Reflections

Chapters

Chapter 1. - Last Resort Princess
Chapter 2. - Reflections: Two Little Fillies
Chapter 3. - The Crystal Empire
Chapter 4. -Reflections: Loyalty the Pegasus
Chapter 5. - A Letter from Luna
Chapter 6. - Reflections: Confused
Chapter 7. - Not the Same
Chapter 8. - The Dark Ponies
Chapter 9. - Reflections: Meeting the Family
Chapter 10. - The City of the Night
Chapter 11. - Reflections: No One Lives Forever

Chapter 1. - Last Resort Princess

I was always weak. A problem I've had ever since I was young. Tia was always better and brighter than me. I couldn't help being jealous of her. I guess that's why I became... her. That monster known as Nightmare Moon. But that's all over now.

Isn't it?

No. It's not. I know that, and everyone else does too. I may have been forgiven by my sister, but that doesn't mean that I've been forgiven by everyone. Especially myself. And just how, exactly, does one go about forgiving one's self for their horrible (in my case, evil) past? One doesn't.

It's not over. In fact, it's far from over.

All I want is to be able to forget my past, and be like the other princesses. But I, princess of the night, am far too weak.

Princess Luna looks up from her diary to see her sister, Celestia, studying her carefully.

"Are you alright, Luna?" Celestia asks.

"Yes," Luna lies. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Celestia shakes her head. "You just looked... concerned..."

Luna forces her mouth into a smile. "Well, I'm not." Then she asks, "Say, why are you in my room, watching me write in my diary?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, um... One of us needs to go visit Princess Cadance and Shining Armour in the Crystal Empire. Cadance is sick and needs one of us to take over for her for a little while," Celestia says.

"Why can't Shining Armor take over?" Luna asks, greatly confused.

"Because he needs to recover from shock."

"What?"

Celestia looks weary. "Luna, didn't you get the announcement?"

"Um...no... What announcement?"

"Cadance is going to have a baby," Celestia says.

Luna's eyes go wide with shock. "WHAT?!" she exclaims. "Since when did Cadance get pregnant?!"

"Since three months ago, Luna. Didn't Twilight tell you? If you didn't get the announcement then Twilight Sparkle was supposed to have told you," Celestia informs Luna.

Go figure, Luna thinks to herself. Twilight never tells me anything when she's supposed to. She's too busy saving Equestria all the time, with her friends, and now she has her own kingdom. And announcement? I never receive those either. It's like I'm invisible. Unknown...

"Now, will you please go to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible so that it won't remain ruler less?" Celestia requests.

"Why must I be the princess to got to the Crystal Empire?" Luna asks.

"Because I have business that needs tending to, here in Canterlot, and Twilight is busy in her own kingdom. You're the only princess left," Celestia says.

The only princess? Luna thinks. So I'm a 'last resort' princess? Now Twilight is an option over me? Luna feels hurt, but says, "Alright. I'll go first thing in the morning."

Celestia smiles. "Thank you, Lulu," she says, using her kid name for Luna.

Luna is surprised. Lulu? Where did that come from? She hasn't called me Lulu since... since I became the Nightmare...

Maybe things really were changing. But then Luna remembers how she is a last resort princess. No, Luna decides, things are not changing. No one will ever forget. I will never forget.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the morning, Luna packs her things and then has her guards fly her to the Crystal Empire. It is quite a long fly really.

Luna wrinkles her muzzle in displeasure as she remembers that Celestia said that Cadance was sick. Did that mean that she was throwing up and stuff? Would Luna have to clean up and look after Cadance as well as take care of the Crystal Empire? Perhaps that was up to the maids... Hopefully. Or maybe that was Shining Armor's job? No, Celestia had said that he was recovering from something... shock. Yes, he was still in shock that Cadance was pregnant, most likely.

Luna almost laughs at the thought of this. Poor little Shining Armor, in shock. This is not a first. Everyone thinks that Shining Armor is a strong, tough guard/prince and stuff, but Luna knows him better than that. He's just as scared, in times of danger, as a random citizen. Except for those rare times, like at his wedding.

At one point in time, Cadance thought that Shining Armor and Luna liked each other. In reality, it was just Luna. But that was only for a small phase in time. But Cadance still can't really get over that.

I wonder how she will take the news that I'm coming to rule her kingdom, Luna wonders.

It would probably be better if Twilight would go, seeing as she and Cadance are really good friends and sisters-in-law. But Twilight is having her own problems in her kingdom. And she has to go rushing over to that human world every now and then because of the problems they are having there.

Seriously, why can't Sunset Shimmer take care of the problems in the Equestria girl world? She used to be Celestia's number one student... Luna thinks. But then she remembers that Sunset Shimmer was once an evil being. Maybe she is too weak to defeat the forces of evil. Weak, like Luna. Perhaps she has reflections, just like Luna, and maybe she, too, can't get over her past... Luna wishes that she could talk to Sunset Shimmer, and see if her life is any different than hers. She never got to talk to Sunset Shimmer when the young pony was still in the land of Equestria, for at that time Luna was Nightmare Moon and was banished to the moon. The boring, boring moon.

Luna's thoughts are interrupted when her one guard tells her that they are landing in the Crystal Empire.

Momentarily, Luna feels panicked. She knows next to nothing about this kingdom. How will she rule it?

She quickly composes herself and pushes away panicked feelings. It is essential that she does not freak out, she did too much of that in her past. Besides, being stressed will only make things harder for her, as hard as ruling this kingdom for a little while will be in it's self.

"Do you want to take a look at the kingdom before heading for the castle, your Majesty?" her one guard asks.

"No, thank you, that is not necessary. We will go straight to the palace," Luna says. She has her game on and is top pro. She is princess of the night. She can do this. ...Or can she...?

Chapter 2. - Reflections: Two Little Fillies

Two little fillies played in the sand together.

"Lulu," the one filly, a little white alicorn with pink mane and tail, said, "You will be princess of night and I will be princess of the day!"

Lulu, a little dark indigo alicorn with light blue-lavender mane and tail, frowned. "Really? The princess of the night? Why, Tia? The dark is scary. You said so yourself."

"It's what father and mother said," Tia replied with a shrug. "Maybe you can ask them to change it. But, I thought you liked the night, Lulu."

"Sometimes I see things," Lulu said.

"See things?" Tia asked, with a tilt of her head.

"Yes, in the dark. It's very strange and sometimes scary," Lulu replied sadly.

"It's just your imagination. Don't let it scare you," Tia said, with great concern for her little sister.

"Sometimes, I think I see your dreams. Do you really dream about cake?" Lulu asked with great sincerity.

Tia's eyes widened. "Um, Lulu, yes, I do... But how do you see my dreams? Are you making things up? You better not be!"

Lulu shook her head. "No, I never make up things. I'm very se...ser..."

"Serious?"

Lulu nodded. "I'm very serious," she said. "I see you dream about cake and about being a great sun princess."

"Hm, maybe we should ask mother and father about this..." Tia said doubtfully. "But right now, let's play princess."

"Do I have to be the night princess?" Lulu asked, frowning.

Tia sighed and almost said yes. Then she saw Lulu's big, puppy dog eyes. "Oh, fine," she said. "You can play the sun princess this time. But only this once!"

Lulu's face blossomed into a big smile. "Oh, thank you, Tia!"

Tia smiled back at her little sister.

Lulu played a great sun princess and that made Tia rather upset. "Lulu, you cannot upstage me at playing the sun princess," she told her. "It's not a good thing."

"What does upstage mean?" Lulu asked.

"It means, do it better than me."

Lulu frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to...up...upstage you...I'm just playing."

"Maybe we should go back to playing like normal," Tia suggested. "Where I'm the sun princess and you're the moon princess."

Lulu lowered her head sadly. "Um...okay...Whatever you want, Tia." So she played as the princess of the night. She did not realize that she portrayed this princess the best. All she can think about is how wonderful it would be to become the sun princess, who gets to be ruler of Equestria. But even at this young stage, she realized that she would never be that magnificent pony. Her older sister, Tia, would grow up to be the sun princess, like their mother. Tia would one day rule Equestria. And, though they may have played it, Lulu knew that once they take their rolls, they can never switch. Not even for one day.

"You make a very good princess of the night," Tia said with a large grin.

"Thank you, Tia. I suppose I will have to for when we grow up," Lulu said, with more understanding than anyone realized.

"Do I make a good sun princess?" Tia asked earnestly.

Luna nodded. "Yes, a very good sun princess. Very good."

Tia's smile grew even wider. "Lulu, when we get older, I promise to share the day with you."

"Um, share? Okay..."

"And we will be the best of friends forever!" Tia declared.

"Really? Forever? Forever's a long time," Lulu commented.

"Of course forever. And I won't let anything happen to you! As ruler of Equestria, I will always protect you. I promise."

Lulu smiled, trusting her sister completely. "I believe you, Tia."

Chapter 3. - The Crystal Empire

Luna walks into the crystal castle, accompanied by her night guards.

A crystal pony greets her. "Welcome, Princess Luna, princess of the night," she says, in her Crystal Empire accent. "I am Garnet, Princess Cadance's personal-royal-mare. Now yours."

