Secrets of the Night

The night was young, and the stars glittered with cold heat far above her. Luna, Princess of the Night, smiled serenely as she watched them. She loved the stars almost as much as she did her moon.  She had long since believed that they were tiny moons to accentuate her much larger silver one that floated in the sky above her. Her ethereal mane and tail glimmered and waved calmly around her neck and face, yet no breeze was present.

"Meditating again, sister?" A soft voice startled Luna, and she turned her head to gaze at the tall white alicorn. Celestia smiled and looked down at her sister.

"Not tonight dear sister..." Luna sighed and returned her eyes to the stars, "We are simply enjoying our element."

"It certainly is lovely tonight..." Celestia murmured quietly. Luna felt a wing wrap around her barrel.

"Something is troubling us sister..." Luna sighed, "Something we haven't felt in a very long time..."

Celestia pursed her lips and looked up at the moon, "Is this about HER ?"

"She is stirring. She is angry and no longer wishes to be contained. What do we do?" Luna looked up at the Sun Princess, fear clouding her eyes.

"Are you using the Royal 'We' or as in the both of us 'We'?" Celestia asked calmly.

"Tis not the time for jests, sister!" Luna growled.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist." Celestia chuckled quietly.

"SHE is breaking free and you are making jokes about my speech? Typical." Luna huffed. "I can never get any pity, can I?"

Celestia sighed, "I'm sorry. I forget how hard it is for you sometimes."

"We...I...know this. And I forgive you." Luna snorted, "But what are we, you and I, going to do? She will come for me."

"Then let her come. Let her see that you have changed." Celestia said softly.

"But what if she isn't willing to listen to me?" Luna fretted. "She doesn't know I have changed..."

"Then we subdue her, and then we talk. Like a family." Celestia glared sternly at her sister. "Whatever happened in the past, it wasn't your fault, just like when you became Nightmare Moon. That was MY fault."

"She had a part in it as well..." Luna grumbled.

"But I was the one who hurt you Luna...You hurt her...She hurt you...I hurt you...then I hurt you even more by sending you away..." Celestia choked back her tears.

"It doesn't excuse her involvement...nor my actions..." Luna sighed.

"Enough of this. I will not hear anymore tonight. I must sleep. Good night Luna." Celestia gave her sister a swift kiss before beating a hasty retreat, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Good night...Tia..." Luna sighed and went back to gazing at the night sky, her interest now seemingly little.

Overhead, a star shot across the sky, and Luna noticed an odd pink color to it. She pushed down her rising fear as she watched it make its way towards Ponyville.

"She wouldn't harm innocent ponies..." Luna muttered, "Not like I would...right?" She was answered by the deafening silence, the pink star vanishing from her view. Sighing, Luna waited, hoping that she would have the strength to face her greatest foe.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Ponyville, a tall dark and slender figure passed by. There was a large gash on her shoulder, and blood gushed from the wound. She looked around gritting her teeth as she saw her target.

"Missed by that much..." She huffed and grunted, "Damn...shoulder...wing...ugh!" She panted, her vision darkening as she lost more blood. She saw stars on the edge of her vision, and she shook her head. She plowed onward, ignoring the screaming in her head that was telling her to lay down and stop moving. Permanently. She had her eyes on a cottage, and there were lights on inside, much to her relief.

"H-help!" she called out, her voice cracking. "Help please!"

The door opened, and light streamed down on the mare.  A dark figure stepped out and looked around. "Hello?" a timid-looking yellow mare called out quietly, her dark green gaze sweeping over the grass. The mare spotted the bleeding pony on the ground, and a frightened squeak escaped her lips.

"Oh! Oh my goodness!" The pegasus mare flew over and looked down at the stranger, "Are you ok?"

"H-help...me...please?" The mare choked out, her breathing shallow. Her vision was blurry, and stars danced across the slow oncoming darkness.

"Oh yes of course! Hold on!" The mare, Fluttershy, scooped the dying mare up in her strong forelegs and quickly dragged her into her cottage. She looked around frantically, "Oh...this is not good! I must inform Twilight at once! I didn't know other alicorns existed! I thought there were only four!" She set the mare down on her couch, moving her ethereal pink and purple mane away, "She looks an awful lot like Princess Luna too..."

"Not...Luna..." The mare wheezed, "Moon...flower..."

"Moonflower?" Fluttershy repeated, "Well, alicorn or no, I will do my best to help you. Just give me some time." she flew up to grab a medical kit, sifting through it for her emergency sewing kit. She found it and flew back down, holding a large needle with thin wire, "This is going to hurt...and I'm so sorry for this..."

Moonflower eyed the needle warily, "It is..fine...I understand what needs to be done. Can...can I have something to buite down on a least?" There was a slight tremor to her voice, fear making it stronger as she worried less about the old pain, and concentrated on the new pain to come.

