A Night's Flight
Princess Luna stood alone on the high tower of her and Celestia’s palace in Canterlot, watching into the night. Celestia had retired hours ago after she had set the sun, and Luna had raised the moon.
Luna draped her head over the balcony’s railing. She looked down despondently and sighed to herself. Part of her did not think it was fair. In the dark days leading up to her fall into darkness, Luna felt that Snowdrop was the only pony who truly appreciated her nights. She was her only friend; a friend that left this world a thousand years before she could be freed from that darkness. And now that very last bit of her friend was gone. She couldn’t help going back to the last time she ever saw Snowdrop. It was not a pleasant memory. The last time she saw Snowdrop accompanied her final descent into darkness, the moment she became Nightmare Moon.
Luna watched as the fireflies danced in the fields at night, and the bats soaring through; they were the only ones who decided to stay around for her nights. Everypony else was at home, asleep.
Well, all except one.
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Bunny couldn’t sleep that night, she just couldn’t. She tossed and turned all about in her little bed. She tried to relax and think about happy things. She even tried to play a lullaby in her mind. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sleep a wink. She even tried drinking warm milk, but no effect. She did consider trying to drug herself, but then she remembered her species was immune to it. Finally, convinced she’s probably not in the mood to sleep today, she got out of her bed.
“Maybe I need a little evening flight, it’s full moon anyway” she said to herself.
She headed towards the window, all she saw was that everypony else was asleep. She turned her head around to see Fluttershy, all snug and sleeping as well. She at first thought of morphing into a bat, but then she knew nopony would notice since they were all in Dreamland. Finally, she opened the window, stepped outside, and closed it behind her. Floating in mid-air, she began her flight in the night sky.
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Luna still was mentally grieving about one thing that continuously popped in her head,
I never got to say goodbye, she thought.
It was painful about the fact that she will live with such sorrow for an eternity. She of course knew about the last few members of Snowdrop’s bloodline, among them were Fluttershy and Dinky Hooves. Despite their connection to Snowdrop as her successors, the princess was still upset about her loss. What she would give to have atleast one pony stay up through atleast one night to watch her night. She knew her snowpony friend was the only one who did, even if she was blind.
Luna’s thoughts were interrupted when she felt something was watching her. She looked up to see what looked like a streak of orange. But when she looked harder, she recognized the figure anywhere.
“Bunny?”
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Bunny flew across the night sky, she was very happy to fly around freely. She even considered this to be the only time in which she may move about without having to disguise herself. She had no trouble with navigation because she had Night Vision. She enjoyed the sights of night. She even took a moment to thank the Lord for this beauty. She soared and played alongside the bats, and watched the fireflies as they danced. She sometimes wondered if one day, maybe some ponies would stay up for one night to watch the sights.
She did know of one pony that did so, she remembered her quite perfectly. Even though it had been a thousand years, she met the filly when her uncle showed her around to where the souls of the dead are. She even got to ask about their lives, and even the causes of their deaths. When she asked the filly, she discovered about the fact that she was blind, and well-known for the fact that she made the first snowflake. The cause of her death was old age, and that she wished that she got to say goodbye to somepony who meant the most to her. Bunny felt sorry for her, and promised if she got a chance to meet this friend, she would let them meet again.
Bunny’s thoughts were interrupted when she felt somepony upset and grieving. She looked to the source, and saw it. It was Princess Luna, who was watching in a blank stare. Bunny could sense her sadness from a mile away. She began to close in on Luna, that was when the princess called out her name.
“Bunny?”
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Bunny timidly approached Luna. She still remembered from the time they met, it was a good one.
“Good Evening, Princess Luna” she greeted.
“Good Evening, Bunny. What are you doing out this late?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take an evening flight”
“You took an evening flight?”
Bunny nodded. “It was pretty beautiful; God gave you a special obligation”
“You really think my night is special?”
“Indeed”
Luna smiled. “Thank you”
“Luna?”
“Yes, Bunny?”
“Why were you so sad?”
Luna sighed. “It’s nothing. It’s just; I miss somepony, that’s all”
“Really? What were they like?”
“Nothing much, they were blind, sweet, kind, determined, young…” Luna paused before she finished her sentence. “…and the only one who truly knew my night”
Bunny knew about those clues, but she had to be 100% sure. “What was their name?”
Luna looked down. “Snowdrop”
The alien’s doubts were confirmed. She saw how upset Luna was about her loss, so she had to cheer her up. “Do you wish to see her?”
The princess nodded. “Very much, even if it was just to say goodbye”
“I can help”
Luna was intrigued. “How?”
Bunny held out one of her paws. “Take my paw”
Luna was unsure at first. She looked at Bunny. She looked at her paw; it may give her the chance to see her dead friend again. She took the alien’s paw. And then, there was a blinding light.