"Um, personal-royal-mare?" Luna asks, in her own accent that she was used to using.

"Yes, basically I just help you with your schedules and help give advise, things like that. I hope you will find me of use," Garnet says.

"Oh, yes, very," Luna says, truthfully. "I would like to see Princess Cadance. Is she receiving guests at the time?"

"Well, no. But you're not necessarily a guest, so, yes, you may see her. She's in her royal quarters. I will lead you there." To the guards, Garnet says, "Flash Sentry, one of the royal guards, will show you where you may stay."

Luna's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, Celestia never did tell me what happened to that royal guard. He used to be in Canterlot. He was transferred here?"

Garnet nods. "Yes, quite a bit ago, actually."

Huh. Luna never knew this. This was the first she heard of it, actually. Well, no matter.

Garnet leads Luna up a big stair case and then knocks on the door.

A wild-eyed, yet very tired looking, Shining Armor yanks the door open. "Oh, it's just you," he says to Garnet.

Luna clears her throat, realizing that at the moment she is clearly invisible.

"Oh, Princess Luna, hello," Shining Armor says, a rather odd look crosses his face. "So, you're the princess that is going to take over for Cadance for awhile?"

Luna nods. "Yes, my sister sent me."

"Oh, well, I thought, that, perhaps, Celestia would send Twili..."

Luna frowns.

"Er, um, I mean, come in, Princess Luna. I suppose that you are wanting to see Cadance. Um, we're glad you're here," Shining Armor says. As Luna walks in, he continues to ramble, "So very, very glad...that you're...drat it all! Did I leave my socks in the dining room? Maybe I left them in the microwave..."

What? Luna never really could get what was going on in Shining Armor's mind, nor did she really want to. His dreams were all a big, jumbled up mess that were very hard to decipher. Most of the time she didn't feel like seeing what was going on in his dreams. It made her feel weird... Perhaps he is still having some minor effects from his mind being controlled by that changeling queen... I never did get to see the wedding... I was out on business and Celestia forgot to tell me the exact date...

Luna walks into the room, where Cadance is laying in a canopy bed, with light blue covers over top of her. There is, what Luna presumes, a barf bucket beside the bed, on the night stand. Which is also where Cadance's crown in laying.

Luna wrinkles her muzzle as she stares at the bucket. She then turns to Cadance. "Hello, Princess Cadance. How are you..." Cadance coughs ..."feeling?"

Cadance looks up at Luna with a big smile spread across her pink face. "Never better!" she chirps.

Hm, maybe being pregnant affects your brain... Luna thinks. It was quite obvious that Cadance was very ill and could not possibly be 'never better'.

"Well, I certainly am glad that you are keeping a positive out look on things..." Luna says. "So, what exactly must I do awhile I am here?"

Cadance shrugs. "Oh, you know. Be a princess. Look out for the ponies. Have all the latest news to make sure that nothing awful is going on. Garnet will help you."

"That's all?" Luna asks.

"Yes, that's all."

"Oh, well, then I'll leave you and Shining Armor and get to work," Luna says, highly doubting that there was even any work that needed tending to.

Garnet shows Luna to the room where she is staying and Luna decides right away that she despises it. Pink, pink, and more pink. Shudder. Give me some indigo, black, dark purple, or deep blue, Luna thinks to herself.

She begins to unpack, and once she does, she hears a loud scream coming from the door way.

Luna whirls around and sees a terror stricken maid.

"What?! What is it?!" Luna asks, looking around worriedly.

The crystal maid rushes over to where Luna had been unpacking. "Oh, no, no, no, NO! Princess Luna, I will unpack for you! You must go refresh yourself for dinner and leave the work to me!"

Oh. "I'm sorry," Luna says. "I didn't know that I had a personal maid."

The little yellow maid smiles brightly. "Yes, well, I am Dandelion. And the bathroom is that door right there, if you want to wash up."

Luna nods and goes into the bathroom where there is yellow, yellow, and spring green.

Is everything here adorned in bright colors? Luna wonders in frustration.

She fills the yellow tub up with water and soap, and hides in the bubbles, until Dandelion bursts through the door and announces dinner.

Cadance is unable to attend dinner, so it is just Shining Armor, Garnet, and Luna at the table.

Garnet is rambling something about Luna's schedule. An announcement speech...public viewing... a quick tour of the Crystal Empire, since Luna had never really been here before... meeting the royal guards... stuff like that.

Luna nods when she felt she feels that she should and adds a few things, like, she would prefer to meet the guards when she was touring the Crystal Empire, rather than later, as it would save time. Garnet argues on this, saying it would cause less stress on everyone if she did things spread out, and Luna finally gives in, not wanting to cause an argument. She didn't understand why they thought that a full schedule would cause stress, but then again, Luna never really did have a full schedule, as Celestia does most of the work. Luna mainly just raises the moon and helps ponies with their dreams.

Really, Luna thinks the Crystal ponies rather frivolous.

They seem to be willing to fuss about anything.

But then again, that might actually be how royal ponies act, and maybe she just wasn't as royal as she should be. She wasn't exactly like all the rest of the royalty, as she liked older, more vintage things and darker colors. But, Twilight wasn't exactly into all that fancy stuff either. She was a total book worm, though. Not that Luna didn't like reading; just, having a book how to tell you how to do everything seemed a little much to her.

At the end of the day Luna was exhausted, though she hadn't really done much. She was about to go to bed, when Garnet came up to her and cleared her throat.

"Yes? What is it?" Luna asks.

"Aren't you going to raise the moon?"

Luna was quite startled by this, as she never forgot to raise the moon. She looked out the window and realized that it was, in fact, dark, since Celestia had most likely lowered the sun, and that Luna should have raised the moon nearly half an hour ago.

"Do you have a balcony?" Luna asks, mentally screaming at herself for forgetting.

Garnet nods. "Yes, of course." She shows her to a balcony.

"May I have some privacy?" Luna asks. She does not like raising the moon in the presence of others. It brings flash backs of being Night Mare Moon.

"Oh, yes." Garnet leaves.

Luna sighs, and begins her moon rising spell. Soon the moon is firmly in the grasp of her magic and she raises it into position.

Raising the moon has given her new energy and she doesn't feel like going to bed any more.

"There," she says, more to the moon than to anyone. She looks at it lovingly, but then remembers what it was like, living there for a thousand of boring years. She had almost wanted to destroy it, she was so angry and bored. Luna shivers.

The Crystal Empire looks much better in the night. Some how more elegant, yet vintage. Sparkly, in that beautiful night-time way, Luna thinks happily to herself.

Suddenly she sees a dark pony -a pegasus, in fact- on top of one of the tall, crystal buildings. This pony is gazing up at her moon, seeming to enjoy it's milky white glow.

This pony does not look like a normal run-of-the-mill crystal pony. Far from it. And then, out of the shadows creep some more dark colored ponies. They all come and gaze up at her moon, and twinkle like stars.

Who are these ponies? Luna wonders, with great curiosity.

She knows one pony who can tell her.

Chapter 4. -Reflections: Loyalty the Pegasus

The first time Luna ever met Loyalty, was when she was a rather young filly. She was in the palace of her father's home, where she was learning the big spell of how to raise and lower the moon, among other things.

She had no friends and no one to talk to other than her father. When Luna went to visit her mother and Tia in the sun palace, she got to see how wonderful Tia's life was. She had friends, was learning the sun rising spell faster than Luna ever could, and all-in-all had a wonderful life.

Luna felt jealous of all Tia's friends. Until that one day...

Luna was practicing her spell and was concentrating very hard when she heard a tapping on her window. She looked up and saw a purple pegasus with moon white mane and tail. He was banging on her window with his hoof.

Angrily, she got up, stomped over to the window, jerked it up and asked, in a not-so-nice tone of voice, "Who are you, and why are you BANGING ON MY WINDOW?!"

The pegasus rolled his eyes and said, "I was just going to ask you if you wanted to come play, but now I think I've changed my mind, miss snappy corn! It seems that it would be dreadfully boring studying spells all day long."

"Have you been SPYING on ME?!" Luna shrieked in horror. Secretly, she was pleased.

"Yes, I have," he answered honestly. "I think you're too interesting looking to be studying boring subjects all day long."

Luna was surprised, for no one had ever spoken like that about her. In fact, no one ever yelled at her, called her snappy corn, or spied on her. She was quite intrigued. Who was this strange pony who had dared to knock on her window? "What were you wanting to play?" she asked.

He grinned mischievously. "Oh... you know... stuff..."

"No, I don't know. I haven't been out a lot, as you should know, if you've been spying on me so much," Luna replies, coolly.

"Pranks, flying, races... fun things..."

Luna couldn't help but grin. "Sounds interesting," she said, with a coy smile.

"So, you're gonna come out with me?" the pegasus asked.

"Hm... I don't know... I don't even know what your name is..." she replied. "And I'm not supposed to play with strangers."

"My name's Loyalty. Loyalty Moon, actually, but every pony calls me just Loyalty."

"Alright, then 'Just Loyalty'. I suppose I could come out and play with you for awhile. But, I must warn you, studying all those spells has probably made me quite boring."

Loyalty laughed.

He helped Luna out of the window, and they went for a fly.

