A fire crackled in a small fire place. Above it, hung a family portrait.
The father, Rosebud, was a pegasus with a smile that shined brighter than his dark black coat, with a short dark green mane. He had red eyes that were more friendly than the usual, cliche evil red eyes usually seem, and had a Gardening Talent Glyph.
The mother, Midnight Skies, was a tan coated unicorn with a long, messy yet beautiful smooth sapphire mane with bright yellow eyes, and she had a Star Gazing Glyph.
And lastly was one little coal coloured pegasus colt with a dark berry blue mane. He didn't yet have his glyph, but he had his mother's eyes.
Under the family portrait, and atop of the fireplace, was a shelf where a beautiful, well crafted shrine statue of Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon, stood in honor of their beloved Mother of the Night. Near the fire was the little colt, playing with a dark red wooden train, rolling it's wheels upon the floor while silently making 'choo-choo' noises to himself.
"Midnight Ash, it's late," said the caring mother of little Midnight Ash. "Put up your little train and get your pajamas on."
"Ahhh, but I'm not tired!" the little colt argued, his left hoof still on his train.
"You will be eventually once when you head to bed; everypony is at this time of night." Midnight Skies argued back.
Midnight Ash sat on his haunches and folded his front hooves. "But I don't wanna go to bed yet!" Then in the background, laughter could be heard, and it was a jolly one that Midnight Ash, even on his deathbed a hundred years later, could never forget.
"Luna's Night, when are you not tired, Ash?" asked his father, Rosebud, as he approached.
"Never!" Midnight Ash blurted with a goofy, childish smile.
"Honey, you know the solution here?" asked Rosebud, but not as a question to ask for assistance, but his tone slightly more like he was making sure she knew, as if it was a test.
"Well, um... let me think..." Midnight Skies took a moment to ponder. "Hold on... I... know, it's... um..."
"A bedtime story, hon. You always told our child a bedtime story..." he looked down with a saddened look "She always did..." Before he started to sniffle, Midnight Skies took no delay to approach Rosebud as her horn glowed. But not with her usual yellow aura, but instead it was green, with Rosebud's eyes glowed green as well. Soon, the memories of the recent death of the original Midnight Skies was pushed back into the back of his mind, where he had begged the changeling that stood before him to keep it, so he won't have to fall into a pit of tears again.
"I remember now." she lied, for she was asked to so Rosebud won't be reminded as easily. The smile on his face gave the feeling of love that Midnight felt was like a refreshing glass a water, the payment that was provided to keep the deal solid. "Here, let's sit closer to the fire; it's time to tell a bedtime story."
"Yay!" Midnight Ash cheered, his young mind not strong enough to remind him of the painful truth, as his father's was, the colt's mind kept oblivious as well. Midnight Skies sat down on her hooves, and gestured for her husband to do the same next to her, of which he gladly did.
As she spoke, she could feel her foal look up to her with admiration and love, and her husband's warmth and gratefulness of her presence, which not only feed her well, but she had also, thinking as a pony, felt grateful that she got to have a family, her favorite assignment that the Republic gave her, which would last until death do them part. The mare she was cloaked as would have took a long look at the beautiful stars that were laid outside of the window, billions upon billions of light years away, with the mystery of how many of them already died a long time ago and how many remained, and so Midnight Skies decided to do the same. At first, it was for the sake of being in character, but when she did, she couldn't help but be impressed with Luna's beautiful Night, and the Moon was a sad yet beautiful sight, where Luna's soul still rests.
"Once upon a time," she began, her memory fresh of one of the many bedtime stories she was drilled in when she was trained in the art of storytelling, one of the many requirements needed as a Republic changeling. For her first bedtime story as Midnight Skies, she decided to go with what she was told was Midnight Ash's favorite, and the glee on her child's face as he recognized it proved it so. "Two thousand years ago, there was a Equestria; a united land before the Lunar Republic and the Solar Kingdom, a land where both Celestia and Luna were adored, but one more than the other. As united as it was, it was still uneven. For years, Princess Celestia was always above her innocent Sister, never had Luna done anything to deserve to be kept under Her older sister's shadow. Barely did any pony ever remember Princess Luna, for most foals were often fooled that it was Celestia that kept Equestria at peace. But if it weren't for Her, Celestia would have never defeated Discord on her own, and Celestia had taken for granted the rest she had while her Sister raised the Moon for her.
"They were a team, yet Celestia and all the ponies made Luna feel more like a sidekick than Her sister's equal. No pony ever deserves to be forgotten--"
"Except for Celestia, right?" asked Midnight Ash.
