It was the time of day that ponies in Equestria referred to as midnight, even though there really wasn’t any difference between night and day. The sky was as grey as it always was; not a shade lighter or darker in away way shape or form. In Equestria and the Solar Empire midnight meant nothing, while it marked midday for ponies in the Lunar Republic who had once lived during the moon's hours. Everywhere else, however, this time of day was usually meaningless for the other empires, as all ponies were long asleep by then. The only thing that told ponies the time was the clocks on the wall and the ringing of the bell in the steeple of Canterlot Castle.

This was about the time of day Luminous found herself waking up in. Her vision blurry but focused on a strange teal colored thing in front of her. She figured she was just dreaming, so she closed her eyes as if this was normal for a dream. Not a second later did she her a light smack against her muzzle and she was jolted awake by the sudden action. Looking at what had caused it, she saw Topaz with her arms crossed, long at her with a face that read “seriously?”. Another second later and Luminous felt the her heavy comforter fall on her head obscuring her vision for a second.

“Before you say anything this is not a dream,” Topaz said, knowing what Luminous would say before the Pegasus even thought about it. She helped Luminous get the comforter off of her and her eyes went wide as she the two looked eyes “Well, that’s definitely interesting. It’s a good look for you though.”

Luminous looked at Topaz confused, not knowing what the dragoness was talking about. Taking the fact Topaz had said it was a good look, she got up and walked over to a oval, decorative wall mirror. She didn’t look at first, thinking that she might have been tricked by somepony (the royal guards have done it to her before) but decided after a few more seconds that she had to get it over with. Slowly she shifted her gaze up to the mirror, which is all she needed to see before telling something was off. She looked back down to the carpet as soon as she caught the glimpse of something strange around her eyes. After taking another second to prepare herself she looked fully up and stared in shock at the mirror.

Overall she looked normal, her coat was still the same pitch black color she remembered it and her mane and tail were still the same yellow color as before. What had changed, however, was the strange edition of a dark blue masquerade made of raw magic around her eyes. It danced lively, which told her that this not just a strange conjuration of sometime. She lifted a hoof to it in order to pull it off, but fell backward with a yelped as she touched it. This wasn’t even solid, it was more like weirdly colored fire that had somehow taken shape on her face. Luminous wasn’t started freaking out as she thought about how to get this flaming masquerade of her until she remembered what Luna had told her about the magic she was getting.

“Is this… Luna’s magic?” She asked as she observed it, the one major hint leading to that was it’s dark blue color, which matched Luna’s coat. “Or to be more accurate, is this my magic?”

“Apparently so,” Topaz said as she came up to Luminous, climbing onto the wooden desk under the mirror as she observed it. “This wasn’t what either of us expected, and until we get out of Canterlot it’s not safe to teach you magic in case of backfire,” She climbed down from the desk and put a claw under her snout as she thought. She had to think of some way to hide this weird formation of magic to make sure Luminous didn’t attract attention. “I could use my dragon breath to form a temporary cloak, but I don’t know how strong it is or how long it would last.”

“Wait,” Luminous said as she listen to the dragoness, closing half of her right eye as a show of confusion. “Dragon breath can do more then burn houses or melt gold… or send messages?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Topaz told Luminous, “The amount of time it would take for me to explain draconic magic is more then we have at the moment,” She stepped back, putting her claws up in front of Luminous. “Stay still. This may tickle but it won’t hurt unless you break my focus.”

Luminous couldn’t even open her mouth before Topaz let loose a burst of brown draconic fire from her mouth, engulfing the pegasus. Luminous could feel the immense heat the flames were giving off as she put her front left hoof in front of her closed eyes. She made sure to not touch the masquerade to keep her from burning herself, as she already felt like she was about to die. However, that didn’t happen, and after she opening her eyes she looked in shock to see that she was now wearing a old cloak of some sort. She felt it with her hoof and realized that it was rather warm.

“What the-” She stopped her question as she continued to feel the fabric of the cloak. She looked to Topaz, who was examining her handy work. “Your dragon breath did this?”

“Again, to many statistics to explain,” Topaz reminded Luminous. “However, you are correct. The cloak is only temporary so as soon as we get out of the castle we will need to quickly find this Soarin pony and head to the gate. I don’t the maximum time that it will stay, but at minimal about two hours before it breaks apart.”

“Guess we need to get moving,” Luminous said, knowing that time was of the essence if they wanted to get out while ponies were still asleep.

