“Luna?” Stardust’s voice brought Luna back to reality. “Are you okay?”

Luna was not sure how to answer. Since Twilight had spoken to her earlier, she had been almost completely silent. What option was she to chose, to let Equestria be put in danger for her sister’s safety or put Stardust in danger for the rest of Equestria. Either way she answered would be selfish, but which was the most selfish was what she had to find out.

“Stardust,” Luna said, addressing her sister “If you had to choose between putting your family in danger, or letting the thing that has kept you safe for so many years get destroyed, which would you choose?”

“That’s what Twilight was talking to you about?” Luna nodded in response “Well I guess you would have to go with what is more dear to you. Sure your safety would be put in danger but at least-,” Stardust stopped when she realized what Luna was truly asking her. “Oh, that’s what she asked.”

Luna’s guilt was growing heavier and heavier. The choice seemed so simple, but every time she wanted to go with one option the consequences of it would come into her mind. If she put Stardust in danger, Equestria may be safe but that very decision 1000 years ago drove her to become Nightmare Moon. If she went with the other then she would still have Stardust but the Everfree forest would prove to be more of a threat than before. Both options scared her, but to now but it on the very pony that this would effect the most, she felt sorry for her.

“Well, I don’t remember much about how ruling because of the time I spent sleeping,” Stardust acknowledged “But just because we lose the tree of harmony doesn’t mean we lose Equestria as well… right? If that’s the case, and I have my memories back by that time, then can’t I help Equestria readjust to that time? Also, that time is probably far in the future. Why worry about something that won’t happen for some time still.”

Luna didn’t respond, but she didn’t have to in order for Stardust to see the small smile go across her face. At this time, the amnesiac little sister she hadn’t seen in more than a millennium was acting more grown up than her. Than again, sometimes adults acted more like kids than kids themselves. That wasn’t unusual for Stardust, Luna remembered. It seemed like she had started to gain more back then she imagined. The Stardust Luna had met last night was quieter and kept to herself more, but this Stardust seemed to know the situation and seemed to understand things better than before. Heck, she didn’t even understand what the word formal meant beforehand.

“You’re right,” Luna replied finally, “It’s better to not worry about the tree right now and focus on getting your memory back. Besides, I don’t think things can get weirder than it already has.”

“Yep,” Stardust happily agreed “Nothing can be stranger than what has already happened. I mean, how could have thought I was the sister of a princess?”

There are sometimes when you know what is going to happen, and then there are the times when you’re stupid enough to believe that something won’t happen. This is one of the later, and Luna couldn’t believe she was so foolish to think that this would go unnoticed. Luna and Stardust just stood there at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, staring at the many balloons hanging on the arch in front of them.

Stardust, not realizing what was going on, stepped forward to see what was going on. Before she even had time to think, she was grabbed by something and hulled into the farm. She could see ponies everywhere, completely shocking her from the calm manner that she saw earlier. It seemed as if someone was having some sort of party, but who?

“Surprise,” A pink earth pony jumped in front of Stardust, causing her to kick once again. However, this time she missed and the pony appeared in front of her acting as if nothing ever happened “Nice to meet you. My names Pinkie Pie, you must be that new pony from earlier right?” Not knowing how to respond, Stardust simply nodded. “Sorry that I never told you about this, but surprise parties are much more fun than regular parties don’t you agree?”

“Pinkie,” Stardust looked over to see Applejack approach them. “Don’t bother Stardust here, she’s Luna’s daughter and it wouldn’t be nice to put something so new-”

“Sister actually,” Stardust interrupted, getting a strange look from Applejack.

“Did you hit your head against a something?” Applejack asked, not believing Stardust for a second.

Stardust wanted to hit herself after that one. No way any of the ponies here would believe her if she told them what happened. The only ponies who saw the events at the castle were Luna, Twilight, Starlight, and her. No way these ponies knew what she was talking about and probably saw it as a joke.