"So, you're Princess Luna?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, Princess Luna of the Night."

"Ooh, of the night. Nice title."

"Thank you. I am going to raise the moon when I am grown up and my parents are gone. So, princess of the night is my title. When I was younger I wanted to be the sun princess, but that position shall go to my older sister, Celestia."

"Well, I like the night better than the day. The night is cool, and mysterious. And I love looking at the stars. But my favorite part of the night is the moon," Loyalty said.

Luna nodded. "That's my favorite part too." She paused for a moment then asked, "Do you like dreams?"

"Yes, very much, in fact."

Luna decided, in that moment, that she wanted to know what Loyalty dreamed about. She wouldn't ask him, no, she could never do that. But she would visit them some night. Yes, that was an excellent plan.

The two, young ponies flew and flew, and then it began to grow dark.

"Oh, no!" Luna exclaimed. "I need to go back to the palace!"

"Okay," Loyalty said, somewhat sadly. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Well, if you spy on me, then I guess," Luna said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"No, I mean, will you come out and do stuff with me again? I get bored by myself. I'm an only foal," Loyalty explained.

"Sure, I'll come out with you again. I had a lot of fun," Luna agreed.

The two young foals smiled, and then Luna flew back to the night palace that she shared with her father.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

After that, Luna would go out as often as she could to play with Loyalty. The two were inseparable. They played pranks, went for flies... they had their own little world.

Once, Luna's father almost caught Luna going out, but Luna, who was getting smarter all the time, made up the simple excuse that she needed some fresh air to clear her brain before she continued studying. After that, all Luna needed to ask her father was, "May I go out for some fresh air to clear my brain?"

Finally, Luna had someone who understood her. Someone she could talk to and confide in. Loyalty was one of the best things that could have happened to Luna. He showed her how beautiful the night could be, and how lucky she actually was, to be princess of the night.

He showed her what the stars were really like, how to truly appreciate the moon, and how she was a very special alicorn.

Luna was truly grateful to have a friend like Loyalty.

One night, Luna decided to see what Loyalty's dreams were like. She felt guilty at first, but pressed on.

And then she saw it, Loyalty's secrets. He was a run away orphan. He dreamed of being with Luna, and in one part of the dream she actually saved him from falling over a cliff (he could not fly, for his one wing was broken). And he dreamed of them. Together. Kissing.

At first Luna was appalled and stayed faaar away from Loyalty's dreams, but she soon became curious is this was what his dreams were like every night. She made another visit, feeling as guilty as ever. Same thing, only slightly different. She visited them over and over. Same things. Only slightly different every time.

One night, Luna decided to actually visit him in his dream -her father had taught her how- .

"Loyalty, why do you dream of kissing me?" she asked, in the dream.

Loyalty blinked, a little confused. Luna had to remind her self for a moment that, no, he was not dumb, did not mishear, or anything else. Though she was awake, Loyalty was actually sleeping and dreaming. "Um," he said, "What do you mean? Isn't this real?"

Luna had to suppress a wave of giggles. She could never get over how funny it was that when ponies dreamed they really truly thought it was real, even if it was the most ridiculous dream in all of Equestria.

"Not really. You're asleep, and dreaming," Luna told him.

"Um, wow. But then... you're not real, right now?"

"No, I'm real, I just... never mind. But, please answer my question."

"Uh... what was the question?" Loyalty asked.

Luna sighed. Ponies were also a lot dumber in their dreams. "Why do you dream about kissing me?"

"Oh, right. Well, if this is really a dream... it sure is a weird one... Um... dream about kissing you... because, I kind of, sort of always had a..." Loyalty began to fade out. Luna could tell that he was waking up.

"Stay asleep," she commanded. "Finish your sentence!"

"Because I..."

And then things went black.

"Loyalty!" Luna called. It was too late. Loyalty had woken up. Luna didn't know if he'd remember his dream or not, or if he did, if he would figure out that she had been visiting his dreams. Hopefully he wouldn't, but Luna figured that he would, seeing as how she had told him that she could visit dreams and everything.

Luna sighed. What had Loyalty been going to say? She didn't know, but she had a pretty good guess. No, maybe she was wrong... Maybe it just happened in his dreams. Ponies really have no control over what they dream about. She was probably wrong. But deep down inside, Luna knew that she wasn't wrong. A part of her wished that she would just know what he was going to say, kind of wished that she had future telling powers or something -not that it was possible. There hadn't been a single pony in history recorded that they had future telling abilities, though some phonies claimed that they did-. But another part of her didn't want to know. She didn't want her and Loyalty's friendship to be altered in anyway. But it could already be, if Loyalty had woken up and figured out that she had been watching his dreams -probably an unforgivable crime. Dreams were a very private part of a pony's life, and Luna had just invaded his privacy (a not-so-nice thing to do to your friend)-. Luna could only cross her hooves and hope for the best.

Chapter 5. - A Letter from Luna

To Princess Twilight Sparkle, in her Rainbow Kingdom, from Princess Luna, in the Crystal Empire:
I should like to speaketh to thee on a matter I find rather important. If thee could make the journey to the Crystal Empire, some time in the near future, it would please me greatly. I, myself am rather unused to writing letters, so forgive me, if this is written wrong. I just wanteth thee to know that I am in great need of your services. Thee is one of the best educated ponies that I know, besides my sister, Princess Celestia of the Day, of course, so I would like to discuss something that may involve history, logic, and science, among other things. If thee is unable to come to the Crystal Empire, I understand, but if thee can, please travel here as soon as possible.

Sincerestly,

Princess Luna of the Night, in the Crystal Empire, to Princess Sparkle of Friendship, in the Rainbow Kingdom

This is the letter that Twilight receives on a very busy day in her castle.

Twilight sighs. It is a lot of rambling, filled with ancient language, repeated sentences, and makes absolutely nothing clear except for one thing: Twilight Sparkle must go to the Crystal Empire.

"I thought that the entire reason that Luna went to the Crystal Empire was so that you wouldn't have to because you are busy," Spike says.

"It was," Twilight says. "But it appears, that my being busy is not a concern of Luna's."

"She said that if you're too busy to come, she understands," Spike says.

"Yes, but if I don't go, what will Luna think? She might tell Celestia." Twilight gasps. "Celestia! What if this a test from Celestia?! To see if I'm unwilling to help a pony in need! Or what if it is a test to see if I'm responsible enough to know not to go rushing off to any plea, and take care of my responsibilities here in my kingdom?! Oh, I'm doomed, I'm doomed! I don't know what to do, Spike. What if it's a test for one thing, but I think it's for another and I fail the test?! Why must everything be so confusing?! Why must being a princess be so confusing?!" Twilight continues to moan.

"Only awhile ago, you were complaining about it not being complicated enough," Spike mutters, rolling his eyes.

"What's that, Spike?" Twilight asks. "Do you you have a solution? If so, please, continue to speak!"

"Look, what if it's a simple 'please come to the Crystal Empire and help me figure something out' letter from Princess Luna?" Spike suggests.

"No, I'm sure it's a test. What help would Luna need? Oh no!"

"What?" Spike asks, worried.

"Unless she's having problems and is scared that she's going to become Nightmare Moon again! Ex-villains can be very weak at times. I mean, look at Discord. He's fine right now, but Fluttershy tells me that he keeps going through these weak phases every once in a while, where he can't help but cause a bit of chaos. Maybe Luna's having the same problems! Maybe she thinks she can't handle being the Crystal Empire's substitute ruler! Maybe she needs my help with that!"

Spike rolls his eyes. "Twilight, calm down. Really. You should hear yourself."

"Oh," Twilight says, a little sheepishly. "I suppose you're right. Sorry, Spike. I'm over reacting. It's just, I have never received a letter from Princess Luna before."

"Well, it's kind of obvious that she's never really written one before," Spike says.

"Perhaps we should go see what she needs help with," Twilight says.

Spike nods.

"I will leave my friends in charge here. Spike, please start making a check list of things that we should bring a long to the Crystal Empire," Twilight commands, handing the little purple dragon a scroll and a pen.

"Rarity?" Spike asks, looking up, hopefully.

"No," Twilight says firmly, with a small glare. "I need my friends here, in case anything goes wrong awhile I'm gone. Besides, Rarity is in the middle of designing a spring line for Sapphire Shores."

"But it's Autumn," Spike says, confused.

Twilight shrugs. "That's what I said, but Rarity simply said something about being well prepared. Probably like me with my checklists."

Spike nods, as he begins writing things down.

Twilight begins preparing to go to the Crystal Empire, all the while Spike is following her, writing down checklist, after checklist, and then checking things off of checklists.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Garnet arranges a public viewing and everything for Luna. She even has a perfect, royal speech written out for her.

Good, Luna thinks, If I would have to make my own speech, I would end up looking like an uneducated, unroyal fool.

Luna stands up on a balcony and says the great speech that Garnet has written for her. Garnet is a great writer, really, and she has done a great job. But the last time Luna made a speech was at the Summer Sun Celebration when she was Nightmare Moon, so throughout the entire speech she is having horrible flashbacks.