Topaz nodded her head and walked over to the door with Luminous behind her. She opened the door and stepped outside, and Luminous was in shock at how dark the world was without light. The masquerade around her eyes was the only thing that gave off light of any kind, everything else was almost pitch black. Luminous expected to wake up there, believing that there was an endless void in front of her. After a few seconds, however, she could see the outline of the windows and floor below her. She couldn’t help but wonder how the Lunar Empire could live with darkness like this around them.

“So this is what a world without Celestia and Luna looks like,” Topaz mumbled to herself as she and Luminous slowly made their way down the hall of the castle. “It’s as dark as the depths of a cave out here.”

“When everyone's awake the lights in the castle and town are shining,” Luminous explained to Topaz. “When I was young I believed that there was nothing outside of the city, that we were all there was. Then I heard about learned about the war and the other empires, and my mother told me about our relationship to the Lunar Empire.”

“Must have been quite a shock,” Topaz replied, not even able to imagine what she was saying.

Luminous only nodded her head as she stifled laughter at Topaz’s attempts to see where she was going. From behind, it looked like Topaz was flailing her hands around in front of her like a zombie. From Topaz’s perspective, she really had no idea where the heck she was going, using her clawed hands to feeling in front of her for anything in the darkness. Sadly, even this proved futile as she walked right into a wooden end table on the side of the hall. The scales did little to provide protection as her stomach ran right into the side of the table, an action which her a little wheezy. The dragoness fell backwards, holding her stomach in reaction.

“You know you could always just ride on my back,” Luminous offered as she walked up to Topaz.

Topaz looked at her with “You couldn’t say that before this happened?”

Luminous shrugged her shoulders as she put her head to Topaz’s stomach, using it to lift the dragoness onto her back. With that done they started their way down to the castle entrance. Two gigantic marble staircases made there way down to a giant door that was at least the size of three Luminous’, at least that was the way Topaz saw it. After making her way down the stairs and to the door, Luminous halted as she thought about what would be beyond that door. One more step, and this would be the first time she’s been outside since she… Luminous wiped that thought from her mind as soon as it came, but still stood at the door in fear.

“One more step and this will be the farthest away I’ve been from my sister in eleven years,” Luminous told Topaz. “This is... still really hard to take in. I’m leaving my kingdom, and at the end of this I might never be welcome back.”

“If we succeed you’ll be back in Canterlot before you know it.” Topaz told her reassuringly. Those words put a smile on Luminous’ face, knowing they were true. “Once we’re in the city we have to get a few things however, and I’m not just talking about your acquaintance Mister Stutter Step.”

“His name is Soarin,” Luminous reminded Topaz, “But your right. Will need food, water, and some sort of cloak as well. We don’t know how long we’re going to be out there.”

“No use standing here then, right?” Topaz replied in question form.

Topaz was right, she was only going to waste time if she stood around here. Princess Luna was depending on her, Equestria was depending on her. In truth she really had no idea what she was getting into, or where to even look. The Lunar Empire was many miles away from Equestria, and tended to stay hidden from ponies who have tried to visit it. That didn’t stop her from putting her hoof on the castle’s front door, taking a deep breath to calm her fear of leaving the kingdom, and opening the door for the first time in forever.

Luminous was absolutely shocked at how lively it was in the Canterlot marketplace. She hadn’t realized until stepping outside the castle courtyard (which she had never been outside of as well) that the reason she wasn’t seeing any lights was because it was the residential district of the city. After asking a stallion who seemed rather out of it, they finally were able to find the marketplace. For Luminous, a pony who spent her entire life seeing the same ponies over and over again, with the occasional ‘commoner’ complaining about taxes and whatnot. To summarize what Luminous was currently feeling, it was fear.

The lamp posts and stores lit up lower Canterlot, in a blaze of yellow light which blind Luminous when she had first arrived. Ponies of all walks of life made there way through town happily enjoying conversation and not caring at all about how suspicious the dragon and pegasus that had just entered looked. Stands lined parts of the streets, ponies surrounding them as and payed for things such as food and accessories. Luminous wasn’t sure whether to be happy or scared at this, but in the end fear had won her over. This was way too different from the castle for her, and she suddenly felt concerned about a whole number of things she had never thought about.

“Um, Luminous?”

“WHAT DO I DO?!” Luminous yelled, knocking Topaz off her back without noticing “I don't know anything about the city. How do commoners act? How do they eat. What… what do I do?”

“You okay darling?” Luminous turned to her right at the sound of a calm and elegant voice, almost mistaking it for somepony from the castle. For a second she had thought she had been followed, until she realized she didn't know the pony. “You seem a little young to be out at this time of the night. If you need to get home I'd been glad to help you.”