When Luna opened her eyes, she saw that they were no longer on the balcony. Saw what looked like the night sky, but then she realized she was now on a hill. When she looked down, she saw there was a village. How did they get here?
“Well, no need to worry about your night watch tonight. I got Super Cat to morph into you and take over your shift while we’re here” a voice said. It was unmistakably Bunny.
Luna turned her head around to see her. Bunny was now wearing something out of Halloween. She wore a black dress and there was a black spider ribbon on her ear.
“What? Oh, this? Like it? Uncle Jack gave me this to wear whenever I come here”
“Uncle Jack?”
“Yes, my uncle Skeleton Jack. He ran this place alongside my aunt-in-law Sally and my cousins. My family could visit anytime, but for some strange reason, when we enter, we always find ourselves wearing the suits or dresses, even though we don’t remember changing!”
“Oh, so, how will we find Snowdrop?”
“We pay a visit to my uncle, and he’ll show us where Snowdrop is. Follow me; I know the way to his house and office”
Luna followed Bunny; she didn’t know anything about the city, or village. The alien seemed to get along pretty well. Bunny and Luna had to enter by the front gate, where there was a guard.
“Halt! Who goes there?” the guard demanded. He looked to be a skeleton-zombie mix because his ribcage was showing but his skin was still intact. He was wearing a half-knight suit colored in black, and he had a scythe in his hand. His cutie mark, visible by the stomach, was a skull with a cross in its center. This meant “Faith without End”
“Hello, Scraps. It’s me, Bunny Katsuma. I brought a princess here who would like to pay a temporary visit to one of the souls” Bunny greeted.
“Oh! Bunny Katsuma! I’m so sorry; I tend to forget to recognize you. My sincere apologies. Go ahead, and your friend is welcome” he apologized, opening gates for Bunny and Luna.
Bunny thanked Scraps before leading Luna into the village, Otherland or Halloween Town. Luna bumped into different, bizarre citizens in the area. Some resembled animals, others were anything from Halloween. She at first, found them quite weird. But then she realized this was part of Bunny’s home world, so anything was possible.
“Welcome to my Uncle’s humble abode” Bunny lifted a paw to a mansion infront of them. It looked to be made of wood, but still had the marks of designs of funerals. Bunny walked forward to the door, Luna followed. The alien knocked 4 times, and another creature poked its head out.
The creature looked to be a woman, her skin pale, with stitches on her tendons. Her hair was red, her eyes were brown. She wore a white dress that had her cutie mark: A bleeding heart with two bones forming a cross, it meant “Beautiful, but Faithful”
“Bunny, dear! Long time, no see!” the lady said, spreading her arms wide, as though for a hug.
The alien rabbit jumped and hugged the lady. “Aunt Sally, oh, how I’ve missed you!”
Sally then paid attention to the Alicorn guest. “Oh, who’s this little soul?”
“Aunt Sally, meet my friend Princess Luna. Luna, meet my aunt-in-law Sally”
“Pleased to meet you” Luna greeted.
“You too” she turned her attention back to Bunny. “Now, why have you brought this immortal one to our abode? I can tell that you used the Spirited Away spell to get both you and her here”
“Luna was feeling sad about the fact that didn’t get to say goodbye to a filly we know as Snowdrop. She wants to meet with her friend again”
“I see. Well, since you Luna are our guest. Please, come inside”
The Alicorn went in along with Bunny, and Sally closed the door. Luna finally got a good view of how the mansion was from the inside; it was indeed beautiful. It looked like the inside of a wooden cabin, with decorative furniture. Sally then gestured for them to follow her down the hallway. Well, atleast before they got ambushed by someone.
“I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!” the creature shouted. It looked like a white head standing on two legs and had small arms. Its eyes were red, as it said; its teeth sharp. It had a tuft of red hair on its head, and a black bowtie with shoes. It also had bat wings. Its cutie mark was, obviously, a red eye with sharp teeth, which meant “Watchful and Protective”
“Red-Eye Sharptooth, that’s no way to treat a guest!” Sally reprimanded it.
“Sorry, mom. Oh! Bunny, my cousin! I’m so sorry, did I scare you too?” Red-Eye Sharptooth apologized.
“Not at all, Red-eye! But, I think it’s Luna who you may have to apologize to”
“I am so sorry, miss”
“No worries, I got used to this along the way here”
“Good, come along. Jack is upstairs”
Along the way to the staircase, Luna had to ask. “So, that’s one of your cousins?”
Bunny nodded. “That’s Red-eye Sharptooth, the oldest of the kids. He mostly does that to anyone he hasn’t seen before. And yes, he likes to hide under the beds. Be careful and watch your back around here, there are more of my cousins who like to greet that way”
Before they reached the staircase, the door under it slammed open and yet another creature came about.
