The moment school ended for the day Smoky was racing out the door and down the pathway to the gates. She dodged other foals with hops and brief moments of flight. She didn’t pause for a moment until she barrelled through the door of the post office and tumbled head over hoof into the back of some poor pony’s legs. Smoky mumbled a quick apology as she righted herself and then dashed around the counter and leapt onto Checklist’s back with a wing-assisted hop.

“Ah, you little monster,” the unicorn protested, laughing, “Did you even tell Mrs Lamp you’re sorry? You all but knocked her down.”

“Not to worry, Checklist,” Mrs Lamp assured her, “foals will be foals,”

Smoky smiled sheepishly over her mother’s shoulder. “Where’s dad?”

Checklist sighed dramatically. “He should be in the back, if you must abandon me.”

“I love you too, mum,”

Smoky jumped down and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before trotting into the back room where the mail was sorted. Two unicorns were sorting through stacks of newly arrived letters at the front of the room. Three pegasi were playing a game of cards near the doors while they waited for the chance to make their deliveries. Ruby Sunrise was among them, and when he heard his daughter enter he called her over.

“My lucky charm is here!” he crowed.

“She won’t save you,” Hot Hoof declared, smirking behind his cards, “nothing can.”

Smoky ignored all their twittering and sidled up to her father. “Dad, have you been to the castle yet?”

“Nope,” Ruby replied, “I’m still waiting on Kaleidoscope.”

Smoky turned and bounced across the room to where the two unicorns sat, partly obscured behind a flurry of flying letters and packages. She crept as close to the green unicorn as she safely could and spoke up quietly to begin with, just in case the pair were feeling jumpy.

“Are you almost finished with the castle mail, Kaleidoscope?” she asked.

The green unicorn glanced down at her without pausing the flow of letters rushing past her.

“Let me finish this bag,” she said with a smile, “are you trying to steal our Ruby away early?”

“No, I want to go to the castle with him.”

“Off to bother the princess again?” Ribbon, the other unicorn, inquired, “You need a new hobby, Smoky.”

“But I made a painting for her.” Smoky turned to show the pair the canvas peeking out of her saddle bag. “She said she liked the one I did at the festival, so I made her one inspired by her moon that night. Miss Pansy said I could send it to the castle, but I want to deliver it.”

“Can we see your painting?”

The saddle bag began to glow with Ribbon’s blue magic even before Smoky had a chance to begin protesting.

“No, no!” Smoky cried, “It’s for the princess only.”

Ribbon closed the flap on the saddle bag and laughed. “Alright, Smoky, I’m sorry,”

“I forgive you.”

Kaleidoscope pushed a full bag of mail across the floor toward Smoky, saying, “Here you go, sweetie. You can be off just as soon as Ruby gets off his butt.”

“You’re one to talk!” Ruby retorted as he left the card game.

The unicorn only laughed. She lifted the bag with her pink magic and settled it carefully on his back when he presented it to her. Smoky bounced impatiently on the spot while she waited for him to get ready. When it was finally time to leave the ponies left behind sent them off with good luck wishes. Smoky waved goodbye to each in turn.

“Feel up to flying with me today?” Ruby asked her as they stepped out of the post office into the small garden behind it.

Smoky flapped her wings experimentally. “Just a little way,” She peered up at her father imploringly. “How much longer do I have to wait before they work properly?”

“They already work, sweetie, they only need to get a bit stronger.” He put his wing over her and hugged her close for a moment. “Just keep flying every day and you’ll be up there with the best of them in no time.”

“I don’t care about the best. I just want to keep up with you.”

“I’ll be the one worrying about keeping up with you soon, just you wait.”

He spread his wings and leapt into the warm air above the garden. Smoky followed right behind him, her little wings beating hard. They flew just above the rooftops, following the main road that flowed through the centre of Canterlot. Other pegasi soared above them while earth ponies and unicorns strolled along the road. The summer wind was full of cheerful talk and the sweet pollen of a thousand different flowers. Smoky breathed in deep but kept her eyes on her father’s tail rather than stare at the world passing by below.