"Well, as self centered as she was, Celestia had helped Luna as well, but Luna did do more of the assisting. As strong and brave Luna was, there might be a chance that Luna might of not been able to fight off the evil herself. She was loyal to Her sister, and even more so than Celestia was to Her. Whenever a problem troubled Celestia, Luna was always there, by her side, and nursed every wound Celestia ever had. However, one day, when Luna was the one hurt, Celestia did not bother to be observant enough to notice. That problem was Luna's loneliness, Her feeling of rejection of Her subjects that made Her think that Her presence was never needed--"
"But Luna helped Celestia all the time, Celestia is nothing without her!" Midnight Ash interrupted again.
"Please stay silent, my child. And yes, Luna did indeed help Celestia, Celestia probably never would have ran old Equestria properly without her Sister's help, but it was far too easy for a pony to take their Sister for granted when rained with the glory and praise of ponies, of which she only half deserved. And so, she didn't bother to take as much of a close look at Her, as Luna would have done for Celestia, for her to notice her sorrows. Every Night, Luna cried Herself to sleep, wondering why no pony ever loved Her. She was never tended to, never mentally and emotionally nursed, so her sorrow eventually turned into the dark path of anger and envy. One day, She knew that She must extend the Night, so everypony would be able to be graced with more of Her beautiful Night, so everypony would see that the Night can be just as beautiful as the day. But Her darkened and saddened emotions made her make it look worse than it actually was, and decided that if everypony couldn't love Her, then they must fear Her instead.
"And so She increased Her age and power with advanced magic, and wore the armor of a warrior. And soon, Nightmare Moon killed Luna and took Her place. Celestia could have approached her, calmed her, told her that bringing fear into their subjects wasn't the right way, for while Celestia lacked the loyalty her Sister did, she was at least wise. But she could never try hard enough, for she could never truly understand her Sister’s sorrow; so instead, she fought her confused and rejected sister in a heated battle. And sadly, Celestia won."
"And then what happened?" Midnight Ash asked. Midnight Skies could not only clearly see, but could also feel how intrigued her little colt was, and could feel love from it because he didn’t enjoy the story itself, but what he enjoyed more was hearing it from his beloved mother.
And so she smiled, glad that he asked, and so she said, "When she did, she had banished her Sister to Her own Moon, and placed Her deeper within the shadows, only seeing her Sister as a burden that would ruin her glorified image, and so She rested for a thousand years since, the memory of Her beauty soon forgotten by the sun lovers."
"But we remember her and love her now!" Midnight Ash added.
"Yes, to this day we worship Her and treat Her the ways the ponies of the past didn't, as she once again rests in Her Moon, only this time to save us from the Nightmare that created the Everstorm." Midnight Skies agreed. "Let's get to bed, now."
"But I'm not tirrrrred!" Midnight Ash whined with a long yawn as he attempted to say 'tired'; it was an adorable sight to see that made Rosebud, and especially Midnight Skies, can't help but smile at.
"Oh, yes you are, sport!" said Rosebud with another laugh. "Come on, buddy, let’s hit the hay!" he said as he picked up his exhausted son.
"I don't wanna go...!" Midnight Ash whined as he lazily laid on his father's back with his hooves spread. Despite the fussy colt's objections, Rosebud continued to carry the foal to his room; where his shelves were full of wooden toys and colorful bouncy balls, and where the colt would be dropped in his little race car bed. Even know Midnight Ash claimed to still have energy, he curled up and fell deep asleep on his dark blue covers.
Rosebud took a moment to get the covers over the sleeping colt before he moved back to his room, where Midnight Skies waited.
Midnight Skies was surprised to see her lover look with regret, and she could tell that he had something to say. "This doesn't feel right..." he said to her. "Midnight Skies is... is--"
"Don't say it," she interrupted him, "Come here." she ordered with a suggestive look. Rosebud took a deep breath before he approached her, his face fully unsure.
"Would she have wanted this?"
"Who's 'she'? I'm Midnight Skies."
And then her horn glowed green again.
It was a bright, sunny Day in the Sun Lands, where a family of five unicorns had set up a picnic in a small park. They were of High Class, with a vacation home in Precious Corners; a small, peaceful, and friendly town that they would have settled in if it weren't for the non-unicorn peasants. A Lord Abyssal, the father of the bunch, with a light yellow coat, shining blue eyes, and a brighter blond well kept short mane, wore a gold-coloured long jacket with a bright shirt with a purple ascot, and had a Geology Glyph, helped a Lady Scrolls, the mother, who had a light brown coat with a sea blue mane kept in a bon, and had grey, dull eyes, who wore a beautifully made white with red striped dress that hid her History Glyph, to set up a small, modest little picnic table. This was more of a lower class thing, something a pegasus or an earthpony family would do, so they only did it once a year and kept it secret from their peers to keep their image. Besides, what better way to show love for Her beautiful Sun then to take a moment to enjoy It's warmth?