"Citizens of The Crystal Empire, it is with great honor that I, Princess Luna of the Night, be your substitute ruler awhile your beloved Princess Cadance is sick in her bed. I hope you will accept me and love me like you have so graciously done with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor; and I promise that I will return the favor. I will try to do as good as a job as Princess Cadance has been doing. And, even though the short time that I will be here with you, I hope that I can make a difference in your lives, also like Princess Cadance has done. I am thankful that I get this chance to serve you all. Thank you." Luna bows her head, and the crystal ponies instantly burst into applause and start chanting Luna's name.

Luna hurriedly leaves the balcony as soon as possible -which is directly after she finishes her speech-, for the flashbacks are growing worse by the second.

Luna rushes into her room and, breathing heavily, looks into her mirror to make sure that she doesn't look like a total mess. Then she sees it. No, this can't... I just... no! "No!" Luna screams. She runs forward and shatters the mirror. "NO!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sir Black Moon," Commander Night Hawk says, rather impatiently. He is on a tight schedule and hates waiting on ponies. Especially ones of lower rank than he.

Black Moon solutes. "Yes, Sir?"

"We need you for a special mission," Commander Night Hawk says.

"A mission, Sir?"

"It is for the cause. And you are willing to do anything for the cause, right?"

"Of course, Sir. I will do anything, Sir. What would you like for me to do, Sir?"

Commander Night Hawk rolls his eyes at all of Black Moon's 'sir's. Rookie, he thinks in disgust. "Come with me, we will discuss it with Captain Silver Night. It concerns a certain group of ponies. Ponies that will crush the mission and the cause if they get the chance. They must be eliminated. Immediately. Do you think you will be able to handle the assignment, young sir?"

Dark Moon smiles. "Of course, Sir."

"Then come with me."

Author's Note

Sorry about the italics... it's not supposed to be like that. I don't know how this happened, and I don't know how to undo it. It is not in italics when I hit edit. ....It is very strange and I'm very sorry about it! :fluttershysad:

Chapter 6. - Reflections: Confused

"I can't believe you!" Loyalty yelled.

Luna looked down, ashamed.

"You invaded my privacy! YOU VISITED MY DREAM!!"

"I'm sorry, I just got too curious," Luna said, almost crying.

"But we're friends... Friends don't do things like that... You could at least have asked!"

"Loyalty, I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I promise," Luna said.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" Loyalty asked with a glare.

Luna looked into Loyalty's eyes and said, in a rather harsh tone of voice. "Because I promised. Luna never breaks her promises!"

Loyalty sighed. "What all did you see of my dreams? I don't remember a lot about your visit, all I know is, you were there."

Loyalty had come around the next morning acting like nothing was wrong. He asked Luna to hang out, she agreed and asked her father to go out, Loyalty helped her out of the window, they started flying, and then it came. The truth. That he knew. And then came angry voices and arguments and Luna being on the very brink of tears. She had never cried since she had to leave Tia and work on spells in her father's Night Castle. Never cried since. Never. She had to be strong. But now she was very close to crying.

"I... I saw..." A single tear drop slid down Luna's cheek. "Oh, Loyalty, I'm so sorry. I'm such a horrible pony! I wish I weren't princess of the night. I wish I couldn't see dreams! I wish I weren't separated from Tia! I just wish that things were different. And I'm so very, very sorry!"

Loyalty put one of his purple wings around Luna as she burst into tears. "There, there Luna. It's alright. I'm sorry for being so harsh. I know how hard everything is for you."

"Things are hard for you too," Luna said.

"So, you found out that I'm an orphan..."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Luna asked, brushing tears away with her hooves.

Loyalty shrugged. "I don't know... I guess I didn't feel like it was important..."

"Where do you live?" Luna asked.

Loyalty took her hooves in his and he smiled. "I'll show you." He started flying. "Follow me." Luna did. They flew until they came to a waterfall. "It's behind the waterfall," Loyalty said.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Behind the waterfall?"

Loyalty nodded. "Come on."

Luna followed Loyalty through the waterfall and to a little cave. It is furnished with a bed, a food storage place, several books, a box for a desk sort of thing, and several candle sticks. "Wow, you did this?" Luna asked.

Loyalty nodded. "Yep. It's all mine."

"Um... how did your parents die? You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to..."

Loyalty sat down on his bed. "It was a fire. My family were pegasi that lived on the ground, and a big fire swept the country side, and burned our house down. I tried to save them, but all I saved was this stuff. I started carrying stuff out of the house, when my father yelled that the fire was heading our way." He started to get a bit choked up. "I thought they would get out, but they went to save my little sister who was upstairs. I didn't know. I tried to rush back inside and save them..."

Loyalty's story seemed a bit jumbled up and slightly confusing to Luna, but he had said enough for her to understand. "I'm very sorry." She sighed. "I've been complaining about my problems and acting like a spoiled brat, when really, you have problems that are much worse than mine."

"No, Luna, it's fine. I like living by myself. Besides, the fire was years ago, so... I think I've recovered."

"I really don't think that you're quite old enough to be living completely by yourself," Luna said.

Loyalty shrugged. "I'm fine. Besides, it's only a couple more years until I'm officially old enough and can get a big job and stuff. I do odd jobs to make money for food and books, and I get by. Besides, I have you as a friend, don't I?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, but-"

Loyalty held up a hoof and cut her off, "But nothing."

"Sorry, again, that I've been so horrible."

"You haven't been completely horrible," Loyalty teased.

Luna gave him a glare.

"But I do forgive you for visiting my dreams," he said, sincerely, this time.

They looked into each other's eyes, and Luna felt something. She wasn't completely sure what it was. Celestia would probably know, but of course she couldn't ask her, and especially not right now. Maybe Father had a book or something that would tell what this feeling was? Or maybe it was something that ponies didn't write about... But, yet, didn't ponies write about anything and everything? Maybe not... Or...

Oh moon! Luna thought, when she realized that Loyalty was really close. What was happening? Luna didn't know.

"You asked in my dream, why I dream about kissing you..." Loyalty said.

"Uh.... yes...." Luna said, unsure of what was going on. And why was her heart racing so much? Loyalty was just her friend! She wasn't supposed to think anything about him other than... Moons, moons, what was going on? Why was Luna feeling this way.

"It's because... I'd like to in real life," Loyalty said, honestly.

Wait.

"I like you Luna," Loyalty said.

Oh. Moon. What? WHY?

Loyalty leaned in closer, and Luna felt frozen. She had no idea what to do. Should she move? What would happen if she moved? What would happen if she didn't move? Did she want to move? Would moving mean avoiding Loyalty's kiss? If that was what was going to happen... Would it? Did she want to avoid it? Did Luna have... No! She didn't like Loyalty in that way did she? He sure seemed to. Well, he said he did...

Before Luna could do anything, a voice suddenly called out, "Luna? Where are you? Princess Luna! Get out here, right now, where ever you are!"

Luna gasped, jerked back, and banged her head on the roof of the little cavern. "That's my father!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Loyalty asked. "But how did he..."

Luna cut him off, "I have no idea! But I need to get out there right now, if I don't want to get in deeep trouble!"

Before Loyalty could say anything, Luna dashed out of the cavern, spraying the water from the waterfall everywhere, and flew quickly over to her father. "I'm sorry, was I gone long?" Luna gasped.

Her father gave her a slight glare. "For two hours!"

Luna's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry, Father! I didn't realize how long I had been out. I was flying, and it was such a nice day, and..."

Luna's father cut her off. "I don't need an excuse. I need you to get back to the castle immediately! We need to work on more spells! I thought you were more responsible than that Luna!"

Luna hung her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mad Loyalty peeking out from the waterfall. She knew that he wanted to come defend her. She shook her head, enough that Loyalty will know that he is not to come out or things will get ten times worse, but too little for her father to think she is signalling to someone.

"Let's go," her father said.

"Yes, Father," Luna said, obediently.

As they fly away from the waterfall, Luna looked back, to see if Loyalty was still there. He must have back in his little cavern, for she could not see him.

What just happened? Luna wondered. She had absolutely no idea, except for two things: Loyalty obviously liked her as more than a friend, and she almost had her first kiss.

Chapter 7. - Not the Same

"Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, we may have a problem," Garnet reports.

Cadance and Shining Armor look at Garnet with confusion.

"Um, what sort of a problem?" Cadance asks, with concern. She wonders why Luna can't take care of any problems that there are. Maybe it is something that is out of Luna's control...?

Garnet clears her throat rather awkwardly. "Princess Luna..."

"Yes?" Cadance feels a little kick in her stomach. She still can't believe that there is actually a little life inside of her.

"...Well, after her speech she seemed to be quite light headed. She rushed for her room. I tried to stop her, but she didn't appear to hear me. Soon I hear her screaming and a shatter, and when I come in, her mirror is broken and she's lying, passed out cold, on the floor. I think she hyperventilated or something. I have no idea. Um... does Princess Luna really despise making speeches that much?"

Cadance is startled. All of this is very strange news to her. "What? Are you sure, Garnet?"

"Yes, your Magesty, I am sure. I saw her with my own eyes. She is with Doctor Purple Heart right as we are speaking," Garnet says.