“I am the one hiding under your stairs; fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair” it shouted. The creature looked like Red-eye Sharptooth, but with a torso. It had spiders in its hair, and snakes for fingers. It wore a black necktie. Its cutie mark was, obviously, a spider and a snake, which meant “Sneaky and Deadly”
“Nice greeting, Snake-finger Spider-hair” Bunny greeted.
“By my dead dog grave! Bunny, it’s you! And I see you’ve Spirited Away a guest”
“Little bro, you’ve got to learn about keeping your sneakiness under control”
“I can’t help it, bro! That’s my thing!” saying so, Snake-finger Spider-hair walked away.
“Thank you, Red-eye”
“Don’t mention it, mom”
The trio didn’t waste a second; they ran up the stairs before another one of Bunny’s cousins would appear. When they reached the second floor, there was yet another ambush.
“I am the clown with a tear-away face; here in a flash and gone without a trace!” a creature cried. This one resembled Red-Eye, but it had no legs and only kept its arms. Its eyes were black instead of red, so was the twill on its head. It wore a black bowtie, and its mouth appeared to be stitched. Its cutie mark was behind one of its wings: a happy and sad face, which meant Melancholy.
“Clown Tear-Away! My favorite Halloween clown cousin!” Bunny jumped for joy.
“Bunny, my orange cousin of fur and smiles! How are you?” Clown Tear-Away greeted. He flew around Bunny to show his happiness.
“I’m fine, how’s your face?”
Tear-Away giggled. “Still sewn”
“Oh, and I see our cousin has Spirited Away someone” a voice said. All turned their heads to see another creature, this one a girl.
“I am the ‘who’ when you call ‘who’s there?’; I am the wind running through your hair” it called. This looked almost like Sally, but younger. Her mouth looked to be sewn. She wore a white dress and had a black spider ribbon in her hair. And her cutie mark was a puff of air with a musical note, this meant “Voice in the Wind”
“Airhair! So nice to see you again!”
“Are there any more cousins here in this mansion?” Luna asked.
“Let’s see, hmm…one last”
“Who?”
“I am the shadow by the moon at night; filling your dreams to the brim with fright!” another ambushing creature cried. This one seemed almost entirely different from all of them. His shape was almost like Bunny’s, but he had no tail and his ears were thin antennae. He was completely black all over. His iris was yellow and his pupils were red, they were cat-like too. He also had a red scar on his left eye. He wore on his head a black top hat that had a red rose. His cutie mark was two red eyes by a moon; this meant “Watching over Even at Night”
Bunny was very happy to see the creature. “Night Shadow, my favorite cousin!”
“Bunny, my equally hyper cousin, where have you been?” Night Shadow greeted back.
“Just at Equestria. Have you seen Uncle Jack?”
“He’s at his office, why?”
“I Spirited Away Princess Luna to here because she wanted to see someone who died years ago. Actually centuries ago. You know the little filly who keeps making snow fall here at Halloween Town every winter?”
“You mean…Snowdrop?”
“That’s her. Luna wants to see her again because she never got to say goodbye”
“I see, well…dad’s office is just right down the hallway from here. You’ve already got mom to lead you both there. Anyway, see you around, cousin!” and with that, Night Shadow left in a butterfly’s shadow.
“I gotta go too, still trying to get the wind to sing new lullabies, goodluck!” Airhair left too, this time by the wind.
“Moving on” Sally said.
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Along the way…
Luna had been listening to what Bunny knew about what Snowdrop had been up to since she died. Turns out, Halloween Town is a realm in Bunny’s world in which souls from Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory could meet up at for a limited time. Souls that feel upset or are in waiting can stay around for as long as they want. When Luna asked which one was Snowdrop supposed to go to, Bunny told her she was supposed to go to Heaven. But, because she wanted to see Luna one last time, she waited. Over time, she decided to bring snow to Halloween Town every winter in memory of her bond with the princess.
“She…waited for me this whole time?” Luna was touched.
Bunny nodded. “Indeed. But her soul couldn’t find peace. She told me she would wait until she got to see you one last time. I promised her that if I find you, and if you were willing, I would use the Spirited Away spell to bring you here for a limited time”
“How long do I have here?”
“Oh, until I decide to send you back”
“We’re here” Sally called out.
“I’m excited to see Uncle Jack again” Bunny beamed.
“Well, go ahead. If you need me, I’ll be doing the laundry”
“Bye, Aunt Sally”
Both just watched until Sally finally left. When she did, Bunny knocked on the door three times. Then a voice from the other side rang out,
“Come in”. Right then, the duo walked inside.