Luminous was glad the cloak was hiding the masquerade around her eyes, because if there was anything that could make her current circumstances worse right now it was that. The pony who had talked to her was a white unicorn whose fur coat seemed to glisten in light of the street lamps. Her mane was purple and curled in a rather peculiar way, one that she couldn't quite describe. If there was one thing she could till, it was that this pony spent a lot of time on personal image. She seemed rather upper class, so Luminous felt a little more comfortable talking to someone with that status.

“Actually I'm looking for some supplies for the road,” Luminous told the unicorn. “Mostly some food, water, and a cloak as well.”

“Yes that cloak of yours could use a bit of work couldn't it,” The unicorn said as she inspected the cloak, which somewhat shocked Luminous. “You definitely seem like a pony of elegance, and this cloak does not show that. Whoever made this clearly did not care for your image. I have a shop not to far away from here and I could repair that cloak for you if you want. Consider it on me to make up for the damage this must be doing to your status.”

“Actually the cloak isn't real,” Both ponies looked as Topaz got up and dusted herself off. “I made it with magic, and it won't last for long. If you really wouldn't mind miss we could use on as we plan on being on the road for a rather long time. Anything you could do would be much appreciated.”

“I would gladly be willing to help, and as I said this will be for free,” The unicorn said. “The names Rarity, and you darlings would be.”

“This is Topaz,” Luminous introduced the dragoness who simply waved at Rarity. “My names Luminous.”

It wasn’t till after she said her name that she realized exactly what she might have been doing. She was royalty, whether she liked it or not, and there was probably many ponies who would recognize her name. She stayed calm externally while or brain internally screamed at herself about exactly what she had just done. Luminous waited for Rarity to ask what she believed to be the inevitable question. Topaz realized this not much later, and face hoofed at the princess.

“That’s a nice name Darling,” Rarity’s response was in no way what Luminous and Topaz had thought it would be. “This is the first time I’ve met a dragon of any kind, but you don’t seem all that scary. It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Luminous and Topaz looked at each other, not sure what to say about the way she responded. “If you two would please follow me I show you to my boutique. I hope you don’t mind me asking but where does someone of your status plan on going Luminous?”

“Well… anywhere the wind goes at the moment,” Luminous said as she and Topaz followed Rarity through the busy streets of Canterlot. “Me and Topaz don’t have a particular goal in mind but we hope to improve the live of ponies across the world.”

“That’s a wonderful goal dear,” Rarity said with vigor, something Luminous noticed the unicorn didn’t lack. “I myself might do some traveling in the future, but for the moment I’m trying to keep me boutique running. Business is rather hard to find in the city.”

Luminous was rather confused at this. “What do you mean it’s hard finding business? Surely somepony like you gets a lot of visits from high class ponies.”

“If only that was true,” Rarity replied, her earlier vigor seemed to have been lost as she spoke. “Sadly I’m not the most well known dresser, fashionista, or anything of that sort in the city. I live in with my sister outside the city. Dreadfully dark and dangerous out there, I don’t get to the city very often. To make matters worse I don’t usually have the materials to make the dresses I dream of, and limits my supplies.”

Luminous couldn’t help but feel sorry for Rarity. Given how generous the unicorn was she assumed that Rarity would have had rather good business. It made her sad, an emotion that Luminous dreaded more than most ponies. She would have to find someway to help the unicorn when her current goal has been dealt with. Maybe she could talk to her sister about it, but she didn’t want to use her sister's position as princess like Swift Spell was. She would have to find a personal way to pay back, one that wasn’t around coin or wealth.

It had taken Rarity much convincing once they reach her boutique to measure Luminous with Topaz’s cloak on. Rarity continually insisted that Luminous had to take it off for her to get an exact measurement, but after multiple attempts to take it off she gave up. Luminous let out a sigh of relief at this, stood as still as possible as Rarity ran the measuring tape across her body to get her measurements. This wasn’t the first time Luminous had done this, as her mother had done it to her many times when she was younger. That was something that stopped after she became the captain of the royal guard. It gave her memories of her early life however, and reminded her off just how much she missed seeing Neon.