Cadance is very concerned. There is only one time when Luna was ever like this, and it was after Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the Elements of Harmony, and when Luna became reformed. Luna would have sightings of Nightmare Moon (she said, anyways) and would hyperventilate rather easily. She blacked out a few times, too. Surely this wasn't happening to her again. Surely Luna was over the whole Nightmare Moon thing... Right? Well, maybe not. In fact, Cadance wasn't even sure if she was completely over it. A pony who was weak enough to let a nightmare like that take over their body had to be a very, very weak pony. And that meant, that it could happen again. At any given moment. Cadance didn't think that it would happen again, but you could never tell. Besides, there were secrets that Luna kept that not even Celestia knew about. Cadance knew it personally. Like that one time when Luna thought she might kind of like Shining Armor. Thank goodness THAT didn't last long!

"I want to see Luna as soon as possible," Cadance tells Garnet. "I must speak to her privately."

Garnet nods. "I thought you would."

"You are dismissed now."

Garnet bows low. "Yes, your Majesty."

Garnet leaves, and then Shining Armor looks worriedly down at Cadance. "Do you really think that she could be seeing Nightmare Moon again?" he asks.

"I don't know," Cadance says. "I'm really worried about her. I don't want to be horrid or judgmental or anything like that, but, you must admit, Luna isn't necessarily like the rest of us."

"Don't worry," Shining Armor says, though it is obvious he is concerned, himself. "Everything will be fine." He leans down and gently kisses his wife.

"Hopefully," Cadance says.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight steps off the train with Spike at her side. She could have ridden in her royal carriage, but she is still not completely used to that thing. And being pulled by other ponies, well, stallions, is just too odd for her. She knows that she will probably get used to it eventually and then ride in it all the time, but this time, she decided to just stick to the train.

Before she had left, Twilight had written a reply to Luna's letter, telling her that she was right on her way and to be expecting her and Spike sometime soon, but yet not right away, as she had things to take care of in her own kingdom, quick before she would leave.

Now they are finally in the Crystal Empire, two days later. Twilight finds it rather odd that there is no welcoming party, or at least a couple of guards.

"Where is every pony?" Spike says, asking Twilight's unspoken question.

"Uh, I don't know," Twilight says.

"They do know you're coming, right?"

"Um, well, they should... We wrote Princess Luna a letter."

"Maybe she didn't get it," Spike suggests.

"No, I'm pretty sure she did," Twilight objects. "Maybe she just didn't send a welcoming party or anything, since she figures that I come here a lot because Cadance is my sister-in-law and Shining Armor's my brother... or something..."

"Or maybe she didn't send anyone because she doesn't know that it's royal custom."

"Spike!" Twilight scolds.

"What? You have to admit, Luna isn't exactly like all you other princesses and royals."

"Well, neither am I," Twilight says.

"Well, you also never became Nightmare Moon," Spike says. "Luna did."

"Don't talk like that about Princess Luna. Celestia forgave her a long time ago. And plus... it's just not kind!" Twilight magics her luggage and calls, "Come on, Spike. Just because we weren't greeted at the train station doesn't mean that they're not all waiting on us!"

Spike sighs. "Yes, Twilight." He hurriedly rushes after Twilight, who is now speed walking to the Crystal Palace.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Luna wakes up and things are hazy. "Wh-What happened...?" she moans.

A crystal pony that looks like a doctor says, "Well, your Majesty. It appears that you blacked out. We tried to wake you, but have not come to until now."

"How long have I been asleep?!" Luna gasps, still trying to grasp hold of her memories and thoughts.

"Mm, about... one and a half days."

"One and a half days?!!"

"Yes," the crystal doctor says. "I'm not entirely sure what caused your black out, but I'm thinking hyperventilation. Am I correct?"

"I... I can't remember at the moment... My brain is extremely foggy..." Luna says, with a moan.

And then she remembers. Everything comes flooding back like a giant, smothering wave. She had seen her in the mirror. Perhaps she is being paranoid, but she is sure that it was Nightmare Moon's reflection that she saw in her mirror. And then she had broken the mirror awhile screaming, and then she had felt this overwhelming darkness pushing in. And now she is in the Crystal hospital, lying on a crystal bed, being examined by a crystal doctor. And snap. She had been blacked out so she couldn't have raised the moon. Celestia is probably wondering why Luna is neglecting her 'nightly' duties. Drat the moon. Drat it all.

"Look, can I get out of here now? I feel fine," Luna says, truthfully.

"Are you sure? You said that your brain was still foggy," the doctor says.

"I feel perfectly fine now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important things to tend to," Luna says, getting up.

"Well, alright," the doctor says. He steps aside as Luna walks out of the room.

Luna rushes out of the crystal hospital, and realizes that she actually still feels a bit dizzy. She walks back to the Crystal Palace and is surprised to see Twilight Sparkle and Spike there arguing with one of the palace guards.

Oh, wait, Luna remembers, She sent me a reply letter! I completely forgot all about it! Oh, Luna, why are you so stupid?! Seriously, what is wrong with me?!

"Twilight, hello!" Luna greets the young princess, with an edge of panic in her voice.

Spike clears his throat.

"Oh, and Spike," Luna quickly adds.

"Princess Luna, why is it that no pony seems to be expecting me?" Twilight demands. "Didn't you get my letter?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Twilight. Yes, I did get your letter, but I never got the chance to read it. And a lot has been happening. I guess I blacked out and stuff and got put in the hospital. Yes, a lot has been going on! Um, why don't you come in the castle with me. Oh, and you too, Spike." Luna rushes into the palace with Twilight and Spike behind her.

"Blacked out? Princess Luna, what is going on? And what do you need help with?" Twilight stops. "Wait, ARE YOU SICK?!"

Some of the maids and guards stare.

Luna gives the young princess a very pointed glare. "No. I am not sick." To one of the maids she orders, "Please prepare a room for Princess Twilight Sparkle."

The maid nods. "Yes, of course, your Majesty." She quickly runs off to do Luna's bidding.

"Please tell me what you need my help with," Twilight says.

Luna sighs. "Patience is a virtue, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I will tell you later. Right now, I have some thing... that need tending to."

Twilight frowns but says, "Alright."

"The maid will show you to your room," Luna says.

Almost as soon as she speaks, the crystal maid comes rushing back.

"Come with me, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sir Spike," the maid says.

Twilight and Spike follow the maid to their room.

Luna finds the nearest room -which happens to be the library-, locks the door, and collapses from exhaustion. Perhaps she left the hospital a little too hastily.

There, in the library, Luna tries to sort out all her mixed up, twisted thoughts.

Finally, after several hours, Luna decides to go talk to Cadance.

She should probably tell the princess what happened exactly. Rumors can be very alarming. And untruthful.

Luna finds Cadance's room and knocks on the door. Shining Armor opens it and, upon seeing Luna, narrows his eyes slightly. "Oh, come in."

"Um, hello, Cadance," Luna says.

Cadance gives her a small smile. "Hello, Luna."

"Look, I don't know what you heard, but I would like to explain myself."

"Go ahead."

"First of all, that speech gave me horrible memories. I was having bad flash backs, so I ran to me room. I saw Nightmare Moon in my mirror, and, um, I guess I freaked out a little."

Cadance nods but doesn't say anything. "Luna, may I ask you how often this happens."

"This is the first time in a very long time that anything like this happened," Luna says. "I'm sorry if I caused chaos or something. I promise that it will not happen again." Luna winces, as saying that is very familiar and brings back memories. Again.

"Alright. I believe you. I am sorry that this happened to you."

"Um... Luna... may I ask you why MY SISTER is out THERE, roaming the HALLS?!" Shining Armor asks, with wide eyes.

"Oh, about that..." Luna clears her throat. "I invited her here to help me figure something out..."

"Oh?" Cadance looks surprised.

"Don't worry about it, Cadance," Luna says. "I hope you have a good day." Then she heads out and faces Twilight.

"Excuse me, why are you roaming the halls, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asks.

"Oh, I was just looking for you."

Luna nods. "Yes, well, I will talk to you about the problem later. Meet me on the highest balcony tonight, once you see the moon up. I need to show you something."

Twilight looks confused. "Um, okay. On the highest balcony after the moon is up. I've got it."

"Good. Don't be late. Or you might miss it." Luna heads to her room, leaving behind an even more confused Twilight.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

That night, Twilight studies the sky very carefully, waiting for Luna to raise the moon. She's been waiting for what feels like forever to see what Luna wants to talk to her about, and she isn't about to be late.

Suddenly the moon appears in the sky.

"I've gotta go!" she says to Spike, as she rushes out of her door.

"Um, where are you going?" Spike calls after her.

"No time to talk now!"

After asking a crystal maid for directions to the highest balcony, Twilight runs as fast as she can so that she won't be late.

Twilight nearly crashes into Luna when she reaches the balcony.

"Watch it!" Luna hisses, nearly silently.

"So, what is it?" Twilight whispers, excited.

Luna makes the 'shush' motion and then points out at the crystal empire.

Suddenly Twilight sees something creeping out of the shadows. Then she realizes what they are. Ponies. Dark colored ponies. In the bright colored Crystal Empire. They all come out and look up at the moon, basking in it's white light. This is all very, very strange. Twilight has never seen anything like it.

