make me hate Tia, so she could become stronger. We refused to give in. But the loneliness began to get to us. We were almost driven mad. We couldn't speak, We couldn't move. We couldn't sleep. We couldn't breath. By the 900 year, we admit that we had been driven insane. The cold, unforgiving loneliness and a constant voice telling you to kill drove us off the edge. The more we resisted the more painful it became to go on. We cried out for Nightmare Moon to cease. But each time she only screamed at us to give in... she said such hurtful, horrible things!" Luna said, almost sounding scared. She had begun to cry again, tears running down my leg.

I hesitantly placed my hand on Luna's head. Her crying had died down a little bit. I began to smooth out her mane. I could see her blush but eventually she stopped crying. She tightened her grip a little bit. And something twitched inside of me. My stomach slightly quaked. I guess this is what they mean when they say 'butterflies in you stomach.' I looked down at Luna and the 'butterflies' became more aggressive. When I looked at her, I felt better, happier.

I slightly smiled to myself as I began to feel choked up. You've got to be kidding me. Luna had began to speak once more. "... The 999th year struck," she said, "and we couldn't take it anymore. I didn't know how long Tia planned on keeping me banished, but I couldn't last anymore. We would do anything to get out of there. We began to think of ways to get out without Nightmare Moon. But no solution could be found. We thought about what she wanted. She needed us to hate Celestia again so she could become stronger. We tried to convince ourselves that if we gave in and she escaped, Tia would find some sort of way to get Nightmare Moon away.

"We forced ourselves to think hateful of our dear sister for a whole year, fueling Nightmare Moon, making her stronger. I thought about... strangling Tia... every day. Each angry, evil thought we had made us feel more and more dirty. And we only did that because we thought it would work. We only got lucky that Twilight and her friends had been able to stop Nightmare Moon."

"Well, you can be happy about that, right? Nightmare Moon is defeated, gone," I said, trying to cheer Luna up. Instead she just began to cry again. I petted her more and before I could ask, she spoke.

"Nightmare Moon... isn't... gone," she said through the tears.

"What? How is that possible?" I asked.

"She... isn't able to... leave us... She was defeated, yes. But she still lives inside of us, but she's weak. We can control it. Sometimes, when she's strong enough... we can hear her snakelike voice, piercing our mind like a knife through our conciseness, telling us to hate, to... kill." Luna began to cry more. Her words became strained from the lack of air. "It's why... we say... 'we' and 'us' and 'our.' She's... imprinted in our mind. Like a brand. It's the reason she can't leave. We are suck with her. She is trapped with no intention of leaving, a willing prisoner," she said. I couldn't believe it. No matter how many times I watched Princess Luna on television, I had never thought about that. Why she spoke that way.

I can't imagine what her life is like. How many times does he have to deal with Nightmare Moon? What would it be like to have someone constantly telling you to kill? Being stuck with the thing that causes you and caused others so much pain, so much misery. I bent down and wrapped my arms around Luna's neck, hugging her.

At first she seemed surprised, then she lifted herself up and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I could smell honey in her mane. It smelled so good. I didn't want to let go. All I could think of was her.

"I'm so sorry, Luna. It's going to be okay, I swear. I can help you- I will help you," I said into her ear. I could hear her sobbing on my shoulder. I needed to do something. I wasn't going to let her cry.

I pulled myself away from Luna and had her sit on her haunches. Tears had stained her coat, and her mane was somewhat of a mess. She rubbed her eyes clear of any tears and tilted her head to the side.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the flower I had found yesterday. The one that smelled like honey. I held it in front of her face and she smelled it. She smiled, but was still confused. "Luna, I never thought I would ever say this to someone other than my parents, but they're gone. But I have never been more truthful when I say I love you. Okay? Listen to me. I. Love. You." I said. I didn't know what I was saying, it just poured out of my mouth, but I had no intentions of stopping.

Luna's eyes began to tear up again and she blushed. "This is for you," I said. "Whenever you hear Nightmare Moon's voice, I want to to smell this flower. This flower is my love for you, Luna.

"You are the most perfect mare I've ever seen. You're daring, you like to have fun, you're so clever and brilliant. You have issues, yes. But you are the strongest pony you can be. You have fought off evil for hundreds of years probably more. You saw me as intriguing when others didn't. Perhaps you have some issues, but that is what makes you so interesting! You are the mare of my dreams that you tried to get into," I said I took the flower and Luna watched as I placed it behind her ear. Luna felt it, then began to cry. She shouted in joy and jumped onto me, hugging me around the waist once again. I hugged her just as tightly.

For some reason, I heard Luna grunt and her grip tighten, pushing some of the air out of me. I was very confused as to what was going on.

"Sam... We... w-e, w-i... I love thou, too!" she managed to say. Her grip loosened and she cried tears of joy. A few tears had come out of my eyes, too. I don't even mind admitting it. She just beat Nightmare Moon's brand to tell me she loved me. Her alone. After a while her cries lessened and lessened. Her grip loosened a bit, but not much more. Her head lowered to my thigh and I blushed again. All that crying must have taken a lot out of her. She had fallen asleep on my lap.

I had no reason to wake her, though. I placed my hand on her head and caressed it. I, too, began to feel sleepy. I immediately fell asleep. The last thing I saw before I slipped into unconsciousness was the Moon.