They had put four whole blocks between them and the post office when Smoky finally gave in and admitted that she couldn’t fly another moment. Ruby glided to the ground beside her, always at the ready just in case she fell. She stumbled when her hooves touched down on the unyielding road a touch too hard.

“See?” Ruby said proudly, “you got further than last time.”

Panting, Smoky could only smile up at him. He beamed back and then set off at a bouncing trot up the road.

Smoky knew it took much longer for them to walk than to fly and if not for her father’s irrepressible joy she would have felt terrible for delaying the royal mail. Checklist liked to say that as long as there was one small thing in the world to be happy about, Ruby would never be sad. Some ponies would have been jealous if his happiness weren’t so contagious.

Uncaring for the weight of the mail on his back or the other ponies passing by, Ruby began to sing as he trotted up the centre of the road.

“Little filly, come quickly,

I’ve got a treat for you.

In sunny Fillydelphia,

Where the sky is beyond blue,

We’re all waiting on your smile,

And a taste of the love you grow.

“Little filly, come quickly,

I need some help from you.

In faraway Maretonia,

Their crops have grown too high.

No one can reach their tasty treats,

You’ve got to help us fly.

“Little filly, come quickly,

The time has passed us by.

In lonely Everfree Forest,

I’m waiting on your song.

Not even birds can sound the same,

I’ve been here all day long.”

Ruby sang without a care for what the ponies around him thought of his plain voice and didn’t pause to do more than breathe until they reached the gates of the castle. Smoky walked obediently by his side as they made their way through the cool castle halls to the princesses’ study.

“Looks like you’ve got something stuck to your tail, Ruby,” the guard by the door pointed out, laughing.

Ruby nudged his daughter out of his shadow before stepping into Celestia’s study to deposit his heavy load. He raised his voice so they could hear when he replied. “Smoky insisted she had to deliver her present for Luna in person.”

“Is that so?” the guard bent down so he was at eyelevel with the filly, “The princess is busy right now, I’m afraid, but you can leave it with me. It’ll be my honour to see she gets it.”

Smoky shook her head even as she wilted. “But I wanted to give it to her! Can’t I see her just for a second?”

“Sorry, darling,” he glanced up and down the long, empty hall and then leaned in even closer, his expression was serious despite the ghost of a smile. He gestured behind to a small table. “Tell you what, if you put it on that table just down there, it’ll be the first thing the princess sees when she comes out. There’s no way she could miss it.”

“Ok,”

Sighing, Smoky dragged her hooves across the marble floor to where the long table stood, decorated already with flowers in glass vases, a silver candelabra and a gilt mirror hanging above. While she pulled the canvas carefully from her saddlebag and propped it up on the centre of the table, right below the mirror, her father came out of the study and began chatting with the guard. She kept one eye on them while she adjusted the canvas and made absolutely sure neither were watching before darting to the door opposite the table. It was already open, just a crack. She squeezed through the gap in a second, leaving behind just one loose feather.

The room she found herself in was darker than a moonless night and stirred by a fragrant breeze that made Smoky shiver. She could see only shapes within the shadows at first. But as her eyes adjusted she began to recognise some of the shapes as furniture and others as cushions. She stepped out of the wedge of light that came through the open door and the darkness came suddenly into focus. Where she had seen shapes a moment before she now saw details as clearly as if someone had flung open the curtains. The greatest surprise of all was the thousands of tiny stars painted on the dark walls and roof. The longer she stared the more constellations she recognised, but nowhere was there any sign of a moon.

Smoky almost leapt out of her skin when a pile of blankets by the wall suddenly reared up and spoke.

“What are you disturbing me for?”

The filly dropped to the floor, trembling, and cried out, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

There was a moment of silence but for the rustle of the blankets, and then Smoky was staring up at the ruffled Princess Luna. The alicorn stared back for a moment before a yawn overtook her and she had to cover her mouth with a hoof.

“Oh, Smoky Nights,” she said once the yawn had passed, “did the guard let you in?”

Smoky flinched guiltily.