"Who are they?" Twilight whispers.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean? That's what I was going to ask you. This is why I asked you to come. Don't you know who they are?" Luna asks, worry flashing across her face.

"Um, no, why would I?"

"But you know just about everything that there is to know... I thought... Never mind."

Twilight feels horrible. Like a failure. A horrible failure. "I-I'm sorry, Luna..."

Luna shakes her head. "It's fine."

But it's not. Not to Twilight. She swallows, trying to push the lump in her throat down.

"Let's go back to our rooms," Luna says.

Twilight nods and starts to head back inside the palace, but notices that Luna continues to watch the dark ponies. "Are you coming, Princess Luna?"

"Hm?" Luna asks, absentmindedly.

"Back inside, I mean."

"Oh, oh, yes. Of course. I'm coming." She turns to follow Twilight back inside, but glances back one more time.

Twilight feels even more awful. It is evident that Luna really wants to know who those ponies are -Twilight does too-, but there is really nothing Twilight can do.

Except...

"Luna," Twilight says, once they're back inside.

"Yes?"

"When I go back to my kingdom, I will do some research on those ponies and see if I can find anything," Twilight says.

Luna smiles. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. That would be wonderful."

Chapter 8. - The Dark Ponies

Luna began to recover from all that had happened recently as the days wore on. She wasn't having as many reflections and wasn't feeling near as weak or vulnerable as when she first arrived. One thing that continued, though, was her curiosity of who those dark colored ponies were.

They continued to come out every night to bask in the moonlight, and this struck Luna as rather odd. She had no idea that there was actual ponies who really, truly enjoyed her moon anymore now days.

I have to find out who they are! Luna thinks, determined, one day. Twilight may not be able to, but I will!

Garnet has Luna meet all the royal guards and a few important crystal ponies. Luna also tours the Crystal Empire and learns a bit about it's security system and other important things.

Things are completely fine in the Crystal Empire; Luna thinks that Garnet, herself, could take care of it awhile Cadance was sick. But now that Luna is here and has stumbled upon a mystery, she is glad that she is here and does not want to leave.

Twilight and Spike leave after a small visit with Cadance. When the younger princess was still here, Luna could tell that Twilight was wanting to get back to her kingdom as fast as possible and do research. Twilight seemed equally interested in finding out who those mysterious, moon-loving ponies were.

Luna doesn't tell anyone about the dark ponies, deciding that it would probably be best if no one found out. It is her and Twilight's little secret. Luna thinks once about telling Celestia, but then decides against it, fearing that her older sister would try to take over. This is Luna's mystery and she -with perhaps, still, the help of Twilight Sparkle- will figure it out, and prove that she is worth more than raising and lowering the moon.

"Are you alright, your Majesty?" Garnet asks one day, on Luna second week in the Crystal Empire.

Luna snaps out of the daze she is in and asks, "What?" She had been thinking about the dark ponies mystery.

Garnet gives her a small smile. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about things," Luna says.

"What sort of things?"

Luna almost sighs. Garnet is so persistent. "Royal things that you would probably not at all understand. No offence of course."

"None taken. Cadance has tried to explain some royal things to me before and it was quite befuddling."

Luna nods, and shifts in the hard, crystal thrown that she is sitting on. How can Cadance stand this uncomfortable thing?! Luna wonders.

"Yes, royal matters can be rather confusing at times," Luna says to the crystal assistant.

"Speaking of royal matters, one of the guards was telling me that our forces are becoming a little weak. They were never that stable in the first place, especially after Sombra, but they appear to be weakening even more. Perhaps you would like to check into it, just in case," Garnet suggests.

Luna frowns and nods. "Yes, I'm really not fond of unstable security systems. A lot of things have been happening the last several years in Equestria, and I don't want another incident here."

"Of course not."

Luna sighs. "I really wish that Prince Shining Armor would get over his shock so that he can get all his guards back in order. I'm trying my best but they appear confused as to why their captain is unable to give them orders."

"Yes, I've tried explaining it to them several times, but they appear to be a bit dense," Garnet says.

Luna nods, for she too noticed this.

"Well, I'll speak to the guards again and maybe Shining Armor, and try to get something done about the security," Luna says, already trying to plan how in Equestria she would do this.

***

That night, when Luna raises the moon, the dark ponies come out like they had been doing ever since Luna arrived.

She watches them and finally decides to do something about her curiosity. She is going to go talk to them. Besides, as much as they love her moon, they should like her. Right?

Luna silently flies off of her balcony and down to where a dark pegasus lurks in the shadows.

"Hello," Luna says softly, using her night voice.

The pegasus jumps back.

Suddenly Luna realizes that all the dark ponies are now looking at her. Gasps are heard and they all look at her with looks of aw and wonder.

A big, dark unicorn pushes through the crowd and bows eloquently at Luna's feet. "Great Princess Luna of the Night," he says.

"Who... Who are you?" Luna asks, as a thousand questions fill her.

"We," says the unicorn, "Are the ponies of the night."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight has been going through her books ever since she got back. Apple Jack comes into Twilight's study and tell her she should get some sleep.

Twilight shakes her head. "No, I have to solve this mystery for Princess Luna."

"What exactly is this 'mystery'?" Apple Jack asks.

Twilight pauses, wondering if she should tell her earth pony friend. "Oh, just a little something that has to do with the Crystal Empire ponies," she finally says.

"Perhaps we could help you, Darling," comes Rarity's voice.

Twilight looks up and sees her four other friends peeking through her study door. Silly eaves-dropping ponies, Twilight thinks to herself, slightly amused.

"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to stay up all night and help me," Twilight says.

Rainbow Dash's eyes grow wide. "You're going to stay up all night doing research?! You're worse of an egg head than I thought!"

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Apple Jack each shoot Rainbow Dash a small glare. Pinkie Pie clicks her tongue in disapproval.

Twilight simply smiles at her friend's criticism. "Perhaps, but I really want to help Princess Luna."

"Come on, Twilight," Pinkie Pie says, in her high-pitched voice, "let us help you!"

"Well, alright... I guess it would be okay..."

Her friends start picking up books.

"So what are we lookin' for?" Apple Jack asks.

"Well, anything on dark colored ponies that seem to be rather active during the night... that... live in the Crystal Empire..." Twilight says, hoping that Luna won't be upset with her for sharing this mystery.

Twilight's friends' eyes widen.

"There's actually such a thing?" Rainbow Dash asks.

Twilight nods. "Apparently."

"Well, maybe we should look in some of your history books then, for starters?" Fluttershy suggests quietly.

"That's a good idea," Twilight says, picking up some history books. "Well, let's get to work. We'd better keep busy if we're going to pull an all-nighter."

"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie squeals, diving into a pile of books. "An all-nighter!"

The six friends start going through all Twilight's books, searching for anything about the dark ponies and their history.

Chapter 9. - Reflections: Meeting the Family

Luna was sad when Loyalty didn't come around for two whole weeks. She wondered if she had done something wrong. Was he still okay, out there by himself in that little cavern, behind the waterfall? Would he ever come back? And how would things be, if he would come to see her again? Luna had, what felt, like hundreds of questions swirling inside of her.

And then, one day, he did come back.

Luna was reading a book that her father had given to her -and told her to read- when she heard a rapping on her window. She looked up, wondering who in Equestria would be banging on her window.

She laughed when she saw Loyalty.

Luna walked over to the window and magicked it up.

"I can't believe you seriously did that," she said, trying to keep a straight face.

Loyalty grinned. "Did what?"

"Repeated exactly what you did when we first met," Luna said, letting a small smile slip.

Loyalty shrugged. "It was almost a year ago, so I was just making sure that you remembered."

"Of course I remember. How could I forget? You came banging on my window like an idiot and told me that you were practically a stalker!" Luna said.

Loyalty raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, so you said it a bit differently than that, but it was basically the same thing," Luna laughed. After a bit of silence she asked, "Loyalty, are you mad at me about something?"

Loyalty looked surprised. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad?"

"Well, you haven't been to see me for about three weeks, that's enough to cause any pony to start worrying," Luna said, looking down.

"I just didn't want to get you in trouble with your father again. Was he really angry?" Loyalty asked, worried.

Luna smiled and shook her head. "No, just upset that I wasn't responsible enough to come back in time."

Loyalty continued to frown.

"Loyalty, it wasn't your fault," Luna said. When he didn't reply, Luna grinned. "Do you want to go out for a fly or something?"

"Sure," Loyalty said. He helped Luna out and then asked, grinning, "Race?"

Luna's reply was shooting up into the blue sky, wings spread wide.

"Hey!" Loyalty yelled, racing after her. Once he caught up with her, he asked, "What was that about?"

"You said you wanted to race," Luna said, with a shrug.

They laughed, unable to keep straight faces any longer.

The two stopped at a creek for a quick drink of water and a rest from flying so fast.

"Luna, I just want to tell you that I'm really sorry about the other day... you know... if I did anything to offend you... I..." Loyalty said, struggling to find the right words.

Luna shook her head. "No, it's fine. I... it was just unexpected is all..."