Their youngest children; two twin fillies, a Lady Lily and a Lady Dandy. Lady Lily was white coated with a light blue mane, and Dandy brown coated with a tan mane, both with Flower Glyphs and wore simple white tunics, were dashing about outside with the peasants. As disgusting as it may seem for other unicorns, Lord Abyssal and Lady Scrolls couldn't help but like to see the joy in their little fillies eyes as they played simple little peasant games. And out of the five of them, Lady Novel, the eldest of their daughters, almost old enough to move out and marry, had a light orange coat with a dark black mane, with her father's sapphire eyes, appeared to be enjoying Her beautiful Sun the most. Her Glyph was Writing, which she chose not to hide by wearing a simple blue, white, and red saddle, instead of a dress that would have to cover her flank, much to many a stallion's delight. She did what her Talent said as she sat on the grass, sunbathing as she wrote on paper with a pen that levitated in her blue magic aura.
It was a romantic story of a bratty unicorn, as offensive as it was to her parents as it was, that falls in love with an earthpony who did not care for her dramatic ways. ‘Frankly, my dear', she wrote in her paper as the earthpony in her novel spoke, 'I don't give a--' "My little pony!" called Lady Scrolls, "It's time for our luncheon."
"Coming, mother." replied Lady Novel before she quickly wrote out the last word and quotation mark to settle and grant herself a brake. Lord Abyssal took a moment to call over the twins as well, and soon they all gathered. When slightly pretending not to be civilized and well mannered, and sort of only be a simple, low class non-unicorn like pony, one couldn't help but enjoy the simplest of things. Of course, just because one would have to bring their glorious presence to the lower beings below, doesn't mean they would have to be fully subtle so their graceful riches won't burn their simple eyes. They had brought their fine clothes, but not their finest, and they had brought their steaming tea, cold wine, and a few small pieces of bread and lettuce. Subtle, but only subtle to a unicorn. "Let us pray," said Lord Scroll, and the whole family bowed their heads. "Dearest Celestia, we thank You for our chance to enjoy a Day in Your warm Sun, as we all get to play and sunbathe under Your warmth and grace.
"Celestia, we thank You for the food You had helped us bring, and may we remember Your glorious Name as we shall feast upon our heavenly banquet. We thank You, Celestia; Amen," Lady Scroll finished. "Now let us eat!" and that they did, but not in a fast paced. They eat very little, kept their faces clean at all times, and left not a single crumb. As they eat, they all got to chat about their plans, things that happened, Lord Abyssal's chance to be noticed by the Throne at last, Lady Novel's latest work that her parents still did not fully approve of, but had no good reason to forbid it, et-cetera. Once when they finished, Lady Scroll gathered her children on a chosen spot in the grass. "Now, just because we on vacation," she started as she summoned a book with her subtle grey magic, "Doesn't mean we must fully excuse your education."
"No fair! We never had school on our vacations!" Lady Dandy complained with her hooves raised in a frustrated gesture.
"Yes, that is true," Lady Scroll agreed, "But I can not excuse it any more. We must have at least one lecture during our entire week off." the twins groaned while Lady Novel simply rolled her eyes. "Now, let us begin. Two thousand years ago, there reigned Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, before their souls were sacrificed to the Sun and moon. Many a time, Princess Celestia had saved old Equestria, the land before the Everstorm divided it, with the help of Her younger sister, Princess Luna. They were both loved, one more than the other due to Princess Celestia being more active by making more laws and attended more meetings, while Princess Luna rested during the Day before she started the night, and occasionally helped Princess Celestia with her needs. Princess Luna may hadn't been as well known as Princess Celestia, who was loved by thousands, but only because of her lack of activity, but she was still loved by hundreds of ponies. But, those hundreds of admirers wasn't enough for Princess Luna; she wanted more.
"Thus was when she decided to betray the throne and her Sister, and had attempted to destroy the Day by bringing eternal night. Princess Luna was selfish to bring in nothing but cold and risk of the plants the earthponies worked hard on die from lack of Sunlight. And thus, once when she brought forth the lunar eclipse, she declared herself to be Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia, of course, didn't tolerate it. Not only because Her Sun was shunned, but also because of the danger she brought forth upon Her subjects. And so, reluctantly, She was forced to fight Her sister, and soon won the battle. Nightmare Moon refused to surrender, and accepted that she was already loved enough, and so Princess Celestia was forced to banish her to the moon for a thousand years before she learned her lesson."
"We already learned this!" Whined Lady Lily.
"Yes, but it is a lesson that we must never forget." Lady Scroll explained.
"Yes, we know," Lady Novel replied, "Do not let envy get the better of us, instead appreciate what attention and love we already posses. You've told us this a thousand times."
"And a thousand more I must, if that's what it takes to keep such a mistake from happening once again." Lady Scroll replied. "Now, let us go forth and play some more peasant games."
*All My Best,*
Doug_