After Rarity had gone to start stitching Luminous’ cloak, the ex-captain looked around the boutique she had been brought to. It was well managed, and from how vibrant the inside looked she could see that it was well maintained. Everything seemed to have a specific place: Ribbons went in the drawers, gems for the more sophisticated of ponies was kept in a small chest that Rarity wouldn’t let her near and the sowing equipment was kept in the back of the shop out of view. Rarity told Luminous that there was a small boutique in a town called Ponyville she someday wished to own, but until then this would do. Luminous didn’t understand things such as company expansion and economics, those things she would rather let her sister deal with.

Suddenly, the smell of smoke came to Luminous’ nose. She didn’t realize it was smoke at first, since all the cooking had been done for her and there wasn’t many flammable materials in the castle. Still, the smell disgusted her and she looked around the room for exactly what was making it. It wasn’t until she checked behind her that she realized what it was coming from, and her eyes shot wide with paranoia. The cloak that Topaz had made was bursting into the small blue flames it was made from, and she rushed to get it off. Topaz watched from a chair nearby as this happened, giggling a little at Luminous.

“What’s so funny?” The pegasus asked.

“Those flames can’t hurt anypony,” Topaz told Luminous. “Don’t you think it would have burnt you when I first made it if it could hurt somepony?” After a few minutes Topaz stopped giggling and pointed out the downside. “Still, you should probably do something to hide your face until we get that cloak Rarity is making you.”

Luminous rushed to the nearest mirror and sure enough she saw the dark blue masquerade that surrounded her eyes. That temporary cloak was the only thing that hid this thing from Rarity, and without it she would have to face a barrage of questions that the unicorn would definitely have. Luminous looked around the room with urgency, trying to find anything that could hide her face under that wouldn’t look suspicious. Sadly, everything she looked to would either draw more attention, or make her seem absolutely stupid. Maybe Rarity wouldn’t notice if she just didn’t turn her head.

“Well here you are Luminous-” Luminous’ instincts betrayed her and she looked to the unicorn, who in turn stared at her with shock. “Deary?”

Looking for a way to out of this, Luminous said the only thing that could come to her mind. “This isn’t what it looks like, I swear.”

That didn’t stop Rarity from fainting, falling to the floor unprepared for what she had just seen. Luminous didn’t really know what she just did, and walked up to the unicorn to see she was still breathing. Seeing this she poked Rarity to try and wake her up, but only got a twitch out of the fashionista's back right hoof. Luminous looked to Topaz, who got up and walked over to Luminous. She grabbed the cloak from Rarity, glad that she hadn’t overdone it. She handed it to Luminous who threw it around herself to once again hide her magic masquerade.

“Maybe we should just leave the money on the counter.” Topaz suggested.

“Yeah.”

It went a lot better getting the rest of the supplies for the trip, mainly because Luminous didn’t have to worry about her new cloak disappearing on her. It was rather simply, but that helped in making sure she didn’t draw attention or possibly fainting. They grabbed saddlebags, food, water, and some other essentials including a beginners spell book before heading to the Canterlot military academy. It was well past visiting hours, and Luminous knew she would had to enter through whatever window lead to Soarin’s room. This was the first time she had actually flown in a few years, not really needing it to do activities around the castle. Thankfully she hadn’t forgotten and with Topaz on her back they took off into the air.

After spending a good twenty minutes in the air, Luminous finally found the window to Soarin’s room. She checked to make sure no one else was inside before attempting to open the window, which was left unlocked. Slowly Luminous pulled it open before both she and Topaz stepped inside. The ex-captain knew exactly what this meant if things went off perfectly, she would be charged with a crime and she would not be able to return without having to go before a jury. Not only that, but she would be hunted for abandoning the ponies she was suppose to protect. The latter was going to happen no matter what they did, but they were literally taking somepony, most likely against there own will. It felt absolutely wrong to her, this wasn’t something an upstanding citizen would do.

Topaz went to make sure the door was locked, giving Luminous thumbs up as she woke the pegasus. “Soarin,” She called to sleeping pony in front of her. “Soarin wake up.”

Luminous didn’t need to put in much effort to wake up the sleeping pony, as his eyes slowly opened. As his brain woke up, he nearly jumped back at the site of Luminous in front of him. He didn’t really know what to do, believing he had done something wrong that angered her. Yet the look on Luminous’ face wasn’t one of anger, but one of urgency. He couldn’t tell exactly what made him think this, but he could’ve sworn there was something slightly different about how Luminous looked.

“C-c-captain?” Soarin stammered, baffled and confused at what the captain was in the academy doing at this hour. “I-is everything o-o-okay ma’am?”

“Soarin, you're probably not going to believe what I’m going to tell you but I need your help right now,” Luminous told the confused stallion, putting her hooves to the top of her cloak. “Now, promise me you won’t faint when I show you why I’m here.”