"It's not fine. I never even asked you, how you felt... or... anything. It was horribly rude of me to just rush ahead like that. I really want to apologize. You're so nice and I never wanted to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. And I-"

Luna leaned forward and kissed the rambling pegasus to shut him up. It surprised her so much that she jerked back almost immediately. Loyalty looked equally shocked.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Luna could feel a blush creeping up into her face.

Suddenly she knew how she felt about Loyalty and everything else. She liked him. A lot. He was the only one who really made her feel like she mattered. He excepted her for who she was. He didn't try to force the 'princess of the night' thing on her and tell her it was her destiny and what she was supposed to do. He made her feel like it was a good thing to be the night princess. Loyalty really truly cared about her. And she cared about him.

Loyalty cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, thank you for letting me know how you really feel."

Luna smiled.

They sat there for awhile, not saying anything, just enjoying each other's presence. Finally, after what felt like only minutes, Luna looked up at the sun and sighed. "I should go. I don't want my father to start worrying."

Loyalty nodded. "You know, I'd really like to meet your family some time."

"I guess I should introduce you all sometime." Luna thought for a moment, then said, "I'll tell you what. Next time my family has a reunion at the castle my father and I share, I'll introduce you to them. I'm sure they'll like you."

"You sure?" Loyalty asked.

Luna nodded.

"Well, okay."

They smiled.

"Well, I need to go now," Luna said, getting up.

Loyalty got up after her. "Um, bye."

"Bye." Luna started to fly back home, and looked back at Loyalty. "I'll see you tomorrow," she called back to him.

"You can count on it!"

A month later the royal family was having their reunion at the moon castle.

Luna decided to invite Loyalty.

When her family was all together she said, "I hope you all don't mind that I've invited a friend over to meet you."

Tia smiled. "You've made a friend, Lulu?"

Luna nodded.

"Really?" her father asked. "When?"

"Uh... one day when I went outside..." Luna said, trying to decide if this was a lie or not.

"Of course we don't mind," her mother said. "I'd love to meet your friend. I'm glad you have someone to spend time with, out here, besides your father. As long as your friend isn't keeping you from your studies, of course."

"No, I am studying just fine."

Luna's father nodded, confirming that what Luna said was true.

Luna opened a door and said, "You may come out now."

"I don't know..." Loyalty said, hesitantly. "What if they don't like me?" he whispered.

Luna shook her head. "Nonsense. They'll love you. I promise."

Loyalty bit his lower lip. "Fine." He stepped out of the room, that he had been waiting in, and let Luna introduce him.

"This is my friend, Loyalty Moon," Luna introduced. "Loyalty, this is my parents and my sister, Celestia."

Loyalty stared with eyes wide in wonder. He was really standing before the royal family. He bowed low to the ground.

"I think he's cute!" Tia squealed.

Her parents and Luna shot her a glare, and Loyalty, who was still bowing, flushed.

"You're Luna's friend?" her father asked, motioning for Loyalty to rise.

"Uh, um, y-yes sir," Loyalty stammered.

"And who are you're parents?" Luna's mother asked, more gently than her husband.

"Uh... they're... um... dead..."

"Oh, I'm very sorry," Luna's mother said.

"Who then do you live with?" Luna's father asked.

"I, uh, live by myself, your Majesty. I have a job and have my own house," Loyalty answered.

Cave-house, Luna thought to herself.

"Hm, aren't you rather young, to be living by yourself?" Luna's mother asked.

"Um, not really. I am finishing school, so I think that's old enough."

"Well, I am glad that Luna has a friend," Luna's father said, "But I do not want you taking advantage of her."

"Of course not, your Majesty," Loyalty said, with great passion.

There was some more talking and then Loyalty said that he needed to leave.

Luna spent the rest of the day with her family, and then helped her father raise the moon, when her mother and Tia had left. Then she went to her room.

She was glad that her family had at least somewhat liked Loyalty, but she had felt bad for him when her family asked about his parents. It was normal to ask, Luna guessed. But still.

Luna saw Loyalty even before he tapped on her window with his wing. She opened it, straight way kissed him -once again, surprising both of them-, and said, "I told you that they'd like you."

Loyalty nodded. "And you were right."

"Thank you for coming. I really wanted you to meet my family. I thought for a little while that you wouldn't come," Luna said.

Loyalty smiled. "I was just kind of shy and... well, you know. You belong to the great royal family. The sovereign rulers of Equestria. You can imagine why I nervous."

Luna said, "Yes, I suppose so."

"Do you want to come out and look at the moon... and stuff?"

Luna laughed. "Sure, why not." She climbed out of the window, and she and Loyalty flew up to a part on the roof of the castle where they could sit and admire the moon.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Loyalty asked with a sigh. "Shimmering white. Surrounded by stars that, seemingly almost lovingly, twinkle with joy."

"You're quite descriptive," Luna said, laughing.

Loyalty smiled. "Life is too short to not see things in a descriptive form. At least for me..."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, worry showing on her face.

"I mean, that I don't want you to get attached to me."

Luna's eyebrows shot up. "Well, it's too late for that."

Loyalty sighed. "I know. And I should have thought about it sooner. But, Luna, you do realize that you won't have me forever. You will take over for your father one day."

Luna shrugged. "I can have you stay in my palace or something."

"Even though I'm not a royal?" Loyalty asked, critically.

"Of course. Just because I will become a big, badly-needed co-ruler doesn't mean you have to disappear out of my life!"

"True, but there is also the thought that... well, you're going to live much longer than I am. Alicorns live who-knows-how-long, where as earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns die when they get old. I'm going to age, while you will still be young. I will die, while you will still be young. I will disintegrate into the earth, while you will still be young." Loyalty looked down. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I've been thinking about the facts, and I don't think we should start a relationship of any kind. Maybe we should just stay friends, like your family thinks we are."

Luna's breathing grew heavy. "Loyalty. Stop."

"Luna, I just don't want you to be hurt."

"I know, but, you will die whether we are friends or anything else and it won't make it any easier either way. In fact, if we stay just friends it would be worse for me when you die, knowing that we could have been more than friends while you were still living," Luna said. She sighed. She hadn't been thinking about any of this, and it was very stressing when out of no where, Loyalty suddenly brings up the very subject that she had been avoiding ever since they had become friends. She didn't like the thought of death. When she did she started screaming and no one, and wondered why she had to be an alicorn and live awhile watching everyone else die. It was only one more thing that she couldn't handle. But Loyalty was right. It had to be considered some time or other. She wasn't foolish. She knew. She just hated it.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Loyalty said, when he noticed how upset Luna was.

Luna took a deep breath, to compose herself and to ensure that she wouldn't start crying. "No, it's fine. We have to think about it sometime."

Loyalty nodded.

"Just not right now," she added sternly.

Loyalty frowned, but said, "Fine."

They sat there in silence, just looking up at the moon. Loyalty put his one wing around Luna, and they sat like that until midnight.

Chapter 10. - The City of the Night

Luna can't believe this. Ponies of the night? But how? And where did they come from?

The night ponies surround her, gazing in awe. Some of them ask questions or ask her to come with them. The unicorn asks, "Would you like to come see our humble abode, oh, great Princess of the Night?"

Luna bites her lower lip, trying to think of what to say. "Um, all right. I suppose I could make time for it. But I cannot visit long."

He bows. "Of course, your Majesty. Come with us."

Luna follows them as they creep into the shadows. They walk along through allies, around buildings, and under bridges. Suddenly every pony stops in front of a normal looking ponyhole cover.

"Um, might I ask why we are stopped in front of a ponyhole?" Luna asks, confused.

The dark unicorn, who Luna now sees is dark black with indigo mane and tail, walks up to the ponyhole cover and knocks on it. Suddenly it opens and a beam of white light shoots out. "Follow me, your majesty," the unicorn says.

Luna stares as he leaps into the ponyhole. What in Equestria is going on? she wonders. Slowly Luna walks over to the hole and stares into it. She can't see anything because of the light, so she decides to just dive in. Luna jumps in, prepared to use her wings to break her fall, but her hooves almost immediately touch ground. She looks up from the ground and the leader unicorn smiles at her. Soon other ponies begin coming in behind Luna. The princess of the night looks around, wondering just how many ponies can fit in this tunnel, as almost all of the dark ponies that were out are coming in. Suddenly a black aura glows around the leader unicorn's horn and they are suddenly transported into a dark room with a white glow about it. Luna follows the unicorn down a long, twisting case of steps.

"This is where we live," the unicorn announces finally.

Luna looks around in awe. An entire city has been built underground, complete with houses, towers, shops, and dark ponies milling about. "Wow, I'm stunned," Luna says.

The unicorn smiles with pride and then starts off into the city.

"Wait, wait! Where are you going!" Luna calls, rushing after him.

"I have a meeting with our city's leaders that I must attend. I will meet you later," he says. "Of course," he bows low, "if that is alright with you."

Luna quickly nodds. "Oh, yes, of course." She wants to ask what the meeting is about -what if it's about her?!-, but she doesn't want to come off as rude, so she keeps silent. Many ponies found her rude when she asked certain questions. But how was she to know precisely what was considered rude and what wasn't? Couldn't the ponies of Equestria understand that she had been gone to the moon for a thousand years?! It was quite frustrating.