“It’s true,” Pinkie and Applejack turned around to see Luna listening behind them. “I’ll explain it to you later, but I can assure you that what Stardust here is saying is actually quite true. Not even I knew until a few hours ago.”

Applejack just stared, not exactly sure how to respond to this. Stardust giggled a little at Applejack's complete loss of words. Pinkie, however, was not so shocked.

“I knew it,” Pinkie addressed “You two do seem like sisters.”

Looking around, Stardust had to ask “Is this party for me?”

“Sure is,” Applejack said “Whenever there's a new pony that Pinkie here doesn’t know she throws a party for them. Why don’t you hang out, it will be good for you to get to know the ponies in town if you’re going to be here.”

Stardust agreed, it would be better to make some friends so she can fit in a little more. Besides, wasn’t it a princesses job to know what the citizens want? It would help to know what ponies wanted. Also, making friends would help in the future when she needs help with some other things.

Stardust excused herself from the conversation and looked around. It wasn’t long before her eyes locked on to someone from earlier. There, sitting alone was that yellow pegasus from earlier. If Stardust remembered correctly, her name was Dandelion, which was kind of a sad name when you stop to think about it. Being named after a weed, it made her wonder if Dandelion was bullied a bunch because of it. Either way, Stardust walked over to her.

“Excuse me,” Dandelion looked up, showing her lime green eyes as Stardust greeted her. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“No, not at all,” The pegasus replied. Stardust took a seat as she introduced herself. “Sorry I never introduced myself earlier, I was on a rush to get somewhere. The names Dandelion.”

“Stardust,” The two pegasus introduced themselves, shaking hooves.

“So,” Dandelion said, starting up the conversation. “I’m guessing you’re new here in town?”

“Sort of,” Stardust tried her best to explain to Dandelion exactly what had happened the past few days. When she mentioned that her sister is Luna, the smile that had been on Dandelion’s face shrunk as if she had said something wrong. “Is everything okay?”

Realizing what she was doing Dandelion shook her head and put on a smile. “Sorry, drifted off a little bit.”

Stardust new that wasn’t what happened, she could see clearly that Dandelion was listening to the entire thing. Not only that, but even if those memories of hers were all just dreams, she could tell a real smile from a fake one. It was forced because she didn’t want Stardust to see that. Once again that feeling of curiosity came across Stardust. Dandelion was definitely an interest pony.

“Did you sleep well?” Dandelion caught Stardust off guard with the question. “I could never imagine what it would be like sleeping for so long, forgetting who you are and everything you ever knew.”

Stardust had to think about this for a minute “It was okay… I guess,” She finally replied, the newer Stardust showing more when she thought about it. “My dreams were normal really. Had a family, friends, and everything else you expect somepony to have,” She held back a tear as she remembered something from it. “Sometimes I wish those dreams were true. In fact, it seemed like it was, because in the end I lost something dear to me.”

“Your family,” Dandelion said, “I’m sorry it had to end up that way, but look at where you are now. Your as awake as can be, and you managed to find your family again. Your lucky.”

“I guess I am,” Stardust agreed, “Thank you for this Dandelion, I need it,”

“No problem,” Dandelion gave her a sympathetic smile before getting up. “You’ll be going to school here right?” Stardust nodded “I’m starting this year as well, maybe we'll see each other then?”

“Sure.”

“Alright then,” Dandelion turned to leave, but turned around to say a little more “Thank you, for being the first pony I feel like I can trust here. It means a lot to me,” And with that, she left.

Not much really happened after Dandelion left. Stardust kept to herself most of the time and tried to stay out of Pinkies sight (which she found hard to do). When the time came, Applejack called Stardust and Apple Bloom in for bed. The party had ended a few minutes before and Luna, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie cleaned it up while Stardust and Applebloom got ready for bed.

