A gorgeous full moon gently bathed the ancient courtyard in her silvery light. Strong columns of marble lay fallen like soldiers who had fought against time herself and lost allowing the forest to reclaim what once had been hers. Gravel pathways of weathered pebbles wound through the overgrown lawn and between and underneath the fallen columns. The only sound to be heard in this ancient place was the cautious crunch of gravel under hoof.
The owner of said hooves paused and pulled a few vines free from the column they had enshrined in their botanical grip. Her initials were engraved upon the stone beside her sisters. A warm yet sad smile curled her lips as she traced the letters. So many memories in this garden. All of them tainted though, tainted by her fall to Nightmare Moon’s influence.
She pulled away from the column and worked deeper into the courtyard. Her mind wandered aimlessly through time. She remembered times when she had been happy. When she had stood bravely beside her sister to face down some ancient evil with the elements. Harmony, the force that tied all together, that had saved her from the dark influence of her hatred. Luna turned back and looked at the old tower she had faced Twilight and her friends in.
She tilted her head back and let the moon’s glow wash over her. A comforting feeling for her troubled mind. It eased her heart and calmed the torrent of memories that rolled across her turbulent mind. Luna opened her wings and with a powerful flap lifted herself into the air, closer to the moon that had once held her prisoner.
Scanning across the courtyard from above she could plainly see the scars from the battle with her sister, though the forest had done great work in covering them as it reclaimed the castle. Her eyes caught sight of something different on the far end of the clearing and she turned herself towards it and entered a gentle glide.
As her hooves crunched on the gravel she was met with an unpleasant sensation under her left fore hoof. Lifting it Luna took a tentative whiff and recoiled with a scrunched nose. The stench of copper made her stomach turn as it made the recent battle swim to the surface of her mind. Quickly she wiped her hoof clean upon a nearby columns vine and looked down at the path. A small trail of blood led up to the thing she had seen before.
As she stepped up to it she studied its physique. With a torso much like a young minotaur it had hands and a strong chest with a head covered in a mop hair but it lacked horns. The legs were covered with a pair denim pants and ended in a strange pair of shoes. One hand lay across it’s stomach where blood leaked slowly from an open wound.
Luna closed her eyes and summoned up a healing spell and opened her eyes as she cast it over the dying being. The blood slowed but did not stop. Her lips fell downward as she realized there was no saving the poor thing. With a sigh she lifted her gaze from the wound and was startled as her gaze met his vibrant green eyes.
A gentle smile curled his lips and he spoke. His voice had a strange lyrical quality to it that was further expanded by his foreign tongue. Luna did not need to know his language to know he had thanked her. Gently the strange creature patted the ground beside him, prompting Luna to gently lay down beside him.
Silence fell between them. The silence was not one of born of nothing to be said but rather that nothing need be said. Luna could feel that her companion was just thankful for the company in his final moments and in turn Luna felt oddly comfortable beside him. Finally the silence ended as he spoke again.
Luna furrowed her brow and licked her lips before carefully mimicking the sound. “Shawn?” The creature nodded and Luna was enraptured. So much kindness, so much warmth. How could a dying creature offer such kindness and warmth to a stranger? “I am Princess Luna.”
Shawn pursed his lips in thought as he rolled the sounds over in his head before trying to repeat it. “Princess Luna, am I.”
Luna nodded. “Close enough.” That smile again. When was the last time Luna had seen such a smile directed at her? A gentle weight fell over her back and she looked back to see that Shawn had placed a hand on her withers. Gently he began to stroke her comfortingly.
Without warning his mouth opened and he began to sing. Luna had no doubt it was a song that she heard. His strangely lyrical tones were even more lyrical and he had his closed his eyes and the emotion that each sound carried now was a thousand times greater. Whatever this man sang of she did not know but she could feel sorrow and joy dancing together in his words. Luna could feel that he sang of something he loved and missed, would miss.
As the song came to an end Luna picked it up and sang a few stanzas before she felt Shawn’s hand slide from her back. She looked back at him and used a wing to gently lay him down on the ground as she stood. He was at peace now.
An old spell from when she had been proper ruler came unbidden to mind. Her magic gently enveloped Shawn and he began to glow with a silver light. Luna’s horn tilted to the sky and a beam of pale light arced into the sky. A new light blinked into life in the sky above and the glow below her slowly faded. Finally the light faded completely and the star above glowed vibrantly for all to see.
Luna smiled up at the sky and turned her gaze to Canterlot before opening her wings and taking flight, leaving the empty courtyard behind. Above her the new star twinkled alone and then another star joined it, then another. As Luna flew across the sky the stars came to life behind her as though she was pulling back a curtain to reveal them.
Finally the sky glittered with an uncountable number of stars and Luna paused. She remembered each and every one the stars above, each one a child she had sired to commemorate some great moment in history, a great deed or simply a pony who had left a mark upon her life that could never be forgotten.
The newest star twinkled among them and she smiled when she gazed upon it. Who had he been, what had he done. A name, that was what it needed. She knew what it would be, he had told her, but she decided to instead leave it unnamed. Ponies would gaze up and wonder about the legend of that star. Some, like Twilight, who were more studious would see it and be wonder what it meant.
That star, it would forever be a mystery and she alone would know the answer.