She watches as the leader unicorn hurriedly rushes off, and she starts wondering if he's in a hurry to get away from her. Probably not, she thinks to herself, As he, along with everyone else here, seems to adore me. But... you never can tell sometimes...

Luna decides to tour a bit of the large, underground city, as it is a curious sight. The deeper she goes into the bustling city, the stranger things become. The buildings take on a more artistic look, twisting in different shapes, that look dangerous should a great wind blow. But, naturally you could probably take greater architectural risks underground, where there would be no problems with the weather.

There are plenty of artistic statues of things like the stars, the moon, some important looking ponies, and some twisty figures that Luna doesn't recognize. Luna is quite startled when she sees a black stone statue of a large evil looking alicorn. It couldn't possibly be... Nightmare moon , could it?

Luna gulps. Come to think of it, this whole place seemed a little spooky... the underground city, the odd statues, the strange buildings.... But she can't erase the fact that the whole city seems to love her. Wherever the purple alicorn walks, the ponies around her stop and bow in awe. Some of them start quoting poetry about the moon or 'the great princess of the night'. Gasps of awe fill the atmosphere whenever she turns a corner or enters a building for observation.

Luna comes to one part of the city where there is an opening in the tall, tunnel ceiling, causing a large shaft of moonlight beamed down. Luna lets her eyes follow the moonbeam down to where it clothes a large, majestic alicorn statue in white light. Luna studies the statue. It looks very familiar, and pretty similar to Nightmare Moon. Just... nicer looking.

Luna turns to a passing, blue-black unicorn and asks, "Excuse me, who is that statue of?"

The pony looks like she might faint with surprise and joy. "Oh, g-great P-Princess of the N-Night, th-that statue is of y-y-you," she stammers.

Now it is Luna's turn to be surprised. "Of me?!" she gasps.

The pony nodds. "Of course. Y-you are the majestic Princess of the Night. You a-are our p-princess."

Luna walks closer to the statue. Suddenly, she realizes something, I have my own kingdom!

Black Moon looks into the shard of glass that hung on his barracks wall. His black coat is practically the same as every other dark pony's, but one difference is the white mark he has on his hoof. A scar that would forever remind him of that horrible day that haunts his nightmares.

"They will pay," he vows darkly.

The young pegasus turns away from the mirror, trying to smooth his short, spiky white-blue mane. He stares at the large sword, that once belonged to his father, that is lying on his dresser. The silver glints, and the black handle shines.

"This sword shall do its duty in time," comes a loud, dark voice. "Do not worry, my son. You're parents shall be avenged."

Dark Moon looks across the room, to see the great leader, Acerbus, standing in his doorway. The purple-black unicorn's black eyes seem to penetrate right into Dark Moon's very soul.

Dark Moon quickly bows low.

Acerbus motions for him to rise.

Dark Moon pushes himself slowly up from the ground. "S-sir, why are you here?" he asks in astonishment. The great leader hardly ever talked to anyone, but the captains, much less approached them.

Acerbus walks over to the great sword that was made from a fallen meteorite. He touches the blade carefully with his hoof. "You are a loyal servant, as was your father. You have been given this special job for a reason. The cause is not something to be taken lightly, do you understand?"

Dark Moon can only manage a small nod of his head.

"You remind me of myself when I was young. A fighting spirit, out for revenge..." Here his mouth twists up into an angry frown. He carefully brushes his black cape that covered all of his back. "They will never forget what happens when you mess with the great Acerbus. If they do, they'll be reminded again."

Dark Moon opens his mouth and is about to ask who 'they' are, but something tells him it would be better not to. Instead he simply gives a nod of wise agreement.

"Dark Moon, together you and I can show them that some things just shouldn't be messed with. We will make everypony pay for the damage they did. My mother tried - and it was a good show-, but I'm not going to fail like her. Acerbus will triumph. And you can help me!" Acerbus declares.

Dark Moon gulps. Acerbus is very dangerous. Should he do dealings with this leader? And what will happen if he doesn't?

And who was his mother anyways? Does anyone even know? How was she defeated? And how will Acerbus do things differently and triumph? Is he that powerful?

Acerbus stares coolly at the young pegasus. "They killed your father, imprisoned your mother, and scared you for life. They don't deserve all they have."

Dark Moon's jaw juts out in defiance as mixed emotions swirl about his brain. "You're right. Celestia shouldn't have gotten away with it. They can't hurt us anymore." He picks up the large sword. "Where do we begin?"

Acerbus grins evilly. "First, you must complete your original mission. Without it complete, we can't do much."

"So where do I find the dark princess?" Dark Moon asks.

"Princess Luna is already in our midst."

Chapter 11. - Reflections: No One Lives Forever

Celestia and Luna were both very sad when they had to leave their parents and go live with their new instructor Star Swirl. When saying their goodbyes, Celestia shed a lot of tears and made their parents promise that they would come to visit. But Luna knew the truth. They wouldn't. Celestia and Luna were on their owns now. Oh, sure, they had Star Swirl -if he counted- and each other, but no one else.

No one lives forever.

Not even alicorns.

This is one thing Luna knew. No one had told her, but it had to be true. Stars died, so why should't alicorns?

The day the two royal sisters were to leave, Luna spent as much time with Loyalty as possible.

"Do you think we'll ever see each other again?" Loyalty asked.

"As long as Equestria spins on it's axis, I will never stop trying to be with you," Luna promised.

"What about when I die?" Loyalty asked, glumly.

"I will move where you are buried and visit your grave every day."

Loyalty laughed. "That's not the same."

"No, but I will still be with your bones, so it counts," Luna said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"What if I just come with you?" Loyalty suggested, grinning slightly.

"I don't know..." Luna dug at the dirt with her shoe clad hoof. "I don't think Star Swirl would let you."

"He'd have to if..."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "If what?"

Loyalty looked up at the sky. "If... we got married..."

Luna's head snapped up and she stared at Loyalty, who avoided her gaze.

"We've both been thinking about it for a couple of years by now, and you know it. You're not too young anymore, so you can't use that excuse," Loyalty quickly said, stringing all his words together in a rush, before Luna had any time to make excuses.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Luna asked, coyly.

"I -uh- dunno..." Loyalty blushed. "I don't really know how..."

Luna smirked. "You say, 'Luna, I love you, and I don't want to be apart from you, so, will you marry me?'.

"Yes," Loyalty squeaked.

Luna burst out laughing.

Loyalty glared at her. "I don't think it's very funny," he said stiffly.

When the young alicorn was able to quelch her laughter, she said, "Loyalty, you're supposed to ask ME. Not the other way around!"

"And how do you know so much? Do princesses also study 'the ways of marital engagements'?" Loyalty asked, mimicking a prissy, upper class voice.

Luna blushed. "No, but... I may or may not have been reading on the subject."

Loyalty looked down. "Okay, fine. Luna, will you... -I can't believe I'm asking an immortal alicorn princess this- ...will you marry me?"

Luna grinned broadly, as butterflies attacked her stomach. "Yes."

The two slowly leaned in, their lips almost touching. Luna could feel Loyalty's breath on her face as she closed her eyes.

Suddenly, a high pitched voice called, "Lulu!! Where are you??"

The two young lovers jerked back, Loyalty silently cursing under his breath, and Luna blushing. "Oh come on!" she growled, her face bright red. Louder she called back, "Coming Tia!"

Luna started to fly off. When she realized Loyalty wasn't following her, she turned around and saw him still standing in the same place. "Well, are you coming along or not?"

Loyalty grinned and took off into the air.

***

At first everyone was horrified when Luna and Loyalty announced their engagement, Star Swirl especially - he simply could not tutor such a child of rebellion, as he put it-. But soon they all realized that they couldn't possibly keep the two apart. Luna's mother, though, begged her not to get married until she was finished with her studies with Star Swirl, and Luna agreed.

The years in which Luna and Celestia studied under Star Swirl were very long ones to Luna and Loyalty. Celestia, however, grew very close to Star Swirl and seemed to enjoy every moment with her tutor. Luna began to feel that Star Swirl's favorite was Celestia, as he didn't really seem to enjoy his teaching hours with Luna.

Luna couldn't wait, during the day, until her lessons were over and she could go and enjoy the moon with Loyalty -who was living in a little cottage, near by the castle that Luna stayed at-.

One night, the moon didn't' rise at it's normal time. Luna looked out of the window, concerned. As she looked up into the sky, trying to figure out what was wrong, she saw a star in the sky that was beginning to fade. Suddenly, Luna knew what was wrong. Her theory was right. Not even her father could live forever. The star that was dying in outer space was his star.

A tear slowly trickled down Luna's cheek as she watched the star completely fade away. Now the moon was completely her responsibility. She went out to a balcony and began to power up her magic. She felt a burst of power shoot up out of her and soon the moon was in place.

Luna looked up at it. "Goodbye, father," she whispered sadly.

She heard some pony fly up behind her.

"Luna?"

With tears streaming down her face, Luna turned around to see Loyalty standing behind her.

"What's wrong?" the pegasus asked with concern. From the moonlight that flickered down on the two lovers, Luna could see worry lines etched into Loyalty's face.

Luna gulped down a wave of tears and replied, "Alicorns don't live forever after all."