Skeleton Jack’s office was covered to the brim with Halloween objects and items for funerals. There were Halloween decorations everywhere, somewhere even on the ceiling. There was also a drawer with files of the souls, and the citizens of Halloween Town.
“Ah! Bunny, my horror niece, it’s you!” Skeleton Jack cried out. He looked almost the same as the one from Tim Burton, except that he didn’t have any bat wings. His tuxedo went straight down instead of up like a ball. He wore a necktie instead of a bowtie, but his skin remained the same. His cutie mark was on the baton of his necktie: an eye watching over a grave, this meant “Ever Watchful”
“Uncle Jackie!” Bunny bounced into her uncle’s arms in a hug. She giggled happily to see her uncle. Jack pet Bunny in response. Soon after, they had to pull away.
“Bunny, my niece, what brings you and this Spirited Away one by?” he asked.
“Uncle Jack, you remember the little filly who makes snow fall here every winter, right?”
“The little one who is waiting for a friend and will not find peace until she sees that friend again? Yes”
“Well, this one I Spirited Away is the friend she has been waiting for”
Jack beamed; he put Bunny down and walked over to Luna. “You are Snowdrop’s long-awaited friend?”
Luna nodded. “Where is she? I need to see her”
Jack looked to the ceiling, doing an impression in which he was thinking. Then, his face lit up. “I know! She’s probably on the rooftop!” he pointed to the ceiling to prove his point.
“The rooftop? Why would she be at the rooftop?” Luna asked.
“I guess my niece forgot to tell you about that part. Snowdrop liked seeing the night skies so much that she decided to stay on the rooftop to watch them. She told us it reminded her of the ones she could’ve seen back when she was alive. We even decided to build her a small house up there, complete with a cloud for her to sleep on”
“Can we go see her?”
“You may” he then gestured for Bunny to approach, and she did. “Bunny will take you up to the rooftop, she knows the safe way”
Luna nodded
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“I hear crying” Bunny whispered. She and Luna were on the roof already.
Luna listened intently, but it was harder for her considering Bunny was still part-rabbit and retained her stronger hearing. Eventually, she was able to close in on the sobs heard by Bunny a while back.
They were Snowdrop’s.
Bunny followed the sounds as Luna followed her. Eventually, they saw a filly on the rooftop. Both recognized her anywhere.
“Snowdrop?” Luna called.
Snowdrop stopped her crying, her ears perked up. She turned around to see if she heard the voice right. Amazingly, her cataracts were gone; she could see clearly now. She knew Bunny, of course. But she was even shocked to see that her ears didn’t deceive her on the voice.
“Luna?!”
They were so happy to see each other again that they ran up and hugged. Bunny, being the emotional one at times, began to cry tears of joy. The mares were so overjoyed that they were together again. Both were crying tears of joy.
“I’m sorry about what I did, dear friend” Luna said. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“I forgave you a long time ago, Luna. I was just waiting to see you again”
“You can see me now?”
The filly nodded. “I’ve waited my whole life and for a thousand years to”
Bunny looked up; her eyes widened when she saw what was going on. “Snowdrop, you’re glowing!”
The mares pulled away from the hug. Snowdrop was really glowing! “My soul’s finally found peace”
“Can’t you stay for a little longer?”
Bunny tried to point out. “You still have as much time as you need for your reunion”
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It was time. It was finally time for Snowdrop to go and find peace. Luna was reluctant, but she knew that it was for the best.
“You still remember that flower I gave you?”
Luna nodded. “I can never go to sleep without it”
“Take care of it, as though it was me. Hey Bunny?”
“Yes, Snowdrop?”
“Thank you; you’ve kept your promise”
“Will I still see you?” Luna asked.
Snowdrop looked up to the sky, then to Luna, and nodded. “I will still see you, every night, in your dreams. Until then, goodbye Luna”
The princess nodded. “Find peace, Snowdrop”
Snowdrop closed her eyes, and then faded away. Luna stared at where she stood for a moment, before letting it pass.
“Ready to go back home?” Bunny asked, pulling out a paw.
Luna nodded, and took Bunny’s paw. “I’m happy she’s happy”
Then it was all a blinding light.
Luna opened her eyes; she and Bunny were back on the balcony. Bunny no longer wore the outfit.
“Don’t you feel tired? You haven’t slept the entire night”
“I’m fine; my species is used to this. But I better go before Fluttershy wakes”
Luna nodded. Bunny headed to the railing, she was about to take off when…
“Hey, Bunny?”
“Yes, Luna?”
“You reminded me of Snowdrop when you flew here”
The alien smiled. “Remember what she tells you” she said before flying away.
“I will…” the princess looked up at the sky before finishing her sentence. “…forever”