"Yes of course. Here." she gave the mare a large rag. she moved the mane away again to see he wound, "Oh my...this is worst than I thought...perhaps something stronger would work..." She looked around, seeing an old stool. She dashed over and tore a leg off, bring it back over to Moonflower. She wrapped the stool leg in the rag and placed it in her mouth. With a nervous gulp she asked, "Are you ready?"

Moonflower bit down on the stool leg, squeezing her eyes closed. She gave a sharp nod and turned her head away, bracing herself.

Without another moment's hesitation, Fluttershy threaded the surgical needle and began to slowly close the ragged wound. She tried to go through all of the possible creatures that were capable of such a near devastating wound, knowing that a normal pony would not have survived even a few minutes after the initial infliction. "Angel?" she called out quietly.

A small, white bunny popped his head out from his basket, his green striped sleeping hat covering his ears. He saw the injured mare and his small beady black eyes widened in surprise. He quickly bounded over to Fluttershy, looking up at her expectantly.

"Angel, I need you to carry a message to Twilight. Get her over here as fast as you can. I don't care what time it is, but this is an emergency. Please be a good boy for mama, and do as I say?" Fluttershy pleaded with the bunny.

Angel nodded, not arguing with the distraught mare as he sped away, his bunny legs carrying him swiftly out of the house and he dashed for Ponyville, his eyes set upon the tall tree-castle in the distance.

"That's a good boy...he will get an extra serving of carrots tomorrow for dinner." Fluttershy smiled softly as she worked. She could hear the wood splintering from the mare's teeth as she bit down hard on the stool leg. "Almost done..." She said reassuringly.

"It hurths...." the alicorn muttered from her mouthful of wood.

"I know it does, but trust me, when this is over, everything will be just fine. You can even stay with me for a while while you get better." Fluttershy offered sweetly.

"You'd do that?" The mare looked back around at Fluttershy, the stool leg taken out of her mouth by a shaky hoof, "You'd do that for a stranger?"

"Of course I would. My name is Fluttershy." The butter-yellow mare smiled and finished up, snipping the thread with her teeth and tossed the bloody needle in a trash bin.

"Fluttershy...I thank you sincerely..." Moonflower smiled, "You are a truly kind mare."

"Well, I am the the Element of Kindness..." Fluttershy said humbly, hiding behind her mane shyly.

"The...Element...of Kindness?" The alicorn mare asked in confusion, tilting her head slightly.

"You don't know? I am one of the six Elements of Harmony. My friends represent a different aspect of friendship." Fluttershy tried to explain. "Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic."

The mare looked down thoughtfully, "I must have been gone longer than I thought...I have never heard of these things..." Moonflower said quietly.

"Princess Celesia and Princess Luna found them a thousand years ago." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Was this before...or after Mo- I mean Princess Luna was banished to the moon for becoming Nightmare Moon?" Moonflower inquired as she gazed back at the mare.

"Before. They defeated King Sombra and Discord with them." Fluttershy sighed, "But then, Princess Celestia had to use them on Princess Luna after she vowed to shroud the land in eternal night..."

"So how did she become Princess Luna again?" Moonflower asked quietly.

"Me and my friends purged the darkness from her. We helped her with the power of friendship." Fluttershy smiled. She pulled out white gauze, and began bandaging the alicorn's new stitches carefully.

"Hm..." Moonflower closed her eyes in thought, "How curious...It seems I am not fit to see her at the moment, so I will remain here, and you can show me your friends...I must admit now, I have not been around other very much, and my social etiquette is very...poor." She gave a sheepish smile at the mare.

"It is not a problem at all. You just rest here. Twilight will be here soon. She is an alicorn as well, and she is a princess too!" Fluttershy beamed proudly.

"Really?" Moonflower raised a brow, "I supposed she ascended..."

"Yes she did. We were all so proud of her! And she is doing so well in her new role!" Fluttershy gushed, oblivious to the brooding expression on the dark alicorn.

"Yes well...I will certainly be on my best behavior when I speak to her." Moonflower smiled, "But I will think I will rest now...I am tired...My shoulder hurts something fierce, and I wish to be left alone please..."

"Why yes of course. You take all the time you need. I will wake you when Twilight arrives." Fluttershy smiled kindly at the mare before tucking her wings in, checking the bandages, and walking away quietly.

Moonflower laid her head on her hooves, her eyes closing quickly as the dawn broke over the cottage. She didn't have to see the sun to know it was rising by the One and Only Princess Celestia. A soft smile played at her lips, and she sighed as sleep quickly claimed her after a long, hard, and grueling night.

But one thought niggled at the back of her mind: was she ready to make amends with the one who had hurt her so?