“W-why would I f-f-faint?” Soarin said, trying to sound a little more professional than he had been.

Luminous sighed as she prepared herself “This,” She pulled the cloak off her head, showing the masquerade that had been a sign of the magic she obtain from Luna. Soarin’s eyes were so wide Luminous wasn’t sure they could get any wider. She mentally sighed as she saw Soarin didn’t faint at the sight of it “I’ll explain-”

“W-w-w-” Soarin was trying desperately to get the word he was stuck on out. “WHAT IS THAT?”

“Calm down recruit!” Luminous shouted, which seemed to do the trick as Soarin fell silent. “This thing on my face is the exact reason I’m here to see you. I made a promise to somepony and they told me you would could help. Now promise me you won’t yell again as I tell you everything.”

Soarin nodded hastily, moving his front right hoof across his muzzle to show his lips were sealed. With that Luminous did the best she could to explain to the stammering recruit. She told him about how Swift Spell was hypnotizing her sister, the dream meeting with Luna, Topaz and the masquerade. Despite originally doubting much of what she said, she managed to convince him that it was mostly true. He still had one thing he was confused about, which Luminous should have expected.

“If that masquerade thing on your face is a show of Luna’s magic, does that mean you can use magic?”

Luminous wasn’t expecting the question, and she rubbed the back of her head as she answered. “I guess,” She said. “I haven’t actually tried but that’s why me and Topaz bought this spell book here.” She raised up a book titled ‘easy spells for young unicorn foals’ for Soarin to see. “I am a little embarrassed that this is pointed to foals but when you spent your life not using magic what do you expect?”

“I… guess,” Soarin said as he flipped through the book seeing mostly telepathic and aura shaping spells, both he had seen used a lot from unicorn trainees in the academy. “I’m sorry captain, but I don’t think I’m the right choice for this secret mission of yours,” He swallowed as he worried he might have somehow upset Luminous. “N-not that I w-w-wouldn’t want to j-join you but I don't th-th-think I would be the right choice.”

“I know you aren’t brave Soarin, but what I’m asking you doesn’t require bravery,” Luminous held Soarin’s head in her hooves, giving the pegasus a sympathetic smile. “What I’m asking for is someone to stick by my side. I understand that things must be… hard being a pegasus that isn’t royalty. Most ponies look at us like we aren’t needed because the darkness makes weather control useless and flying extremely inefficient, but I don’t need anyone with incredible skills. I’m asking you to be my friend, one who will be by my side at all times.”

Soarin hide the blush that he was currently feeling as Luminous removed her hoof from under Soarin's chin. “Nopony has ever asked me to be their friend before,” He told the ex-captain. “Everypony seems me as a waste of time. Why do you think of me so differently?”

“Even the most timid of ponies can be friends,” Luminous replied “And sometimes those friends are closest ones you will make. I know what I’m asking may seem hard at the moment but please say you’ll come with me?”

Soarin didn’t have to think about what his response. Luminous had managed to move him in a way she didn’t even realize she had. Soarin hadn’t exactly thought about it that way. Perhaps he really could be somepony special, not just by protecting a member of royalty but of being her friend. Everypony had always treated him like he was a mistake, like he was somepony that didn't matter to the world. Yet Luminous in just a few sentences managed to change that. He put a smile on his face, trying to look as courageous as possible.

“Yes,” He said. “I-I-I’ve never left Canterlot before. I-I-I-t’s suppose to be pitch black out there. I wouldn’t s-s-suppose either of you know where to go, would you?”

“I haven’t walked Equestria’s surface in one thousand years,” Topaz said, before a wild idea came to her head. “Maybe there is a way we can get out, one that doesn’t involve Luminous getting spotted.”

After a long walk, in which Soarin explain his rough times at the academy to Luminous, they arrived near the main gate of Canterlot. Topaz smiled as she saw somepony had a wagon waiting nearby. It was covered by a tarp which seemed to hold barrels that the dragoness could only assume held supplies like food and other things. It was waiting right outside the gate, and if the guards talking near the gate were correct it was head out tonight. Topaz looked to Luminous who had the same smile on her face.

“A-a-are you c-c-crazy?” Soarin said, a metaphorical lightbulb turning on as he looked at the wagon. “H-h-how are we s-s-suppose to get in th-there without being c-caught.”