“Ah.” Luna smiled and nudged the filly with a gentle hoof. “Up you get, little one. Are you lost?”

“The guard said you were in here,” Smoky admitted as she got slowly to her hooves, “I wanted to give you a painting I made but he said not to and I was just going to leave it on that table but then I saw the door was open and I didn’t mean to wake you up… I’m sorry princess,”

“Your apology is accepted. Now why don’t you show me this painting?”

Smoky gladly darted back through the door; and straight into the guard that had told her not to go inside. He jumped backwards in surprise and then cringed guiltily when the doors swung wide to reveal the princess. He dropped into a low bow with his blushing face turned to the floor and babbled a torrent of apologies that only stopped when Luna touched his lowered head.

“There’s no need for that,” she said firmly. She cast her eyes across the hall, taking in the cowering guard and Ruby’s desperate attempts to herd his daughter out of sight without catching the princess’s attention. Finally Luna’s gaze fell on the canvas sitting on the table across the hall and a smile lit up her face. “It looks beautiful, Smoky. Did you do this all on your own?”

Smoky slipped out of her father’s grasp and bounced over to stand proud beside her art. “I made it just for you, princess, because your night inspired me.”

“I’m honoured, thank you,”

Smoky’s grin was almost painful in its magnitude. “I’m so glad you like it!” Her joy was quickly dampened, however, when she saw the guard peeking fearfully at the princess from his prone position. “Please, don’t be angry with him. He didn’t mean to let me go in your room.”

“Do not worry about Fleet Feather,” Luna assured her, “he will not be severely punished. But I am afraid I have a long list of duties ahead of me, so I think he should see you out. I would not want you to get lost.”

A blush rose in Smoky’s cheeks and she did her best to laugh it away even as Ruby steered her away with a heavy hoof on her shoulder. The guard scrambled to his hooves and gave the princess a wide birth as he hurried down the hall. Smoky’s laughter died at the sight of his anxious expression, so she trotted to catch up with him and gave him her brightest smile.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “please don’t look so upset, your fur is green enough already,”

“Smoky!” Ruby hissed, pulling her back to his side, “leave him-”

“Wait,”

The princess’ cry wasn’t loud or demanding, but it made both stallions stop in place even so. They turned to watch as Luna walked the short distance and looked down at Smoky.

“Did you say Fleet Feather was green?” she asked.

Smoky nodded, clearly confused. “Isn’t he?”

Luna tilted her head to the side while she considered the filly. “Smoky, look closely at Fleet Feather, and then close your eyes until you can just barely see him.”

After a quick glance at her father Smoky did as she was instructed and squinted at the confused guard. His coat still looked bright green through her eyelashes and she wondered for a moment if she was doing something wrong. The thought of somehow failing the princess made her shift her weight nervously from one hoof to the other and her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly to try to clear the pain away, and almost cried out in shock when Fleet Feather turned from green to grey between one blink and the next. The change only lasted for an instant. As soon as she opened her eyes wide he was green again and confusion swept over her.

She turned to the princess, utterly confused. “He changed colours!”

Luna nodded, smiling. “The guards’ wear enchanted armour so they all appear the same. It seems you naturally see through the illusion. I think you may have also seen clearly in my room, because any other pony would not have been able to see me in that darkness.”

“Smoky…”

The filly turned at the sound of her name to find her father staring at her, but not at her face. His eyes were filled with wonder and joy and locked on her flank. When she twisted to see what he was looking at she was filled with delight at the sight of the cutie mark that had appeared. Nestled in the grey fur on her flank was a golden quarter moon rising out of a dark blue cloud.

“Congratulations, Smoky Nights,” Princess Luna said.

Overwhelmed with joy Smoky hugged her father, Fleet Feather and the princess and then ran in circles around them, laughing. Ruby chased her and laughed with her. When he caught her he swept her into a tight embrace and nuzzled her cheek.

“I’m so proud of you, my little filly,” he told her, “I knew you had something special in you.”

Author's Note

Ruby's little song will probably change if I ever figure out how to fix it. I was having so much fun writing it that I didn't keep it on track. Whoops!