When it was done, Luna came in to say goodnight to Stardust, but saw that she was already asleep in bed. For a pony who had slept for over 1000 years, she was amazed at just how fast her sister fell to sleep. Luna decided it was best to just give her a kiss before walking out of the room and bumping into Applejack.

“I want to thank you for letting my sister sleep here tonight,” Luna said, “I have a lot of things I need to do, and now that I know who Stardust really is, it’s going to be a bit tougher than I thought to teach her.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Applejack replied “We’re friends, and if we're going to get your sisters memories back, then you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

The word memories seemed to hurt Luna a little bit. She wanted Stardust to know who she once was, sure, but what about events she never saw happen. Tirek, Discord, even newer events like the wedding between Shining Armor and Cadance, were they things Stardust should learn about? However, there was one event she never wanted Stardust to hear. It was something that she caused, and Luna would rather have forgotten.

“Applejack,” Luna looked at her with a worried face. “Promise me that no matter what, you’ll never tell my sister about-”

“Do you think I would do something like that?” Applejack asked, already knowing what Luna was going to say. “I know that it would devastate her if she new about Nightmare Moon. I have a sister, and there are certain things even I keep from her for her own safety. Just because I’m the element of honesty doesn’t mean I’ll blurt out every secret I’ve been told to keep. There are times when honesty is right but there are also times when it is wrong, learning that is just one of the many things I’ve had to learn over the past few years.”

“I know,” Luna said, “It’s just… I don’t know who to trust. I never thought she would lose her memories during all that time,” She paused, remembering something Stardust had said to her “The night I meet her, she told me her parents abandoned her, but it wasn’t her parents. The ones who abandoned her all those years ago was me and Celestia. So much might have been avoidable if we took a different path, if we did something differently, and I don’t her to feel responsible for what happened. She was the only one I was close to back then, and I don’t want her to feel bad about a dumb decision her sisters made for her,”

Applejack looked away, seeing the way Luna felt about Stardust. “She wasn’t the only one close to you back then,” Luna looked at Applejack, confused. “Twilight has told me how much Celestia regretted sending you to the moon. “So much might have been avoidable if we took a different path” that sounds like Celestia when I talked with her about you.”

Luna was shocked, she had never heard this before. Over the past three years many things have happened in the elements of harmony. Applejack and Celestia had become really close friends, Starlight happen to become Twilight’s pupil (of course we all knew that already), and Rainbow Dash has taken over for Spitfire as the leader of the Wonderbolts after she retired due to an injury to her wing two years ago. Of course, no pony could argue that the biggest change was that Fluttershy has apparently been dating Discord for at least five months. The fact that Celestia hadn’t told her about something so simple as this conversation she had with Applejack was a surprise.

“I never knew she felt that bad about it,” Luna said “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“The same reason you don’t want me to tell Stardust about Nightmare Moon,” Applejack explain. “Because I promised I wouldn’t tell you about it because she thought it would make you feel responsible for something you had no control over. The only reason I’m telling you this now is because I wanted you to know how Celestia feels about you and that somepony did care about you back then.”

After a little time, Luna responded, “Thank you, Applejack.”

“No problem,” Applejack said, “Just don’t tell Celestia about this, okay?”

Luna nodded her head in response, understanding that it wasn’t something Celestia wanted her to know in the first place. See how dark is was getting, Luna started toward the door, wanting to get home in time to start her night duty.

“I have to go,” Luna said, turning around. “Just make one more promise to me, don’t do anything to wipe that smile off of Stardust’s face. I never want to see her as sad as she was the night we reunited.”

“Don’t worry,” Appejack said, making a X across her body “I’ll make sure she is as happy as can be.”

Author's Note

I feel like I could have ended this better, but this is what had to go with in the end. Other then that, I really don't have much I can say other then MY GOD THE SHIP IS REAL. Sorry... just like, comment, and follow if you like this, I'm gonna go think about what I just did. (Not that I have any regrets, I just never thought I would put shipping into this fanfic)