“Calm down and stop stuttering for Luna’s sake,” Topaz whispered. “I don’t know about you but would you rather fly over the wall, the top of which is invisible, into pitch blackness?” Soarin shook his head “ Exactly, not the best idea to go out when we don’t really have a place to go. At least if we take this option we might come across some town out there we can grab some information from.”

“So how do you plan on getting under the tarp without being spotted by the guards?” Luminous asked the dragoness.

“Honestly I was hoping we would have had a little more luck there,” Topaz replied looking at Luminous. “Being the ex-captain of the royal guard you must know something about these two guards that could help us in someway.”

“You want me to tell you what scares these two ponies so we can make them run away like a foal, don’t you?” Luminous asked, getting a nod out of Topaz. The ex-captain sighed. “I really don’t like sneaking into a school, but messing with the my own guards is even worse,” She looked down at the two guards casually talking to each other. She knew the only way they were going to get out of the city was if she got those guards away from the city gate. “Alright, but only this once.”

Topaz nodded “Hopefully this is the only time we will need to.”

“Wow dude, that’s rough,” The guard on the left said to his friend. “So… are things between the two of you okay or is this the end of the relationship for you two?”

“I’m pretty sure some throwing a table half-way across the room is a rather good sign things are at an end,” His friend replied, “And it was over something so simple as a difference in books as well. She was so nice as well! Where did I go wrong?”

“You see things like that are the reason I haven’t fallen in love yet,” The guard told his friend pointing at himself. “If I were you I would wait a bit before actually getting into a relationship again. These mares are leaving you quicker and quicker each time, maybe settling down for a family isn’t the best idea at the moment.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” The other guard pointed out. “You haven’t fallen in love since elementary school. You don’t know what it is like to fall in love with someone.”

“I still think it would be better to wait a bit. I may not have fallen in love but I’ve seen a fair of stallions break down because of love,” The guard on the left replied, not noticing the blue snake that had slithered between them. His friend tried his best to stay calm as he looked down at the serpent. “Not to mention the fact that-”

“SNAAAAAKE!”

His friend ran away screaming as he saw the serpent. The guard looked absolutely baffled before looking down at the ground at the blue serpent. He rolled his eyes, having forgotten that his friend was afraid of the reptiles. As for him, he actually was fascinated by them, and bent down to get a closer look. He picked it up in a hoof and it stood almost perfectly still, and rather warm as well. He couldn’t help but think about how cute it was, chuckling at the fact his friend was afraid of such a creature.

“Oh come on dude?” He spoke in the direction that his friend had run off in, unaware that the snake was bursting into flames. “This thing is completely harmless, how could you-” He looked back to the snake and stopped as he saw the snake bursting into flames in his hoof. “AAAAAAH! GET IT OFF!”

He ran of as well, dropping the flame to the ground as it sizzled to the ground. Not far away, Topaz laughed at her antics, Soarin holding in his laughter. Luminous, on the other hand, was in deep regret at what she had just watched. She knew about her guards, as they were about as much a family to her as she was with Neon. They had been willing to share so much with her, and for her to use those vary things against them was an even bigger act of betrayal then what she was already feeling. Topaz looked to Luminous, seeing the disappointment the ex-captain was feeling.

“I said that I would only do this one time,” Topaz reassured her. “This is the only time I will do that.”

“Promise?”

Topaz motioned his claws across his chest in the shape of a X before responding. “Promise. Now let's get under the tarp before anyone else comes by.”

Soarin and Luminous nodded and the three made their way over to the wagon. Luminous lifted up the tarp with her hooves and waited as Topaz and Soarin got on. After they hoped on Luminous joined them and let go of the tarp as it fell over them, leaving them with no light except for Luminous’ masquerade. Soarin was shaking uncontrollably, and while he didn’t see it Luminous was just as scared about leaving their home. This city and the castle had been her world for so long, and now she was going into a world she didn’t even know.

“We should get some sleep,” Topaz recommended as she laid down on the wooden wagon. “Will need as much rest as possible when we get off tomorrow.”

Soarin checked under him before laying down as well, quickly falling asleep. With that Luminous was left alone, her mind filled with thoughts that kept her from realizing that she was drifting off as well. She had thought about it so many times, the things she was leaving behind her. She was about to enter what felt like an entirely different world. That world seemed like a blank page to her, one that was filled with both danger and wonder. She knew that the danger would outweigh the possible treasures that awaited.

“I’m sorry for doing this, Neon,” Luminous apologized, even though her sister would never hear it. “I promise you that, no matter what happens, I’ll make our kingdom safe again.”

And with that, she drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

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